Have you ever tried to check with the accounting department how much you are paying for your income tax? In some countries, individual taxpayers must file an annual income tax return by themselves and, while reporting, they realize how much have been paid to the state for public goods and services. "I am a taxpayer". This statement made by the citizen awakens in him/her a sense of ownership and reminds the civil servant or a public official that they are called to serve the citizen. Civic consciousness is the anchor of any civilized country.

It is a widespread practice in Armenia to speak of one’s earnings in terms of ‘net salary’: “My net salary is AMD X”. Agreements on the salary are reached taking into account the income available presently. Even when a gross salary is mentioned, people tend to recalculate and determine their income based only on the income available for immediate use. However, as the practice shows, following the tax and pension reforms, not all employers routinely applied new rates.

Post-legislative oversight is what enables a parliament to ensure that the laws it passes are working and have the desired effect. Post-legislative oversight means that the parliament monitors and evaluates the implementation of a new legislation, based on the expected outcomes and makes changes to the laws if something went wrong during the implementation. Moreover, post-legislative oversight also identifies how coherent and consistent are the goals and regulations of the new legislation with the reality.

Policy Brief is available only in Armenian.

Policy Brief is available only in Armenian.