A year of exemptions and restrictions

Since January, dozens of new laws and regulations have come into force, most of which are designed to replenish the state treasury at the expense of citizens and businesses. How legislators made life difficult for the population, an NT correspondent figured out

Social innovations

in January The pension reform started , the announcement of which last year provoked mass protests, a drop in the ratings of the country's leadership, and the first defeat of proteges of power in regional elections in many years . Now the retirement age for men will be gradually raised from 60 to 65 years, and for women from 55 to 60 years. In 2019, women will retire from 55.5 years old, and men from 60.5 years old - that is, six months later than before.

On January 1, amendments mitigating the reform also came into effect. The official term “pre-retirement age” is introduced, 55 years for women and 60 years for men: those who have reached this mark retain some of the benefits that apply to pensioners. The employer will not be able to dismiss an employee at this age under pain of criminal liability. The authorities intend to index pensions by an average of 7% and increase by 400 rubles. allowance for those over 80 years of age.

Economists do not consider this reform justified. Thus, Konstantin Sonin, a professor at the University of Chicago and the Higher School of Economics, noted in his blog that “there is no reason to change the retirement age due to a (non-existent) increase in life expectancy.” The main problem of the reform, according to him, "is not that it is somehow particularly cruel or ineffective, but that it does not address the main problem of the Russian economy - low labor productivity."

The authorities are also looking for other ways to plug the hole in the Pension Fund. The new rule, which began to work in January 2019, is related to money confiscated from corrupt officials (and from the sale of property confiscated from them). These funds will now be credited to the FIU. Revenues in 2019-2024 under this item, according to legislators, are expected in the amount of 1.8 billion rubles.

The minimum wage will increase by 117 rubles (up to 11,280 rubles), followed by benefits and other social benefits. The minimum unemployment benefit will rise to 1,500 rubles, the maximum - up to 8,000 rubles.

On the other hand, citizens will now be less likely to remember the devaluation of the national currency: scoreboards with exchange rates will disappear from the streets. The Central Bank motivated the innovation by the fight against illegal exchangers

Workers, according to the plan of the authorities, will have more rest at the expense of employers. According to the new rules , from January 1, the employer can include the cost of trips for employees in the column of labor costs (up to 50 thousand rubles) and not pay income tax on these funds. But this will only affect recreation in Russia: this is how they intend to develop domestic tourism.

Holidays abroad are becoming less affordable for Russians due to the devaluation of the ruble. But citizens will now be less likely to remember this: scoreboards with exchange rates will disappear from the streets. The Central Bank motivated the innovation by the fight against illegal exchangers.

Increasing taxes and fees

From January 1, VAT will increase from 18% to 20%. This will not affect socially significant goods and services, including housing and communal services and public transport. Prices for many goods and services have already risen since January, including food, gasoline and communications .

Alcohol prices will rise. Brandy and cognac will rise in price by several tens of percent, as new minimum prices have now been set for drinks with a strength above 28%.

Beer may also rise in price, as it will become more difficult to advertise: advertising is prohibited , in particular, in newspapers, magazines and partly on TV.

Another innovation has already been dubbed the “garbage tax” in the media. According to the new rules , now in each region of the Russian Federation there will be a licensed operator who will have to take out the waste, as well as sort it, dispose of it and recycle it. Citizens will pay for the reform: a new column will appear in the monthly payments for housing and communal services - a fee for the disposal of solid domestic waste (although these utility costs were taken into account in current payments). As a result, in some regions, the payment of residents for garbage could increase 50 times, legislators warn. Therefore, the local authorities are delaying the reform: in some regions, for example, in the Khabarovsk Territory, they will start working according to the new rules only after a year.

Train ticket prices will change. Seats on long-distance trains will be sold, including at non-refundable rates . Such tickets can be returned only in exceptional situations, and their prices will be 10-20% lower than usual. On the other hand, regular (refundable) Russian Railways tickets will rise in price by an average of 3.9%. The prices for electric trains in the Moscow, Sverdlovsk regions and some other regions are also rising.

In some regions, the payment of residents for garbage could increase 50 times, legislators warn. Therefore, local authorities are delaying the “garbage reform”, in the Khabarovsk Territory - for a year

But these new direct and indirect taxes on citizens, according to the authorities, are not enough for the budget. Therefore, a campaign will start from the new year, so far voluntary, to remove the “self-employed” (tutors, hairdressers, cosmetologists, cooks) from the shadows - in total there are up to 25 million people. In four regions - Moscow, Moscow, Kaluga regions and Tatarstan, testing of a special tax is beginning, which will have to bring these people out of the shadows. Those who provide services or sell goods to individuals will pay 4% of their income, and for legal entities providing services there will be a 6% tax (as it is now with individual entrepreneurs reporting under a simplified scheme).

Difficulties for motorists

Motorists, especially those from the capital, will have to fork out even more. Due to the amendments that regulate the oil industry (tax maneuver), the increase in excise taxes on gasoline, as well as the mentioned increase in VAT, prices for motor fuel will increase.

The rules for buying an OSAGO policy will also change : for many, it will rise in price. Its minimum rate is now reduced from 3432 to 2746, while the maximum is growing from 4118 to 4942. For some categories of drivers, for example, for young (under 21), the price will increase by 20%.

in January are canceled Bad news for truckers too: benefits in the Platon system, which were valid for cars over 12 tons, . Benefits were introduced in 2015 after large-scale protests by drivers of heavy trucks with road closures.

But Moscow motorists are expected to suffer the most damage: parking rules are changing in the capital . Free parking time is reduced from 15 minutes to 5. The cost on some streets in the center of the capital almost doubles - from 200 to 380 rubles per hour. On these streets it will not be possible to park for free on Sunday. Now, when parking on weekends, Muscovites will have to find out if this street falls into a “special zone”.

A mistake will cost dearly: since January 9, the fine for parking has increased from 2.5 thousand to 5 thousand rubles. The Moscow authorities explain this by the need to make fines “commensurate” with the new cost of parking.

Quite on the Internet

The Russian authorities found an additional source of replenishment of the treasury on the Internet.

Now citizens of the Russian Federation are required to pay duty on goods worth more than 500 euros purchased abroad, including through online stores. The duty will be 30% of the part of the amount that exceeds the norm. Moreover, all purchases made in a month are summed up. Goods are subject to duty even if their total weight during the month is more than 31 kg.

The so-called “Google tax” is starting to work in a new way. Now foreign companies providing "electronic services" in the Russian Federation will pay VAT themselves. The Facebook administration has already announced that it will add VAT to the cost of advertising. The innovation could make life difficult for a large number of foreign companies in Russia, told Baker McKenzie partner Arseniy Seyidov TASS. According to him, Russian legislation does not take into account the experience of foreign countries and the peculiarities of the work of multinational corporations.

The authorities decided to complicate the work of Internet companies in Russia in another way.

Aggregators operating in the network and selling goods as intermediaries will now have to bear responsibility for them on an equal basis with sellers. The buyer will be able to communicate about the quality of the goods not with the store, but directly with the aggregator. The same aggregator will also have to return, if necessary, the money for the goods or exchange it.

The bill of Klishas and Lugovoy assumes that Roskomnadzor will receive a complete map of traffic exchange points and will be able to block channels to any resource through the providers that transferred control to it. But instead of raising the Runet, the bill “on the sovereign Internet” will create a critical vulnerability for it

“A number of companies may consider that the share of revenue attributable to Russia is not large enough to make a decision on tax registration in Russia. And in this regard, they may decide to leave the Russian market,” predicts Arseniy Seyidov.

Another important event in the media sphere is the phasing out of analog television and the transition to digital TV by mid-2019. Millions of citizens may be left without television at all as a result of switching off analog TV. According to RBC experts, who estimated the total number of television devices capable of receiving a digital signal, in the event that analog TV is turned off, from 16.2 million to 33.7 million TVs may end up with a “black” screen.

Upcoming tightening

Last year, amendments were adopted that partially decriminalized Article 282 (anti-extremist) of the Criminal Code. Now, for “posts and likes”, the user will not be able to be imprisoned, the punishment will be fines or administrative arrests.

But having gone for these small mitigations, senators and deputies at the end of last year introduced a whole package of bills designed to further tighten the screws on the Internet. A group of authors led by Andrey Klishas, ​​Chairman of the Constitutional Committee of the Federation Council, proposed to consider petty hooliganism and punish with a fine of up to 5 thousand rubles or administrative arrest for up to 15 days for statements on the Internet that would be considered an insult to government officials. In another bill, Klishas and his colleagues are fighting "fake news": knowingly false information circulated on the Internet is proposed to be stopped with fines from 3 to 5 thousand rubles for ordinary citizens and from 400 thousand to 1 million for officials.

Finally, the same Klishas, ​​in co-authorship with LDPR deputy Andrei Lugovoi, introduced a bill on the offline operation of the Russian segment of the Internet. This idea in the expert community has already been dubbed the “sovereign Internet”. The bill assumes that Roskomnadzor will receive a complete map of traffic exchange points and will be able to block channels (including cross-border ones) to any resource through the providers that transferred control to it. In fact, instead of improving the reliability of the Russian segment of the Internet, the draft law “on the sovereign Internet” will create a critical vulnerability for it, wrote in their opinion . experts from the Tsifrovaya ekonomika ANO, founded by the government and the largest Russian companies, including Sberbank and Yandex,

These bills, although not introduced through the government or the presidential administration, were developed in the Security Council and agreed with the country's leadership, NT sources close to the State Duma report. True, last week the deputies decided to demonstrate their independence and anonymously told reporters that they would slow down Klishas's bills as punishment for his careless statements in an interview with Novaya Gazeta: the senator said that Vladimir Pozner's phrase "State fool" is not an insult to the authorities.