ArmInfo.Chairman of the State Revenue Committee (SRC) of Armenia, David Ananyan, is positive about the consensus with the owners of cafes and restaurants. He told this to journalists on January 10, referring to high-profile tax changes in the restaurant business.
David Ananyan reminded that he had met with representatives of the restaurant sphere, after which he presented all their concerns. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. In the near future, there will also be a meeting of representatives of the catering industry, relevant departments and public organizations with the acting. the prime minister. "I hope that during these discussions we will all come to some kind of consensus," Ananyan said.
According to the head of the SRC, when in 2017 the government was studying the possibility of a transition to the new regime, representatives of the restaurant business assured that if taxes were within 4-5%, then they would not be able to raise prices for services. "Now we need to jointly decide under which taxation mechanism the industry will not face risks so important for the development of tourism and agriculture," he said. Recall that in Armenia, from July 1, 2018, new tax rules came into force - the patent tax for restaurants (tax per square meter) was replaced by a 6% VAT. On January 1, 2019, the tax will increase to 8%, and from 2020 to 10%. At the end of November 2018, the Restaurant Union of Armenia announced that they were ready to close their doors for one day in protest. As they say, restaurateurs cannot fix their expenses, since they do not issue checks on the markets. And tax deductions can be made only with certified purchase invoices. The association also requires not to initiate tax rate changes in the next five years. According to restaurateurs, the profitability of their business is 10-15%, and not at all 30%, as officials responsible for tax policy mistakenly believe. In addition, a sharp rise in prices will hit domestic consumption, the development of tourism, especially gastronomic tourism. They propose to establish a threshold for tax on turnover of no more than 3%.