Compliance with legislation when receiving income

Certain types of income-generating activities must be carried out in the manner prescribed by legislative acts, and if it is not observed, measures provided for by administrative or criminal legislation shall be taken against the guilty persons.

Depending on the amount of income received from illegal entrepreneurial activity, the guilty person may be brought to administrative or criminal liability. Obtaining income in a large or especially large amount (from 1000 to 2500 basic units) entails criminal liability. In this case, income is understood as the total amount of revenue in monetary or in-kind form, without taking into account the costs of obtaining it.

Despite the fact that in the Republic of Belarus the most favorable conditions are created for persons wishing to engage in entrepreneurial activities during their registration, many citizens engaged in entrepreneurial activities in violation of the established procedure.

In 2015, 21 crimes related to illegal entrepreneurial activity were detected by law enforcement agencies in the Vitebsk region, and 10 were detected in 5 months of 2016.

Many citizens engaged in illegal entrepreneurial activity without registration in the prescribed manner, involving relatives and acquaintances. Their activities were long-term, and the income received from the activities amounted to billions of rubles.

An example of illegal entrepreneurial activity was the activity of a citizen residing in the city of Miory, who, with the assistance of relatives and other persons, purchased cattle in the farms of the district and from the population for 10 months, selling its meat in the Russian Federation, thereby receiving an income of more than 2.6 billion Belarusian rubles.

The criminal activity of these persons was suppressed by law enforcement agencies, and a criminal case was initiated.

a case in which 5 persons were charged with illegal entrepreneurial activity. By the court's verdict, the accused was sentenced to 5 years of restriction of liberty with referral to an open-type correctional institution, with deprivation of the right to engage in entrepreneurial activity for a period of 5 years; 4 persons who assisted in illegal entrepreneurial activity were sentenced to 1 year 6 months to 2 years 6 months of restriction of liberty with referral to an open-type correctional institution. From the said persons, the court recovered more than 2.6 billion rubles in favor of the state on a joint and several basis. At the same time, the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus provides for liability for illegal entrepreneurial activity, up to imprisonment for up to 7 years with confiscation of property.

Compliance with the requirements of the legislation when receiving income is the duty of every citizen, and law enforcement agencies will continue to take effective measures to identify persons engaged in illegal entrepreneurial activity and bring them to justice.

Senior Prosecutor of the Department for Supervision
over the Enforcement of Legislation
of the Investigative Committee Department
of the Republic of Belarus for the Vitebsk Region
Justice Counselor Vladimir Vasiliev