On August 16, Minsk /BelTA/. New land tax rates are being established in Belarus for land plots located within and outside populated areas, as well as for land plots of horticultural associations and dacha cooperatives. On August 13, the President of Belarus signed Decree No. 420 "On Certain Issues of Land Tax and Rent Collection for State-Owned Land Plots," BelTA was informed by the press service of the Head of State. An exception applies to land plots for which, in accordance with the Tax Code of Belarus, land tax is levied at the rates for agricultural land of agricultural designation. To equalise the tax burden, the decree proposes the application of combined land tax rates. For this purpose, it is envisaged to establish threshold values for the cadastral value of land plots, at which land tax will be paid at fixed rates. If these threshold values are exceeded, land tax rates as a percentage of the cadastral value of the plots will be applied. The fixed land tax rate for public-business, industrial, and recreational zones is set at Br1.2 million per 1 hectare, based on the land tax rates in effect in 2009, taking into account indexation for 2010. In the same manner, a fixed rate for multi-apartment residential and single-family residential zones was determined, amounting to Br80 thousand per 1 hectare. The decree also provides for the establishment of uniform percentage rates of land tax by type of functional land use, regardless of their location, which will reduce the number of percentage land tax rates from 48 to 6. The proposed mechanism will significantly simplify the procedure for calculating land tax and reduce the tax burden for taxpayers whose land plots are located in areas adjacent to Minsk and regional centres. At the same time, for most land plots located in other regions of the republic, land tax will be calculated at fixed rates, which will take into account the interests of local budgets.