Until 70 Billion Drams Will Be Returned, Is That Bad? - Pashinyan

In an interview with public television, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan revealed what the universal declaration will provide to citizens.

“My observations in the regions show that, for example, the fees for kindergartens are around 7,000-8,000 drams per month, meaning that people pay approximately 96,000 drams per year for their child's kindergarten. Now, those who have paid more than 96,000 drams in income tax and are filling out the universal declaration — that is, they are employees — will fully receive back the kindergarten fees they paid during the year,” he said.

He noted that there are even more expensive kindergartens, for which a person may pay 300,000 drams annually, but they will receive 100,000 drams back if they pay income tax. “In other words, we tell people that, again, because prices vary, I don’t want to generalize, but in the regions, when kindergartens are opened, I ask how much the fee will be, and they mostly say 7,000-8,000, community kindergartens, and we are returning the entire kindergarten fee from the income tax paid by the parent. What’s wrong with that?” Pashinyan added.

According to Nikol Pashinyan, up to 70 billion drams could be returned to citizens through this system. “70 billion drams, almost 200 million dollars, we are creating a mechanism for returning to citizens. Why do I not say we will return it all at once? Because there are conditions: first, the person must be a taxpayer and must have paid, and second, those expenses must be properly documented and presented in the universal declaration system. Is that a bad thing? We are returning 70 billion to citizens,” he said.