The Republic of Belarus belongs to the countries with a small but open economy, which in the conditions of the transformation period are characterized by the strengthening of fiscal methods of state regulation in combination with the maintenance of a fixed exchange rate, the policy of stimulating the development of export-oriented production and import substitution.
Analysis of the fiscal system shows that Belarus has a high share of centralization of financial resources in the state budget (48.7%); relatively high total tax burden on the real sector of the economy (45.2% of GDP); a large number of levied taxes and benefits; the tax burden is uneven across industries and sectors of the economy; the subsidization of the budgets of the territories and the share of counter flows of financial resources between the budgets are high.
The main shortcomings of the current fiscal policy in our country are its predominantly fiscal nature, which restrains the production and investment activity of commodity producers. There is little coordination of fiscal policy with other forms of government regulation, primarily monetary policy.
Strong tax pressure leads to low collection of tax and non-tax payments, stimulates tax evasion; worsens the financial situation of economic entities, reduces the tax base and reduces tax revenues to the budget, helps to restrain the inflow of foreign direct investment, the outflow of domestic capital from the country. The shortfall in budget funds was accompanied by a reduction in budget items.
Along with taxes, enterprises and organizations have to pay fees to extra-budgetary funds (state republican extra-budgetary funds, centralized extra-budgetary funds of ministries and departments, extra-budgetary funds of local Councils), which significantly increase the cost and prices of domestic products.
The tax burden is distributed unevenly depending on the forms of management due to the fact that some industries, enterprises have various benefits. Thus, the amounts of tax and non-tax payments and deductions by industry are distributed as follows: industry – over 50%, construction – less than 10%, trade and catering – less than 5%, agriculture – less than 3%. A similar trend still persists at the present time. In addition, a number of taxes and non-tax payments are included in revenue and cost.
There is a situation where revenue, wage fund and profit are objects of multiple taxation. 6 republican taxes are withdrawn from profits, as well as local taxes. The payroll fund is the most highly taxable element and is the object of calculation of 4 payments of enterprises and 2 payments of employees (marching tax and contributions to the pension fund). As a result, taxes and non-tax payments are taken into account in the elements of the cost of production and increase the price of products. This leads to the fact that many enterprises pay taxes on an amount exceeding the amount of profit, and some have to pay off the state even in the absence of profit. As a result, enterprises withdraw funds from depreciation deductions, exacerbating the problems of savings, expansion of investment activities. As a result, taxes and non-tax payments are passed on to consumers.
Shortcomings necessitate a phased reform of the fiscal system in the following areas.
In the field of tax policy, there will be a serious reform not only of the entire system of applicable taxes and fees, but also of the legislative framework of taxation in preparation for the introduction of the Tax Code of the Republic of Belarus, unified with the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and aimed at creating a single legal space and equal tax conditions for legal entities and individuals of Belarus and Russia.
Achieving the set goals involves:
introduction in the Republic of Belarus of generally accepted in the world practice legal norms and rules of taxation, conceptual and terminological apparatus, principles, methods and methods of regulating relations related to the payment of taxes and fees; improving the structure of taxes with a focus on a significant increase in the role of direct income taxation, as well as reducing the number of republican taxes (leaving 7-8 main ones) by abolishing inefficient fees and deductions to extrabudgetary and target budget funds, combining taxes that have a similar tax base; significant modernization of calculation methods, as well as mechanisms and principles for levying such basic taxes as value added, profit and income of organizations, excise taxes, personal income tax; equalization of tax conditions for all taxpayers, primarily through a phased reduction in tax payment benefits and tightening approaches to the provision of individual tax benefits and preferences; establishing the optimal ratio of republican and local taxes and fees, as well as ensuring effective interaction between the republican and local budgets.
By 2005, in accordance with the Program of Socio-Economic Development of the Republic of Belarus for 2001-2005, it is projected to reduce the level of centralization of financial resources by the state to 45% of GDP, including in the consolidated budget – to 35-37%, in extrabudgetary funds – to 8-10%. At the same time, the overall level of the tax burden on the economy, taking into account deductions to the Social Protection Fund of the Population, will decrease from 46% in 2000 to 39–40% in 2005.
Budget policy in the coming years will be aimed at investing budget funds in the formation of a competitive structure of the national economy, the implementation of socio-economic priorities and state programs, the implementation of an active social policy while tightening control over the targeted execution of planned expenditures.
The priority directions of the budget policy in the forecast period are:
restructuring and optimization of budget expenditures with their concentration on solving key socio-economic problems; implementation of a targeted policy of public debt and asset management, limiting the level of the budget deficit, taking into account the need to repay external debt; improvement of the budget process, effective interaction of the republican and local budgets in their formation and execution; further unification of the budget legislation of the republic with the legislation of the Russian Federation within the framework of the newly created Union State.
It is necessary to continue work on reforming inter-budgetary relations, taking into account the interests of all levels of the budget system to reduce reciprocal financial flows, which will reduce the subsidization of territorial budgets. In this regard, it is necessary to develop effective incentives for the regions to increase their revenues, more rational and responsible use of budget funds. Support from the republican budget of local budgets will be carried out mainly through subventions for the maintenance of social and cultural facilities and the construction of communal property.