Translated material
Tax revolt
Business does not want to pay for the state's ambitions
In 2011, the Ministry of Finance intends to take new steps to increase the fiscal burden on the economy. In particular, most small businesses will be deprived of the opportunity to use the single tax on imputed income (UTII) and the simplified taxation system. It is possible to complete work on a unified real estate tax, as well as revise all tax benefits. Deputy Director of the Department of Tax and Customs Tariff Policy of the Ministry of Finance Sergei Razgulin told the business community about this at the tax forum at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. In response, businessmen categorically demanded that the state reduce its expenses, moreover, by abandoning ambitious projects like the Olympics and the World Cup.At a tax forum organized by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI), entrepreneurs, without a chance of success, tried to make a last stand against the increase in insurance premium rates from January 1, 2011. President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Evgeny Primakov tried to reconcile business and the state. “A compromise cannot be found by reducing the state’s social obligations. But even with an increase in the fiscal burden on business structures, economic growth of 4-6% per year is impossible,” he said, opening the plenary session. However, Mr. Primakov could not resist protesting against the plans, probably well known to him, to increase the value added tax (VAT) rate from the current 18 to 19.6% with “the simultaneous abolition of all federal tax benefits.” The director of the Department of Tax and Customs Tariff Policy of the Ministry of Finance, Ilya Trunin, has already spoken about the preference for increasing this particular tax. The head of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, as an alternative, proposed “paying attention to strict spending of budget funds and a differentiated approach when increasing taxes on certain business groups.” “We need to stimulate business development by reducing the tax, administrative, and corruption burden,” the head of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry advised the government.
However, the Ministry of Finance intends to offer the business community completely different options. Small businesses will face a gradual reduction in the scope of their use of UTII. At the same time, individual entrepreneurs, with the exception of those engaged in trade and services, will be transferred to patents (for more information about the bill, see “Vremya Novostey” of August 10) . “Next year it is necessary to clarify the scope of application of the simplified taxation system (STS) and extend it only to enterprises in the manufacturing and social sectors,” by analogy with those small businesses that received from the president the following year a relaxation in the amount of the insurance premium (26% instead of 34 ). For the rest, the Ministry of Finance intends to offer the usual taxation system. “Currently, we believe that the tax authorities have the appropriate tools for administering them as usual for any type of business,” assured Sergei Razgulin.
Next year, the Ministry of Finance intends to undertake an audit of tax benefits in order to “assess their effectiveness and relevance.” Benefits found to be ineffective will be cancelled. When establishing new benefits, the period during which they will continue to be valid will be specified.
A new approach to providing tax benefits at the regional level was also announced. The Ministry of Finance intends to “take them into account in local budget expenditures.” This means that when regions apply for subsidies to the federal center, applicants will be asked to first reconsider the distributed tax benefits.
It is unlikely that the long-standing intention of the Ministry of Finance to introduce a single property tax instead of property and land taxes will reduce the fiscal burden. At the very least, hopes are pinned on this tax as the main source of replenishment of chronically underfunded municipal budgets. “Next year the cadastral assessment of capital construction projects will be completed, which will allow us to move to a new type of taxation,” Mr. Razgulin promised.
The entrepreneurs present in the hall were asked to take comfort in the fact that next year a decision would be made to gradually abolish property tax and land tax benefits for infrastructure facilities of large natural monopolies - Russian Railways, electric power companies, Gazprom and Transneft.
In general, next year, according to Sergei Razgulin, “with certain stretches can be called the year of increasing the tax burden for certain categories of taxpayers.” At the same time, he meant an increase in excise tax rates (on fuel, alcohol and tobacco) and the mineral extraction tax. But innovative enterprises will receive benefits. A zero income tax rate has been promised for non-profit organizations in the fields of education and healthcare. It is expected that income received from the sale of securities of companies from innovative sectors of the economy, which are both traded and not traded on the organized stock market, will be exempt from income taxes and personal income tax. “The government is preparing rules for classifying securities into such sectors,” Mr. Razgulin said.
For all businesses, the ministry is preparing “for a new approach to depreciation.” “We propose to provide for the use of a classification of fixed assets and their division into groups depending on the speed of technology development, which affects the renewal of fixed assets,” said a representative of the Ministry of Finance. From his explanations it was clear that different types of equipment and other fixed assets would have their own depreciation periods.
Even good tax ideas are often implemented by the Ministry of Finance in a completely different form from how they were originally announced. Thus, State Duma deputy from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Sergei Shtogrin said that “letters are being sent to the Duma reminding that the increase in fuel excise taxes was promised to be accompanied by the abolition or reduction of the transport tax, but this is not actually happening.” As an example, he cited his native Krasnoyarsk Territory, where they decided not to change the transport tax tariff starting next year, but for cars with a power of over 250 hp. and for yachts they even increased from 121 to 150 rubles. per hp Only those pensioners and veterans whose incomes are below the subsistence level were exempted from transport tax. In connection with the government's plans to provide all pensioners with the help of regional allowances with incomes above the subsistence level, everyone will again pay transport tax.
The fact that the authorities of the vast majority of regions act in this way is confirmed by the calculations of the Ministry of Finance on tax collections, used in the layout of the budget for the next year: there, transport tax revenues to regional budgets are planned in the amount of 80 billion rubles. instead of 60 billion this year.
“A sharp and real reduction in government spending” was demanded from the government by the president of the Union of Producers and Entrepreneurs of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, deputy of the regional legislative assembly Valery Sergienko. “They convince us that the deficit arose as a result of the financial crisis, while at the same time claiming that the crisis is over. But we see that the country does not live according to income. I am not a cannibal and I propose to cut not only social programs, but especially ambitious projects. The Winter Olympics in Sochi is a great pride, but God forbid we decide to hold the Summer Olympics in Magadan. Why do these expenses belong to a country that cannot make ends meet? Maybe we will suffer for some more time without Formula 1, we will learn to play football first, and then we will hold the championship,” the entrepreneur was indignant.
He said that over the years of reforms in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, 13.5 thousand enterprises went bankrupt. “We have lost 500 thousand jobs in large industries in just one region. They did not go to the porch and are not registered with the employment authorities. They went into small business. And we decided to put an end to it in 2011,” the businessman was indignant. Behind every closed small enterprise is the “tragedy of specific families” who sold apartments, took out loans, and invested in their business.
At the same time, in the region, according to Mr. Sergienko, Vankorneft (a subsidiary of Rosneft) produces 14 million tons of oil, from which 10 billion rubles go to the local budget. “Next year, if production increases to 16 million tons, payments will amount to 1.7 billion rubles. The Krasnoyarsk Aluminum Plant, processing, like seven or eight years ago, 880 thousand tons of aluminum, instead of 10 billion rubles. taxes next year will transfer about 2 billion rubles. The tiny distillery “Shushenskaya Marka” pays 500 million rubles to the regional budget. Maybe it’s better to have three such factories than to extract oil?” - asked the speaker. Moreover, only 10% of self-produced vodka is consumed in the region.
The leader of Krasnoyarsk business Valery Sergienko is outraged that the state has actually refused to regulate tariffs for the services of natural monopolies. “Next year, electricity payments for enterprises in our region will increase to 34%. I don’t understand why, when the cost per kilowatt is just over 10 kopecks. it is sold to villagers for 3.5 rubles. Which small business has such profitability? Why is this allowed for energy workers? And they constantly prove that this is not enough,” a representative of the business community was indignant.
In his opinion, the government makes decisions to increase the fiscal burden on business so easily because entrepreneurs “are not football fans and will not block the streets.” “But they will simply cease to exist and will further worsen the budget situation,” Mr. Sergienko warned.