18 August 2017, 00:24
Azeri tax inspectors to check seven years of “Turan” activity
The Azerbaijani Ministry of Taxes has decided to study financial documents of the “Turan” News Agency since 2010. The agency’s lawyer treats this decision as illegal.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on August 16, the employees of the above Ministry confiscated the agency’s financial documents, electronic data carriers and journalists’ personal data.
On August 7, the Department for Preliminary Investigation of Tax Crimes under the Azerbaijani Ministry of Taxes initiated a preliminary investigation into the criminal case against the news agency "Turan". According to Mekhman Aliev, the agency's director, the agency "Turan" is charged with a tax debt in the amount exceeding 37,000 manats (22,000 US dollars). The agency "Turan" has found the tax authorities' actions illegal and filed a complaint to the court.
The Department of Preliminary Investigation of Tax Offences under the above Ministry will examine the “Turan”’s work not for the period from 2014 to 2016, as it was decided on August 7, but for the period since October 1, 2010 to August 1, 2017. According to Mekhman Aliev, the director of the agency, he was notified about it on August 17; and nobody explained the reasons for expanding the period, he told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. The bank accounts of the agency are frozen, he added.
"The new decision of the Department of Tax Offences, same as the previous one, is absolutely unjustified," said Fuad Agaev, a lawyer. In his opinion, the extension of the period had to do with inspectors’ desire "to find something in past years". "However, according to the legislation, taxes can be calculated, and financial sanctions can be applied only for the last three years," Fuad Agaev told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.
Author: Faik Medzhid Source: CK correspondent
