GBU "Internet"

It was quietly decided that those who use advertising on the Internet will begin to support those who block the Internet

An acute budget deficit and problems with replenishing the treasury are forcing officials to look for new sources of money. From April 2025, almost everyone who deals with online advertising in one form or another will pay an additional non-tax levy of three percent of the income received. Every quarter. Objections are raised but not accepted.

Advertising is the engine of trade and a noticeable thing by its nature, which on the Internet is regulated by the Law “On Advertising”. It was there that they decided to introduce deductions, the burden of which falls on all participants in the official market. Over the course of three ill-fated months, Russian companies and individuals spend tens of billions of rubles on advertising on the Internet. How much of it is taxable? In any case, someone will receive at least a billion rubles, adjusted for inflation. Internet promotion does not live in a vacuum and is becoming more expensive, like everything else.

The main boss of advertising in Runet is Roskomnadzor. If so, you will notice on the screen or in the text the word erid and a long code by which the agency registers the product and all chains associated with it. Considering that the activity here is mainly punitive in nature, supervision is followed by fines. The Federal Tax Service and the Federal Antimonopoly Service have access to this database, which is guaranteed to increase the audience and attract attention: well, the withdrawal of funds from businesses and citizens is, without any irony, on the verge of technological fiction. What is cited as an example as the main merit of today's Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.

The so-called tax will be avoided by the media, which is also registered by Roskomnadzor, and everyone who is in one form or another connected with the state. Why rip yourself off? The rest - pay.

Of course, if you look at large companies or sites with high turnover, it seems that their endless accounting department will somehow digest this together with the legal department. What about small and medium businesses? That's right, they will shift this amount, following inflation, further down the chain - to the buyer.

The authorities could have done this silently, but politely clarified what the money was needed for: domestic programmers and to support socially important sites. Considering the speed and time - everyone is busy with the New Year's bustle - you look, and no one will notice. And one morning, the law, which had already passed the third reading in the State Duma, was adopted. And by the next quarter there will be a line somewhere for budget money.

Considering that the story with the advertising registry did not begin today and in the case of the state, if you let your finger bite off your hand, the idea that money will be wanted for the data seems obvious from today’s perspective. Among those who publicly objected was the loyal business association Opora Rossii. Their theses in a letter addressed to the prime minister boil down to the original: the fee is contrary to the Constitution, and the banal: everything will become more expensive and will hit small companies. Then there is silence. And, of course, no reaction.

In fairness, it is worth noting that one cannot but agree with what has been stated. Everything sounds logical and fair, but when it comes to money, listening to what your subjects think is not necessary.

Now it is important to have time to stamp more laws before the end of the year in the hope of collecting funds from citizens for various reasons to continue their own existence.

Among the vivid protests of bloggers - and this is a loud segment - is a caustic report from the Duma meeting by the film blogger Badcomedian in the Telegram channel. The dissatisfaction of the first is obvious: many bloggers, including those with decent incomes, never tried to argue with the state, obediently followed the laws and registered in some kind of registers. And then again - and money, for no reason at all. The comments of the deputies add justification to the indignation: none of those listed, including the deputy chairman of the economic policy committee Stanislav Naumov, who seemed to have a hand in the law, was able to formulate clear answers to simple questions: what is the money fighting for and for what?

The behind the scenes of such stories looks prosaic. Some officials notice a decent flow of funds, others push through by-laws. The money is running out - they are looking for new niches. The justification is also dubious: money is needed to “provide support for the development and functioning of information resources, the list of which is established by the government of the Russian Federation” - i.e. they will be wasted on nonsense or to nothing. As happened in past years. Government funding has never benefited anyone, so there is no economic sense in this story.

What is the result: while the world is in chaos, a law was pushed through the obedient Duma, apparently initiated by the government, and Roskomnadzor will receive a quarterly bonus in the form of a fee, which is not even a tax. Any objections on this matter are meaningless; decisions have long been stamped without any discussion. In the end, pay, you must, this is another law.

Let's go back to salaries in envelopes? The tax burden makes business, and especially small businesses, meaningless. And an aggressive environment increases costs. The advertising market suffered like others. Major advertisers left. Developers, once the most pleasant clients, are in crisis. And so on. Volume growth is due to rising prices. And in addition to this, prepare for 3 percent in April.

Overall, probably no big deal. In some places you can leave Russian jurisdiction, in others Roskomnadzor and others don’t see it. You can raise prices for services. This already has to be done taking into account inflation. But you will have to forget about increasing volume or investment.

You can look at it like a coin in a digest’s piggy bank, what will rise in price next year and for what reasons. Or it could be an obvious racket from a department that already plays, to put it mildly, a dubious role. Part of the collected funds will come back - in the form of further blockings, regulations, “expert opinions” and equipment harmful to the free Internet.

But the sovereign Internet, which, as confirmed by recent exercises to turn off everything, has fully taken place, and, it would seem, heaven is near. But not for everyone, the queue to heaven, obviously, will also be regulated by the RKN, for money, like now the desire to glorify oneself and one’s goods.

Maintaining the State Budgetary Institution “Internet” with all these databases, censorship and other taxes also costs money and, as we see, leads to dubious results. Taxpayers not only paid for the construction of this virtual pen, but now they will also pay extra for repairs.

The law will come into force on January 1, 2025.