Finally the authors of the package of the tax changes reached their goal. In the NA the package was adopted by the first reading and quite quickly. Well, it was a good occasion; it was the first day of the session. The majority of the MPs were present (this doesn’t happen too often at the NA).
As the minister of finances Tigran Davtyan likes to say they killed two rabbits with a single shot. In the NA Davtyan’s deputy Suren Karayan presented the changed version. He assured that they had made “principal changes.” Suren Karayan informed that the Government has accepted all the suggestions of the committee. He also said that the tax officers will inspect not the warehouses but the inventory of goods from outside. There weren’t any more questions about the draft which was adopted after the first hearing. “We will abstain from mediating in the industry. The tax inspector will not have access to industrial secrets and processes,” said the deputy-minister. The government has also tempered the conditions of the package for those companies, which will host the presence of a tax inspector. In particular, they have taken out the organizations, which have over 500 employees and which have a tax loss in the amount of 50 million AMD. Thus, tax officials will appointed in the companies, which import sub-excise goods. The new package suggests changes in laws "About Tax", "About Excise Tax", "About Value Added Tax", "Income Tax" and in legislature on administrative breaches. Before the voting deputy finance minister Suren Karayan presented the implemented changes which were done as a result of many discussions. Particularly the bill clarifies the commitments of the tax representative: the latter will have a right only during the delivery of ready-made product to control the physical volume of the product, the sale price and only documents connected with sale. "That is to say the tax representative will not enter the production process, he will not know production secrets and neither production process. This is the main change over which we have come into agreement," the deputy minister said. The package also clarifies in which organizations tax representative may be appointed: only four cases have been established. It is hard to say whether Karayan was convincing or maybe because of the compromises 73 deputies voted for the package. The ones that voted for the package include such businessmen-MPs as Gagik Tsarukyan, Khachik Manukyan, Samvel Alexanyan and Ashot Tonoyan. Among the RPA members only businessman-MP Manvel Ghazaryan, owner of Vedi Alco, voted against the package. It was back a week ago known that the package would be adopted when the chairman of the standing committee on economic issues Vardan Ayvazyan told the journalists, “Today, I can say that we can easily adopt this document with no worry. The tax officer can supervise only three factors – the number of the released goods, where is goes and at what price it is sold.” Let us remember that during the same press conference Ayvazyan brought up extra inputs of the budget in the amount of 30 billion. Yesterday we tried to find out from him based on what calculations he has a number like this. Mr. Ayvazyan told us that these calculations were done by the government. Thus, by this government was trying to justify why the adoption of the package was necessary. The input of 30 million AMD is a serious number for our economy. This means that they are confessing that there is shadow in the large businesses. The most part of the nig business is owned by businessmen-MPs or their relatives. No matter how hard the government tries to persuade the businessmen-MPs they are most intimated not about the revelation of their industrial secrets but the actual revelation of their product turnout. But the tax service will control and supervise this. “If the tax package is not radically changed then businessmen-MPs will keep struggling against that,” several days ago during his press conference stated the president of the Armenian union of producers and businessmen. But it turns out that the main menace of the bill remained but the package was approved. The businessmen-MPs or as Ghazaryan names them “MPs with business-origins,” went against their ow interests because of one serious reason that they are businessmen and especially typhoons. And the latter are the most controllable groups of the Armenian society because there are chapters of conspiracy stacked against them that can be used any time. By the way, the formulation “MPs with business-origins” was heard for the first time. Perhaps the goals of the businessmen-MPs were first of all to protect their businesses and ambitions in the parliament by getting elected as MPs. Or maybe they have another “honest” intention. We think that these MPs can be called “businessmen with MP-origins.” There is also the third group called, “MPs working to become businessmen.” The problem is that these two categories make 90% of our parliament. As long as we live in such conditions in our country any law can be adopted regardless of “origins.”