BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 27. The forecast for excise taxes on domestically produced goods was not fully met last year in Azerbaijan, despite the generally strong overall excise tax performance and the sector’s relatively high potential, the review of the Chamber of Accounts on the draft law "On the implementation of the state budget for 2024" said, Trend reports.
Last year, the excise tax forecast was executed at 1.56 billion manat ($923 million) against a forecast of 1.55 billion manat ($920 million), mainly due to excise taxes on imported goods.
The forecast for excise taxes on domestically made products was 1.37 billion manat ($811 million), but the actual amount collected was 1.35 billion manat ($800 million), falling short by 16.7 million manat (1.2 percent). Of the total revenue, 49.9 percent, or 674 million manat ($399 million), came from the oil sector, and 50.1 percent, or 677.3 million manat ($401 million) - from the non-oil sector.
Excise taxes from the oil sector amounted to 674 million manat ($399 million) against a forecast of 698 million manat ($413 million). The annual report on the 2024 state budget execution linked this shortfall to a lower-than-expected volume of domestically made and sold petroleum products.
However, despite an increase in the actual excise amount calculated for SOCAR (State Oil Company of Azerbaijan) by 3.4 percent or 24.2 million manat ($14.3 million) in 2024 compared to 2023, the excise paid to the budget by SOCAR increased only by 0.7 percent or 4.7 million manat ($2.8 million). The paid excise amount in 2023 accounted for 92.7 percent of the real calculated excise of 722 million manat ($427 million), while in 2024, this indicator decreased by 2.4 percentage points to 90.3 percent of the real calculated excise of 746.2 million manat ($441 million).
Under the tax legislation, serious measures are in place to prevent the delivery of goods if the taxpayer owes excise tax payments. Despite this, the unpaid excise amount for SOCAR was 52.6 million manat ($31 million) in 2023 and increased to 72.2 million manat ($42.5 million) in 2024.
Thus, despite sufficient potential resources to exceed the forecast for excise taxes on domestically produced goods, this potential hasn't been fully untapped.
