CONSUMERS AGAINST SHADE ECONOMY

Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR)
17 Dec 04

Recently the NKR National Assembly discussed the NKR bill on cash
registers. The bill maintains the forms of liability in case of the
absence of cash registers or breaking of the rules of their operation
in an obligatory use of cash registers. The obligatory use of cash
registers was introduced by the decision N 250 of the NKR government
adopted on November 24, 1998. The use of the cash registers is a
means of revealing the shade economy and reducing it. It should be
mentioned that at the beginning the process was very slow due to
technical problems but during the past two years it was expedited and
presently very few shops and services do not have cash registers. The
first rank specialist of the State Tax Agency under the NKR government
Anahit Beglarian told that the retailers occupying more than 10 square
metres of space, as well as casinos, baths, hotels, restaurants,
cafes, cafeterias, pharmacies, and persons paying the trade tax
according to the NKR law on trade tax must have cash registers.
Since 2000 778 cash registers were installed in NKR of which 468
in the capital. The registration of cash registers used by shops
and services is done in 7 days after submitting all the necessary
documents to the tax agency. Anahit Beglarian also informed that in
case of obligatory use of cash registers the taxpayer pays a fine of
150 thousand drams in case of keeping financial records without cash
registers or breaking the rules of their usage. If it repeats within
a year after the imposition of the fine the taxpayer is liable to a
fine of 300 thousand drams. According to the bill, the size of the
fine imposed for the first case of breaking the rules of the cash
register is reduced to 75 thousand drams and in case breaking repeats
the taxpayer is fined 150 thousand drams and his activity is stopped
for five days. In case of breaking the rules for more than 2 times the
size of the fine totals 300 thousand drams and the activity is stopped
for 10 days. To check the operation of cash registers the workers of
the tax agency sometimes do shopping. According to Anahit Beglarian,
the behaviour of the consumer has a significant role in fighting
shade economy. If every buyer demands check for the goods he bought,
he will contribute to the economic and social growth of the country,
which in its turn will result in the payment of salaries, pensions
and benefits on time.

LAURA GRIGORIAN.

17-12-2004