authorities are discussing the replacement of duties on fertilizers due to low fees – Kommersant

The Russian authorities are considering a fundamental adjustment of the export duty introduced for 2023 on mineral fertilizers or replacing the mechanism with another one, the sources said. Vedomosti. The Ministry of Finance expected that the duty would bring about 120 billion rubles. in 2023, but so far the budget has received only about 5 billion rubles.

The duty is charged when the export value of fertilizers exceeds the threshold of $450/t, the rate is 23.5%. At a price lower than the company does not pay duty. A Vedomosti source said that the proceeds were incomparable with the amounts that were planned to be collected, even taking into account the decline in prices for fertilizers on the world market this year. The problem is that the duty mechanism leaves the producer the right to set export prices. Companies began to sell more fertilizers with a relatively low concentration of nutrients. According to the interlocutor of the newspaper, formally the price per ton is below the cut-off, “but in fact it is on the verge of manipulation.”

According to Vedomosti, the linking of fees from producers to any rent payments is being discussed. It is likely that fertilizer producers will be subject to payments in the form of taxes on mining or on additional income. Another option is to modify the mechanism. The benchmark may be differentiated depending on the subgroup of fertilizers (in fact, on the concentration of useful substances) or the duty may be tied not to export, but to world prices.

A representative of the Ministry of Finance said that the decision to cancel the duty has not yet been made. His action remains in effect. The Ministry of Industry and Trade did not respond to a request.

Leonid Uvarchev