Deputy Krivonosov admitted that the State Duma would not have time to cancel VAT for tour operators before the end of the session

Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Tourism Committee Sergei Krivonosov (United Russia) believes that the parliament will not have time to consider a bill on exempting tour operators from VAT before the end of the spring session. On the eve of the importance of adopting a law before the end of the session said President Vladimir Putin.

“I think that in the spring session, perhaps, we will not have time to adopt it, discussions continue,” Mr. Krivonosov admitted in an interview with RIA Novosti. He gave no further explanation.

Vladimir Putin at a meeting on the development of tourism on June 28 said that the law exempting tour operators from VAT “is important to consider and adopt before the end of the current spring session of parliament.” This year’s spring session is scheduled to run until July 30.

This law, according to the president, has already been prepared by the government. Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin explainedthat now VAT is one fifth of the cost of vouchers. The norm of the law will come into force on January 1, 2023, tour operators will be able not to pay tax for four and a half years.

Vice-President of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia Sergey Romashkin, assessing the benefits of the law in an interview with “Russian newspaper”, said that the domestic tourist flow could increase, and the cost of tours would decrease, as operators “were forced to raise prices in order to pay VAT.”