MINSK, 17 December (BelTA) – The size of some taxes may be temporarily raised in order to compensate for the money spent on fighting COVID-19. Belarusian First Deputy Finance Minister Dmitry Kiyko made the statement during an expanded-participation session of the Budget and Finance Commission of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly on 17 December, BelTA has learned.
The official noted that as a temporary measure they suggest raising the size of the profit tax for mobile carriers and the universal telecommunication services operator from 18% to 30% in 2021-2022. The profit tax can be raised from 25% to 30% for pawn shops.
The income tax on money earned by individuals as part of contracts with residents of the Hi-Tech Park and the China-Belarus industrial park Great Stone may be raised from 9% to 13%.
The government is also in favor of raising the size of the land tax and the rental fees for land plots, which are provided for building shopping centers, including parking lots of these shopping centers, from 0.7% to 1.5% of their cadastral value.
Municipal councils of deputies may be authorized to raise or reduce the size of the universal tax on self-employed businessmen and other natural persons depending on their kind of business. The Minsk City Executive Committee may be granted the right to raise the size of this tax by up to four times.
Oblast councils of deputies may be authorized to introduce a local tax on vehicles with the max weight of 5 tonnes and below that cross the Belarusian border. The size of the local tax will not exceed three base amounts.
According to Dmitry Kiyko, the alternative to this budget consolidation is much worse. The government would have to reduce spending, increase deficit, or raise the size of the main taxes on corporations and individuals.
Dmitry Kiyko explained that revenues from these fiscal measures will be spent on fighting COVID-19. This year the government has spent about Br600 million extra on it, including on salary bonuses for 86,000 people. Apart from that, about Br1.5 billion was channeled into the real sector of the economy due to the pandemic.