The Ministry of Finance proposes to increase the tax burden on high wages after the 2018 presidential elections, Vedomosti learned. The contribution rate for workers with a salary above 796 thousand can be increased to 30%

Photo: Ekaterina Kuzmina / RBC

newspaper The Vedomosti learned the essence of the proposals for social tax reform developed by the Ministry of Finance. As four federal officials told the publication, the department proposes to increase the burden on wages after the 2018 elections. This could bring the budget up to 500 billion rubles.

The department’s proposals do not violate Russian President Vladimir Putin’s promises not to increase the tax burden until 2018, Vedomosti notes. The publication calculated that the reform of the Ministry of Finance after the elections could bring the budget up to 470 billion rubles in 2019. from employers paying high salaries, and up to 50 billion rubles. from increasing rates for the self-employed.

Currently, insurance premiums for employees are 30% of their accrued income. Of these, 22% are sent to the Pension Fund of Russia, 2.9% and 5.1% to social and health insurance funds. Moreover, after the employee’s annual income exceeds 796 thousand rubles. (this amount is indexed annually), the contribution rate is reduced to 15.1%. The Ministry of Finance proposes to cancel this rule and take 30% of the entire wage fund. However, an increase in pension rights in this case is not provided.

The authors of the reform also consider it necessary to reduce the pension rights of those for whom the employer pays fewer contributions. We are talking about beneficiaries: for example, companies in the IT industry pay insurance premiums at a reduced rate of 14%. According to the federal official, the Ministry of Finance considers the changes fair, since, from the department’s point of view, other employers are now paying for benefit recipients. The 14% tariff for the IT industry is valid until 2017. The Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications proposed to extend its validity until 2023, but the Ministry of Finance opposes this initiative .

For individual entrepreneurs, the Ministry of Finance proposes to establish a fixed insurance premium of 1–2.2 times the minimum wage (minimum wage) “depending on the length of experience.” According to one of the newspaper’s interlocutors, at meetings the contribution of two minimum wages is most often discussed.

Three officials told Vedomosti that the Ministry of Finance also proposes to make co-payments on contributions for individuals in the amount of 2-5%. According to one of the sources, this could become a new form of voluntary funded pension. However, the interlocutor in the government office noted that only the ministry supports this idea.

The department's initiatives have already been discussed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov. Presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that these ideas were not discussed with the president. According to Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets’ representative, no proposals were officially submitted to the government.

Three federal officials noted that Shuvalov and Golodets did not like the initiatives of the Ministry of Finance. One of the newspaper’s interlocutors expressed the opinion that the reform would hit export-oriented sectors, as well as sectors with skilled labor and high wages, which, on the contrary, need support.

As RBC wrote, earlier the Ministry of Labor made a proposal to increase insurance premiums for high salaries. The agency proposed to increase the rate of insurance contribution to the Pension Fund for salaries exceeding the basic level from 2017, and increase it by 2% annually until 2021. According to the initiative, contributions paid by employers to the Pension Fund for the most “expensive” employees will increase gradually from 10% in 2016 to 20% in 2021. Such an increase could bring income of 234.44 billion rubles.

At the beginning of March, the Ministry of Labor proposed increasing insurance premiums for individual entrepreneurs. According to the proposals, for an individual entrepreneur earning 500 thousand rubles. per year, the total amount of contributions may increase by 20%. The initiative provoked a negative reaction from small business representatives .

The Ministry of Finance proposed to increase the burden on wages after the 2018 elections