Zhdanovichi Market Entrepreneurs Unexpectedly Become Real Estate Owners? (photos)
All roller-blind modules owners working at the largest Minsk market are offered to pay the “trade stalls” tax.
This information was provided by Ales Taustyka, a individual entrepreneur and a Movement for Freedom (the MFF) activist. He points out the fact that the Law states that a real estate object should, among other things, be registered in the Technical Inventory Bureau and should necessarily have a foundation. Roller-blind modules – which were considered by the officials to be real estate –have nothing of the aforementioned, and therefore cannot be real estate objects.
“Either this is a present for us: we unexpectedly became the owners of real estate which could be mortgaged in banks to take a loan and to increase our current assets, or the officials are so incompetent they can’t understand their own legal documents”, Taustyka expresses his resentment with this joke.
The Minsk Central District Tax Office says the real estate tax was charged in accordance with Article 2 Taxation Object and Base of the law of the Republic of Belarus On the Real Estate Tax. A conflict of laws seems to have occurred.
The entrepreneurs are also surprised by the fact that the tax office charged this tax having evaluated the cost of the trade stalls to be Br16 million (some €3,800), while the roller-blind modules were bought for Br3 million (some €700) which is confirmed by the corresponding documents. The officials didn’t even prepare a statement on the cost of the objects which should be the tax base.
Zhdanovichi market individual entrepreneurs regularly pay all taxes and rent charges. The individual entrepreneurs are offered to pay a relatively small sum, namely some Br32 thousand (some €7.5). The lawfulness of this additional tax is rather controversial. The officials have probably hoped few people would quarrel over such a trifle. Taking into account some seven thousand entrepreneurs work at this market, the state would additionally receive over €50 thousand.
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