Friday, June 1 2018 19:39

ArmInfo. Heads of 11 retail trade networks of Armenia appealed to the Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan with a demand to stop demaning from them previously formed  tax arrears in the amount of 20% VAT on the sale of agricultural  products.

In their open letter, they informed the premier that at one time the  State Revenue Committee gave green light to formalize the sale of  agricultural products through individual entrepreneurs (IP), thereby  limiting themselves to a 5% tax on turnover, which allowed to keep  prices at a low level. It is noted that now SRC requires from them  all tax arrears in the amount of 20% VAT, which, according to the  leaders of the networks, they did not receive. In their address,  network managers resorted to an incomprehensible logical conclusion  that they were in the risk zone, since they require amounts they have  not earned. They pointed out unequivocally that there are about  10,000 people working on the networks, some of which may lose their  jobs, and higher prices for products will cause the local commodity  producer to be ousted from the market by the importer. It was said  that, in the end, all this burden will fall on the shoulders of  buyers, who will have to shell out additional money.

Meanwhile, the experts interviewed by ArmInfo expressed their  bewilderment by the fact that the internal agreements under the old  government turned out to be above the law. For some reason, it is  trading networks belonging to oligarchs close to the former power  that have received such acceptable, and even informal, privileges.  This was the essence of the so-called "parallel economy" of Armenia,  a vivid example of the dominance of informal economic relations over  formal economic relations-legal. Moreover, experts believe, even if  such illegal agreements have taken place, it is unclear on what basis  the cash flows came to the cashier of supermarkets, and then into the  pockets of their owners, if they were to go to the accounts of  individual entrepreneurs, the worse - if the fake ones. As you know,  network managers for this purpose forced their employees to register  IP licenses and closed these IPs when the turnovers reached the  required limits for a certain tax rate, while opening more and more  IPs. In the opinion of experts, this whole "tax carousel" smells  rather than administrative, but also criminal offenses.

To be fair, we note that the leaders of 11 networks, however, in  their address welcomed the steps of the new government to establish  legality in the field of large-scale network trade and stated the  need for an urgent review of tax legislation.

The inadmissibility of the privileged position of the Armenian  oligarchy in the retail market in the country was said for a long  time at a different expert level. As a result of this state of  affairs, almost all retail trade, primarily in Yerevan, was  concentrated in trade networks, thousands of small and medium-sized  stores, not being competitive, simply left the market and thousands  of families became unemployed.