More Than 2 million of Belarusian rubles in Unpaid Taxes and 1 million of Belarusian rubles in «Envelope Wages»

Illegal Activities of Owners of a Popular Café Chain Suppressed in One of the Regions of Belarus.

Officers of the regional division of the Financial Investigations Department of the State Control Committee of the Republic of Belarus uncovered unlawful activities carried out by the owners of a chain of cafés and restaurants in one of the regions of Belarus.

According to the investigation, over the past seven years the business owners used a “business fragmentation” scheme in order to illegally minimize tax liabilities.

For this purpose, they additionally registered three more companies and artificially distributed the revenue generated by the catering establishments among them. As a result, all affiliated companies unjustifiably applied the simplified taxation system.

The inspection established that the amount of unpaid taxes since 2017 exceeded 2,1 million of Belarusian rubles.

In addition, café employees were paid wages “in envelopes.” Around 100 workers received undeclared salaries, including both officially employed staff and individuals working without formal labor contracts. In total, approximately 1,1 million of Belarusian rubles was paid outside the accounting records.

Criminal proceedings have been initiated against the business owners. Their property has been seized.