Armenian parliament decides to double-tax people

The parliament of Armenia has approved amendments to the law on income, setting a 13% tax rate for workers employed abroad. The Armenian government says they should be registered in Armenia and pay taxes in their homeland. Consequently, 65 MPs voted for the amendments, RusArmInfo reports.

Armenian Deputy Minister of Finance Vakhtang Mirumyan said that the goal of the amendments was to direct the taxes of Armenians working abroad to the country’s state budget. Ex-Prime Minister Grant Bagratyan said that people will have to pay 19% of the income tax in Russia and 13% in Armenia, violating Armenia’s membership in the Eurasian Economic Union.

The new law will force employers to reduce salaries and provoke people to naturalize elsewhere.

Karen Nersisyan, a lawyer, said that paying 13% to the Armenian budget should be compensated by a relief from all other EaEU taxation.