ArmInfo. Armenia will soften its approach to initiating criminal cases against businesses for tax evasion. At its plenary session on April 14, the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia will discuss in the first reading amendments to the Tax Code and a package of related laws submitted by the Armenian government.
According to Eduard Hakobyan, Chairman of the State Revenue Committee of the Republic of Armenia, it is proposed, in particular, to abandon the practice of automatically transferring materials to the Investigative Committee. Initially, violations will be reviewed by tax authorities, with an audit, the preparation of a report, and the possibility of appeal. It is expected that some cases will be resolved without criminal prosecution: of the approximately 600 cases per year, about half will be transferred to the administrative-tax level. This will reduce the burden on law enforcement agencies and businesses. At the same time, the thresholds for qualifying non-payment as large-scale and especially large-scale tax evasion are being raised. For "large-scale" tax evasion, the threshold will increase from 10 million to 30 million drams per year and to 45 million over three years. For "especially large-scale" tax evasion, it will increase from 20 million to 50 million drams per year and to 75 million over three years. Furthermore, it is proposed to limit the use of property seizure. Investigators or courts will be able to replace it with a financial guarantee, including government bonds, allowing companies to avoid withdrawing funds from circulation.
Previously, Vahram Mirakyan, co-founder and president of the Mantashiants Entrepreneurs' Club, has repeatedly stated that criminal cases against businesses in Armenia have become routine. Specifically, according to him, approximately 1,000 businesses in Armenia are subject to criminal prosecution annually, a horrific figure for the country. For comparison, in the United States, 3-4 thousand criminal cases are filed against businesses annually, while in the United States there are about 30 million enterprises, and in Armenia - about 70 thousand.
