YEREVAN, JULY 27, ARMENPRESS. The Armenia-USA agreement on ruling out double taxation has always been in the government’s agenda and among the priorities, finance minister Vardan Aramyan told reporters after today’s Cabinet meeting.

“Since 2008, when I was transferred to the finance ministry, I can’t recall a single year when we haven’t raised this issue as a priority in the Armenian-American intergovernmental commission”, he said.

Asked what the agreement gives, the minister answered “when businessmen make decisions, they look at the taxation area, and this is important for them”.

“Countries which have double taxation agreements inspire trust to businessmen, so in the future if theoretically some differences happen, the game rules are more specific, we are always discussing this issue with our American partners. Days ago Armenia signed a double taxation agreement with Israel, which outlines that this is important for us. Oday, there are 46 countries with which we have signed double taxation agreements, Israel became 47th, we hope the US will be next”, Aramyan said.

As to when Armenia will have an agreement abolishing double taxation with the US, the minister was unable to give a specific answer. “I think we still have work to do with our American partners, because this issue, if I’m not mistaken, is being discussed for more than 20 years. The American side has its arguments in this issue. Currently, the former agreement between the USSR and the US is also in force, we believe this is outdated, because as of today, the Economic Cooperation and Development Organization has designed directions and common circles on the sidelines of the double taxation abolishment conventions. We are convinced that the current agreement is not in line with it, and in addition, Armenia is not a successor of the Soviet Union”, the minister said.

According to Aramyan, Armenia’s counterargument is that the absence of the agreement can also be an obstacle for businessmen to make decisions and investments from both sides, because any businessman must be sure that the taxation area is understandable and stable.