MINISTERS AND HEADS OF DEPARTMENTS MUST SUBMIT PROPOSALS ON TAX COLLECTION

Noyan Tapan
June 18, 2009

YEREVAN, JUNE 18, NOYAN TAPAN. Tax collection is currently the number
one problem of the Armenian government. Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan
said at the June 18 sitting of the government that this problem
concerns not only the State Revenue Committee, and all the departments
should help with its solution. "Our departments are very indifferent to
this problem. If there is an opportunity for organizations under the
jurisdiction of a department not to pay taxes, the department’s heads
wink at it. It is an unacceptable approach," the prime minister said.

By his instruction, within 3 days the heads of all the departments must
submit proposals on what steps should be taken in their respective
sectors in order to help the State Revenue Committee with tax
collection. According to T. Sargsyan, there is great potential for
tax collection in health sector as serious accounting problems still
exist at many medical centers, as well as in agriculture, particularly
at big processing enterprises, also in transport and communication
sector and construction.

T. Sargsyan said that the economic decline in Armenia is mostly
conditioned by a fall in indices of the construction sector, which in
its turn has negatively affected all the sectors. There was a fall
in Russian investments made in Armenia’s construction in the first
five months of 2009 on the same period of 2008. "We should initiate
serious stimulating measures to deal with these problems," the prime
minister noted.