Retail jewelers  losing their competitiveness. Armenian Ministry of  Finance has a solution

ArmInfo. Retail jewelers are rapidly losing their competitiveness due to the tax amendments that came into effect in January 2025, resulting in higher prices for gold jewelry compared to neighboring countries. This was stated by Karen Martirosyan, an individual entrepreneur representing the sector,  during a parliamentary hearing on February 7.

Martirosyan highlighted that the sector is struggling with increased  production costs following the legislative changes, making Armenian  jewelers' products less attractive to buyers from countries like  Russia, Kazakhstan who now prefer to buy gold from neighboring  countries.

Deputy Finance Minister Arman Poghosyan responded by stating that the  government has considered how to make the value-added tax system more  appealing to representatives of the jewelry industry.  The Finance  Ministry highlighted the experience of neighboring countries noting  that in some countries, raw gold and diamonds are exempt from VAT,  while the final product is already taxed. said the Deputy  Minister In addition, the Finance Ministry representative stated that  if  90% of all sales are generated by tourists, a reasonable question  arises - why not transition to operating in the VAT mode, where the  Tax free system is in place.

Tax expert Tigran Keyan argues that the Tax free system benefits the  buyer - VAT is refunded on purchases made by foreign citizens when  they leave the country where the purchases were made. noted Poghosyan.