Otherwise, We Will Not Have a State: Hayk Sargsyan

During a discussion held in the National Assembly on tax reforms, Hayk Sargsyan, a member of the ruling Civil Contract Party, stated that frequent discussions are held with the Ministry of Finance and the State Revenue Committee regarding the proper regulation of the tax system and the fair distribution of tax burdens.

The deputy noted the necessity for everyone to pay taxes, emphasizing that there should not be anyone in the country who does not contribute, while also asserting the need for rational taxation. He expressed, “Taxes should be paid under manageable conditions, if I may say so, with pleasure, because that’s the price of having our country. Often, when people say that you want to delve into the pockets of citizens again, I want to highlight that, unfortunately, our country does not have other sources of income. We do not have oil revenues, and the state budget revenues mostly, if I may say entirely, come from taxes and duties. In other words, if we do not have tax revenues collectively, we will not have a state, which is not a good path and we will quickly find ourselves part of another country, paying taxes to another state,” he stated.

Sargsyan emphasized the importance of discussing and implementing a proper tax policy together. “We need to look at administration in a way that honest businesses do not suffer because it is often heard that there are shadow businesses that undermine market prices, placing diligent taxpayers in a non-competitive environment against the dishonest ones, which pushes them out of the market. This needs to be addressed, and we should move in this direction,” he said.

The deputy mentioned that he has a comprehensive plan to reduce the shadow economy to zero and that he will speak about it soon. “In short, I am referring to a state cashback system that I want to propose for our government to implement, which would result in having ‘3 million inspectors,’ meaning our citizens, trying to benefit from the cashback system, would take on the role of employees of the State Revenue Committee,” he clarified.