No tax amnesty will be declared, head of Armenia’s state revenue committee says
07.06.2019,
17:42
No tax amnesty will be declared in Armenia, the head of the State Revenue Committee (SRC) David Ananyan said on Friday in response to a question about how the agency was going to resolve the situation with the accumulated unpaid taxes.
YEREVAN, June 7. /ARKA/. No tax amnesty will be declared in Armenia, the head of the State Revenue Committee (SRC) David Ananyan said on Friday in response to a question about how the agency was going to resolve the situation with the accumulated unpaid taxes.
According to Ananyan, tax amnesty is not a good tool. "We are not going to announce a tax amnesty. The government will not take such a step, because it makes taxpayers dishonest when it comes to the fulfillment of their tax obligations," said Ananyan.
At the same time, he said there is still a lot of work to be done in the area of tax administration; in particular, to investigate tax statements and the reasons why taxes were not paid and to take separate decisions on each case.
"All cases of tax arrears should be investigated individually and, if necessary, a decision should be taken at the level of the government and the parliament, " said Ananyan.
Besides, according to him, because of legally awarded tax breaks, tax officers collect 440 billion drams less in tax revenues.
"I believe that tax breaks should be awarded to companies which really need them, not to sectors," said Ananyan.
He said also that services account for the largest share of the so-called shadow turnover. According to him, the bulk is in the retail sector, where business entities hide turnover and the tax base. In his words, larger businesses are easier to oversee.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in February that according to the estimates of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Armenia’s informal economy stood at about 40% “I don’t know how realistic these figures are, but I think they are very close to reality,” said Pashinyan.
He also said the fight against informal economy was expected to raise 62 billion drams or more than $128 million additionally in tax revenue in 2019 alone. ($1 – 579.57 drams). -0-
According to Ananyan, tax amnesty is not a good tool. "We are not going to announce a tax amnesty. The government will not take such a step, because it makes taxpayers dishonest when it comes to the fulfillment of their tax obligations," said Ananyan.
At the same time, he said there is still a lot of work to be done in the area of tax administration; in particular, to investigate tax statements and the reasons why taxes were not paid and to take separate decisions on each case.
"All cases of tax arrears should be investigated individually and, if necessary, a decision should be taken at the level of the government and the parliament, " said Ananyan.
Besides, according to him, because of legally awarded tax breaks, tax officers collect 440 billion drams less in tax revenues.
"I believe that tax breaks should be awarded to companies which really need them, not to sectors," said Ananyan.
He said also that services account for the largest share of the so-called shadow turnover. According to him, the bulk is in the retail sector, where business entities hide turnover and the tax base. In his words, larger businesses are easier to oversee.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in February that according to the estimates of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Armenia’s informal economy stood at about 40% “I don’t know how realistic these figures are, but I think they are very close to reality,” said Pashinyan.
He also said the fight against informal economy was expected to raise 62 billion drams or more than $128 million additionally in tax revenue in 2019 alone. ($1 – 579.57 drams). -0-
