ArmInfo. The conditions for career advancement within the State Revenue Committee (SRC) will change in Armenia. At its February 4 meeting, the National Assembly's Committee on Economic Affairs approved the amendments to the Law "On Tax Service" and related legislation submitted by the government.
According to SRC Deputy Chairman Hamlet Sahakyan, current regulations allow positions within the Committee to be filled by individuals who have successfully completed a training course, received a certificate of completion from a training center, and are included in the list of SRC employee candidates. The drafts envisage excluding the requirement for completing training from the requirements for appointment to positions in the tax or customs services. This change is due to the need to regulate issues arising from law enforcement practices, in particular to eliminate discriminatory practices and ensure uniformity in the conditions of appointment for all citizens, including tax and customs service employees. At the same time, customs and tax officers will be provided with adequate professional training, and the tax and customs services will be staffed with qualified, competent, and well-mannered personnel. Furthermore, as a separate condition of appointment, the right to promotion will be established based on the results of an annual performance appraisal of tax and customs officers, determined by their functional characteristics. Positive results obtained during the twice-yearly interviews will serve as grounds for promotion. The regulation defining the procedure for filling positions in the unit performing operational and investigative functions has been declared invalid. Employees in this category will now be appointed to positions in accordance with the requirements approved for all positions.
Currently, the list of professions required for appointment to positions in the tax service is approved by the Deputy Prime Minister. This provision is no longer in effect in the new package. Now, higher education and a passport will be used as the basis for appointment to each specific position.
The package also regulates the requirement for interviews and training at a center for individuals with many years of professional experience. It is planned to define tax and customs service positions by group, taking into account the need for specificity and the results of law enforcement practice. Specifically, the following positions are defined by group: senior tax service positions (head of tax authority department), key tax service positions (deputy head of tax authority department), chief tax authority specialist, chief tax inspector of the tax authority, and chief operational officer of the tax authority. It is stipulated that during the six months preceding the maximum age for holding a position in the State Revenue Committee services, as well as in the event of an extension of the service of a tax and customs service employee for up to one year after reaching the maximum age, the possession of a valid passport confirming completion of training during the specified period is not mandatory. It is established that, for the purposes of training tax and customs service employees, the training center shall organize and conduct recruitment for training at least once a year. For the purposes of this part, management positions shall be considered to be the positions of department head, deputy department head, and division head. The recruitment procedure, among other requirements, stipulates the procedure for forming the recruitment committee, the methodology for completing the reliability questionnaire, reviewing and evaluating the questionnaire, as well as relations related to providing assistance to the tax and customs authorities and their subordinate organizations in organizing and conducting recruitment. It is stipulated that a citizen who, within one calendar year preceding the date of filing an application for recruitment, received a negative assessment based on the results of two interviews may not participate in the recruitment. It is also recorded that by completing the due diligence form, the individual consents to the request and receipt by tax and customs authorities of information from government agencies and other persons confirming the information provided in the due diligence form, as part of the review of the due diligence form.
Based on the interview results, the participant receives a positive or negative assessment. Within five business days of the final assessment of the advanced training course, the training center issues a training certificate electronically to those who successfully complete the course. The certificate is valid for three years and is in a form approved by the head of the State Revenue Committee. If the training center has not conducted advanced training courses in the calendar year preceding the certificate's expiration, the certificate's validity is extended until the certificate is issued. Employees who have completed 60 academic hours of training at the training center in the last two years and successfully passed the entrance exam and interview for the advanced training course are considered to have successfully completed the advanced training course and receive a certificate corresponding to their position.
