Aliaksandr Lukashenka promises to share the money from the increased income tax with large families

Belarusan President believes that it is possible to raise the income tax from 12% to 13%. “If you want to benefit from this move, give birth to three children,” the President explained.

Aliaksandr Lukashenka made this statement at a session to discuss a new mechanism of state support of families with children on 21 August.

“I do not understand who would complain about it. It is done for your child! However, if you have one child, sorry, you are out. If you want to benefit from this move, give birth to three children,” BelTA quotes the President saying. 

“Let us analyze various ways to ramp up budget revenues. We can find additional funds. We might cut certain programs. After all, this is the number one objective,” the head of state said referring to the Big Family program, a new project aimed at state support for families with children.

One of the proposals within the Big Family program is to credit $10,000 to the deposit account of the family for the birth of the third and more children. This amount will be pegged to the hard currency and indexed annually. The project will be running for 5 years. The funds cannot be used until the child reaches 18.

The money can be spent on housing improvement, education of the child, healthcare and to augment the mother's future pension. Taking into account annual indexation, the family can expect approximately $14,000 on the account once the child reaches 18. Until then the funds can be used only in an emergency situation: complex medical assistance for any member of the family.

The source of financing is the National Development Fund, which is estimated to run at Br1.8 trillion annually. About $700-800 million will be required for the entire period of the project. However, this project will pay back as the funds credited to the deposit account of the mother in Belarusbank will be managed by the Development Bank, which will invest them into the economy.

The government proposes to start the project on 1 January 2015.

Under the project, the family can open a deposit account for $5,000 at the birth of a fourth child. The state will transfer the same amount to the family account.

 “This is a good project. I think we can afford it. This should be done. Children are the most important thing. If there are no children, it means there will be no state. This is a long-term program. It is simple, understandable to all. This is a step forward, for the long-term perspective,” the President said.

The President stressed that the money allocated to the family within the framework of the project will never be appropriated by the state.