With the onset of the crisis, the trickle of budget financing for housing construction dried up. But it was necessary to build something, thousands of Russians needed housing. And then, in 1993, off-budget funds for housing construction began to appear. And the president...

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the beginning of the crisis, the trickle of budget financing of housing construction dried up. But it was necessary to build something, thousands of Russians needed housing. And then, in 1993, off-budget funds for housing construction began to appear. And the president, by his decree, determined the procedure for their formation and use. Such funds were created to help those on the waiting list to improve their living conditions. The main type of assistance provided to those on the waiting list by non-budgetary funds is gratuitous subsidies for the construction or purchase of housing. In December 1996, one of these funds was created in Moscow. He carried out his activities within the framework of the city program "Combiinvest". This program involved the construction and purchase of an apartment by those on the waiting list for municipal housing with the help of subsidies from the budget, an off-budget fund and their own funds. In a word, those on the waiting list who were already tired of waiting for a free apartment could ask for a subsidy, add the accumulated money and celebrate a housewarming. Thousands of Muscovites believed and responded to the call of the authorities. And everything was going well until last summer. And in the summer, suddenly, some joyful new settlers in the Eastern District received a summons from the tax authorities, from which it was clear that they had to pay income tax in the amount of ... I'm even scared to name the numbers - from 130 to 200 thousand, otherwise they will be considered criminals. You have to think what the waiting list experienced. Naturally, they turned to the Moscow City Duma for clarification and help. The deputies studied the problem, considered the actions of the tax authorities unlawful and sent V.F. Soltaganov's appeal, in which they asked to understand and provide appropriate explanations on the procedure for applying federal legislation. But what happened in the Eastern District of the capital? Why did the tax volcano, silent for so many years, suddenly come to life? Our correspondent asked Galina Khovanskaya, Chairman of the Commission on Housing Policy and Communal Reform of the Moscow City Duma, to comment on the current situation around the Combiinvest program:

— I would like to note that the creation of off-budget funds helped advance the queue. Hundreds of people on the waiting list took advantage of the right to subsidies. And since, by a decree of the Russian government, the maximum amount of subsidies (both from the budget and from an off-budget fund) was allowed up to 90%, many people on the waiting list who had been on the waiting list for free municipal housing for a very long time had to add only 10% and celebrate housewarming. Thus, the person on the waiting list, who joined Combiinvest and wanted to solve the problem a few years earlier, and not wait for free, I emphasize, apartments from the city, fell into a tax trap. In the summer of 2000, the tax police of the Eastern District began to initiate criminal cases against those on the waiting list for alleged non-payment of income tax. They believed that the subsidy that the person on the waiting list received from the off-budget fund was not compensation, but the income of the person on the waiting list. If it's income, then pay taxes on it. And this is not a thousand, not two, but the amount that they were counted along with the mark-ups exceeded 100 thousand. Just think about it, the person on the waiting list, who was on a waiting list for free housing and, according to the law, had every right to it, must now pay that kind of money. And all this for the fact that he added his money and unloaded the queue. And the first to suffer were those who honestly filed a tax return. They wanted to receive tax benefits that are due to a person if he builds or buys housing, and instead of returning the amounts spent, they received a “fine”.

- But probably, the tax police had some reason for this?

“It’s just that they interpret the tax laws that way. They believe that what the person on the waiting list received from the off-budget fund is subject to taxation. Like, this is your income, not compensation. In addition, in the fall of last year, we received a submission from the tax police of the Eastern District against the chairman of the Moscow City Duma, Platonov. And in this document, in black and white, it was written about the participants in the Combiinvest program that they allegedly used this program to enrich themselves, they say, they received three apartments each (for themselves and their relatives), which discredited the Combiinvest program. I demanded from all the participants of the program, against whom criminal cases were initiated, that they bring a certificate from the Moscow Registration Committee stating that they have no other area. Here are the references. And what? Someone advised one of the participants in the program to pay in order not to increase penalties, and then sue the tax authorities. She did just that. And what do you think happened next? She was summoned to the tax police of the Eastern District and told that if she did not withdraw her application from the court, then she would be considered so that she would pay for her whole life. What to do, I thought and thought and took the application. She still has a small child, and it is not known what will follow the words.

Moreover, they even stopped by the North-Eastern District. But since they cannot initiate criminal cases there, the tax police came to one of the waiting lists and said: sign the amnesty document, otherwise we will initiate a criminal case against you. But if she signs, she pleads guilty. Naturally, she did not sign such a document. And this is a person who is on the waiting list for municipal housing. Some nightmare!

- And what is the attitude of the higher tax authorities to everything that is happening? I don't think they know anything.

- Although today we have an explanation from two deputies (signed at different times) from the Moscow Department of the Ministry of Taxes and Dues of the Russian Federation, which says that this is compensation and that it should not be within the normal range (that is, 90%) be taxed, the pressure on the waiting list does not stop. Just the other day, another participant in the Combiinvest program comes and says that a criminal case has also been opened against him. He was kept in the tax police for six hours, and all this time he was interrogated and asked to pay 170,000 rubles in tax. He works in a "mailbox", so they began to frighten him that, they say, with a criminal case, you will not get a job at any more closed enterprise. The blackmail is blatant. And in his statement addressed to the deputies, he writes that he does not understand what is happening. I, they say, could have received an apartment for free, I would have waited a few more years, but I believed the authorities and decided to add my money in order to quickly celebrate the housewarming myself and unload the queue. And in the end it turns out that I fell into a trap. Now I'm in debt like silk for the rest of my life.

— What about people who may also receive such a summons tomorrow?

- Apply immediately to the court, because on the basis of subparagraph "D" of paragraph 1 of Art. 3 of the Law of the Russian Federation "On income tax" compensatory payments are not subject to taxation.

And I would also like to add: if it were only about 750 people who participate in this program, it would be half the trouble. But after all, all those on the waiting list, all migrants, all those who once solved their housing problem at the expense of an off-budget fund, can wake up in the morning with a summons from the tax police. If this is the case and according to the law they must pay income tax on the money given to them, then this should simply be explained to people, and then not a single normal person will improve their living conditions according to this scheme. I believe that there is a colossal discrediting of the presidential decree and the very idea of ​​solving housing issues at the expense of extrabudgetary sources. Urgent intervention by the federal tax authorities is needed to stop the “enthusiasts” from the Eastern District, for whom the goal of raising money for the budget at any cost justifies any means.