Opposition Freedom Party Chairman, ex-presidential candidate, former PM, and opposition Armenian National Congress National Assembly Faction MP, economist Hrant Bagratyan stated the aforesaid during Tuesday’s NA debates on the new draft amendments to the Law on Turnover Tax.

He added that the whole world is making a transition to turnover tax for the small, medium-sized, and large businesses, and nothing obstructs Armenia from following this path; naturally, however, with different tax rates for the small and large businesses.      

“The matter is quite simple. If the [foot]ball is on the penalty spot, just take the penalty. Don’t reinvent the wheel, and do what they have thought of long before you,” Bagratyan said.

As reported earlier, pursuant to the new amendments and additions to the Law on Turnover Tax, which have come into force in Armenia on October 1, 2014, the tax rate for businesses in the country has dropped from 3.5 percent to one percent. But, now, the businesses will have to submit documents on their commodity circulation. And if a business enterprise does not submit a respective document, it will be warned at first, and, subsequently, it will be fined.

But these amendments and additions have caused a considerable protest among the country’s small and medium-sized merchants. In their view, asking for these documents from the large businesses is unrealistic because the large businesses often do not provide documents to the small and medium-sized enterprises concerning the products.

The government, on the other hand, justifies these amendments and additions with the need to prevent tax evasion by Armenia’s large businesses.

As a result of protests as well as talks with Armenia’s public sector, however, the government had decided to extend the aforementioned deadline for four months, until February 1. And during the special Cabinet meeting on January 31, it was decided to postpone for five more months, until July 1, the aforesaid law’s controversial requirement of documentation of products.