OREANDA-NEWS. On 27 March 2009 was announced, that Belarus had started working on the draft republican budget for the year 2010, the chairman of the commission for budget, finance and tax policies of the lower chamber of parliament, the House of Representatives, Alexander Antonenko, said during a meting with a delegation of the National Assembly of Vietnam in Minsk.

“We have started working on that document. The Council of Ministers has set up a workgroup to deal with this matter – it is led by a deputy prime minister. The group includes five MPs,” Antonenko said.

Belarus plans to further cut the tax load in 2010 by abolishing turnover taxes and local taxes.

“Local authorities are allowed to double land and property tax rates, so we will have to deal with them – the country cuts taxes, whereas local administrations raise them,” he said.

“It is planned to reduce the tax load on the economy by 1.3% of GDP in 2010,” he said.