State Revenue Committee Clarifies Law on Carrying Weapons in Tax Authorities

The State Revenue Committee (SRC) of Armenia has deemed it necessary to clarify that the draft government decision regulating the carrying, storing, and use of weapons in customs and tax authorities is not a new legal regulation.

The draft, which has been put out for public discussion, aims to clarify the aforementioned relationships and align them with existing regulations.

The right to provide tax officers with weapons, as well as the right to store, carry, and use them, is defined by Article 30 of the Law on Tax Service, while for customs officers, it is outlined in Article 29 of the Law on Customs Service, which have been in effect since 2002 and 2008, respectively.

Currently, the relationships related to ensuring armed security for officials in customs bodies and determining the positions of employees entitled to store and carry weapons in the State Revenue Committee, as well as the types, forms, models, and quantities of weapons and special means they use, are regulated respectively by decisions #656 of June 1, 2002, and #201-N of February 22, 2008, both issued by the Government of the Republic of Armenia. The adoption of these decisions stems from the requirements of the laws pertaining to tax and customs services, the provisions of which regarding weapons and ammunition have either been repealed or amended.

Taking the above into account, and considering the fact that the SRC is a body that includes tax and customs services, there is a necessity to regulate these relationships with a unified act.

Therefore, there is a need to repeal several government decisions and establish, according to Armenian legislation, a list of positions of customs and tax officers entitled to carry, store, and use weapons (ammunition), the types, forms, models, and quantities of weapons used by customs and tax officers, as well as the procedure for providing, storing, carrying, and using weapons and ammunition for tax and customs officers.