ArmInfo.On Feb 7, the Armenian National Assembly introduced amendments in the Criminal Code in the first reading.
Armenian Justice Minister Arpine Hovhannisyan said that the draft law aims to mitigate the measures of responsibility for tax dodging. The document has been discussed in various formats. By the instruction of the Prime Minister a working group was set up. The group presented its approaches. Then the bill was discussed at the meeting of the SME Development Support Council under the Armenian Government. According to Article 205 of the Criminal Code, at present a person faces criminal prosecution for deliberate tax dodging in big amounts (over 2 mln AMD). But no definition of malicious intent is given. In practice, this right is left to the discretion of tax inspectors and prosecutors. As a rule, no criminal cases are instituted under this Article - business just needs to "understand" how to come to an agreement with the relevant entities. In this light, the Ministry of Justice, which has elaborated the draft law, is trying to close the space for manipulations. Those inserting false data in the reports, use forged documents to reduce the tax base will be considered fraudsters. At the same time, the draft law suggests raising the threshold for criminal punishment from 2 mln to 4 mln AMD.