ArmInfo. From a conceptual point of view, changes to the draft law on banking secrecy, as well as insurance and insurance activities, in which there is an actual abandonment of the principle of bank secrecy, are unacceptable. Lawyer Arsen Sardaryan, a member of the Mantashyants Entrepreneurs Union, gave a similar assessment.
According to him, the adoption of amendments to the legislation, which actually allows non-judicial provision of information on citizens' funds to the tax authorities, will not only create unfavorable conditions for starting a business and exclude constitutional guarantees given to people, but will also significantly reduce trust in the banking system, creating threats and for investors.
"The bill is a sword in the hands of the State Revenue Committee, which will constantly hang over the heads of businessmen. "We do not call for giving the opportunity to hide taxes or do not call to do so, we are talking about maintaining internationally recognized legal guarantees, thanks to which the economy will be able to develop," Sardaryan said. According to him, with the adoption of the amendments, the work of the SRC will be simplified on the one hand, and on the other hand there are issues such as financial stability, fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens. At the same time, as the lawyer noted, business does not make any proposals on the developed bill, but simply suggests abandoning such an initiative. It should be reminded that the State Revenue Committee presented a package of amendments and additions to the Tax Code, the RA Laws "Banking Secrecy", "On Insurance and Insurance Activities". According to the authors of the initiative, it will allow for more correct, complete and comprehensive tax control and detection of economic crimes, especially in terms of obtaining factual data on the circumstances of understatement of tax liabilities as a result of transactions between residents of the Republic of Armenia and non-residents.
A few days earlier, the State Revenue Committee of the Republic of Armenia reported that these documents had been temporarily removed from the unified portal of legal acts (e-draft.am). The Committee informs that the package will be re-submitted for public discussion after making additions based on the results of comprehensive discussions with the Central Bank and other interested departments.
