The Sustainable Artisanal Mining (SAM) Project has been supporting the “Human Rights for Journalists” club throughout 2017. During on the meetings this year, Bank of Mongolia Market Sector Senior Specialist D. Altansukh made a presentation on “The Bank of Mongolia’s involvement in the supply chain of gold extracted through artisanal and small-scale mining”; D. Bayaraa, Chief of the Minerals and International Taxation Department of the State Budget and Income and Monitoring Division of the General Department of Taxation, presented on “Understanding taxation and its significance”; and D. Bekhbat, Chief of the Assay Department presented on “The Involvement of the Assay Department in the gold supply chain through artisanal and small-scale mining”.

The Bank of Mongolia charges a 2.5 percent royalty tax on individuals selling gold and a 5 percent royalty tax on gold sold on the market, and currently requires no more than state identification and a certificate of the given enterprise. Gold sales have risen as a result of the adaptation to the daily price of gold on the London Stock Market.

The Bank of Mongolia and the Assay Department are working to establish a one-stop shop in rural areas, which would bring the bank’s services closer to citizens and enterprises in the countryside, benefitting them through direct sales of gold at world market prices without having to go through a middleman, said the Bank of Mongolia’s Market Department Senior Specialist D. Altansukh.

D. Bayaraa also spoke about the taxation percentage on individual and enterprise income tax, Mongolia’s budget collected through taxation, and tax exemptions.