How can Armenia equal with Africa by tax collection level?
To convince Armenian citizens of big business transparency is an
overwhelming task.

The RA State Revenue Committee overfulfilled the tax collection plan
in the first quarter of 2010. More than AMD 126.7bn entered the
national budget instead of the planned AMD 116.9bn, thus ensuring a
19% growth as compared with the same period of 2009.

April 12, 2010
PanARMENIAN.Net –

IMF resident representative in Armenia Guillermo Tolosa has darkened
such `bright’ statistical data, declaring that the ratio of tax
collection level to GDP in Armenia is lower than in African countries.
The IMF representative regretted to say that RA government’s measures
aiming to improve the tax administration system did not give a
desirable result and some reforms proceeded slower than expected. In
particular, IMF shared the concern of the authorities on the low level
of big business tax collection and advised the RA State Revenue
Committee controlling big taxpayers to work more actively.

Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan said that he fully agrees to
the criticism that the government does not properly control big
business, which also impedes development of small and medium-sized
businesses in the country. He also voiced anxiety that the burden of
tax commitments fell on SMBs and not big business and confessed that a
number of measures undertaken by the government for two years have not
produced satisfactory results.

As of April 1, 2010, the RA Ministry of Finance has already introduced
the list of 285 large taxpayers, whose annual profit exceeded AMD1bn
in 2009. The conclusion of the independent external audit on those
taxpayers’ activities will be published for the first time in this
connection. The publication will enable the public to watch the
activities of these economic entities as well as activities of
country’s state structures `so that no minister or MP will not have
his own business.’

As a matter of fact, no minister or MP runs his own business in
Armenia, but their `second aunts’ own big companies. So, to convince
Armenian citizens of big business transparency is an overwhelming
task.

Hripsime Hayrapetyan / PanARMENIAN News