ArmInfo.The Committee of State Revenues (SRC) of Armenia refutes rumors about the existence of any agreements with economic entities.
"The RA State Revenue Committee once again calls upon all economic entities to carry out their activities in accordance with the Armenian legislation," the press service of the KGD stated in response to a request by ArmInfo.
The Tax and Customs Committee recalls that on May 28, the department met with representatives of large supermarket chains. During the meeting, the head of the department David Ananian urged business representatives to carry out their activities exclusively in accordance with the letter of the law, adhering to the rules of operation of cash registers. Networking companies engaged in trade were warned that early agreements with the former government are no longer valid and they need to return to the legal field in a short time. They were given 3-5 days to settle software problems with cash registers. "The rumors about the existence of any agreements with large economic entities have no connection with reality," ArmInfo was told in the SRC.
Meanwhile, the owners of several large supermarket chains in Armenia, in an informal conversation with the ArmInfo correspondent, assured that after appealing to the government to reconsider the previously adopted decision to collect 20% of value added tax from agricultural products and meat sold in supermarkets, the Cabinet agreed to a concession. "In fact, the government realized the inexpediency of the decision and its negative consequences, and accepted our offer to work under the old scheme for agricultural products and meat. As agreed, we will continue to purchase and sell agricultural products and meat as IP, due to the decline in prices for these goods in recent days, "- said one of the owners of network supermarkets. At the same time he expressed satisfaction with the policy of the new government, which listens to "sober business proposals". "Under the previous authorities this was a problem, they were complex in recognizing their mistakes," the entrepreneur noted.
Another owner of network supermarkets said that, according to the agreement reached with the government, the existing scheme will work until the problem finds a legislative settlement. "At present, we, the owners of supermarkets, together with the government, should develop such a bill that will legislatively confirm the current realities on the market, that is, we will continue to work as before, but this will be legislated," he said, while expressing satisfaction the fact that under the current authorities the rules of the game on the market for all are equal. When asked why the owners of the supermarket chain do not want to work in the field of agricultural products and meat, taking into account VAT, the entrepreneur stressed that this will lead to an increase in the prices of these goods, not only in supermarkets, but also in the whole market, because prices in the retail market form supermarkets, which account for 70% of the total trade. "Exactly, realizing this, the former authorities took such a step, in principle, the new government found such a decision expedient, it's just necessary to consolidate the existing situation," the interlocutor explained.
On May 30, the National Security Service presented the results of inspections to Alex Holding. According to preliminary data, it was revealed that Alex Holding, being a VAT payer, since the end of 2016, under the pretext of not wanting to provoke a rise in prices for local agricultural products, with the former leadership of the SRC has come to an agreement that the products purchased from the villagers are sold in the supermarket network "Yerevan City" through 461 individual entrepreneurs (registered in various private individuals with a turnover of 115 million drams), which allowed paying only 2% of turnover tax instead of 20% of VAT and profit tax. When the turnover of the IP reached 115 million drams, the activity was suspended, after which a new IP was registered. Taking advantage of the opportunity provided by the ex- leadership of the SRC, Alex Holding, in addition to local agricultural products, through these IPs sold other products, as well as imported agricultural products, paying only the turnover tax. According to the SNB, 11 more network supermarkets of Armenia operate in the same way. After inspecting the NSS and changing the "established mechanisms on the market," the prices for meat and agricultural products in supermarkets soared.
In connection with the situation, the heads of 11 retail networks sent a letter to the Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, expressing concern about possible risks of price increases and job cuts. After this treatment, prices for agricultural products and meat in supermarkets have returned to their previous level. True, the government did not declassify the information about why after a sharp jump in prices again dropped, continuing to make calls to work exclusively within the law. Meanwhile, on June 2, information on agreements between the authorities and big business leaked into the social networks.