Legal and Tax Issues

Does the state apply tax incentives to entrepreneurs?

At present, the Azerbaijani government has not made any decision on the tax obligations of entrepreneurs and providing them with benefits.

Albeit, the deadlines for filing tax returns during March, which coincide with non-working days, have been extended to April 6, 2020 due to the extension of non-working days.

At the same time, the tax authority recommended that taxpayers do not approach the service centres unless there is a special need, prefer to do the paperwork online, and make an appointment in advance to obtain ready-made documents.

Are fines imposed on persons engaged in commercial activities in connection with violation of the special quarantine regime?

In accordance with the amendments adopted to the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Republic of Azerbaijan, fines were imposed for violation of the anti-epidemic regime, sanitary-hygienic and quarantine regimes. Thus, according to Article 211 of the Code, for violation of the anti-epidemic regime, sanitary-hygienic and quarantine regimes - individuals are fined from 100 to 200 manat, officials from 1,500 to 2,000 manat, or depending on the circumstances of the case, taking into account the identity of the perpetrator, the administrative arrest is applied for up to 1 month, legal entities are fined in the amount of 2000 to 5000 manat.

However, due to the limited scope of this regime at present, fines are applied to specific business activities.

Can the current quarantine regime be considered a force majeure situation for commercial purposes?

According to civil law, the failure to fulfil the relevant obligation on civil relations is required for this regime to be considered a force majeure case. However, the conditions determining the force majeure may be determined differently in the contract. For this reason, in each case, it is necessary to determine whether the current situation is a real reason for the failure to fulfil a civil obligation.