"My Father Helped, And I Sold My Car": A Belarusian Woman Received A "letter Of Happiness" From The Tax Office

They are requiring a report on income and expenses over the past 10 years.

A Belarusian woman shared on Threads about a “letter of joy” she received from the tax office. “Now I have to spend 10 years running around collecting all the receipts and paperwork,” she notes. In the comments, people expressed outrage at this demand from the tax office and offered advice on how to proceed, according to “Zerkalo”.

“I received this request from the tax office. Has anyone else encountered this? The strange thing is that, as a self-employed person, I take cash from clients, then deposit it into my card myself and pay with the card, but the tax authorities treat this as unidentified funds from third parties, since it’s not clear who deposited the money into my card, — the social media user explained. — They didn’t take into account the 1.5 years I was out of the country, and they also calculated that my expenses exceeded my income. I rented out an apartment, but they didn’t count that as income, even though I paid taxes on it. Now I have to spend 10 years running around collecting all the receipts and paperwork.”

A photo of a letter from the tax office published by the Belarusian woman shows that she was charged for expenses exceeding her income by just over 311,000 rubles. This amount covers the period from 2016 to 2026.
“I wrote a statement saying that I’m leaving the country now and asking for an extension of the deadline by which I must file my report, but they wouldn’t accept the statement. I insisted that they register it. Otherwise, they told me verbally: ‘Go ahead, come back later, and we’ll sort it out…’ But then they would have said: ‘It’s too late to sort it out—it’s already been sent for collection; you didn’t provide an explanation by the deadline,’” added the Belarusian woman who received the “letter of joy.”

According to her, “the same thing happened to acquaintances of my acquaintances.”
“People didn’t bother with it; they just paid whatever they were billed. I want to try to fight this. Now I have to remember everything, cross-check the details, and analyze it,” the social media user clarified.

She also added that “in 2022, the largest amount was most likely billed because I moved apartments and bought another one with an additional payment.”

“My father helped out a little, and I also sold my car. But my father is now missing. I guess I can’t write about my father based on my own words without proof, right?” she wonders.


The post garnered more than 300 comments. “It’s really strange to demand an explanation for something that happened 10 years ago,” wrote one social media user, tagging “parliament” “deputy” Oleg Gaidukevich. “I’d like to see legislation limiting such timeframes to a maximum of three years, or even just one. The tax authority should act in a timely manner, rather than dredging up long-past claims when it’s nearly impossible to gather proof.”

Here are some other comments left under the post:

“Speaking from experience, they’ve already calculated everything they knew about. This means there are certain items that were never declared or properly documented, but you may have received money from various sources. Most importantly, it’s better to spend the money on a specialist and respond with their help. Important! After you submit your first response to the letter mentioned above, they won’t let you submit a second one—you need to approach your response with the utmost care.”

“The tax authorities treat any card top-ups as income. Even if, hypothetically, you were to withdraw and top up the same 1,000 rubles ten times in a row, this would be considered income of 10,000 rubles. There have already been cases where a person had a loan of about 600,000 rubles; they received their salary, withdrew it from their bank, and topped up another card to pay off the loan. So, even though it was a loan repayment, the tax authorities classified the card top-ups—made with their own money—as income of 600,000 Belarusian rubles.”

“26% of the amount exceeding 311,000 is 80,000. Seriously, find a tax advisor. Even if it costs 300–500 rubles, at least you’ll save some of that.”

“I fully agree that there should be a time limit on the information requested. Try to remember right now what happened 10 years ago.”

“Go see a tax consultant. For 150–200 rubles, a knowledgeable professional will help you develop a strategy to protect your interests, help you fight back, or get through this with minimal losses.”

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