Attack on VAT

Recently, the government approved the main parameters of the three-year budget until 2011, where the reasonable position of the Ministry of Finance, which insisted that the VAT parameters should not be touched, prevailed. Almost simultaneously with this, the head of the Supreme Council of the United Russia party, Boris Gryzlov, presented a list of changes to this tax in the State Duma.

Gryzlov presented a list of changes to this tax to the State Duma. True, he did not talk about reducing it, only about introducing some targeted changes to the Tax Code.
I don’t understand why VAT remains a favorite target of lobbyists who want to serve Russian business. VAT does cause problems for businesses. But it’s not its value, but the fact that tax authorities make payments of VAT refunds only by court decision: they have a plan for collections.
That is, VAT administration needs to be “treated.” If administered well, this is a useful tax, which, by the way, is used in most countries, except for the United States, where after the war they decided not to change their tax system. Our VAT of 18% is approximately equal to what is paid in the world. Where VAT is lower, this is compensated by an increase in other taxes - in some places there is a higher income tax, in others there is a social tax (analogous to our Unified Social Tax).
VAT has unique properties - it is universal and neutral. In the sense that it is universal, that although this tax is paid by the manufacturer, it is actually the buyer who pays it. And neutrality is manifested in the fact that no one wins from this payment, provided that VAT is carefully paid and due refunds are accurately returned. VAT collections in Russia account for approximately 1/3 of budget revenues. Moreover, this is an amount that does not depend on oil and gas prices. That is, VAT is the basis of the country’s budget.
If we are going to reduce taxes, I advise you to affect others (for example, reduce income tax), and leave VAT alone.