ArmInfo. "There are some disparencies in the new Program of Armenian Government, which actually do not conform to the objectives targeted by the Government within that Program," Tigran Jrbashyan, famous expert in economy and the Board Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Armenia (AmCham), told a news conference on October 24 mentioning that the new Program looks mostly like a chronicle document, reflecting the current realities.
"I am not trying to seek a black cat in a dark place, if it is not there"-expert said, clarifying that the new Program appears more like some certain tactical guide on actions (particularly - like a number of arrangements to be held in nearest future), than a tool document to implement basic and strategic changes. We go on 'patching the holes'. This Program does not assume any implementation of new methods and new paths. That's why it should get an appropriate estimation,"- Jrbashyan accentuated.
The expert also stated that the new Tax Code is a legacy of the former Government team, but he doesn't share the view that today's authorities do not bear a liability for and adoption of a regulatory document, as far as it was possible to cancel that process. I strongly hoped that the adoption of the new Tax Code would be postponed with a purpose of clarifications and implementation of new approaches. But it happened just as it did,"- he noticed.
Within this, the expert stated that in case the Tax Code is approved, all the risks will remain the same. Particularly, he noted the constriction of the consumer market, external and domestic investments, continuous leakage of qualified professionals etc. According to Djrbashyan, the main problem is the incomplete concept of the document. "We keep using the same approaches implemented during recent decades. Of course, we should expect for some changes in upcoming few months, but it will be extremely hard to make any basic changes using this document," the expert stated.
According to Jrbashyan, from all the proposals regarding modifications to tax regulations just and only those integrated to the actual management concept were taken into consideration. In this context he added ":the proposals assuming essential changes in the taxation regulatory framework, have been rejected exactly for that reason, particularly, in respect to real estate taxes, as well as regarding health, education and agriculture."
We remind that Armenian National Assembly passed the second reading of the draft new Tax Code with 79 votes "for," 24 votes "against," and 1 "abstention" on September 29. The latest version of the Tax Code went criticized by business and expert communities of the country, because the document is conceptually aimed not to the development of the country, but to meet it's fiscal needs. This "rash" adoption of the document is caused not only by the fact that the prior Government didn't understand completely the targets of the country, but also by the reason that IMF forced the Government in relation to lend a subsequent financial aid package with a value of $ 130 mln. The new Government announced that it is intended to revise the new Tax Code without delaying the IMF shaped deadlines.
