Wednesday, 14 December 2016
PM Meets with 10 Largest Tax-Payers of Armenia
Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan met today with the chief executive officers of 10 major taxpayers of Armenia to discuss their concerns about the existing bottlenecks and the steps expected from the Government toward providing favorable conditions for further development.
Talking about their problems, the taxpayers voiced concerns over the size of overpayments, the need to simplify the tax and customs procedures, reduce the time needed for customs clearance. They made a point of economic competition and other issues of topical interest.
With reference to overpayments, the Prime Minister said that next year they should work jointly with the State Revenue Committee with a view to making out an accurate schedule.
“We obviously have to solve this problem. We are planning a fairly aggressive growth in proper revenue next year. You may realize the projected rate of growth considering that we are also going to reduce the size of overpayments, mathematically speaking. I mean that base revenue should grow more rapidly,” the Premier stated.
When the representatives of major diesel fuel importers complained that they had been working at zero profit rates as a result of intensified market competition, Prime Minister Karapetyan replied that the market would regulate itself over time.
The largest public service providers stressed the need to improve infrastructure and the regulatory framework. The meeting also discussed large taxpayers’ development prospects, ways of stepping up their output, promoting economic development and other issues of mutual interest.
The Head of Government suggested building a joint platform with the departments concerned in order to take up the matters in more detail, as well as to keep in touch with each other and uphold the dialogue between the Government and the private sector.
