OREANDA-NEWS. January 12, 2010. The Special Part of the Tax Code of Belarus came into force. This new legal act establishes procedures for applying all State and local taxes, as well as special tax regimes.

The most significant tax amendments are the following:

- abolition of turnover tax (fee paid to the National Fund for Support of Agricultural Producers), tax on acquisition of motor vehicles, local taxes on retail sales and parking;

- VAT increases from 18% to 20%;

- corporate income tax applied to profits received in the form of dividends, as well as profits from sale of shares in the authorized capital of Belarusian companies, decreases from 24% to 12%;

- certain types of expenses (e.g. costs of advertising and marketing services) which were previously deducted for profit tax purposes only within established limits, are now fully deductible;

- taxpayers may choose the reporting period with regard to payment of corporate income tax (quarter or month); and

- personal income tax levied on dividends decreases from 15% to 12%.