Finance minister says Belarus should be free to set social taxes despite tax harmonization with Russia

January 16, BPN. Belarus may not be able to maintain the current level of pensions in case of the full unification of Belarusian and Russian tax legislation, Finance Minister Juryj Sielivierstaŭ told Belarus 1 in an interview broadcast on Sunday.

“We have to see what we need this unification for and what it will bring,” he said, adding that the Union State’s programs only mentioned it briefly.

As the number of pensioners kept growing, Belarus has gradually raised the retirement age and charged higher social security tax than Russia, Sielivierstaŭ noted.

“Now the question arises: if these things are unified, will they raise their deductions to the Social Security Fund [Pension Fund in Russia]?” he wondered. “That’s up to them. But we are certainly not going to lower ours, because it will reduce the Fund’s revenue and its ability to maintain the [current] level of pensions, which is necessary for the citizens,” the minister said.

On January 12, Alaksandr Łukašenka said that the establishment of a supranational tax committee with Russia would not strain Belarus’ sovereignty.