OREANDA-NEWS. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko signed Ordinance No. 3 “On preventing freeloading practices” on 2 April 2015.

This legal act aims to engage able-bodied persons in labor and to ensure that they take part in the financing of public spending.

The ordinance obliges citizens of the Republic of Belarus, foreign nationals permanently residing in the country and stateless persons who did not participate in the financing of public spending or took part in this financing during a period of less than 183 calendar days in the expired year to pay a fee in the size of 20 basic amounts.

Persons engaged in labor or other activities specified in the ordinance (entrepreneurship, handicraft, creative work, practice of law and notarial service, rural tourism services, employment under civil legal acts, full-time education, etc.) during a period of at least 183 calendar days take part in the financing of public spending and are exempt from the fee.

The document also envisages that a parent of a child under 7 years of age or a disabled child under 18 years of age, three and more underage children takes part in the financing of public spending.

The ordinance includes an exhaustive list of categories of people exempt from the fee. In particular, these include legally incapable persons, disabled persons, underage persons, women who have reached the age of 55 years and men who have reached the age of 60 years, other categories of people.

The size of the fee will be reduced by the amounts of taxes paid in the expired fiscal period (income tax for individuals, single tax for self-employed businessmen and other individuals, taxes paid under the simplified taxation regime).

The fee shall be paid before 15 November of the year following the expired fiscal period on the ground of the notification of the tax authority.

The fee can be reduced by 10% if a person submits a corresponding notification to the tax authority from 1 August of the current fiscal period to 31 May of the year following the expired fiscal period. In this case the fee shall be paid before 1 July of the year following the expired fiscal period.

A fine from 2 to 4 basic amounts, administrative arrest and compulsory public works will be imposed for the nonpayment or underpayment of the fee.

The ordinance enters into force after its official publication and will regulate relations established on 1 January 2015.