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Yerevan Entrepreneurs Will Protest Everyday Against Turnover Tax Law:
Gyumri Also Joins In
01.27.2015 18:21 epress.am
Small and medium-sized business owners and entrepreneurs protested for
the second day this year in front of the Armenian government building,
which again concluded with no result. Like yesterday, the protesters
demanded, to no avail, that the PM Hovik Abrahamyan meet them outside
the building. Yesterday, the PM agreed to meet with a delegation of 10
people to discuss the issues around the Law on Turnover Tax inside the
the government building but was rejected by the protesters. However,
the Government's Reception of Citizens and Appeals department head
Aleksander Ghazaryan told the protesters that Abrahamyan was not at
work today.
The demonstrators have decided to protest until the nullification of the law.
"We are going to come here everyday, except for tomorrow because it's
a holiday (the anniversary of the formation of Armenian Army). We will
be in front of the Government building from morning to 3PM, until the
issue is resolved," said entrepreneur Samson Grigoryan.
He underlined that the new law will increase the risk of corruption
and force entrepreneurs to give bribes in order to solve issues with
the tax services.
During yesterday's demonstration, protesters spread information that
their colleagues from the provinces, specifically from Shirak, would
join them in their protest in front of the government building today.
Today, however, a few of the protesters told an Epress.am journalist
that the roads from various provinces had been closed. The Gyumri
based Journalists Club Asparez representative and journalist Sona
Arakelyan told Epress.am that a few Gyumri residents came with their
personal cars to Yerevan, while the protest against the Law on
Turnover Tax took place near Gyumri's clothing bazaar. Other merchants
in other marketplaces closed their booths and joined the protest.
The entrepreneurs restarted their fast growing protests from last
September-October, which were halted after the government promised to
delay the compulsory inventorization of products until February 1st of
2015. The protest restarted yesterday, because the government refused
to include other amendments to the law.
Last year, the protesters against the Law on Turnover Tax stated that
they do not have possibility of inventorizing their products, because
large distributors often do not give them invoices. In addition, in
the case of inventorizing, their turnover would be over the legal
minimum threshold of 58.3 million AMD ($126,000), so they would be
forced to pay VAT, which would be impossible for small and medium
sized businesses. Among the business owners, some demand that they
sharply increase the threshold, while others demand the law be
nullified.
Those who work in the gold trade have stressed that once the new law
comes into effect they would be forced to immediately halt their work.
Certain experts have noted that the inclusion of the Law on Turnover
Tax would entirely wipe out small and medium sized businesses, while
the members of government claim that the purpose is to fight against
the illegal practices in large businesses and that they are not
prepared to consider the law void.
During last year's protest, the merchants received backlash from the
owners of large marketplaces they rent space from. A few large
marketplaces threatened to fire (or cancel rent contracts) those
merchants who did not show up to work and protested. The most covered
case was that of Vosku Shuka owner Vagharsh Abrahamyan who broke
tables and showcases of those merchants who participated in the
protests. the destructive behavior of Abrahamyan was not dealt with
by the police.
http://www.epress.am/en/2015/01/27/yerevan-entrepreneurs-will-protest-everyday-against-turnover-tax-law-gyumri-also-joins-in.html
Gyumri Also Joins In
01.27.2015 18:21 epress.am
Small and medium-sized business owners and entrepreneurs protested for
the second day this year in front of the Armenian government building,
which again concluded with no result. Like yesterday, the protesters
demanded, to no avail, that the PM Hovik Abrahamyan meet them outside
the building. Yesterday, the PM agreed to meet with a delegation of 10
people to discuss the issues around the Law on Turnover Tax inside the
the government building but was rejected by the protesters. However,
the Government's Reception of Citizens and Appeals department head
Aleksander Ghazaryan told the protesters that Abrahamyan was not at
work today.
The demonstrators have decided to protest until the nullification of the law.
"We are going to come here everyday, except for tomorrow because it's
a holiday (the anniversary of the formation of Armenian Army). We will
be in front of the Government building from morning to 3PM, until the
issue is resolved," said entrepreneur Samson Grigoryan.
He underlined that the new law will increase the risk of corruption
and force entrepreneurs to give bribes in order to solve issues with
the tax services.
During yesterday's demonstration, protesters spread information that
their colleagues from the provinces, specifically from Shirak, would
join them in their protest in front of the government building today.
Today, however, a few of the protesters told an Epress.am journalist
that the roads from various provinces had been closed. The Gyumri
based Journalists Club Asparez representative and journalist Sona
Arakelyan told Epress.am that a few Gyumri residents came with their
personal cars to Yerevan, while the protest against the Law on
Turnover Tax took place near Gyumri's clothing bazaar. Other merchants
in other marketplaces closed their booths and joined the protest.
The entrepreneurs restarted their fast growing protests from last
September-October, which were halted after the government promised to
delay the compulsory inventorization of products until February 1st of
2015. The protest restarted yesterday, because the government refused
to include other amendments to the law.
Last year, the protesters against the Law on Turnover Tax stated that
they do not have possibility of inventorizing their products, because
large distributors often do not give them invoices. In addition, in
the case of inventorizing, their turnover would be over the legal
minimum threshold of 58.3 million AMD ($126,000), so they would be
forced to pay VAT, which would be impossible for small and medium
sized businesses. Among the business owners, some demand that they
sharply increase the threshold, while others demand the law be
nullified.
Those who work in the gold trade have stressed that once the new law
comes into effect they would be forced to immediately halt their work.
Certain experts have noted that the inclusion of the Law on Turnover
Tax would entirely wipe out small and medium sized businesses, while
the members of government claim that the purpose is to fight against
the illegal practices in large businesses and that they are not
prepared to consider the law void.
During last year's protest, the merchants received backlash from the
owners of large marketplaces they rent space from. A few large
marketplaces threatened to fire (or cancel rent contracts) those
merchants who did not show up to work and protested. The most covered
case was that of Vosku Shuka owner Vagharsh Abrahamyan who broke
tables and showcases of those merchants who participated in the
protests. the destructive behavior of Abrahamyan was not dealt with
by the police.
http://www.epress.am/en/2015/01/27/yerevan-entrepreneurs-will-protest-everyday-against-turnover-tax-law-gyumri-also-joins-in.html