Kocharian Demands More Tax Revenues

7/30/2005 at 06:29
Vanadzor.net
By Emil Danielyan

President Robert Kocharian told Armenia’s tax authorities on Friday to do more to tackle corporate tax evasion which he said remains commonplace due to government corruption and favoritism.

Meeting with senior officials from the State Taxation Service (STS), Kocharian said their declared fight against the informal sector of the economy still leaves much to be desired despite a 24 percent rise in the government’s tax revenues registered during the first half of this year.
[...]
Armenia’s public spending is projected to grow by 25 percent to 394.6 billion drams ($885 million) this year. The STS and the State Customs Committee are on track to ensure a corresponding increase in the budgetary revenues.
[...]
The Armenian leader singled out the construction sector which, according to official statistics, has expanded by over 40 percent in the first half of 2005. He complained that taxes paid by the construction firms rose only by 13 percent.
[...]
The STS chief, Felix Tsolakian, admitted on Friday that corruption and conflicts of interest among his employees are a major problem. [...].

But it was not clear if tax officials owning businesses have been fired or sanctioned otherwise.

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.