Wednesday, February 28 2018 12:50

ArmInfo. Representatives of  the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) with the head of  the US Ministry of Finance discussed prospects of concluding a new  Agreement on avoidance of double taxation with Armenia 

ANCA reports that recently, during a meeting of the International  Affairs Council in Los Angeles, between the US Treasury Secretary  Stephen Mnuchin and ANCA Chairman Raffi Hamparyan, a constructive  exchange of views on the conclusion of a new Agreement on avoidance  of double taxation, on the mutual benefit of Armenia and the United  States .  Noting that the purpose of such agreements to exclude  double taxation on trade and investment, the head of the US Treasury,  said: "We must be sure of the fairness of taxation of other countries  with respect to our companies doing business in these countries, and  vice versa." Member of the ANCA National Council Aida Dimejan  expressed satisfaction with the fact that the Committee's  representatives had an opportunity to share with the head of the US  Ministry of Finance the advantages of concluding a new treaty between  the US and RA on avoiding double taxation. According to her, it is  obvious that Secretary Mnuchin understands the benefits of a fair tax  treatment with American companies doing business in Armenia and vice  versa.  ANCA hopes for concrete progress already following the  results of the "long-awaited meeting", which will be held on March 19  in Washington, DC, as part of the meeting of the Council on the  framework agreement on trade and investment between Armenia and the  United States.  A month earlier, as reported by the ANCA, US Treasury  Secretary Stephen Mnuchin, "reacting to the growing interest of  congressmen regarding the revision of the existing document," said  that the Treasury Department will allocate the appropriate human  resources for studying the Treaty on Avoiding Double Taxation with  Armenia.

 Earlier, congressmen Brad Sherman and David Valadou initiated the  collection of signatures in the US Congress under the appeal to the  head of the Treasury to resume negotiations on the revision of the  existing double taxation regime between the United States and  Armenia, concluded even during the Cold War.  "About 30 congressmen  joined the initiative of Valadao and Sherman .

On February 11, RA Minister of Finance Vardan Aramyan told reporters  that the Armenian government plans to address the issue of excluding  double taxation between Armenia and the US in March 2018 - during the  regular meeting of the intergovernmental commission. Vardan Aramyan  reminded that the issue is permanently on the agenda of bilateral  relations. Recently, the processes in this direction have  intensified, most recently during the meeting between the head of the  Armenian Ministry of Finance and the US Ambassador to Armenia.  Nevertheless, the solution of the question is still marking time. "We  cite our arguments, they are our own, perhaps, on the other hand, we  need to approach the solution of this problem," the minister said. 

In any case, as the Armenian Ministry of Finance confidently states,  the absence of an agreement on the exclusion of double taxation  hinders the adoption of positive decisions by economic entities. Such  an example has already been fixed, Aramyan said. In particular,  Contour Global Hydro Cascade and CG Solutions Global Holding Company  (USA), which owns CJSC Vorotan Cascade of HPPs, entered the Armenian  market through a Luxembourg company. "This is quite logical: Armenia  and Luxembourg have an agreement on exclusion of double  taxation.This, in turn, inspires confidence about what the principles  of international taxation should be.If I am in the place of the head  of this company, I myself would make such a decision, "said Vardan  Aramyan. , the presence of a new contract of the edge it does not  matter if there is a desire to expand bilateral economic relations -  trade or investment.

It should be noted that the issue of exclusion of double taxation  between Armenia and the US has been discussed for over 20 years -  since 1994, the Armenian government has raised this issue. In 2000,  during the Armenian-American intergovernmental meeting, the issue of  the need to conclude a treaty was raised.  Since then, although  preparatory work is under way to conclude a treaty, in fact, the  talks themselves have not started. Earlier, Armenian Minister of  Finance Vardan Aramyan, responding to the question of ArmInfo,  recalled that in June 2017, Armenia joined the 15th Action  "Organization for the Development of Economic Cooperation in the  framework of the program to prevent the destruction of the tax base  and the transfer of profit" (BEPS), along with 68 countries around  the world, which makes it possible to interpret treaties against  double taxation in a uniform way. 

Becoming a party to the agreement, the country establishes clear  rules of the game in the tax field, and raises the reliability of the  country from the point of view of the investor. Armenia has similar  agreements with 47 countries, the last agreement was recently signed  with Israel. The purpose of these agreements is to eliminate double  taxation in foreign trade between the two states, to avoid tax  discrimination with respect to economic entities of the parties, to  exclude double taxation on property and income, and to create a  predictable and stable tax environment for business.