Council of Ministers hints at changes to 'freeloaders’ tax'

The Council of Ministers of Belarus seems to be preparing changes to the freeloaders’ tax law (Decree No 3 on the prevention of freeloading) as it can be concluded from the letter received by the Belarusian Social Democratic Party (Hramada). The party activists had collected 10 thousand signatures against the decree and sent it to the President’s Administration at the end of 2015. The reply has arrived from the Council of Ministers.

According to the letter, the decree is not meant to force people to work and does not contradict the Belarusian Constitution. The letter also says that amendments to the decree are being drafted probably in response to the appeals from citizens, MPs and state bodies.

Alyaksandr Lukashenka signed the 'freeloaders’ tax' decree in April 2015, aiming to encourage unemployed Belarusians to take part in the financing of state expenses. Read here for more details.