Yesterday just over a month after the government revealed its $2.5 million budget plan for 2012 Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian explained just where the $268 million in tax revenues was to be generated. There are three primary sources it seems: from a tax on luxury automobiles, a tax hike on the upper class, and high excise taxes on expensive alcoholic beverages.

First let’s look at the car tax. He proposed that the owner of a car estimated to be worth $90,000 or more be taxed, estimating the collected amount to reach around $2.6 million (1 billion dram). This expectation is a bit naïve thinking, however, since the number of cars priced that high is so infinitesimal that it will be hard to believe so much will be collected in taxes. There are ways around paying that “luxury tax” of course. Since the customs department determines the value of automobiles entering the country and the customs fees required to be paid using whatever mind-numbing algorithms they employ, it certainly wouldn’t be difficult to pay an official a bribe to set the worth of the car at $89,000, thereby avoiding the luxury tax.  For more comments see Footprints.