State to Refund 56 Billion Dram Debit Tax Debt to Businesses

The National Assembly of Armenia has approved in the second reading and completely the draft law presented by the government, which proposes to return over 56 billion drams of VAT debit balances to 2,835 businesses.

The return of old debit balances is planned. The draft law on amendments and additions to the RA Tax Code was accepted at the extraordinary session of the National Assembly on September 23. A total of 92 MPs voted in favor of the draft law, with Babken Tunyan also submitting a letter in support of his vote, resulting in the project's adoption.

Before the voting, Mane Tandilyan, an MP from the Bright Armenia faction, expressed certain concerns. “In the last session, my colleagues from various factions requested that a list of businesses, at least the large ones, to whom the money should be returned be made public. However, this is being concealed. We cannot do such a thing; we should know to whom we are returning money from the budget. I have information that a significant portion of the refundable amounts—about 1.5 billion—will go to one of the companies owned by the brother's family of Serzh Sargsyan, which is currently not bankrupt. Essentially, we have family members wanted by law enforcement to whom we will return these funds. I have information that this is not the only case,” Tandilyan stated.

The MP insisted that a decision should be collectively made—to halt the voting and at least inform the list of beneficiary businesses in a closed session. She insisted that the information be provided to MPs before the voting.

Before the vote, the faction took a 20-minute break. Afterward, the draft was approved through voting. The faction leader, Edmon Marukyan, stated that they reached the following agreement during those 20 minutes: “There cannot be a secret list from the parliament regarding which companies receive money. The parliament is the one distributing the money and cannot blindly give it without knowing. However, in response to our demands, it was stated that this is a tax secret. MPs have the right to receive extremely confidential information, and we will be persistent in obtaining that list. We will invite the head of the State Revenue Committee to our faction to discuss this matter. The representative of the SRC assured that in accordance with the procedure established by this law, companies receiving amounts over 40 million drams must undergo the appropriate scrutiny, and there may also be possibilities for holding them accountable,” Marukyan added, emphasizing that those companies that previously had monopolistic or other privileges resulting in the accumulation of these funds should not receive them.