MOSCOW, 3 October (BelTA) – A Belarusian-Russian agreement on general principles of collecting indirect taxes – the value-added tax (VAT) and excise duties was signed in Moscow on 3 October. The agreement fully resolves the problem of the tax maneuver in Russia's oil industry for Belarus, BelTA learned from Prime Minister of Belarus Roman Golovchenko after negotiations with Prime Minister of Russia Mikhail Mishustin in Moscow on 3 October. Delegations of the two governments took part in the negotiations.
Roman Golovchenko said: “One of the significant things the agreement reflects is the resolution of the notorious problem of the reverse excise duty. It has been discussed for many years. It is related to the cost of oil for the Belarusian side.”
“As far as the tax maneuver is concerned, Russian colleagues decided to meet us halfway and this problem, which has been souring the economic agenda for a long time, has been resolved as well,” the prime minister stressed.
Roman Golovchenko remarked that on the whole in addition to unifying the approaches to the collection of indirect taxes, VAT, and excise duties the agreement actually levels the playing field for Belarusian and Russian commercial entities. “In other words, commercial entities will operate in the unified legal and tax environment. It will be much harder for unscrupulous commercial entities, which tried to exploit certain legislation loopholes, to dodge taxes now,” the prime minister remarked.
Roman Golovchenko also clarified that the agreement had already gone through all the intrastate reconciliation procedures and had come into force the moment it was signed.
