The time for a tax on parasitism in Russia has not yet come, said the head of the Ministry of Labor Maxim Topilin. At the same time, he proposed an alternative - the redistribution of funds allocated for unemployment benefits

Maxim Topilin, head of Mintrud (Photo: Oleg Yakovlev/RBK)

In Russia, the time has not yet come to introduce a tax on parasitism, said Russian Minister of Labor and Social Protection Maxim Topilin. “The time for such a tax has not come. He's not needed. When they talk about a tax on parasitism, it seems to me that there is a misunderstanding of what is happening there. All those who work legally are interested in ensuring that funds from the budget collected in the form of taxes do not go to support those who work illegally or do not work at all. This is unfair,” said the head of the department (quoted by Interfax).

In this regard, he proposed to take actions that would eliminate this injustice without adopting a law on parasitism. According to him, it is possible to adopt a system that will allow the redistribution of funds allocated for unemployment benefits: people with a good work history should receive more than those who work illegally or do not work at all. “Such a system can be adopted no earlier than 2018,” Topilin noted.

On May 12, Deputy Head of the Ministry of Labor Andrei Pudov said that the ministry had raised the issue of the possible introduction of a tax similar to that existing in Belarus for able-bodied , but officially unemployed citizens. “They [the Belarusian authorities] introduced a so-called tax on those persons who are of working age, but do not pay insurance premiums and are not employed. They took such a serious step,” Pudov said.

At the same time, he noted that such a measure is being discussed, without specifying where exactly. A representative of the Ministry of Labor explained to RBC that the discussion is being conducted at the expert level in the context of studying such experience in Belarus. At the same time, he said, no regulations on this matter are being developed.

On the same day, the Kremlin commented on Pudov’s words. “This is a matter that is the prerogative of the government. There is no position, developed or united, on this matter. “No decisions were made in this regard,” said Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of the Russian president, at the time.

On May 27, the Ministry of Labor published a bill that increases the amount of unemployment benefits , but reduces the number of citizens who can qualify for it. The document also proposes to reduce payment terms by half. The initiative implies, in particular, the fight against the “dependant attitude of citizens.”

In April 2015, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko signed a decree “On the Prevention of Social Dependency . ” According to the document, parasites must annually pay a fee of 20 basic units to the treasury - about $212 in 2016.

The head of the Ministry of Labor proposed an alternative to the tax on parasites