In recent months, the State Revenue Committee (SRC) of Armenia has intensified the arrests of entrepreneurs and launched widespread investigations into suspected fraud, delays in VAT refunds, and other violations. This was reported by Vahram Mirakyan, President of the "Mantashyants" Entrepreneurs Club, on his Facebook page.
According to Mirakyan, the root cause of these actions lies in declining budget revenues, driven by slower-than-expected economic growth.
"This year, the state budget is receiving less income than planned, as the economy is growing at a slower pace. As a result, the SRC has increased pressure on businesses. To simulate active work, mass arrests are needed, and entrepreneurs are being arrested left and right," noted the President of the "Mantashyants" Entrepreneurs Club, which unites more than 600 Armenian entrepreneurs working in Armenia and abroad.
He also pointed out a problem in the legislation that allows for criminal cases to be initiated and for entrepreneurs to be arrested for tax evasion involving sums of over 4 million drams. "Imagine the absurdity: a company with a turnover of 10 billion drams, and a discrepancy of 4 million could simply be a bookkeeping error, yet the director gets arrested," he said.
Mirakyan emphasized that such violations can be recorded solely based on the opinion of a tax inspector and later overturned. However, the arrest would have already been made, causing significant damage to the business.
The State Revenue Committee has yet to respond to the allegations made by the head of the "Mantashyants" Union. BMG reached out to the department for clarification, but no response was received by the time this article was published.
