Tax Service – 25 Years Protecting the State's Economic Interests

Each of us wants to walk on clean streets, drive on quality roads, and benefit from social programs. However, few consider that all these advantages depend on how conscientiously we, as members of society, fulfill our tax obligations. Any improvements and transformations require funds from the budget, which is primarily formed through taxes.

The current year is special for the tax service of the Republic of Belarus in many aspects. The World Bank has recognized our country as a leader in tax reforms in recent years. Significant legislative changes have allowed us to rank 60th out of 183 surveyed countries in this international financial organization's "Taxation" index. Furthermore, the Belarusian tax service is celebrating its 25th anniversary. On the eve of this jubilee, "Vitebskiye Vesti" met with Tatyana Myasoedova, the Head of the Ministry of Taxes and Duties Inspectorate for the Vitebsk Region, to learn about the performance indicators with which the tax service has approached this significant milestone, as well as the tasks facing the inspectorate at the current stage of its development.

— Tatyana Alexandrovna, please tell us about the achievements and results of the tax authorities in the Vitebsk region.

— Based on the results of the past year, nearly 16 trillion rubles were received from taxpayers in the Vitebsk region into the budget, with the revenue plan fulfilled at 102%, and an additional 245 billion rubles collected. For the first 5 months of the current year, about 7 trillion rubles, or 108% of the planned volume, have already been collected into the state treasury. Over 500 billion rubles have been raised above the planned assignments. In forming the revenue part of the republic's state budget, the region annually ranks third among other regions, accounting for about 10% of all payments controlled by the tax service.

As of today, there are over 400,000 taxpayers in the Vitebsk region, including 19,000 organizations, 25,000 individual entrepreneurs, and 390,000 individuals. Legal entities account for 93% of all budget revenues. Of these, the main part consists of state-owned and equivalent enterprises. Non-state sector organizations make up 19%.

Individual entrepreneurs registered for tax purposes in our region contributed 156 billion rubles to the budget, which is almost 11 billion more than in 2014.

However, the issue of non-payment of budget dues remains acute in the region today. The total amount of debts to the state remains significant. The solution to the problem of their repayment should be based on the principle of voluntary fulfillment of tax obligations. But if taxpayers evade taxes, the tax authorities apply the full range of coercive collection measures against them. Thus, over a trillion rubles in taxes were collected into the budget by force over the past year.

— The development of the information society is one of the national priorities of the Republic of Belarus and is considered a nationwide task. What has been undertaken by the tax authority in this regard?

— The tax service is keeping pace with the times, and in some areas, even ahead of them. The electronic declaration system has been implemented since April 2009. The main result of the transition to submitting tax declarations using internet technologies has been the reduction in the time taxpayers spend preparing tax reports and submitting them to the tax authorities, as well as the ability to promptly receive information about the fulfillment of obligations to the budget.

Currently, it is possible to submit various documents, including during the performance of administrative procedures, send requests for clarification of legislation, declare set-off or refund of overpaid tax amounts, postpone the date of a planned inspection, etc., without visiting tax authorities. In addition, the Ministry of Taxes and Duties portal features the "Personal Account" service, which allows a taxpayer to obtain all the necessary information for reconciling accounts with the budget and to schedule an appointment with the management. Since last year, this service has become available to individuals. Citizens can receive notifications for payment of land tax and property tax, schedule personal appointments with the management of inspections, and pay taxes via Internet banking of "Belarusbank" or "Belgazprombank".

— Tatiana Alexandrovna, please tell us more about the measures taken by the tax authorities to curb the shadow economy.

— In 2015, special attention is paid to analytical work aimed at selecting objects for inspections – priority is given to those with a high probability of committing offenses. The organization of control work using this approach allowed for additional revenue to the budget of over 60 billion rubles based on the results of inspections, which is 2.5 times more than in 2014. Additional charges per planned inspection of organizations amounted to 185 million rubles.

Furthermore, significant attention is paid to measures aimed at suppressing instances of sham entrepreneurship. 5 business entities operating on the principle of sham structures have been identified. As a result, an additional 3 billion rubles were assessed. During inspections of 35 entities, facts of invalidity of primary accounting documents for economic transactions totaling 30 billion rubles were proven. They were presented with a payment demand of 13.5 billion rubles.

Targeted control work is being carried out in relation to individuals. 460 instances of unregistered entrepreneurial activity have been identified, and undeclared goods worth 5.3 billion rubles, as well as 8 vehicles, have been seized.

A trend in recent years is the increase in the sale of goods, including undeclared ones, via the Internet. We have identified 40 violations related to the sale of imported goods through the World Wide Web, resulting in the seizure of goods worth 3 billion rubles.

The regional tax service is engaged in suppressing instances of illegal import of goods from the territory of the Russian Federation. In conjunction with law enforcement agencies, 160 violations related to the movement of commodity values have been established, and goods worth 12 billion rubles have been seized. In total, based on the results of the control work carried out, 270 billion rubles have been withdrawn from the shadow economy of the region. Despite these statistics, the majority of taxpayers conscientiously fulfill their obligations.

— Thank you for the conversation, and I congratulate you on the upcoming 25th anniversary of the tax authorities.

— Thank you. Taking this opportunity, I would like to congratulate my colleagues, employees, and veterans of the regional tax service on this event, and thank them for their difficult work, which benefits the entire society.

Natalia Kamlyova, "Vitebskiye Vesti"