Changes to the tax system are being prepared in Russia.
Photo: Roman IGNATIEV.
Changes to the tax system are being prepared in Russia. It should be more fair. The president set himself this task in his speech to the Federal Assembly in February.
Hearings on the new system were held in the State Duma last week. Based on its results, the Budget and Tax Committee of the State Duma approved 13-point recommendations, which should become the basis for improving taxation. Below, the Chairman of the Budget and Tax Committee of the State Duma, Andrei Makarov, explained these recommendations in detail.
We would like to delve deeper into them, as these explanations answer many questions that people already had about the changes.
Chairman of the Budget and Tax Committee of the State Duma Andrei Makarov
Photo: Vladimir VELENGURIN.
WHAT DOES A “FAIRER” SYSTEM MEAN?
As Andrei Makarov recalled, for a long time we had a uniform income tax scale, in which everyone paid 13% of income. And this, of course, is unfair.
“Equity means that whoever earns more must pay more,” says the deputy. – But let’s not forget that at that time we did not have a normal tax service, nor the ability to control revenues, nor the opportunity to see tax evasion by a variety of taxpayers, not to mention the fact that in the 90s the attitude toward paying taxes was “you’re a fool for paying taxes.” It took us years to overcome this attitude of the people and create opportunities for the tax service to control these problems.
According to him, we already have a progressive tax system to some extent. For example, the professional income tax for self-employed workers can be 4% (if the client is a natural person) or 6% (if the client is a legal entity). And three years ago, a 15% rate of income tax (instead of 13%) was introduced for income over 5 million rubles a year. Therefore, we are not talking about introducing a progressive scale. The point is to make it fairer.
What does this mean exactly?
“The first is what the president said: support those who probably need it most: large families,” explained Andrei Makarov. “It’s quite natural that this is where the biggest problems are.” Real situation: husband and wife receive a normal salary. A boy was born; The income has already decreased slightly because we are three people. The second child was born: the wife is forced to leave work, she only has her husband’s salary left, even though he is very good, but it is already divided among four. A third child was born… And these are colossal problems, despite the fact that the State provides support.
And the second point.
– Our advocates should be excluded from any system associated with increasing rates. We must protect them and their families. Any changes in income tax rates should not affect them. This is the main requirement that the State Duma formulated when considering this issue at parliamentary hearings, the head of the Duma committee said.
“MORE INCOME”: THIS IS HOW MUCH
The average salary in the country is now 73,000 to 74,000 rubles per month.
– Average, I emphasize. Now those who earn much less smile. But I assure you that those who had much more laughed out loud. Therefore, we propose that the 13% rate does not change in the case of at least twice the average salary. That is, the 13% interest rate, from our point of view, cannot change for those who receive about 150,000 rubles a month,” says Makarov. “And it is very important that the maximum limits are not excessive, so that they do not encourage tax evasion. Because if we set excessive tax levels, instead of increasing tax collection, we will end up with a reduction in tax collection… We believe that maximum equity will be guaranteed through a progressive scale, but with several steps, which will allow a smooth transition of one income category to another.
WHAT AWAITS SMALL BUSINESSES
The good news for freelancers is that it is not advisable to touch them.
– One of the recommendations that the State Duma makes to the Government is to keep the tax regime on professional income unchanged. More than 10 million people are waiting for an answer to this question. This is the unified position of the State Duma,” Andrei Makarov stressed.
Another issue that is of great concern to small businesses is the simplified tax system. It allows, firstly, to work without unnecessary bureaucracy and, secondly, if the company is small and its income is also small, to pay less taxes, for example, 6%.
“One of the most convenient regimes for small businesses,” agrees the deputy. – Millions of people have taken advantage of this regime. But there are several problems that really exist and that entrepreneurs talk honestly about. After all, a small business, if it develops successfully, can become medium, maybe even large, and is forced to move from this regime to a general tax system… We have heard your voices about what is happening, probably the Something wrong: we are developing, but the transition to a general tax regime is simply killing our business. We cannot physically resist this regime. The President listened to these people and proposed two very important initiatives. The first is that there should not be an abrupt transition from a simplified system to a general tax regime, but rather a smooth one. On the other hand, for those who today, to save their business, began to divide it into parts – let’s call it a spade, they used tax evasion schemes – he proposed declaring an amnesty if they are willing to return to normal. legal field.
“CLOSE THE LIQUORS”
This, according to Makarov, is one of the most important requests of companies: closing loopholes for unscrupulous taxpayers. Otherwise, it turns out that businessmen who pay taxes honestly are at a disadvantage; They are not competitive due to high costs compared to companies that engage in all types of “tax optimization.” And this is really the pain of the business community.
– It seems to us that changes in the taxation of the profits of companies and organizations should follow these paths. On the one hand, support for the investment component, and for these purposes it is necessary to create and introduce a federal investment deduction mechanism (a company that invests in achieving the country’s national development goals must receive a special tax deduction – Ed.), says Andrei Makarov. – On the other hand, stop and close these loopholes for unscrupulous taxpayers in order to create the most comfortable working conditions for bona fide taxpayers. This is what income tax is all about.
“A SERIOUS AND OPEN DISCUSSION AWAITS US”
The head of the Tax Commission also stated that the discussion on the new tax system will be absolutely open:
– We expect a very serious discussion, an absolutely open public discussion on specific provisions of the law, specific tariffs that will be proposed to governments. I am sure there will be hundreds of amendments that we will consider publicly, considering all the arguments for and against.
