Lawyer comments on government policy to organize `prosperous and  carefree` life for Armenian citizens

ArmInfo. Lawyer Varazdat Harutyunyan gave a clear example of how the state policy works to organize a "prosperous and carefree" life for Armenian citizens.

As the lawyer explained on his Facebook page, while the bill on  transferring advocacy to the general taxation system was adopted by  the standing committee on economic issues of the National Assembly in  1 day, the parliamentary bill on increasing tax rates for bookmaking,  which has become a scourge for Armenia, is constantly being  postponed.

Harutyunyan drew attention to the fact that as a result of the new  law, the taxation of advocacy, which is the most important component  of legal assistance enshrined in the Constitution of Armenia, has  increased approximately 6 times. "Meanwhile, the parliamentary bill  on increasing tax rates for bookmaking, which has become a national  disaster and tragedy, has been under consideration for several  months. Members of the economic commission of the same National  Assembly continue to delay its discussion, calling for "caution and  avoidance of hasty decisions," the lawyer explained, adding that this  is just one example of how state policy works to organize the  "prosperous and carefree" life of citizens.

Earlier, the National Assembly of Armenia's Committee on Economic  Affairs issued a positive opinion on the amendments to the Tax Code  submitted by Hayk Sargsyan, a member of the National Assembly from  the ruling Civil Contract faction, at the first reading. Thus,  according to the proposed amendments, the gambling sector of Armenia  may be subject to a 10% turnover tax in addition to the existing  taxes and duties. Sargsyan was outraged by the fact that the taxation  of small and medium-sized businesses was increased to 10%, while the  gambling sector, which has become a serious headache for citizens,  continues to operate in comfortable "privileged conditions". He also  admitted that the legislative changes adopted over the past 5 years  aimed at restricting the gambling business have not met expectations.  For this reason, as Sargsyan noted, it is necessary to increase the  tax burden again. In turn, Deputy Minister of Finance of the Republic  of Armenia Arman Poghosyan reported that the presented document was  not discussed in the Armenian government, and, therefore, the  executive body does not have any position on it. At the same time, he  noted that the state duty currently applied also applies to bets on  games with winnings.

We will add that in connection with the amendments initiated by the  government, which were adopted by parliament, the taxation of legal  activity will increase from the current 5% to more than 30%. In  addition, the accounting procedure will change: if previously it was  conducted on the basis of turnover, now it will be necessary to take  into account expenses, which will lead to additional costs.

Lawyers criticized this initiative of the authorities, noting that  this will significantly increase the cost of their services for  citizens and may lead to a situation where certain segments of the  population will be deprived of the opportunity to use legal  assistance.