Armenian farmers get relief of AMD 43BN-worth fiscal liabilities.

A Cabinet sitting was held today, chaired by Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan.

The meeting approved a set of amendments to the following laws: “On property and land tax arrears,” “On taxes,” “On land tax,” “On property tax,” which imply temporary relief of property tax and land tax arrears, as well as of accrued fines and penalties for domestic property and land tax payers.

In this connection, the Prime Minister stated in part: “This is a crucial legislative initiative as proposed by the RPA faction of the National Assembly. Farmers used to raise this issue during our visits to the countryside motivating it by the fact that the crisis had prevented them from complying with their fiscal liabilities. Owing to this initiative, farmers will get a relief of about AMD 43bn-worth fiscal liabilities. I think it contains a serious growth potential as the tax burden will be considerably eased in agriculture.”

The Executive approved amendments to the law “On State registration of legal entities” and some other legal acts in a bid to create a more propitious environment for small and medium businesses. In particular, they imply the conduct of any transaction on behalf of legal entities without the use of a seal. The reform will improve Armenia’s doing business rating on a global scale.

The government next approved a package of amendments to the law “On State registration of legal entities” and a dozen other legal acts that tend to simplify the order of keeping various registers. Corruption risks will be curbed significantly as entities will henceforth be able to use sample forms of documents.

The meeting passed an amendment to the law on Great Patriotic War veterans in an effort to address the veterans’ social and legal protection issues, as well as to take another step toward harmonizing the national legislation with CIS interstate agreements.

The above bills shall be submitted to the National Assembly in the manner established by law.

The Cabinet decided to revoke two previous decrees, which bore on the order of registration of manufactured and transported goods and prices (sales receipts).Note that a new policy is applicable in this field as of January 1, 2012, based on Article 28 and Appendix 4 of the law on taxes. According to Prime Minister Sargsian, this was a long-awaited decision and the business circles will appreciate it indeed.

In order to streamline the process of pension settlements, the government amended a previous decree to ensure that the relevant authorities settle pensions in line with the applicable legislation.

The Prime Minister pointed out in this connection, “System cleansing efforts took us as many as two years. As a result, we had some 18 billion dram in savings. The clearing up of records, the use of online methods and the respect of transparency alone proved quite effective that inspires us ahead toward introducing a system of individual accounts.”

In connection with the International Women’s Day, the meeting decided that the working Friday of March 9, 2012 should be substituted with the Saturday of March 17, 2012.