On Certain Issues of Income and Property Declaration
As of 15.07.2017, the Law of the Republic of Belarus dated 09.01.2017 No. 16-Z "On Amending and Supplementing Certain Laws of the Republic of Belarus on Income and Property Declaration" (hereinafter referred to as the Law) came into force.
Article 1 of the said Law introduced amendments to the Law of the Republic of Belarus dated 04.01.2003 No. 174-Z "On Declaration of Income and Property by Individuals at the Request of Tax Authorities" (hereinafter referred to as the Declaration Law), which is presented in a new edition.
First of all, it should be noted that, taking into account the amendments made to the Declaration Law, its scope will extend to relations regulating the procedure for declaring income and property by individuals at the written request of the tax authority.
At the same time, the procedure for declaring income and property by civil servants and other obligated persons is provided for in Articles 28 - 32 of the Law of the Republic of Belarus dated 15.07.2015 No. 305-Z "On Combating Corruption".
The Declaration Law in the edition that came into force on 15.07.2017 establishes an exhaustive list of grounds allowing the sending of requests to citizens for the submission of declarations on income and property.
In addition, the following have been amended: the deadline for submitting the declaration on income and property; the lists of income and property subject to declaration.
Thus, the declaration on income and property must be submitted no later than 10 working days from the date of delivery of the request for its submission to the individual. The lists of income and property subject to declaration have been changed. Thus, it is not required to indicate in the declaration:
- rewards from the amount of payment for goods (works, services) using bank payment cards, remote banking services, including in the form of interest;
- goods received as part of advertising and promotional games, if there is no information about the recipients of such goods under the conditions of their conduct;
- income received under bonus, marketing, and/or other similar programs;
- discounts from the price (tariff) of goods (works, services);
- works of art, precious metals and precious stones, products made from them, as well as building materials.
In addition, the rights of tax authorities to demand the declaration of income and property, as well as to conduct comparisons of expenses and income not only for the full calendar year but also for the elapsed period of the current calendar year have been established.
The procedure for filling out the declaration on income and property has been changed.
Thus, the Declaration Law excludes provisions allowing not to declare:
- information about income previously reflected in the previous declaration (provided it is submitted to the same tax authority);
- property, if its composition has not changed compared to the previously declared (provided it is submitted to the same tax authority).
Specific issues related to the implementation of control in the field of declaration have been regulated.
Firstly, it is established that the control conducted by tax authorities in the field of income and property declaration is carried out in the form of desk audits. Based on the results of such audits, a report or audit act and a decision on it must be drawn up, and accordingly, the individual must be informed of its results with the right to appeal the decision of the tax authority in case of disagreement.
Secondly, the deadlines for conducting such control have been detailed (the period for conducting control in the field of declaration cannot exceed 30 working days, starting from the day following the day of submission of the declaration on income and property by the individual).
Thirdly, the procedure for tax authorities to compare the amounts of expenses and income of citizens required to submit a declaration on income and property but who have not submitted it (Article 12 of the Declaration Law) has been defined. This procedure is similar to the procedure for comparing the expenses and income of citizens who have submitted declarations on income and property to the tax authorities.
Fourthly, a deadline for individuals to provide explanations about the sources of income when tax authorities establish facts of expenses exceeding income has been established.
Thus, the specified explanations must be submitted to the tax authority in writing within 30 calendar days from the date of delivery of the request for their submission. After this period, the submitted explanations are not taken into account. The specified period may be extended for the duration of temporary incapacity for work of the individual or their stay outside the Republic of Belarus with documentary confirmation.
Deputy Prosecutor
Braslav District
S.S. Halimbouski