DIASPORA BUSINESSMAN URGES ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT TO REFORM TAX COLLECTION
2010/ 02/24 | 10:47
Society
Dear public servants of Armenia,
Some of your recent efforts at increasing tax revenues in Armenia have
resulted in excessive encroachment into businesses and have created
a negative environment for running a successful business in Armenia.
Specifically, empowering tax authorities to interfere in the internal
affairs of the jewelry industry is wrong and requiring outdoor small
vendors to install cash registers is excessive.
A large part of the solution for better tax collection in Armenia
can be found by simply changing the way large payments for business
transactions are made in Armenia.
Just like in America, where purchasing a car from the dealership
or a house with cash transaction of money is illegal, a similar
law should apply in Armenia. If larger payments in Armenia were
done electronically with cards or checks, where the transaction
is recorded via a bank, tax collectors could easily track the most
important transactions made in Armenia and hence collect more taxes.
It is interesting that in Armenia using checks for transfer of money
is unheard of and banks do not offer personal or business checks
to their customers. Even most house purchases in Armenia today are
routinely done with cash money transfers and a proper escrow system
has not been set up for the transfer of money via a bank.
So, without wishing to insult your intelligence, it is simply petty
of you to be going after small time vendors in Armenia with such due
diligence, since the most important work for creating solutions for
tax collection by large vendors have not been put in place.
Until you change the transaction method for the bulk of cash payments
in Armenia, you will not be able to achieve proper tax collection
for Armenia and build this country’s budget the way it should be.
Pedro Zarokian Yerevan, Armenia