YEREVAN. – The three non-government National Assembly (NA) forces—i.e., the Armenian National Congress, Prosperous Armenia (PAP), and Heritage Parties—have collected enough signatures, and therefore they will convene a special NA session on Monday to debate the new Law on Turnover Tax.

PAP NA Faction member, economist Mikayel Melkumyan, who is also Deputy Chairman of the NA Standing Committee on Economic Affairs, told the aforesaid to the hundreds of merchants who are protesting this new law, and who have assembled outside the NA building on Monday.

The developed, improved draft law, with a voluntary basis and a raised annual turnover threshold, is put on the agenda [of the NA session]. We support a quick resolution to the matter.

“They [, the government,] are postponing the law for the second time, now; that is, the government is unable to put the law into execution for one year. They likewise understand that there is a serious problem,” Melkumyan said.

The PAP MP also urged the merchants not to stop the fight, and assured them that they will support them in every way.

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.