The Telegram channel of the Belarusian Ministry of Taxes and Duties has published a follow-up to a post from June 29 that hinted at the possible blocking of Spotify.
“All necessary measures of polite preventive action were taken by the tax authorities, and the deadlines by which the debt was recommended to be paid have expired. Even offers of assistance in making payments received no response. And letters sent to the non-resident taxpayer’s email address went unanswered.
Belarus is known for its politeness and tolerance. We always seek to resolve tax payment issues amicably. But the debtor’s persistent disregard for its obligations is forcing the authorities to be inventive…
Much to the regret of users of the music service, who are not to blame for anything, Belarus no longer guarantees the foreign debtor the quality of its service. We are confident that they will feel the effects in the near future.
This will most likely trigger a wave of claims against the content provider demanding refunds. Is this really the reaction that the foreign company providing audio and media content wanted?
Perhaps this is a reason for music lovers to consider whether the quality of the service is worth the money they paid to use it.
We have prepared some ‘surprises’!” the post said.
Foreign companies providing services to residents of Belarus are required to pay value-added tax. To do so, they must register with the Minsk tax inspectorate. If VAT is not paid, the Ministry of Taxes and Duties can block access to the company’s online resource.
On June 29, the ministry published a post hinting at possible problems for “a foreign company, say, a Swedish one” that provides a music streaming service.
It should be noted that the ministry’s second post was also not followed by any changes to the list of online resources with restricted access. The ministry has previously restricted access to Airbnb, Alibaba, Megogo, Activision and others.
