EIF CHAIRMAN PROPOSES TAX EXEMPTION FOR COMPUTER SALE
news.am
Nov 30 2009
Armenia
Armenian IT companies are among leaders on the world market,
while Armenia is among outsiders in terms of computer users, Bargat
Yengibaryan, Director of the Enterprises Incubator Foundation (EIF),
stated at the forum "IT leaders’ casual meeting" in Aghveran, Armenia,
on November 28-29.
This is evidence of the Government’s erroneous steps in developing the
Armenian IT sector, Yengibaryan said. He pointed out that the gaps can
yet be filled. Specifically, he proposes exemption of computer sale
from the value-added tax (VAT). "The measure will stimulate demand
and make computers affordable for socially vulnerable sections,"
Yengibaryan said.
He also reported the commencement of a pilot program "Computers for
everyone" in Armenia, which has already produced impressive results –
1,000 computers on average are sold a month.
Greater achievements can be expected if computers are exempted from
VAT. Yengibaryan proposed two ways of resolving the problem: exempting
computer sale from the VAT or channeling the tax revenues to social
problems in this field. The latter option will enable the Government
to provide more effective selective aid to socially vulnerable
families. "Our aims is to bring the percentage computer-literate
population from the current 5% up to 70% by 2018. It is an ambitious
task, which is impossible to accomplish without radical changes,"
Yengibaryan said.