ON INCOME DECLARATION

In accordance with anti-corruption legislation, civil servants are required to declare their income and property annually.

The procedure for declaring income and property by civil servants is provided for by Chapter 4 of the Law of the Republic of Belarus "On Combating Corruption" (hereinafter referred to as the Law).

At the same time, this obligation extends not only to the civil servant but also to his/her spouse, adult close relatives living with him/her and maintaining a common household.

The Law defines close relatives as parents, children, including adopted ones, adoptive parents, blood brothers and sisters, grandparents, grandchildren, and living together and maintaining a common household is understood as residing in the same dwelling and maintaining a common household with full or partial pooling and spending of their funds and other property.

The period for which income is declared is a calendar year, from January 1 to December 31. Declarations of income and property are submitted annually by March 1.

Submission of a declaration after the specified date is a violation of the deadline for its submission. Failure to submit a declaration of income and property within the period established by law, or indicating incomplete or unreliable information about income and/or property subject to declaration, entails liability in accordance with Article 24.6 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Republic of Belarus.

Persons obliged to annually submit income and property declarations include: civil servants (with the exception of heads of state organizations); civil servants (with the exception of heads of state organizations); those holding military positions of heads and deputy heads of departments of the central apparatus of state bodies where military service is provided, and subordinate bodies, the main department of the commander of internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs; those holding military positions of heads of military administration bodies of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus, other troops and military formations, and their deputies; military personnel of the border service bodies undergoing contract military service in officer and ensign positions in units directly carrying out the protection of the State Border of the Republic of Belarus and (or) border control at checkpoints across the State Border of the Republic of Belarus (with the exception of military personnel specified in parts 3 and 4 of Article 32 of the Law); military personnel of the border service bodies undergoing contract military service in officer and ensign positions in units directly carrying out the protection of the State Border of the Republic of Belarus and (or) border control at checkpoints across the State Border of the Republic of Belarus (with the exception of military personnel specified in parts 3 and 4 of Article 32 of the Law); employees of emergency response bodies and units holding positions of heads and deputy heads of departments of the central apparatus of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, heads and deputy heads of territorial bodies of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, units for emergency situations with the rights of a legal entity, as well as holding positions of senior, middle, and junior commanding staff authorized to carry out state fire supervision and state supervision in the field of population and territory protection from emergencies and civil defense; employees of the Internal Affairs bodies holding positions of senior and middle commanding staff of the Internal Affairs bodies; employees of the financial investigation bodies of the State Control Committee; employees of the Investigative Committee; employees

State Committee of Forensic Examinations; heads of state organizations; heads of organizations in which the charter capital includes 50 percent or more of shares owned by the state and (or) its administrative-territorial units; as well as their spouses and adult close relatives who live with them and maintain a common household.

In addition, in state bodies where military service is provided, other categories of military personnel of these bodies may be determined who are obliged to submit declarations annually. Such categories of military personnel may be determined either by legislative acts or in accordance with them by the heads of the specified state bodies (Part 13 of Article 32 of the Law).

The declaration of income and property is submitted in the form approved by the Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus of 16.01.2016 No. 19 (as amended by the Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus of 15.06.2023 No. 385)

Income subject to mandatory declaration is defined by Article 26 of the Law "On Combating Corruption", property subject to mandatory declaration and the procedure for determining its value - by Article 27 of the said Law, income and property not subject to mandatory declaration - by Article 27-1 of the Law.

Thus, in accordance with Article 26 of the Law, income received during the calendar year from sources in the Republic of Belarus, as well as from sources outside the Republic of Belarus, is subject to mandatory declaration.

Loans and credits received in the calendar years preceding the calendar year for which the income and property declaration is submitted, and not repaid by the date of submission of such declaration, are also indicated in the income and property declaration. Such income is indicated in the amount of loans and credits received.

If a declaration of income and property has been previously submitted to a state body, other organization, or official, then when submitting a declaration of income and property to the same state body, other organization, or official, the information on income previously reflected in such declaration may not be indicated, unless otherwise provided by Part Six of Article 31 of this Law.

Income specified in Part One of this Article is subject to mandatory declaration regardless of whether it is subject to taxation or exempt from taxation in accordance with legislative acts.

According to Art. 27 of the Law, the following are subject to mandatory declaration in the cases and manner provided for by this Chapter, which are owned by persons obliged to submit declarations of income and property in accordance with this Chapter, as of the date of submission of such declaration:

land plots, capital structures (buildings, structures), isolated premises, parking spaces;

vehicles (except for mopeds and similar motor vehicles, bicycles, horse-drawn vehicles), self-propelled machines, sea vessels, inland navigation vessels and mixed (river-sea) navigation vessels, aircraft;

works of art, precious metals and precious stones, items made of them, the value of each of which exceeds one thousand basic units, or the total value of which exceeds two thousand basic units as of the date of acquisition;

building materials, the total value of which exceeds two thousand basic units as of the date of acquisition;

shares in the authorized capital (stocks) of economic partnerships and companies, shares in the property of production cooperatives, unfinished construction objects, their parts, enterprises as property complexes for an amount exceeding fifteen thousand basic units as of the date of acquisition;

other property, the value of a unit of which exceeds two thousand basic units as of the date of acquisition.

Also subject to mandatory declaration are, as of the date of submission of such declaration, the property owned by persons obliged to submit income and property declarations in accordance with this Chapter:

shares in the ownership of property specified in the second and third paragraphs of Part One of this Article;

shares in the ownership of property specified in the fourth to seventh paragraphs of Part One of this Article, if their value exceeds the limits established by these paragraphs.

Property specified in the second and third paragraphs of Part One of this Article, including shares in the ownership of such property, is subject to declaration regardless of its value.

Property specified in the fourth to seventh paragraphs of Part One of this Article, including shares in the ownership of such property, is subject to declaration if the amount of funds actually spent on its acquisition exceeds the limits established by these paragraphs.

The value of the declared property, including shares in the ownership of such property, shall be indicated in the income and property declaration in the amount of funds actually spent on its acquisition, and for capital structures (buildings, structures), isolated premises, parking spaces, unfinished construction objects, including if construction was carried out without involving a developer or contractor, – in the amount of funds actually spent on their acquisition or directed to their construction. If the property specified in the second and third paragraphs of Part One of this Article, including shares in the ownership of such property, was acquired gratuitously, including by inheritance, or under transactions not involving settlements, the value of such property, including shares in the ownership of such property, shall not be indicated in the income and property declaration.

When determining the value of declared property, including shares in the ownership of such property, the provisions of the legislation on appraisal activities shall not apply, unless otherwise established by the President of the Republic of Belarus.

Pursuant to Article 27 of the Law, the following are not subject to mandatory declaration in accordance with this Law:

cash funds owned by persons submitting income and property declarations, including those placed by them in accounts and (or) deposits in banks of the Republic of Belarus (including interest on them), their withdrawal, as well as transfer from accounts (deposits) in banks of other states to banks of the Republic of Belarus;

digital signs (tokens);

remuneration from the amount of payment for goods (works, services) using bank payment cards, remote banking services, including in the form of interest;

goods (works, services) received (performed, rendered) within the framework of advertising distribution and advertising games, if, according to the terms of their conduct, there is no information about the recipients of such goods (works, services);

cash funds and (or) goods (works, services) received (performed, rendered) within the framework of advertising distribution and advertising games, promotional campaigns, the amount (value) of each of which does not exceed forty times the basic amount on the date of receipt of such cash funds and (or) goods (performance of works, rendering of services);

income received under bonus, marketing and (or) other similar programs;

discounts from the price (tariff) of goods (works, services);

cash funds paid (reimbursed) when an employer sends an employee on a business trip, for professional development, retraining, vocational training, and internships, including those paid (reimbursed) by the host party;

commercial loans;

bonds, including coupon or interest income on them, bills of exchange and other securities owned by persons submitting income and property declarations, with the exception of shares in the amount exceeding fifteen thousand basic amounts on the date of acquisition;

income in the form of gifts, the value (amount) of each of which does not exceed two hundred and fifty times the basic amount as of the date of receipt of such gift;

income from the alienation of property for consideration, the value of a unit of which does not exceed forty times the basic amount as of the date of alienation of such property.

Legislative acts may establish other cases when income and property or individual types of income and property are not subject to mandatory declaration.

The verification and storage of income and property declarations are carried out in the manner determined by the Regulation on the procedure for verification and storage of income and property declarations.

State bodies, other organizations, officials to which (to whom) declarations are submitted, exercise control over compliance with the declaration procedure, completeness and reliability of the information indicated in the declarations, unless otherwise established by the President. The acceptance of declarations, their accounting, storage and organization of verification are carried out by the personnel service of the state body, other organization, official to which (to whom) obligated persons must submit income and property declarations. The duties of accepting income and property declarations, their accounting, storage and organization of verification are assigned to specific employees of the personnel service of the state body (organization).

In 2023, the procedure for the actions of the personnel service of a state body (other organization) when accepting declarations was adjusted: accepting declarations without including the text of footnotes is allowed.

When accepting the income and property declaration for 2023, the obligation of the employee of the personnel service of the state body (other organization) to verify the identity of the person submitting the declaration was excluded.

At the same time, the employee of the personnel service of a state body (organization), an official, upon acceptance of the declaration, is obliged to: provide consultations on the form and content of the submitted documents and the procedure for filling out the declaration; explain to the obligated person the responsibility for violating the procedure for declaring income and property; check the completion of all details in the declaration, the presence of the signature of the obligated person; register the declaration no later than the day of its submission (receipt by mail) in the register of declarations of income and property according to the form specified in Appendix 1 to Regulation No. 19.

Declarations, as well as the documents attached to them, are kept in a separate folder, which is an integral part of the personal file of the obligated person, in the manner and within the time limits established by legislation for the storage of personal files, unless otherwise established by the President (para. 14 of Regulation No. 19).

Information contained in declarations is not subject to disclosure, except in cases provided for by legislative acts.

Article 23.6 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Republic of Belarus provides for administrative responsibility for intentional disclosure of a legally protected secret without the consent of its owner by a person to whom such secret is known in connection with his professional or official activities, if this act does not entail criminal liability. The sanction of the article provides for a fine of 4 to 20 basic units.

Measures of responsibility are applied to obligated persons who have not submitted declarations or have indicated incomplete and (or) unreliable information about income and property in the declarations, in accordance with Part 4 of Article 34 of the Law. To bring to administrative responsibility a person who has indicated incomplete and (or) unreliable information about income and property in the declaration, a notification is sent to the tax authority at his place of residence. The tax authority subsequently informs the state body (organization), the official about the results of its consideration.

However, measures of responsibility are not applied in cases of indicating in the declaration:

- incomplete information on income, if the amount of income not specified in the declaration does not exceed 20% of the total amount of income subject to mandatory declaration;

- inaccurate information on the amount of income, if the amount of income inaccurately stated in the declaration deviates from the actual amount of income subject to declaration by no more than 20%;

- inaccurate information on the date of acquisition of property, shares in the ownership of property;

- inaccurate information on the area of land plots, capital structures (buildings, structures), isolated premises, parking spaces;

- inaccurate information on the value of property (share in the ownership of property), if the value of property (share in the ownership of property) inaccurately stated in the declaration deviates from the actual value of such property (share in the ownership of property) by no more than 20%.

The most common errors when filling out declarations are:

1. Late submission of income and property declaration.

Filing a declaration after March 1 is a violation of the submission deadline. Since the obligation to submit a declaration applies not only to a civil servant but also to his spouse, adult close relatives living together and maintaining a common household, this declaration submission deadline also applies to the aforementioned persons.

2. Incorrect form of income and property declaration.

The income and property declaration is submitted in the forms approved by the Government of the Republic of Belarus. For persons submitting an income and property declaration in accordance with Articles 29, 30, and 32 of the Law, the form approved by Appendix 1 to the Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus N 19 is established.

3. Incorrect reflection of the income amount.

When providing such information, the amount of accrued income (before deduction of taxes, fees, and other withholdings) must be reflected in the declaration. Individuals do not always declare income received from abroad, for example, they do not indicate transfers from close relatives, mistakenly believing that such income is not reflected in the declaration. Another typical violation is the failure to declare certain types of income, for example, alimony payments for child support.

4. Reflection of an incorrect date of acquisition of real estate.

Errors are found in indicating the incorrect date of acquisition of real estate.

The date of acquisition of real estate objects, such as apartments, residential buildings, etc., acquired as a result of the conclusion of purchase and sale, exchange, or annuity agreements, is the date of state registration of the transfer of ownership of the real estate. The date of state registration of the transfer of ownership of real estate should be considered the date of application for state registration, and not the date of the certificate (confirmation) of state registration of the transfer of ownership, the signing of the purchase and sale, exchange, or annuity agreement, etc., or the preparation of the technical passport.

5. Incorrect reflection of information about owned vehicles.

The declaration reflects information about all vehicles owned by a civil servant or other person. This includes information about vehicles that are in a state unfit for operation (emergency), dismantled, stolen, transferred to the use of other persons by power of attorney, or shares in the ownership of vehicles.

When filling out the "Date and method of acquisition" column, the date of issuance of the vehicle registration certificate (technical passport) upon its acquisition is indicated. Reflecting the date of the contract is erroneous.