In December 2016, a resident of the Belarusian town of Rahachou hanged herself after receiving a letter with the requirement to pay the so-called tax on parasitism.
The decree which president Lukashenka signed in April 2015 established the obligation of the citizens of Belarus, foreign citizens permanently residing in Belarus, stateless persons, who did not participate in the financing of public spending or participated in such financing less than 183 days (six months – ed.) in the past year, to pay a fee of 20 basic units (appr. $230).
Rahachou Online was the first to report about the first victim to the new tax.
“Of course, the letter was not the sole reason for the fatal decision – the woman was combating a lot of problems,” its editor Dzyanis Dashkevich told Belsat.
“Two years ago she lost her job. The woman was broke; it was her household plot that helped her survive. She had two adult children, she lived alone in a house in the city center, in Rosa Luxemburg street. Her living conditions were poor: for example, she had no water pump,” said Dashkevich.
According to the editor, the entire town is well aware of the tragedy due to a word of mouth.
“Money-related suicides are not uncommon here. Not long ago, a man shot himself not far from the Dnieper. According to media outlets, he killed himself after a quarrel with his wife, but they quarreled over money – she reproached him that he was not able to pay a loan,” dzyanis Dashkevich stressed.
Last week it became known that the notorious decree was amended, but not revoked.
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Belsat.eu
