YEREVAN, DECEMBER 9, ARMENPRESS. Armenia must carry out tax reforms, the country must take steps to be effective both in terms of tax policy and administration, Gohar Gyulumyan - Senior Economist and Co-Task Team Leader of the World Bank, told reporters on December 9, reports “Armenpress”.

“The adopted Code proposes mild changes, the major one is the indexation of excise rates which has not been verified for 5 years. After revising it, the excise rate in Armenia still remains low compared to many countries”, Gyulumyan said.

She said she doesn’t understand the complaints over the new Tax Code. She said everyone is unhappy that the major tax payers do not pay enough taxes, they say this a source of social injustice, but at the same time everyone is not satisfied with the Tax Code.

“They are not satisfied in case when the Code proposes to bring a new tax, a dividend tax, which must be applied against those who have dividends towards rich people. The big business which must be in the field of value added tax, provokes discontent by misinforming the small business which was not satisfied with the decrease of the VAT threshold. You know, any country having a civilized economy cannot operate in a simplified tax field, this is a tax regime prepared for micro enterprises”, she said.

She said the dividends must be taxed, it is normal, this change is necessary for Armenia. She added that this exists in Georgia, and it doesn’t hinder the investor to go to Georgia. There are other fundamental issues in Armenia that can hinder the investor, such as the competition field, unequal conditions.