A UNDP Experts Team visited Yerevan last week within the framework of the Tax for SDGs Initiative, funded by the Governments of Finland and  Norway, to support the Government of Armenia in implementing tax policies and administration reforms for achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

The UNDP mission had a series of events involving key ministries, UNDP specialists, other partners and donors operating in Armenia.

The main objective of the visit was to foster the implementation of the Country Engagement Plan, agreed between the Government of Armenia and UNDP, blending Armenia’s national financial priorities and the SDGs with a specific focus on taxation.

More specifically, under the Country Engagement Plan, UNDP is closely cooperating with the Ministry of Finance and the State Revenue Committee to better align the taxation system to the SDGs with a core point on tax expenditures, define tax policies to enhance good health and wellbeing through the reduction of tobacco consumption and sugary drinks,  enhance the tax administration’s capacity to tackle aggressive tax planning exploiting digitalization opportunities such as creating a digital forensic laboratory.

UNDP Resident Representative in Armenia  Natia Natsvlishvili received the  mission and expressed UNDP’s support to Armenia’s development agenda and ongoing reforms.

During the meetings with Deputy Minister of Finance A. Poghosyan, the RA State Revenue Commette and the Ministry of Health officials, they discussed the main policy implications of the Tax for SGD initiative as well as priorities and current challenges. Workshops were also organized, involving experts from the key ministries and tax administration, to introduce the SDG Taxation Framework with focus on domestic resource mobilization and health that constitutes an essential tool to leverage tax policies for the achievement of the SDGs.

UNDP delegates also met with the development partners and donor community representatives in Armenia to discuss tax policy and administration priorities and existing capacity building work related to tax and health with the view to create possible synergies and foster cooperation among organizations operating in the country.

The mission was concluded with a meeting with Armenian authorities to present the preliminary results of the self-assessment conducted during the workshops according to the SDG taxation framework that will be officialy launched in July 2023 at the High Level Political Forum in New York.