Sole Traders Are To Pay 35% Of Personal Income To State

Another Lukashenka’s decree has been prepared in the country.

This time, it’s not that pleasant: the new document obliges all sole traders to pay contributions to the social protection fund in the amount of 35% of the income, primepress.by writes. We are going to tell you how it will affect the Belarusians.

For those who are classified among the sole traders, we explain: now sole traders pay 35% to the state as well, but not of the whole income, only of the minimum wage set in Belarus. For example, in 2017, the contributions for sole traders amounted to 1113 rubles. At that, the contributions are paid steadily once a year, regardless of whether sole trader has income or not. If the new document comes into force, 35% will be paid only if they have income.

"Entrepreneurs are waiting for the adoption of this decree with less optimism than the authorities. Sole traders with unstable and low income can breathe a sigh of relief, because their contributions will be significantly reduced. But those sole traders who, albeit once in a while, but gain large incomes, will have to give more money to the social protection fund each year than they do now," – Iryna Kavelskaya, the head of the accounting corporate group LeaderPartner, commented on the situation. According to her, such a system of payment to the social protection fund will be applicable to agro-estate owners, artisans and self-employed, who pay the single tax. Now they are not obliged to pay their contributions to the social protection fund.

We remind that on February 26, Decree No. 7 entered into legal force, but it is not an excuse for the authorities to stop writing new bills. Moreover, at the beginning of the year, the authorities stated that they would "regain some order in the Tax Code." Thereby, a working group has already been set up, now it is preparing amendments to the code, they promise that all amendments will have been made public by September 1.