Business news

MINSK, 28 June (BelTA) – The volume of VAT revenues from foreign providers of digital services meets the projections, BelTA learned from Belarusian Deputy Tax and Duties Minister Ella Selitskaya on 28 June.

The official said: “Results of the first quarter of the year have confirmed the projections. Evaluating the effectiveness of the novelties from the point of view of the state budget, one can say that the results have exceeded the costs.”

Yet the Belarusian Tax and Duties Ministry has encountered certain problems with the practical enforcement of the ‘Google tax’. First of all, it is difficult to predict the exact time the transfer of a payment may take. There are also problems with calculating the tax sums because every bank involved in the transaction takes its percentage for the services rendered.

“There are issues. They are being looked into. It is a normal process,” said the official. “We don’t intend to tweak the VAT collection mechanism for now”.

BelTA reported earlier that as of 1 January 2018 foreign companies, which provide digital services to natural persons in Belarus, are supposed to pay VAT as large as 20%. In Q1 2018 these companies paid Br3.1 million as VAT. As of 1 May there were 34 registered foreign companies providing digital services to natural persons in Belarus. The list is available on the Belarusian Tax and Duties Ministry website by clicking the link e-VAT.