Have a good rest, or How Belarusian tourist firms squeal on their clients

The Charter’97 press-center has received at its disposal an instruction circulated by Taxes Ministry to Belarusian travel companies. Tax officers bind travel companies to give information about Belarusians who could afford a trip ticket for $3,000 or more. Tour operators do not dare to refuse an application of the tax agency, so they are accurately sending there lists of clients with all information.

The instruction received by the Charter’97 press-center, is signed by the deputy head of Minsk inspection of the Taxes and dues Ministry A. Subotka. It has a speaking title: “On reporting of data”. The text of the document is the following:

“Minsk Inspection of the Taxes and dues Ministry in line with the subparagraph 1.5 of paragraph 1 of the Article 81 of the general part Belarus Tax Code asks to give information about physical persons who bought travel vouchers in 2007 at a price of $3,000 and more and send to us. The Information is to be provided according to the following form:

- Name

- Address

- Destination country

- Date and sum of payment (indicate the currency)

- Cost of one travel voucher”

In the end of the document it is written: “We ask to provide this information in Excel format at paper and magnet carriers”.

Thus travel companies are now obliged to squeal on their clients. It is hard to be prosperous in the country of general equality in poverty. Tax officers seem to believe travel vouchers of $3,000 are terribly expensive, and their owners must be have overwhelming wealth. Tax officers do not care whether their actions comply with the law.

By the way, travel vouchers in Belarus are extremely expensive, as compared with the neighbouring Ukraine, Russia, Lithuania, Poland. Costs of travel vouchers for inexpensive resorts of Turkey with accommodation in tree-four stars hotels exceeded $1,000 last season. Thus, rich clients can go to a holiday via Kyiv or Vilnius at less cost. And they won’t have to contact with travel companies who will report information about them to tax inspection.