Market traders: How should we pay taxes?

Market traders from Hrodna initiated another meeting with officials.

Charter97.org learnt it from a reader who attended the meeting.

“There were five representatives of market sellers: Yury Zhyvatnouski from Hrodna's Southern market, Ales Makayeu from Minsk, Iryna Yaskevich from Vitebsk and other people. We asked why there's no progress in what concerns decree No.222,” she said.

– Most market traders still don't work. What will happen next?

– We worked on March 1, because deputy minister of economy Dzmitry Kruty asked us to work: he assured us on TV said we could work without problems. A part of sellers believed him. People came to work, not realising that they violate the law. The decree was still in force. It can be cancelled only by Lukashenka, who was in Moscow at that time. He already returned to Belarus, but nothing has been done so far.

Most people in regions do not work. Markets in Hrodna and Vitebsk are still empty. Minsk didn't have the problems we had. Minsk traders didn't face audits and confiscations. The Zhdanovichy market resumed work this week, but 20% still don't work. They hid their goods, fearing confiscations. Officials explained to us: pay taxes as you always did. We paid. But the tax ministry says we will have to pay more.

– What officials came to the meeting? How was it held?

– We met with Iryna Babachonak from the sole proprietorship department and talked how we should work in future. We asked to listen to us and include us in the working group to discus the amended decree. We don't know what will be included in the new decree. No one tells us. It would be better if they publish the draft decree before submitting it to Lukashenka so that we can discuss it and say whether we agree with the proposed conditions or not. The official said we should have come a year ago, because it's too late now. We answered it wasn't true. The officially registered organisation Perspective led by Anatoli Shumchanka always invited the authorities to have a dialogue and discuss the matter. They also invited representatives of the authorities to the Small Business Forum that was recently held in Minsk.

– What was the result? Did they hear your voice?

– The official finally agreed to create a working group involving market traders. She promised to invite the group to the meeting and discussion. My colleagues and I discussed who could be included in the group. We finally chose six people, including Iryna Yaskevich, Yury Zhyvatouski, Aleh Karol, Anatoli Zmitrovich and Aliaksandr Makayeu.

– Did you make any proposals today?

– Yes, we made two proposals. We paid an increased tax this year and we proposed not to raise the multiplying factor and, on the contrary, decrease it to 1.5. It is equal to 2, and officials want to raise it to 6. if it is increased, work will stop due to the difficult economic situation in the country. If I sell the trousers that now cost 950,000 for 2 million, people won't buy them. How should I pay taxes in this case?

The use of certificates was postponed by July 1, 2015. We asked to give us to weeks to talk to market sellers and form proposals, because if we miss something now, we will face huge problems again.

I don't understand why officials ignore Perspective. It is the official organisation that represents our interests. If they don't like Perspective, maybe they will like the working group that we are going to create.

– You also meet with officials from the Ministry of Taxes. What did they tell you?

– We visited the Ministry of Taxes and met with deputy minister Uladzimir Khamenka and official Tatsiana Piatrenka. They said us several times: “It's your problem.” Khamenka said: “I think nothing will change.”

Decree No.222 took force on March 1. The document bans to sell light industry goods without certificates complying with the technical regulations of the Customs Union. Market traders say most shopping malls will empty and owners of pavilions will declare themselves bankrupt.

The decree “On the regulation of small business activity and selling products by sole traders” was adopted on July 1, 2014, to comply with the technical regulations “On safety of light industry products”. In accordance with the document, sellers must have certificates on all items on sale. Market traders were allowed to work under old rules until March 1, 2015, to sell the goods that had been imported before the decree took force. Traders say they cannot observe the new rules, because they cannot get certificates from suppliers at Russian wholesale markets.