Epress.am News from Armenia
At the weekly government meeting today, Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan addressed the increase in the cost of books (due to a 20% VAT), which recently had elicited the ire of several publishers, writers and book lovers.
“Today I received a letter by a group of cultural workers, writers, and poets which refers to the price increase. Mr. Gabrielyan, please once again provide an explanation to the situation that has been created in this sector,” he said, addressing RA Minister of Finance Vache Gabrielyan.
The finance minister said his ministry worked with the State Revenue Committee and the Ministry of Culture on this matter.
“On Wednesday we met with book publishers and booksellers to illustrate all the issues that exist in the tax sector. In particular, we pointed out that we didn’t increase the tax burden on books in 2011–2012; that is, there wasn’t a new bill or government decision that stipulated additional taxes on book publishing. There is a variant reading on a different law regarding value-added tax, which refers to legal-contractual relations. We clarified [the matter] and came to a complete agreement with the invited parties. They asked for an official explanation, which we have already prepared with the State Revenue Committee and will make public Monday or Tuesday the latest. In any case, the publishers and booksellers understood that there’s no problem. Many writers are raising another matter: they are suggesting new permission [privileges] be given to the book publishing industry,” he said.
To the prime minister’s question, can it be assumed that book prices now will decrease, Gabrielyan expressed confidence that this would be so because “book publishers and booksellers told us that in this case they see no problem in changing the prices” of their books, implying a decrease in prices.
“If this doesn’t happen, in that case they are economic relations, which in no way are conditions by tax relations. That is, simply that two subjects have not reached an agreement between them and are incorporating different prices,” the finance minister added.