‘Times have changed. Big business should be taxed ’

It is planned to increase Armenia’s state budget by 90 billion drams in 2014, with most of that money being collected from big business without changing the tax-to-GDP ratio.

Chairman of the Union of Domestic Product Manufacturers Vazgen Safarian said at the meeting with reporters today that collecting taxes from big business is one of ‘the most serious and painful problems’ today. He reminded those present that according to the World Bank, 35% or about $1 billion of the domestic economy is shadow.

‘The government should show enough political will in order to increase budget revenues without increasing the tax burden, which can be done by reducing the shadow economy,” he noted.

V. Safarian pins his hopes related to big business taxation on the Customs Union as amendments will be made in over 60 laws and by-laws in connection with entry into the Customs Union. He hopes it will become possible to tax big business in this way.

Besides, the original accumulation of capital lasted in the West 250-300 years, whereas in Armenia it lasted 2-3 years. According to V. Safarian, 3-4 persons took the national wealth into their hands and it is to time to tax them. Safarian’s optimism has to do not only with Armenia’s entry into the Customs Union, but also with the fact that ‘times have changed’.