Translated material
Deferred rate
There will be no reduction in transport tax in Moscow in the near future
The Moscow authorities are clearly not ready to reduce transport tax rates next year as a kind of compensation for the increase in excise taxes on gasoline. Yesterday's meeting in the Moscow City Duma showed that neither officials nor deputies are ready to give up this, although not the main, but quite significant source of income for the capital's budget. Although federal legislation will soon allow such a populist step. Yesterday, the Federation Council approved a bill initiated by the government, providing for a two-fold reduction in the basic rates of transport tax, as well as the opportunity for regional authorities to both significantly increase the local tax and practically exempt owners of cars with an engine power of less than 150 horsepower from it.But even a seemingly purely technical amendment to postpone the payment of transport tax, which the capital’s parliament was forced to introduce into city legislation in order to unify it with federal requirements, caused dissatisfaction among deputies. The Chairman of the Budget and Financial Commission of the Moscow City Duma, Igor Antonov, in a conversation with a Vremya Novostey correspondent, complained that the federal center is forcing the regions to postpone the deadline for paying taxes until the end of the year, and this postponement also means a shift in the deadline for filling the budget. “It is important for us what and when we collect,” said the deputy.
Until now, metropolitan car owners were required to pay transport tax no later than July 1 of the year following the expired tax period. In accordance with the amendments introduced yesterday, the period for settlements with the treasury is extended by another five months - until December 1. The law comes into force on January 1, 2011. Consequently, money from motorists for 2010 will go to the budget only at the end of next year.
Even if the deputies who are trying to fill the capital’s budget do not like this delay, it is obvious that there can be no talk of reducing transport tax rates in the foreseeable future. Although federal officials are confident that the regions will need some flexibility in taxation against the backdrop of a gradual increase in excise taxes on petroleum products. Amendments to tax legislation, according to which excise tax rates on petroleum products will increase by 1 ruble annually starting from 2011. per 1 liter, three readings have already passed in the State Duma. These funds are also expected to be used to revive state road funds.
In the Moscow City Duma, judging by the words of Mr. Antonov, they really expect a significant increase in revenues from excise taxes on petroleum products next year. “Additional revenues from excise taxes will be used for road construction,” the deputy explained and added that a law on road funds in the city of Moscow is currently being prepared. True, the exact indicators of this line of income, according to him, have not been determined. “Until the law is finally adopted at the federal level, we cannot make changes to the draft city budget,” noted Igor Antonov.
Apparently, capital officials will be able to assess the potential of this source of income by the third reading of the draft Moscow budget for 2011, which city deputies will return to consider in mid-December. It is noteworthy that the amendments made last week to the main financial document of the capital provide for an increase in revenues from the collection of transport tax by 2.6 billion rubles. According to city financiers, in 2011, the revenue of this tax, “based on the growth rates established over the nine months of this year compared to the level of 2009, as well as due to the repayment of arrears,” could amount to more than 12 billion rubles. According to the city Department of Finance, this year, with a planned growth rate of tax collection of 38%, the actual increase in revenues increased by 68%, and they amounted to about 10 billion rubles.
Let us recall that in 2009 city transport tax rates were increased. Moscow set the maximum tax rate allowed by federal law at that time for cars with power from 125 to 150 hp. and over 200 hp The rate for cars with engine power from 150 to 200 hp was also close to the “limit”. For a significant part of car owners, as deputies assured then, the tax rate remained unchanged due to the separation of the most common cars with engine power from 100 to 125 horsepower into a separate category.
“Now we are not raising the question of increasing transport tax rates in Moscow, we are raising the question of not lowering it,” Mr. Antonov told Vremya Novostey. According to him, the transport tax is not only the main source of financing road construction, but also a lever for regulating the transport and environmental situation in the city. “In fact, we can regulate the number of cars with a transport tax. If it is too heavy for someone, then people will simply stop using this type of transport,” the deputy believes.
The opinion that reducing the tax burden of car owners is unacceptable for the treasury is shared, it seems, by the chairman of the commission on regulations, rules and procedures of the Moscow City Duma, Alexander Krutov. “This is our right, but not our obligation,” he told Vremya Novostey, commenting on the federal initiative. According to Mr. Krutov, in any case, for 2011 the tax rate “physically cannot be changed.” “If we talk about any changes, then it will be for 2012,” said the deputy. According to Mr. Krutov, neither an increase in excise taxes nor an increase in transport tax rates will have a significant impact on either the transport situation in the city or political stability. “If you look at the composition of the vehicle fleet, it becomes clear that the owners of the cars that currently occupy the main place on the roadway are unlikely to experience these changes,” the deputy believes.
The mayor's office, apparently, has not yet decided what is more important: political stability or budget revenues. Marina Ogloblina, acting head of the Moscow Department of Economic Policy and Development, told Vremya Novostey yesterday that “this issue requires additional thinking, calculations and understanding of the situation.” According to her, officials will have to “weigh the economic feasibility, the social aspect and the environmental component.”
Formally, federal legislation allows all cars with an engine capacity of up to 150 hp to be exempt from tax. But in the capital, even if we were talking about cars with an engine capacity of up to 100 hp, almost half of the entire vehicle fleet would have to be exempt from paying the tax. According to the Department of Economic Policy and Development, 48% of the city's three million passenger car fleet falls into this category. Now cars with an engine capacity of up to 70 hp, the owners of which are exempt from paying tax, make up about 11%.