Tax burden on law practice has increased sixfold – Varazdat Harutyunyan

For a long time, SME owners have been protesting against the increase in turnover tax outside the Armenian government building. It turns out that not only SMEs, but also lawyers, are against the change in the law. From January 1 this year, taxpayers who provide legal services are required to switch to the general taxation system, and services provided by law firms free of charge are subject to value-added tax. As a result, VAT for legal service providers is 20%, and income tax is 18%.

Now lawyers are protesting against the government’s amendment in tax policy and have declared a strike. Alpha News spoke about this with lawyer Varazdat Harutyunyan.

“The tax burden on the legal practice has increased sixfold. It can be said that almost 99% of lawyers are on strike today. We have a general meeting, where, in addition to elections to the Council of the Chamber of Advocates, a vote will also be held to adopt a statement condemning the tax changes. I am sure that this statement will be adopted. There is not a single lawyer who would be happy with this situation,” Varazdat Harutyunyan noted.

According to him, the National Assembly made the decision without informing the lawyers.

“Law practice, like any other activity, is taxed under two tax regulations: a special tax regime and a general tax regime. Last year, at the suggestion of the government, the National Assembly adopted a bill without discussion that law practice cannot be carried out under a special tax regime. Even with a turnover of one million, an entity engaged in law practice must pay a profit tax of 15% and a value-added tax of 20%,” Varazdat Harutyunyan noted.