Income Tax Reimbursement Bill for Students' Tuition Fees to be Revised

On June 11, during a meeting of the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Science, Education, Culture, Diaspora, Youth, and Sports, presided over by Mkhitar Hayrapetyan, the bill titled "On Amendments to the Tax Code of the Republic of Armenia" authored by lawmakers Sisak Gabrielyan and Lilit Makunts was discussed in the first reading.

Main speaker Sisak Gabrielyan informed that the bill proposes to reimburse the income tax calculated in accordance with the law on the salary of employees as well as equivalent payments, for the amount paid by employees studying in master's and doctoral programs at accredited higher educational institutions in Armenia, but no more than the amount of income tax calculated for the respective year. The reimbursement is expected to occur within one month after the end of the academic year, provided that the student surpasses the average qualitative assessment threshold established for that academic year.

The authors of the initiative stated that the goal is to encourage students to work at a young age and to use the income tax as a way to reimburse tuition fees. This legislative initiative will also encourage young employees to refuse offers for work without an employment contract, bringing them into the legal field, and will foster a culture of working and paying taxes among the youth.

According to the main speaker, similar legislative regulations regarding the reimbursement of income tax for tuition fees are present in several countries.

Accompanying speaker, Deputy Minister of Finance Arman Poghosyan pointed out that the government suggests refraining from adopting the bill, as the return of income tax funds will decrease the tax revenues of the state's budget, and the existing tax legislation already provides a fairly wide range of tax benefits for the education sector. The Deputy Minister also added that any tax benefit creates the risk of abuse.

The chairman and members of the committee welcomed the initiative, considering it student-centered. Taking into account the changes presented in the revised version of the bill, they urged the authors to withdraw it for re-editing purposes. Before the vote, the authors postponed the question for up to two months.