Winemaker: government shouldn’t have cancelled farmers’ debts

PanARMENIAN.Net - Chairman of the Union of Winemakers of Armenia Avag Harutyunyan says the government shouldn’t have written off farmers’ debts accumulated by 2008.

“A farmer who had his debt cancelled, mocks at his neighbour who paid taxes to the state at the expense of his family’s well-being,” he told at a press conference.

The winemaker said due to this decision, the government levies far less taxes in March 2012 in comparison to the same period in 2011.

Harutyunyan believes the government should have cancelled fines and penalties while maintaining the basic tax for land and property.

The government of Armenia amended a number of land and property tax laws on February 23 meeting. According to the deputy minister of territorial administration Vache Terteryan, no efficient mechanism of land and property tax collection was proposed over the past years, so the government decided to cancel the debts.