Foreign businesses with operations, income streams, or contractual relationships in Belarus are facing a tightened tax reporting regime. Amendments to Belarusian tax legislation, effective from 1 January 2025, impose expanded disclosure obligations on non-resident entities – particularly those deriving income from Belarusian sources. Failure to act before the applicable compliance deadlines risks penalties, tax authority audits, and the loss of benefits available under applicable tax treaties.
Under Belarus's updated tax legislation, foreign entities earning income from Belarusian sources. including dividends, royalties. Additionally. Service fees. must now file enhanced informational returns confirming their tax residency status and the nature of their Belarusian-source income. Entities with a permanent establishment in Belarus face additional reporting on attributed profits and local withholding tax positions. The primary compliance deadline for the first reporting period under the new rules falls at the end of the second quarter of 2025.
This alert sets out which entities are affected, the applicable thresholds, and the immediate steps international companies should take.
What changed and when it took effect
Belarus's tax legislation was amended to require non-resident legal entities to submit a standardised disclosure to the Belarusian tax authorities. This must confirm their corporate income tax status in the country of incorporation. It also sets out any claim to reduced withholding tax rates under an applicable tax treaty.
Previously, many foreign entities relied on informal confirmations or ad hoc correspondence with Belarusian counterparties to establish their entitlement to treaty-reduced rates. The amended rules replace that approach. A formal filing is now mandatory – regardless of whether the foreign entity has previously obtained a confirmation from its local partner.
The change applies to income accrued on or after 1 January 2025. The first mandatory filing covers the period from that date through 30 June 2025. The submission deadline is 30 July 2025. Entities that fail to file by that date lose the right to apply a reduced withholding tax rate for the relevant period. The standard statutory rate then applies retroactively to all payments made since January 2025.
A related change tightens the rules around permanent establishment determination. Tax authorities in Belarus now apply a substance-over-form analysis to identify whether a foreign entity's activities in the country constitute a taxable presence. Service contracts, agency arrangements, and secondment of personnel are all subject to closer scrutiny under the revised rules.
Foreign companies that have structured their Belarusian activities to avoid a permanent establishment should reassess those structures now. The amended rules lower the threshold at which a dependent agent arrangement is treated as giving rise to a taxable establishment. Even a single local representative with authority to conclude contracts may be sufficient to trigger permanent establishment status under the updated test.
Which entities are affected
The new obligations apply broadly. Any foreign legal entity that receives income from a Belarusian source – including a Belarusian resident company, a Belarusian branch, or a resident individual making business payments – is within scope.
The most directly affected categories include:
- Foreign parent companies receiving dividends from Belarusian subsidiaries
- Licensors receiving royalty payments from Belarusian licensees
- Foreign service providers billing Belarusian clients for technical, consulting, or management services
- Lenders receiving interest from Belarusian borrowers
- Foreign entities with seconded employees or on-the-ground representatives in Belarus
There is no minimum threshold below which the filing obligation falls away. The obligation arises from the receipt of any Belarusian-source income – not only above a certain payment volume. Entities that received even a single royalty or service fee payment since 1 January 2025 are required to file.
Entities claiming treaty benefits are subject to additional requirements. Under Belarus's tax legislation, a claim to a reduced withholding tax rate requires the foreign entity to provide documentary evidence of its tax residency status in the treaty partner country. That evidence must now be submitted as part of the formal filing – not left to the Belarusian paying agent to obtain and retain. Where the paying agent has historically managed this process, that practice must now be reviewed and updated.
For a full assessment of your Belarus tax exposure, contact us at info@ferrazwhitmore.com.
Immediate actions for international companies
International businesses with any Belarusian-source income should take the following steps before the 30 July 2025 deadline.
Map all Belarusian income streams. Identify every payment received from a Belarusian source since 1 January 2025. This includes dividends, interest, royalties, and service fees. Payments made under intercompany agreements are within scope on the same basis as third-party payments.
Obtain or renew tax residency certificates. Any claim to a reduced withholding tax rate under a tax treaty requires a current certificate of tax residency issued by the competent authority in the foreign entity's home jurisdiction. Certificates issued before 1 January 2025 may not satisfy the updated requirements. Confirm the validity period with your local tax authority promptly.
Review permanent establishment exposure. Any entity with employees, representatives, or service delivery arrangements in Belarus should reassess whether those arrangements now give rise to a permanent establishment under the revised rules. Where a risk is identified, remediation options – including restructuring the local arrangements – should be considered before the filing deadline.
Coordinate with Belarusian counterparties. Belarusian resident companies acting as paying agents have parallel obligations under the new regime. They are required to withhold tax at the standard rate unless the foreign entity has filed and provided the necessary documentation. Coordination between the foreign entity and its Belarusian counterpart is essential to avoid double withholding or the loss of treaty entitlements.
File on time. The 30 July 2025 deadline applies strictly. Late filing does not merely attract a penalty – it results in the loss of any reduced withholding tax rate for the entire first half of 2025. Given that the standard corporate income tax withholding rate in Belarus is materially higher than many treaty-reduced rates, the financial consequence of missing the deadline can be significant. For an analysis of how these developments interact with comparable tax reporting changes in Russia, see our related alert.
Companies active across the CIS region should also review their broader corporate structures in light of these changes. Our analysis of corporate law considerations in Belarus provides additional context on how the revised tax rules interact with entity structuring and subsidiary governance.
About Ferraz & Whitmore
Ferraz & Whitmore is an international law firm based in Lisbon, advising business clients across 46 jurisdictions. Our tax law practice covers foreign entities operating in CIS markets, including advising on corporate income tax compliance, withholding tax positions, tax treaty applications, and permanent establishment analysis in Belarus and neighbouring jurisdictions. We work with international entrepreneurs, institutional investors, and in-house legal teams who need results-oriented counsel across multiple legal systems. As a law firm in Belarus-related matters, we combine Portuguese civil law expertise with English common law tradition to deliver cross-border solutions that hold up to regulatory scrutiny. The firm's CIS practice team includes practitioners with experience advising on tax residency disputes, treaty entitlement claims, and tax authority engagement across the region. To discuss your Belarus tax reporting obligations, contact us at info@ferrazwhitmore.com.
For a tailored review of your entity's position under the new Belarus tax reporting rules, reach out to our team at ferrazwhitmore.com/services/tax-law/belarus/ or email info@ferrazwhitmore.com.
Disclaimer: This publication is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The information herein should not be relied upon as a substitute for professional legal counsel tailored to your specific circumstances. Ferraz & Whitmore assumes no liability for actions taken or not taken based on the contents of this material. For advice regarding your particular situation, please contact info@ferrazwhitmore.com.