Hundreds of people gathered near the Armenian government building and demanded that the authorities freeze the law on turnover tax. Stepan Aslanyan, the head of the Armenian Small Businessmen's Union, said that traders will go on strike unless the government makes concessions, News Armenia reports.
The situation was also aggravated by Prime Minister Ovik Abramyan’s speech at the parliament on October 1, when he said: “What, you want March 1?” (On March 1, 2008, the government and opposition had a clash, resulting in 8 protesters and 2 police officers killed).
The turnover tax in Armenia was adopted on October 1. Traders will now have to report about their turnover at fairs to tax offices. Refusing to do so will be punished with a fine. Large businessmen are often reluctant to give small and medium businessmen documents of their products.
