ArmInfo."If a citizen's expenses significantly exceed official income, then tax officials may have questions regarding the sources of these funds." David Ananyan, Head of the State Revenue Committee (SRC) of Armenia said answering the question of ArmInfo on November 7, referring to the government's plans to introduce the institution of total declaring of income, technically ensuring this process through the mandatory introduction of ID cards among 18 up to 65 years old citizens.
According to Ananyan, the institution of paying taxes through tax agents should be replaced by the introduction of the institution of total declaration of citizens' incomes. In this context, citizens' ID cards can be a technical solution.
As Ananyan pointed out, if Armenia wants to take advantage of the best international experience in this field, have a comprehensive view of the incomes of the country's citizens and in a certain sense reduce the size of income tax payments by returning a certain amount from purchases to a savings card in the form of a cashback, then this way is the most rational one. "If the public does not approve the SRC tax reduction initiative, we will refrain from using ID-cards. Then we will tax income on the basis of an annual declaration," the head of the tax and customs committee said.
The system, according to the authors of the idea, will not be imperative. Every citizen is free to decide whether to use the bonus system or not. However, if at the end of the fiscal year, the tax agency finds out that certain purchases are not registered in the name of this taxpayer, then he/she will be deprived of the right to return certain interest. Thus, it is up to a citizen to pay more, or less, Ananyan noted.
At the same time, if the tax authorities eventually discover a large gap between revenues and expenditures, for example, if the taxpayer's expenses are 5 million drams and revenues 1 million drams, the tax authorities will have the right to inquire about the sources of origin of the amounts. "The state has the right to ask to show also those incomes that have given the opportunity to incur such expenses," he said. According to Ananyan, as a person, he understands the anxiety of citizens who hide their real incomes, but do not understand them being a tax administrator.
Earlier, ArmInfo reported that the State Revenue Committee of Armenia intends to come up with a proposal for amendments to the Tax Code. If the amendments are accepted, identification cards (ID-cards) will also serve as accumulation cards, they can also be used in shopping centers. As stated by the head of the SRC David Ananyan, special declarations will be prepared for people with ID-cards. "We will distribute all the devices for " reading "cards. Cash registers will determine the buyer, and when you buy something in the store, this product will be registered as purchased at the SRC. At the same time, 3% of all purchases will be returned to the citizen, " Ananyan said.