YEREVAN, August 7. /ARKA/. Starting January 1, 2025, Armenia will introduce legislative changes affecting the refund of income tax on mortgage interest payments, the State Revenue Committee of Armenia announced on Wednesday.

The changes, outlined in Article 160 of the Tax Code, will remove income tax refunds on mortgage interest paid by individuals employed as wage earners for:

• Mortgages taken out after January 1, 2027, if the property is located, being built, or will be built in Aragatsotn, Ararat, Armavir, and Kotayk provinces.
• Mortgages taken out after January 1, 2029, if the property is in Shirak, Lori, Tavush, Gegharkunik, Vayots Dzor, or Syunik provinces.

The exceptions to these rules are properties located or under construction in border settlements listed by the government.

Additionally, the amendments set a cap on the total refundable income tax amount per quarter at 750,000 drams.

The SRC also noted that income tax refunds for mortgages taken out after January 1, 2025, will not apply to properties in Yerevan. However, this restriction does not apply to apartments in multi-apartment buildings or private homes under construction with permits issued before January 1, 2022.

Since 2015, Armenia has had a program for refinancing mortgage interest through income tax refunds paid to the state budget, with a limit of 55 million drams on property price and a maximum tax refund of 1.5 million drams per three months.

Amendments to the Tax Code enacted in 2021 have progressively eliminated refunds for properties purchased in new buildings in various zones of Yerevan, with full elimination in the entire city starting January 1, 2025.

In 2023, the SRC reported that approximately 52 billion drams were refunded to 38,911 beneficiaries under the mortgage interest tax refund program.