For mining companies, the mineral extraction tax (MET) will be increased. Separately, for Gazprom, the increase in the severance tax will amount to 50 billion rubles per month. The income tax for companies that produce and export liquefied natural gas (LNG) will also increase from 20% to 34%. Likewise, in 2023-2025 the mechanism introduced in September of this year will be maintained to take into account the discount of our oil when paying oil tankers under the gasoline buffer mechanism (for the supply of fuel to the domestic market).
In total, from increased taxes on oil and gas companies and savings on payments, the treasury will receive an additional 1.08 trillion rubles in 2023, 1.13 trillion in 2024 and 1.19 in 2025. The budget plans to receive another 30 billion rubles from the mineral extraction tax increase on coal in the first three months of next year. On top of this, the increase in the tax on mineral extraction in the oil industry should bring 105 billion rubles to state extra-budgetary funds in 2023, 114 billion in 2024 and almost 123 billion in 2025.
At the same time, experts point to possible risks of tax increases for the industry, in which before the tax burden was the highest in our economy. The budget revenue of 2021, which was successful for him, amounted to 25.3 trillion rubles. That is, the amount is slightly above 1 trillion rubles, this is about 4% of the state’s revenue, given the good situation on the world market. And in the same 2021 budget, almost 36% came from revenues from the oil and gas sector.
According to Kirill Melnikov, director of the Center for Energy Development (RE Center), the question of whether to raise taxes is always political: it is a question of who needs the money more: companies or the state. The state’s revenue needs have grown due to the SVO and the need to adapt to sanctions, Melnikov said.
The increase in taxes, first of all, affects investments, says Konstantin Simonov, head of the National Fund for Energy Security. And now it is necessary to increase them, and mainly in related industries: shipbuilding, insurance, transportation, etc.
Melnikov clarifies that part of the funds raised by taxes, of course, go to projects that oil and coal companies need: subsidies for the purchase and construction of ships, infrastructure expansion and other things. The key question is: to what extent will primary industries be able to pay higher taxes in unfavorable scenarios for the development of the world economy?
