Epress.am News from Armenia
The National Assembly of Armenia passed in the first reading on Wednesday a controversial new Tax Code drafted by the government: the legislation was adopted by 68 votes to 21, with 18 abstentions, amid criticism from opposition lawmakers who argued that the law was “unfinished,” and was adopted in haste, without proper discussion.
During the pre-vote debate, opposition Armenian National Congress faction MP Hrant Bagratyan noted that after its adoption at first reading, the Code would not undergo any substantial amendments and would impose an additional taxpayer burden of at least 90 billion drams. “The government could have at least behaved like human beings and put the Code to a vote after it's been amended. Once it's been adopted at first reading, it will no longer undergo any significant changes.”
Stepan Margaryan, a lawmaker from Prosperous Armenia faction, also spoke against the new legislation, saying that it “will only hinder business development and increase the shadow economy.”
ANC lawmaker Nikol Pashinyan, for his part, stressed that the law was being adopted under pressure from international financial institutions; “The parliamentary majority's and the government's striving to pass the law by any means definitely speaks to the fact that they've been entrusted by international financial institutions with the obligation to adopt it as soon as possible. That is, the tax code has to be adopted in the first reading so that there are no problems with international financial institutions with rapidly rising taxes.”
Note, the new Tax Code envisages higher taxes on fuel, alcohol and tobacco, as well as increases on income tax rates for workers on average earnings.