User:WVQSusanne
Legal advocacy work for small business in Armenia
After moving to Armenia in 2022, Alikhan encountered how regulations suffocate small business. Later he authored a large analytical article with statistics and comparisons, created the website initiative.am, met with representatives of the Ministry of Finance and Economy, sent materials to media outlets and members of parliament. Six months of active advocacy work. Work with government representatives continues to this day.
After the move, Alikhan observed something that deeply surprised him: people work hard, professionally, from early morning until late evening — and remain poor. The reason was clearly visible: the state had created conditions for small businesses where operating officially is almost impossible. Requirement to hire an accountant even with minimal revenue. Manual reporting on the government portal for every transaction. Tax charged on issued invoices rather than received payments. Annual forced transition from simplified taxation to VAT without warning.
In Russia and Georgia, these processes are solved: the bank automatically generates reports, and taxes are deducted without the entrepreneur’s involvement. In Armenia — everything is manual. The result was telling: Armenia has 10 times fewer entrepreneurs than Georgia, despite comparable population size. In Georgia, the small business turnover tax is 1%, while in Armenia it was raised to 10%, and then they started discussing the complete removal of the simplified taxation system.
Alikhan prepared a large analytical article with figures, comparisons, and references to official statistics — “The Cause of Poverty in Armenia” — and launched https://initiative.am/prichina-bednosti-v-armenii . He distributed the publication to all economic media outlets and members of parliament. Meetings also took place with representatives of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economy — where they reviewed the arguments and agreed with several points. But six months later, things got worse: taxes were doubled.
Nevertheless, Alikhan did not stop. He continues meeting with officials, publishing materials, maintaining contact with those deputies who in November 2024 managed to exclude several types of activities from the restrictive list — thereby preventing the adoption of a particularly harmful law. This work is ongoing — not as a one-time action, but as consistent civic engagement.
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