| The price of vodka will increase in the new year Next year there will be much less strong alcohol on sale, and its price will increase immediately after the New Year. Such data were presented yesterday by alcohol market experts at a round table meeting on the problems of the alcohol industry. All these changes will affect products with an alcohol content of more than 9%. Moreover, the problem will affect not only consumers, but also the treasury. The collection of excise taxes on alcohol is traditionally one of the most reliable sources of budget financing. And problems with their collection ultimately affect expenditure items.
The state has not been able to decide on excise policy for many years. Not only do excise tax rates on alcohol and tobacco change, which happens every year, but the methods of collecting excise taxes also change radically. Three years ago, the manufacturer transferred 100% of the excise tax to the state, but it was decided that this leads to uneven revenue from excise taxes across the country. Therefore, for the last two years, the excise tax has been divided in a 50/50 ratio between the manufacturer and the wholesale buyer, so that regional authorities do not interfere with the sale of products from other regions.
The abolition of sales tax since 2004 forced the Ministry of Finance to look for additional reserves for regional budgets. It was decided that the manufacturer will now pay 20% of the excise tax to the federal budget, and the distributor - 80% to the regional budget. True, in their haste to adopt the corresponding chapter of the Tax Code, legislators, as often happens, left a small incident in the text. The law does not provide any transitional provisions for those who purchased alcohol in warehouses before January 1, but did not manage to sell it by the beginning of the year. Such wholesalers will have to pay excise tax twice: 50% of the rate in force until 2004, plus 80% of the rate that comes into force on January 1. Many wholesalers simply stopped accepting products into warehouses. So by the New Year, an artificial shortage of alcohol may also arise in the country.
The price of alcohol will also increase. According to the chairman of the board of the National Alcohol Association, Pavel Shapkin, “an 18% indexation of excise taxes on strong alcoholic beverages from the new year will increase the price of the cheapest half-liter by 7 rubles.” But this is far from the limit. In 2003, the excise tax on vodka was increased by 15%, the price of legal products increased by at least 15-20% by the end of the year. As a rule, there is no strict connection between an increase in excise taxes and a rise in prices. The retail chain uses the increase in excise taxes only as a cover for rising prices.
But in the final analysis, raising prices for drinkers is not as dangerous in the excise problem as reducing the revenue side of regional budgets. This year, according to preliminary data, a shortage of excise taxes was recorded for the first time. A month earlier, the Accounts Chamber, having analyzed the 2004 budget, stated that the regions may not receive enough revenue from alcohol excise taxes. It is much more difficult to collect excise tax from wholesalers who create distribution chains, tax officials admit. Meanwhile, it was through excise taxes that the center intended to compensate the regions for lost income. The regions will have to finance their own needs using the tax powers transferred to them. And if this year efforts to “strengthen tax administration” were focused on the largest taxpayers, then next year they will be aimed at smaller enterprises. Irina SKLYAROVA |
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