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Armenia’s Finance Ministry may review luxury tax regulations- press digest
YEREVAN, October 11. /ARKA/. Armenia’s Finance Ministry may reconsider the approved legal amendments to luxury tax, specifically related to expensive cars, according to the article published in “Golos Armenii” (Voice of Armenia) newspaper on Thursday.
The article says the approximate income from the so-called luxury tax, which had been projected by Finance Ministry before the excise tax law application, totaled nearly 1 billion drams. The amendments were adopted at the end of the last year, “disturbing the rich just a little bit.”
Against the outlook of the authorities, after imposition of this tax, car sails in Armenia significantly tumbled, overshadowing even the results of a crisis 2009 year, the article states.
The State Revenue Committee reports that within the first half of 2012 Armenia imported 28 cars subject to the new tax. For comparison, last year this figure was 310, and 225- a year earlier.
The fact that the new tax didn’t result in positive outcomes can be concluded from its fiscal effects too. Over the past three years the income to budget from such car imports was ranging from 1714,5 million drams in 2009 to 3090,9 million in 2011.
A sharp slip was reported in the first half of this year: the revenue was just 460.8 million drams heeding the fact that this time the imported cars were imposed by 20% excise tax.
At the same time, spokeswoman for Finance Ministry Irina Ayvazyan states that the real impact of the tax will be felt by the end of this year.
“But as a tax sector is a living organism that demands a constant corrections of approaches, it is possible that the approved legal amendments will be reviewed in future,” the newspaper quotes Ayvazyan. -0-
15:32 11.10.2012
