ArmInfo. A draft law on amendments to the Tax Code, proposed by the Bright Armenia faction, introducing the principle of tax compensation for mortgages for the secondary housing market in the regions of Armenia, received a negative opinion at a meeting of the parliament's autumn session.
The head of the faction, Edmon Marukyan, from the rostrum of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia stated that housing construction is developing only in Yerevan and thus tax compensation only works for residents of Yerevan, and in the regions, buying a house is not practiced and not stimulated. In this regard, the bill provides the right to compensation to residents of regions who buy housing not only in the primary, but in the secondary market. The absence of this mechanism leads to the fact that residents of the regions who receive high income buy housing from developers in Yerevan, which leads to the demographic concentration of the capital.
<We propose that this discrimination be eliminated. In this case, people in Gyumri, Vanadzor, Kapan will be able to buy apartments on the secondary market and compensate their interest on income tax paid on their salaries, as is done when buying on the primary market in Yerevan>, said Marukyan.
Babken Tunyan, the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia for Economic Affairs, noted that at first glance, the bill pursues good goals, but numerous risks are hidden under it. <The purpose of this project was actually to stimulate development, and development, in turn, generates taxes, thanks to which it would be possible to compensate for budget expenditures. Now Mr. Marukyan says that this is discrimination against residents of the region, but in reality, if we accept this proposal, it turns out that this is discrimination against residents of Yerevan, as the capital also has a problem with providing housing, and therefore the adoption of amendments will mean discrimination against residents of the capital>, said Tunyan, noting that the proposed amendments have risks in the implementation of fictitious transactions, as a result of which damage to the state from these transactions can amount to tens of millions AMD rows.
According to Tunyan, the main task should be not to provide people with cheap apartments in the secondary market, but to start housing construction in the regions and increase demand in the primary market. Tunyan added that the inclusion of this project in the agenda of plenary meetings does not make sense.
Thus, the bill was not included in the agenda of plenary meetings.