Authorities probe Belarusians’ readiness to pay for country’s stability
At a meeting on employment and migration issues in Belarus, President Lukashenko supported the Internal Affairs Ministry’s idea to introduce a “tax on parasitism”.
It is worth noting that the Belarusian officials have repeatedly made controversial proposals that would pick citizens’ pockets, including the “tax on the officially unemployed”. Amid the crisis in Ukraine, the Belarusian leadership is probing Belarusians’ readiness to pay a hefty price for stability in their country. However, in most cases, the authorities have not fully implemented their initiatives aiming to increase the tax burden on the population by introducing taxes that do not cause an open outrage. On the one hand, some initiatives may be blocked by President Lukashenko, in case of serious perturbations and growth of protest activity. On the other hand, in the face of shrinking government revenues, the Belarusian authorities may implement some tax innovations, ones that will be less painful for the ratings.
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Situation in Belarus