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Income maximum
Moscow fiscal officials will collect a third more taxes in 2007 than in 2006
Tax control in Moscow is becoming increasingly stricter. Moscow tax officials this year will collect at least a third more taxes than last year. This is evidenced by the tax collection statistics published on the official website of the Moscow Federal Tax Service. Moscow, like any capital, lives off the taxes of the largest corporations registered on its territory and trading enterprises. Income tax is still the main breadwinner of the budget. Taxation of citizens, their income and property is the second most important source of income for the capital's treasury.Over the 11 months of this year, Moscow has collected a third more taxes overall than last year. She contributed a third more to the consolidated budget, and Muscovites contributed 37% more to extra-budgetary funds (Pension, social insurance and health insurance).
As in any other large city, the majority of tax revenue comes from value added tax. VAT receipts increased by 42%, which was primarily due to increased trade volumes. According to Moscow tax officials, the increase in VAT collection was ensured by the strengthening of control measures to identify fraud with deductions for this tax.
The second place in the structure of collected taxes is occupied by income tax. Unlike VAT, this tax is split between the federal, regional and local budgets, so its collection is especially important for city authorities. Income tax revenues increased by 21% compared to last year, and taking into account “one-time” payments from the sale of property, including securities, by 50%. Here, as fiscal officials assure, the success of collection is due to the strengthening of tax control in relation to unprofitable and low-profit organizations operating in highly profitable sectors of the economy.
Personal income tax collection increased by 48% this year. Such a radical increase in fees was achieved thanks to the involvement of the population in additional declaration of income and measures to legalize wages.
The campaign to combat “gray” wages, carried out by tax authorities for two years together with the Moscow authorities, police officers, prosecutors and representatives of trade unions, seems to be beginning to bear some fruit. According to statistics, two-thirds of working Russians claim that they receive their entire salary officially, without any “envelope” payments. True, residents of the capital with incomes above average are still more likely than workers in the provinces to receive an “envelope” salary.
Informal “conversations” between tax officials and defaulters played a significant role in bringing salaries out of the shadows. Many requests began to arrive at special “complaint” phones, which began to work in tax inspectorates and branches of the Pension Fund. The largest number of complaints about “envelope” earnings, as tax officials say, comes from those workers who, due to “gray” salaries, were denied a loan. And also from those citizens who seek to receive tax deductions when purchasing a home.
Income tax collection has increased due to the identification of non-payers among people renting out apartments , and due to those who must pay taxes when selling real estate or cars. Such violations are detected relatively easily, which explains the radical increase in income tax collection. At the same time, tax collection from individual entrepreneurs still does not look very rosy - taxes on small businesses, like small businesses themselves, are still outside the close attention of fiscal officials.