A group of deputies proposed extending the excess profit tax to oil and gas companies

A group of deputies has prepared a bill that proposes to oblige oil and gas companies to also pay windfall tax, they report “News”. The initiative is planned to be introduced today, September 26. Among its authors are the first deputy chairman of the energy committee, Igor Ananskikh (A Just Russia for Truth, SRZP) and the leader of the SRZP faction, Sergei Mironov.

The authors of the document are unhappy that the law on excess profit tax “establishes unjustified exceptions, including companies in the oil and gas sector, exempting them from the obligation to pay excess profit tax.” “We believe that belonging to any industry should not be taken into account when determining the range of payers,” says the explanatory note.

Legislators also propose to extend the tax to organizations that in 2022 were members of a consolidated group of taxpayers and carried out activities in the production of liquefied natural gas. “The adoption of the bill will not lead to a deterioration in the financial situation of these organizations, since the tax will be paid only if there is excess profit, calculated according to the rules established in federal law,” the deputies explained.

According to the authors of the initiative, the volume of additional budget revenues could exceed 200 billion rubles. Benefits for paying this tax can be obtained by organizations whose investments grew faster than profits, which led to the absence of excess profits. According to Mr. Ananskikh, the bill “will allow us to mobilize additional revenues to the budget.” Mr. Mironov said that with the funds received “it was possible to solve the most pressing social problems,” and also noted that oil and gas companies are among the richest in Russia.

President Vladimir Putin in August signed excess profit tax law. The one-time business tax applies to companies whose profits for 2021 and 2022 exceeded 1 billion rubles. The tax rate is set at 10% of the excess profit. The rate can be reduced to 5% if the company pays tax in the current year.

Details – in the material “Kommersant” “Excess profit has approached the budget”.

Laura Keffer