"The agreement drafted in Russia provides equal rights to the [two countries'] citizens," Mikhail Fradkov told his Belarusian counterpart Sergei Sidorsky, who is currently on a visit to Russia.
However, the draft has not been coordinated with the Belarusian colleagues, he said.
Under the Tax Code, Russian tax residents pay a flat rate of 13% income tax, but non-residents pay 30%, Fradkov said. Under the law, tax residents are people who reside in Russia for at least 183 days a year, regardless of their nationality. Foreigners who pay the 30% rate to begin with but remain in the country for at least 183 days are classed as resident and are entitled to a rebate on the taxation they paid earlier.
Fradkov said Russia was proposing granting equal rights to Russian and Belarusian tax residents.
The initiative is part of efforts to harmonize the two countries' tax, tariffs and monetary systems within what the Russia-Belarus union state, a concept established in 1997 by President Boris Yeltsin and Alexander Lukashenko, but which is yet to take shape completely.
