Tax, Customs and Legal Affairs Working Group

On November 14, 2023, the next meeting of the Tax, Customs and Legal Affairs Working Group was organized for companies that are members of AHK Azerbaijan in the Shamakhi Hall of the Hyatt Regency Meeting and Conference Center. The chairman of the working group, Ms Gunel Sadiyeva, welcomed the participating companies and gave brief information about the progress of the meeting. Also, Ms Sadiyeva expressed her special thanks to PwC Azerbaijan for their support in holding the meeting.

In the first half of the event, Mr Jeyhun Ismayilov, Deputy Head of the General Department of International Taxation and Tax Monitoring, gave detailed information to the participants about the main principles and standards of tax base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) and talked about their application in Azerbaijan. Mr Ismayilov also provided detailed information on the changes in advance arrangement of transfer pricing methods (APA) and tax accounting of Non-Residents.

In the second half of the meeting, Mr Ismayilov completed his speech by giving information about the approach to the minimum rules of "Global Rules" (GloBE) and agreement-based rules. Later, the event continued with a question-and-answer session moderated by Ms Sadiyeva.

At the end of the event, the participants of the meeting were informed about the appointment of Mr Elvin Aliyev, the head of the customs department of Autocapital-Azerbaijan LLC, to the position of the new vice-chairman for customs issues in the Tax, Customs and Legal Affairs Working Group.

Additionally, on behalf of AHK Azerbaijan, we express our special gratitude to PwC Azerbaijan for sponsoring the event. More

On September 27, 2023, the next meeting of AHK Azerbaijan Tax, Customs and Legal Issues Working Group was held with the participation of more than 30 company representatives. At the meeting, discussions were held about the draft of the Competition Code submitted to the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and then the scope of issues and questions of interest to the members of AHK Azerbaijan was determined.

Declaring the meeting open, Ms Gunel Sadiyeva welcomed the participants and said that she believes that the meeting will be a good opportunity to prepare for the AHK Impuls event.

In her speech, Ms Gunel Sadiyeva touched on changes in the field of competition and anti-monopoly. In addition, negotiations on deals and contracts were held with the working group. The importance of the independence of the competition body was also emphasised and the participants exchanged ideas among themselves. Then, the working group held a discussion on the policy of monopoly and monopolistic companies.

The meeting was moderated by Ms Gunel Sadiyeva, with active discussions among the participants. Also, during the meeting, the event participants shared their experiences and opinions regarding the fields they work in. At the end of the event, suggestions and suggestions were collected from the participants for the planned AHK Impuls event. More

On June 12, 2023, the next meeting of the AHK Azerbaijan Tax, Customs, and Legal Affairs Working Group took place with the participation of more than 20 participants. The meeting revolved around the key topics concerning tax, customs, and legal affairs in Azerbaijan, aiming to set an annual agenda for the Working Group for the second half of 2023.

Opening the meeting, Ms Aytekin Sirajzade welcomed the participants and introduced Ms Gunel Sadiyeva, the new Chairperson of the Tax, Customs, and Legal Affairs Working Group, and Ms Gulnar Gurbanova, the Vice Chairperson for Legal Affairs. She expressed her hopes that the meeting would serve as a platform for preparing for the upcoming AHK Impuls event with Mr Shahin Baghirov, Chairman of the State Customs Committee.

In her welcoming notes, Ms Gunel Sadiyeva shared her main goals for the working group, which were to be more active and hold regular meetings and to become a practical and helpful instrument for the whole business community. Ms Gulnar Gurbanova added that the meeting could be considered a kick-off meeting in a way and called on the participants to use this opportunity to address the challenges they face in related fields.

The meeting continued with a session on introductions and gathering ideas from the participants, which Ms Gunel Sadiyeva moderated. During the meeting, it was agreed that the Tax, Customs, and Legal Affairs Working Group would focus on addressing key challenges in tax transparency, customs procedures, trade facilitation, and antimonopoly regulations. More

On 23 February 2023, the roundtable discussions within the framework of the Tax, Customs and Legal Affairs Working Group took place with the participation of more than 30 company representatives. The meeting revolved around the areas for improvement in tax legislation and tax administration procedures, including their practical or technical aspects.

Opening the meeting, Mr Farid Isayev, Chairperson of the Tax, Customs and Legal Affairs Working Group, welcomed the participants and gave information about the recent initiative to submit proposals and recommendations of the member companies to the State Tax Service. We were joined by Mr Arif Guliyev, Advisor at the State Tax Service, who talked about the new structural changes and establishment of an independent Institute of Tax Ombudsman providing proposals and recommendations direct to the Chief of the State Tax Service. The main purpose is to protect the rights of the taxpayers.

The meeting continued with a session on gathering ideas from the participants, which Mr Farid Isayev moderated. During the meeting, the process of VAT returns, taxation procedures, taxation of physical persons and daily challenges faced by the member companies were discussed, and it was agreed that the Tax, Customs and Legal Affairs Working Group would gather these ideas and send them as proposals and recommendations to the State Tax Service. More

On 04 October 2022, the next meeting of the Tax, Customs and Legal Affairs Working Group took place with the participation of around 30 company representatives.

Opening the meeting, Mr Farid Isayev, Chairman of the AHK Azerbaijan Board of Directors, welcomed the participants and expressed his thanks to the representatives of the State Tax Service for their close cooperation in organising the meeting. He then introduced the honorary guest speaker of the event, Mr Nijat Imanov, Chief of the Main Department of Tax Policy of the State Tax Service. Mr Isayev stated that further changes to the current tax legislation were planned, and the State Tax Service regularly provided information and facilitated discussions with business communities in this area.

Mr Nijat Imanov noted that such meetings with the Chamber had already become a tradition and pointed out that the purpose of this particular one was to present the main directions of the proposed amendments to be implemented next year. The main objective behind the expected changes is that the updates required against the background of the changing economy should be reflected in the legislation.

In his speech, Mr Nijat Imanov informed the participants about the main directions of the proposed amendments, such as promoting the investment environment, regulating the activities of financial institutions, improving several administrative measures, including opening bank accounts for taxpayers, further expanding the range of social benefits as well as protecting the country's position in international rankings.

This was followed by a question and answers session and discussions with the participation of the member companies of AHK Azerbaijan. More

On 17 March 2022, the Meeting between the AHK Azerbaijan members and the Mediation Council of Azerbaijan took place with the participation of more than 50 company representatives and mediators. The event was held with the support of our member company, KPMG Azerbaijan.

Opening the meeting, Farid Isayev welcomed the participants and introduced the honorary guest speaker Nadir Adilov, Chairman of the Board of the Mediation Council. He further added that the meeting was centered around the activities of the mediation institute in Azerbaijan and the work carried out by them so far.

Taking the floor, Nadir Adilov expressed his gratitude to the Chamber for providing this opportunity to meet with the business community and noted that the ongoing reforms were largely dependent on the surrounding climate. In his speech, Nadir Adilov gave a report on the statistics of appeals for the first quarter of the year 2022 and stated that there were currently a total of 217 active mediators based in different parts of the country.

This was followed by a question and answers session with the participation of the member companies of AHK Azerbaijan. More

On 25 November 2021, the next meeting of the Tax, Customs and Legal Services Working Group chaired by Mr Farid Isayev, Chairman of the Board took place in a hydrid format. The meeting was held within the framework of the Market Exploration Trip of German company representatives to Azerbaijan in the fields of construction, logistics and transport which was attended by over 60 company representatives from Azerbaijan and Germany.

The central theme of the meeting was the role of the Alat Free Economic Zone in Azerbaijan's economic development. Opening the meeting, Mr Tobias Baumann, Executive Board Member welcomed the participants and further emphasised the importance of the topic for the local and international business community. The honorary guest speaker of the meeting Mr Valeh Alasgarov, Chairman of the Board of Directors at the Alat Free Economic Zone Authority gave a presentation on the topic of "Investment Opportunities in Azerbaijan in Non-oil and Gas Sector: Example of the Alat Free Economic Zone" at the meeting. In his presentation, he covered several key topics such as their vision and strategic intent for the project, incentives they would provide for the businesses and their legislative framework.

After the presentation, the guest speaker answered questions raised by the participants. More

On 20 May 2021, the next online meeting of the TCLA Working Group took place with participation of more than 30 company representatives. The meeting was focused on customs protection of intellectual property rights in Azerbaijan.

Opening the meeting, Tobias Baumann, Executive Board Member of AHK Azerbaijan thanked the State Customs Committee for their close cooperation with the Chamber and contributions to the activities of the Working Group and emphasized the importance of the topic, including distribution rights and fighting counterfeit products. The meeting was moderated by Nigar Bayramli, Deputy Executive Director of AHK Azerbaijan and we were joined by three guest speakers from the State Customs Committee - Samad Garalov, Head of the General Department for Customs Control and Trade Facilitation; Jeyhun Najafli, Head of the Trade Facilitation Department; Mahmud Nuriyev, Chief of the Office for Work with Foreign Trade Participants who shared their experiences in this particular field with the participants.

Corporate and Finance Department Manager at the BHM Law Firm, Turkan Hajiyeva then touched upon the current issues related to the protection of intellectual property rights in Azerbaijan at the meeting.

The online event was interactive and after the presentations, the guest speakers answered questions raised by the participants. More

AHK Azerbaijan hosted the next online meeting of the Tax, Customs and Legal Affairs Working Group on 22 July 2020.

The meeting was focused on the ongoing legal and judicial reforms in Azerbaijan and was moderated by Mr Farid Isayev, the Chairman of the Board / Chairman of the Tax, Customs and Legal Affairs Working Group. We were joined by Dr Anar Baghirov, Chairman of the Azerbaijani Bar Association who delivered a speech on “Legal and Judicial Reforms in Azerbaijan and Achievements from the Insiders' Perspective” at the meeting.

Speaking about the right to effective judicial protection in the country, he touched upon several issues related to the need for lawyer specialisation, the impact of the judicial reforms on free enterprise, as well as the role of mediation and arbitration for settling commercial disputes.

The meeting was interactive and after his speech, Dr Baghirov answered questions raised by the participants. More

The next meeting of the Tax, Customs and Legal Affairs Working Group was held on 13 February 2020 at AHK office.

The meeting was opened with a welcoming speech by Mr. Farid Isayev, Chairman of the Board / Chairman of the Tax, Customs and Legal Affairs Working Group.

The meeting was focused on the introduction of mandatory health insurance in Azerbaijan. Mr. Shukur Eyvazov, Head of the Department for Regional Centers at the State Agency on Mandatory Heath Insurance presented the implementation process of the mandatory health insurance in the country at the meeting and answered the specific inquires of member companies of the chamber. More

The next meeting of the Tax, Customs and Legal Affairs Working Group was held on 23 January 2020 at AHK office.

The meeting was opened with a welcoming speech by Mr. Farid Isayev, Chairman of the Board / Chairman of the Tax, Customs and Legal Affairs Working Group.

The meeting was focused on the latest developments in the tax legislation. Ms. Gunel Sadiyeva, Corporate Tax Manager and Ms. Lala Mustafayeva, Manager at PwC Azerbaijan presented the New Amendments to the Tax Code at the meeting. The presentation covered significant topics such as transfer pricing and exchange of information within the framework of international taxation, reporting obligation for multinational entities, new concepts included into Tax Code, updates on VAT administration and other important updates.

After the presentation, Ms. Gunel Sadiyeva and Ms. Lala Mustafayeva answered to the specific inquiries of participants and the meeting was followed by discussions. More

The next meeting of the Tax, Customs and Legal Affairs Working Group was held on 30 May 2019 at AHK office.

The meeting was opened with a welcoming speech of Mr. Tobias Baumann, Executive Director of AHK Azerbaijan and Mr. Farid Isayev, Chairman of the working group.

The focus area of the meeting was a discussion of "Green Corridor" gating system. The honorary guest speaker of the meeting was Mr. Samad Garalov, Chief of Head Department of Customs Control.

Following the presentation, Mr. Samad Garalov answered to the specific inquiries of participants and the meeting was followed by discussions. More

On 21 February 2019, AHK Azerbaijan organised the next meeting within the framework of its Tax, Customs and Legal Affairs Working Group at the AHK Azerbaijan office.

At this meeting, the participants were informed about the changes made to tax legislation, as well as planned changes to labour legislation by Rizvan Gubiyev, tax expert and Simuzar Feyzullayeva, legal expert of KPMG Azerbaijan.

The event was concluded with a productive Q&A session. More

On 26 July 2018, AHK Azerbaijan organised the next meeting within the framework of its Tax, Customs and Legal Affairs Working Group at the AHK Azerbaijan office.

The honorary guest speaker of the meeting was Mr. Elnur Suleymanov, Head of Employment Policy and Demography division of the Labour and Social Protection Ministry.

The participants were given an overview of the current situation in the labour and social insurance sphere in Azerbaijan and Mr. Suleymanov presented the action plan of the Ministry by elaborating on the planned reform Agenda. Moreover, he invited the companies to provide inputs and recommendations for the development of existing framework in the relevant field.

The event was concluded with a productive Q&A session. More

On 4 May 2018, the German-Azerbaijani Chamber of Commerce (AHK Azerbaijan) organized the Kick-off meeting of the “Tax and Legal Affairs” AHK Working Group at AHK Azerbaijan Conference Room. The meeting was attended by 30 representatives from relevant member companies of AHK Azerbaijan.

The principal objective of the meeting was to explore difficulties in tax sphere and gather suggestions of the participants.

At the beginning of the meeting, Mr Farid Isayev, deputy chairman of AHK Azerbaijan welcomed the participants. Mr İsayev informed the participants about productive discussions of AHK Azerbaijan’s board of directors with the Minister of Taxes of Azerbaijan Republic recently and offered help in facilitating the announced tax reforms.

The beginning speech was followed by a discussion of participants from several industries. Company representatives noted the difficulties they faced in the tax field and gave their verbal suggestions in terms of the improvement of the Tax Legislations of the Republic of Azerbaijan. More