During the ten years of its activity for the first time Shirak Centre announces an obligatory fundraising to continue the work of supporting homeless and extremely poor families, and asks the help of all partners and people of good will.
In the course of only this year our organization has bought and presented 18 flats to 18 families (with 40 little children) in Gyumri, living in difficult conditions and shabby temporary shelters /wagon-like tin houses/.
Since January of 2016, also because some families who had received flats through our mediation sold their flats, our sponsors willing to give flats to homeless families put forward a condition that flats purchased with their money should be considered the property of Shriak Centre during the term of 15 years and that the apartments should be given to homeless families having many children on the condition of uncompensated use and after the expiration of the term presenting them to the families fully as their property. Following that condition during 2016 Shirak Centre has purchased 10 flats for uncompensated use.
Surely, Shriak Centre has not received any money from this charitable program, all the flats were bought from natural persons through immediate participation of the sponsors, the expense of the flats was deiced via bilateral negotiations, with the lowest prices in the market.
But recently Gyumri local tax introspecte of the State Revenue under the Government of the Republic of Armenia has demanded income tax from Shriak Centre, equal to 10% of the price of the purchased flats, that is 5 million AMD. We applied to Armenia’s authorities with the expectation of rendering our undertakings as charity and eliminating further penalties, including to Simon Ter-Simonyan, the president of the RA Government’s charity program coordination commission.
Alas, the answers to all our applications were negative. Furthermore, according to the document received from State Income Committee, besides the-so-called income tax there are also penalties for not paying the required money in time.
In this situation it has become impossible to continue the organization’s usual course of activity. And as Shirak Centre can’t afford to pay the required taxes, especially now when with winter coming many families await the yearly charitable distribution of timber which has become a lifebelt for them, we are obliged to turn to all our partners and people of good will and announce a fundraising. At the same time we are going to apply again for the elimination of taxes, this time to the newly appointed Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan. If the new Prime Minister supports us and the taxes (we are sure due to the poor functioning of law) are eliminated, then with the raised money we’ll buy one more flat and give to a family with many children, and if money suffices we’ll buy a timber and distribute to homeless families.
Let us note that we begin the fundraising before getting an answer from the Prime Minister also because every day new taxes are added.
During the fundraising at the end of the each working day we’ll put information about received money and sponsors on our website, www.shirakcentre.am.
Shirak Centre NGO, M. Khorenatsi 50/4, Gyumri
Beneficiary Bank: INECOBANK CJSC, YEREVAN, ARMENIA,
SWIFT CODE: INJSAM22
AMD - 2052622035941001
EUR - 2052622035941040
RUB - 20526 22035941041
USD - 20526 22035941020
ARDSHINBANK, Gayi Street, Gyumri
Account number: USD- 2472601614240020
Vahan Toumasyan, President of Shirak Centre NGO
