YEREVAN, April 28, /ARKA/. Armenian economy minister Tigran Davtian endorsed today a government-designed tax amnesty scheme that would exempt some companies from penalties for their failure to pay their taxes. The scheme was approved by the parliament at its last week session. Tigran Davtian described it today as ‘correct and justified approach.’
The scheme was opposed by Guillermo Tolosa, IMF resident representative, who said IMF is generally opposed to tax privileges.
But according to Davtian, what Tolosa said was a text-book approach of IMF. He added that the government has to revise its economic policy following the global crisis and the main objective is to stimulate economic recovery through a set of incentives.
The minister, nonetheless, agreed that all economic entities should be treated equally by the government, saying the Armenian economic legislation was developing over the last 20 years based on the equality principle. In his words, the basic principles are not changed, but the government wants to stimulate export-oriented sectors by offering some incentives. He specified that they are incentives and not privileges, because the government not only offers tax breaks, but also helps companies find new partners, conduct talks and attract new investments. ($1 – 372.35 Drams). -0-
