ArmInfo.The government of Armenia at this stage decided to abandon the controversial points of the draft amendments to the Tax Code. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced this on February 13 from the rostrum of the parliament, referring to the restrictions on specialized activities envisaged by the document.
To note, the draft law "On Amendments and Additions to the Tax Code of the Republic of Armenia", presented by the Ministry of Finance, plans to increase the non-taxable VAT threshold from the current 58.35 million ($ 120 thousand) to 115 million drams ($ 235 thousand), but excludes from the list of potential beneficiaries of the tax payers of representatives of specialized activities, in particular, accountants, auditors, lawyers and consultants. From January 1, 2020, the Ministry of Finance of Armenia also proposes to increase the preferential tax threshold for microbusiness to 24 million drams, but to establish that business entities that provide services in the field of accounting, advocacy, consulting and PR cannot be considered microenterprise.
According to the Prime Minister, initially the government considered microentrepreneurship as a policy aimed at overcoming poverty. With the same purpose, the financial authorities of the country decided to raise the preferential threshold from the previously planned 20 million to 24 million drams. "Within the framework of this logic, it will be unclear if we include representatives of specialized activities in the list of beneficiaries. It is assumed that a highly qualified specialist does not need this kind of assistance," Nikol Pashinyan explained.
As for the increase in the tax burden of accountants, auditors, lawyers and consultants as a result of establishing a "taboo" for activities in the field of regulating turnover tax, then, according to the prime minister, the authorities at this stage decided to refrain from such innovations. As it turned out, the tax administration body, the State Revenue Committee, does not have the appropriate software. "That is, we do not have the levers to ensure the application of this norm," Nikol Pashinyan said.