ArmInfo. Tax incentives should be viewed not merely as tax "concessions," but rather as state programs with clear objectives and measurable outcomes, as stated by Tigran Jrbashyan, Head of Management Advisory Service at the Ameria Group of Companies, in a post on his Facebook page.
"When tax incentives are discussed, we usually ask whether they are good or bad. But in reality, that is a secondary question. The main problem is different: does the government know their true cost and impact? This very question is examined in the Global Tax Expenditures Transparency Index (GTETI), the first comparative study that evaluates tax policy not from a 'right/wrong' perspective, but focuses on a single issue: how transparently and effectively tax incentives are managed," the expert noted.
He pointed out that the GTETI addresses issues such as published data, the presence of a responsible institutional framework, the application of a unified methodology, detailed data, and, most importantly, whether the actual impact of the incentives is evaluated. "In the case of Armenia, the picture is clearly twofold: a system of accounting and publication exists, but impact evaluation is still poorly developed. In other words, we mostly know 'how much it cost,' but not always 'whether it worked.' This is a key question for fiscal policy: tax incentives should be treated not simply as tax 'concessions,' but as state programs with clear objectives and measurable outcomes. At the same time, it is important to avoid a simplistic approach: simply cutting or abolishing incentives without an evaluation can harm both the investment climate and program effectiveness. Therefore, the main conclusion is obvious: the problem lies not in the existence of tax incentives, but in their measurability, impact assessment, and evidence-based analysis," Tigran Jrbashyan emphasized.
