Mazyr: Officials hunting for Belarusians who failed to pay ‘parasite’ tax


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Belsat.eu has been provided with information that representatives of Mazyr tax office come to people who failed to pay the so-called the tax on idlers. Moreover, tax officials forced local teachers to go door to door.

Decree Nr 3 signed by president Alyaksandr Lukashenka in April, 2015 established the obligation of the citizens of Belarus, foreign citizens permanently residing in Belarus, stateless persons, who did not participate in the financing of public spending or participated in such financing less than 183 days (six months – ed.) in the past year, to pay a fee of 20 basic units (appr. $230).

Our viewer wrote to us on Odnoklassniki social network:

“Tax officials start to pay visits [to those who did not pay] by seven. Today, they have come to me. […] I am scared. I don’t know what to expect.”

Information is confirmed by other Mazyr residents:

“They visited my mother-in-law a month ago, her son does not work […] they were inspecting her belongings. When she expressed outrage over the possible inventory, they left but warned they would return with the resolution of the special commission.”

Also, we received a message from a Vkontakte social network user. According to him, Felix Halyuk, deputy chairman of Mazyr district executive committee, ordered to call local teachers to an urgent meeting.

“As a result, they were forced to visit ‘idlers’ and ask why they did not pay the tax.”

On February 17 -19, protests were held in five Belarusian cities. The most sizable action took place in Homiel where 3,000 – 4,000 persons gathered. This time, the Belarusian government opted not to break up the protests that spread from Minsk to other towns.

In Babruysk, over 600 persons participated in the protest rally in Lenin Square on February, 26.

February 20 was the latest date for paying the so-called tax on parasitism. 51,600 Belarusians complied with the demand. In total, about 470,000 received tax office letters. Therefore, every 9th ‘idler’ paid the tax. The state budget has received 15.6 mln Belarusian rubles from them.

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