ARMENIA COLLECT MORE TAXES THAN PROJECTED

ArmenPress
29 Oct. 2004

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 29, ARMENPRESS: Armenian tax authorities collected
176.3 billion drams in the first nine months of the year, 1 percent
more than projected. Tax revenues have increased almost 20 percent
against the same time span of last year.

The finance and economy ministry said in a press release that one of
the reasons behind higher rate of tax collection was the weaker US
dollar against the national currency Dram. It said the US Dollar’s
has a significant impact on the budget, connected with a big ratio of
incomes received from the sale of imported goods. The ministry said
some progress was observed in collection of direct taxes. It said
some 40.7 percent of tax revenues, 82.8 billion drams, came from VAT,
of which nearly 57 billion drams were levied on the border and the
rest from the domestic turnover of goods and services.

The volume of collected VAT over the same time of last year grew
by 6.5 billion drams or 8.5 percent. Revenues from excise taxes
constituted 29.8 billion drams, accounting for 16.9 percent of all
tax revenues. Some 19.7 billion drams came from goods subject to
excise taxes, of which 11 billion from petrol imports and almost 7.3
billion from import of cigarettes. Excise taxes from domestically
manufactured goods made 10.1 billion drams, of which 5. billion were
from cigarette sale. The growth in excise taxes collection against
the same time of last year stood at 6.8 percent or 1.9 billion drams.

Revenues from income taxes made 14.6 billion drams, a 26.3 percent
growth against last year’s nine months, coming mostly from higher
payroll taxes. Profit taxes made 21.8 billion drams, an 88.6 percent
or 10.2 billion growth against last year.

Also 8.5 billion drams came as customs duties, 18 percent more than
in last year’s nine months. Other revenues came from simplified taxes
and other areas of entrepreneurship.