Tax Revenues Set Record: Pashinyan Unveils the Secret of Cunning

The tax revenues of Armenia reached a record high in April. This was announced today by the acting Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, during a government session, while adding that there is a bit of cunning behind it.

“You recall that last year, in connection with the coronavirus pandemic, we allowed the postponement of profit tax payments. And this decision has also had a certain impact on regulations, which is not bad in reality, but good, because, in essence, our previous decision has been justified, and during difficult times we provided an opportunity for the funds that businesses were supposed to pay to remain in circulation and help to be in a more favorable situation under crisis conditions,” said Pashinyan.

Thus, in April, tax payments, including stamp duty payments, amounted to about 180 billion drams.

Pashinyan noted that in April, a historic minimum was also recorded regarding the state’s debt to businesses in terms of VAT refunds. According to data from the previous month, this amounts to 67.4 billion drams. Previously, the lowest figure was recorded in August 2020, amounting to 69 billion drams. In 2018, the government’s debt to businesses was 276 billion drams.

Pashinyan emphasized that over the past two years, the government has returned 200 billion drams to businesses.

The next indicator presented by the acting Prime Minister was the volume of cash circulation in April, which shows that in the last month, Armenia exceeded the April 2019 figures by 8.8 million transactions, or by 26.6 percent, which is an increase of 130 million drams.

Pashinyan did not rule out that this growth might have had a contributing role from the inflation registered in Armenia. However, he noted that the number of transactions exceeded 8.8 million.

“I believe these indicators demonstrate that our economic dynamics are in a recovery phase,” he said, adding that it is necessary to maintain this pace in the future.