Belarus VAT on digital services

The east European state of Belarus imposed Value Added Tax on foreign supplies of digital or electronic services to its consumers from 1 January 2018.  This requires non-resident providers to register with the tax office immediately as there is not registration threshold. There is no B2B reverse charge process; an effective Withholding VAT is applied.

The current standard VAT rate is 20%. Check our global VAT and GST on digital services tracker to see which other countries have introduced indirect taxes on electronic services to consumers. Preparing VAT or for digital services return can be complex.  VAT Calc’s single platform VAT Filer can correctly complete any country filings with verified VAT or GST transactional data from our VAT Calculator or VAT Auditor integrated tools.

What digital services are liable to Belarus VAT?

The Belarus tax authorities have made income from the following services liable to VAT:

licensing of software (including computer games),

• online databases,
• e-books,
• graphic images, music,
• streaming or download audio-visual works;
• web advertising services
• placing sales offers via the Internet;
• data engine search, selection, sorting, and provision to users via the Internet;
• providing domain names and hosting services, etc.

VAT registration and compliance

There is a separate electronic services VAT registration for non-residents process. Foreign entities are generally not obliged to prepare invoices for their customers. VAT returns are then filed electronically on a quarterly basis. Returns and VAT payments are due by the 20^th of the month following the reporting period.

B2B supplies of digital services

Belarus does not offer the reverse charge zero-VAT option for foreign providers selling to VAT registered businesses. Instead, the Belarussian customer should pay the VAT on behalf of the foreign vendor. The customer has the right to deduct this paid VAT against their own output VAT.

Europe VAT on digital services