Important steps were taken in the Azerbaijani economy in 2019 to increase its transparency and reduce the scale of the shadow economy, Azerbaijani Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov said.

Jabbarov made the remarks in Baku at the press-conference entitled “Tax Reforms: From Shadows to the Light”.

Azerbaijani Minister of Economy Mikayil Jabbarov, representatives of the Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Taxes and the management of the Central Bank of Azerbaijan attended the conference.

The minister stressed that the measures have been taken recently to establish transparent business relations according to the state-business scheme.

“Azerbaijan laid the foundation for a new transformation of these relations and introduced soft tax control,” Jabbarov added. “Moreover, the business itself, although partially, comes out of the 'shadow' as a result of using new mechanisms of tax incentives.”

"In general, the positive approach of the business community to the format of new relations once again proves the correctness of the ongoing policy while their transparency is the choicelessness," Jabbarov added.

The minister stressed that the tax system plays a big role in economic regulation and is an important tool of one of the main goals - the development of entrepreneurship in the context of the economic development of the country as a whole.

Touching upon business activity and business flexibility, the minister emphasized that a big number of small and medium-sized enterprises today create a solid foundation for employment and sustainable economy, which again shows the importance of bringing the economy to a high level of transparency.

The minister also congratulated those involved in the tax system on their professional holiday and stressed the great role of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in the development of the Azerbaijani tax system through ongoing state programs as part of the economic reforms.

Earlier, President Aliyev unequivocally stated at the conference dedicated to the results of the first year of the implementation of the “State Program for the Socio-Economic Development of the Regions of the Republic of Azerbaijan in 2019-2023” that it is necessary, first of all, to increase the effectiveness of the fight against the shadow economy to bring the national economy to a new qualitative level.

In accordance with the data presented by the president, thanks to the reforms carried out in this sphere, the tax and customs bodies transferred more than one billion manat ($588.2 million) in 2019 to the budget beyond the forecast.

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