On February 8, the RA Minister of Finance Vardan Aramyan presented the Draft Protocol Decision “On the Draft Proposal of the Government of the Republic of Armenia on the Draft Law of the Republic of Armenia on “Making Amendments to the Law “On Property Tax” of the Republic of Armenia” to the Executive’s approval.
Aramyan noted that the Draft was developed by the deputies of “Elq” Alliance of the RA National Assemble. He underlined that only the rationale had been changed compared to the same draft submitted in August 2017.
The Minister clarified that if earlier, according to the MPs, the need for the regulation of the Law was aimed at preventing the activities of the armed forces' officers; this Draft is directly linked to the newly adopted Law "on the Military Service, the Status of the Servicemen".
According to the Draft, there are some definitions in these laws that can create a problem related to property tax payment for citizens with military service.
According to the Minister, with the regulation related to the Law presented by the RA Government, property tax privilege is granted to persons in the mandatory term military service in respect of the property belonging to them by the right of ownership (or co-ownership).
Secondly, those who have served in the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia and other troops and graduated from military educational institutions, are exempt from property tax for a not public and (or) production-oriented building whose tax base does not exceed AMD 40.0 million and for one vehicle tax base of which does not exceed 150 horsepower.
Under these conditions, according to Vardan Aramyan, the amendments to the RA Law “On Property Tax” are not expedient.
Minister Vardan Aramyan also submitted to the Government a Draft Decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia "On Donation of Property to Chambarak Community of Gegharkunik Province of the Republic of Armenia", which will allocate AMD 11.7 million worth furniture and computers to educational and other administrative institutions of Chambarak community.
The RA Government Decision “On Making Amendments and Addenda to the RA Government Decision N 526-N dated May 4, 2017” was submitted to the Government for approval as well.
Vardan Aramyan noted that the amendments to the Decision were made based on the RA Prime Minister's instruction, namely the new system of procurement should be constantly focused on by the Ministry in 2017 in order to ensure quick solutions in case of any problems, in cooperation with non-governmental organizations. According to Minister Aramyan, regular activities were conducted with “Armenian Lawyers' Association” and “Transparency International” NGOs, and the regulations presented by the Draft concern the issues raised by them.
The amendments and addenda to the procedure for the organization of procurement process will clarify the provisions occurred during the application and having various interpretations; the conditions of participation in procurement procedure will be simplified. As a result, the submission of the applications by the participants with not significant shortcomings, and therefore the refusal of their applications by the clients on this basis will be excluded.