The draft law on amendments and additions to the Tax Code of the Republic of Belarus suggests increasing the income tax rate from 12% to 13%, First Deputy Finance Minister Vladimir Amarin said at a meeting of the Presidium of the Council of Ministers on 2 September, BelTA has learned.
The draft bill also provides for the increase of the excise duties for all groups of excisable goods. For example, the document suggests raising the duties on alcohol drinks by 10%, tobacco by 15-30% within the three price segments, which will increase the tax burden on more expensive cigarettes, on motor fuel by an average of 10% with differentiated rates depending on the environment class. The other group of excisable goods may face an increase equal to the average inflation forecast which is 12.5%. The excise beer duty will remain at the 2014 level for the sake of keeping the brewing industry financially stable.
The draft law proposes to index the tax rates set in Belarusian rubles to adjust to the inflationary processes. This applies in particular to the land and environmental taxes, and flat tax for self-employed businessmen.
Plans have been made to increase the tax on profits for banks and insurance companies from 18% to 25%, the land tax and property tax for the inefficiently used state property. In order to expand the resource base of the budgets, proposals have been made to introduce special fee for the right to export of crude oil produced in Belarus.
These and other tax policy measures scheduled for 2015 are aimed at ensuring the stability of the tax system and enhancing the sustainability of the budget. The level of the tax burden in 2015, excluding customs duties, will amount to 23.6% of GDP and will not increase compared to 2014, said Vladimir Amarin.
