YEREVAN. – If someone asks me whether the Singapore “miracle” in terms of tax system can be applied in Armenia, I will definitely say no.

Chairman of the State Revenue Committee of Armenia, Davit Ananyan, who recently visited Singapore, stated the abovementioned at a press conference on Monday.

“[First,] the willingness to pay taxes is considered a very important event [in Singapore], from the viewpoint of national security; [but] unless we [Armenia] privatize it, we will not be able to apply their system [at us],” he explained, in particular. “Second, if they [Singapore] have formed an ideology that paying taxes is an element of patriotism from the viewpoint of national security, then the [Armenian] tax authority is obligated to form such a presumption within itself.

“[But] we have a presumption that any taxpayer has a wish to avoid paying taxes in any way. (…). We have a culture coming from the USSR that deceiving the state, stealing from the state is events worthy of respect.”