Siluanov spoke about the upcoming change in the personal income tax scale

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The State Duma discussed the introduction of additional rates of the progressive scale of personal income tax. The changes should affect "only those with high incomes", and families with children should "end up as winners", said Finance Minister Anton Siluanov. At the same time, the specific parameters of the change in personal income tax for different income categories have not yet been determined.

The additional funds that will be collected through the increased tax will go towards the social development of the country, Siluanov said. "The state will spend the collected money on increasing social payments, supporting motherhood and childhood, for example, extending maternity capital, programs for the protection of motherhood and support for women's health, and a number of other similar programs," the minister said.

From 2001 to 2021, Russia had a flat income tax scale of 13%. In 2020, an element of progression appeared in the income tax scale: on Putin's initiative, the tax for incomes exceeding 5 million rubles per year was increased to 15%. At that time, the decision was explained by the need to find money for the treatment of children with rare diseases.

In his address to the Federal Assembly on February 29, 2024, Putin returned to the issue of changing the personal income tax scale and instructed to “think about a fairer distribution of the tax burden towards those with higher corporate and personal incomes.”

According to economists from RANEPA, the introduction of a progressive tax scale is justified: under the conditions of sanctions and the "green transition", Russian income from oil and gas sales may be seriously reduced in the future, and a progressive tax scale should help compensate for these losses. Increasing taxes will help reduce income inequality, but in the long term it may lead to a reduction in GDP and a decrease in household consumption, the study says .