Kommersant learned about the elaboration of measures for the return of departed IT workers

The Ministry of Digital Development began to discuss with industry associations possible measures that will stimulate the return to Russia of IT specialists who left, writes Kommersant with reference to market participants.

According to the publication, we are talking about the study of both “carrots” and “stick”. The first includes the guaranteed provision of armor against conscription in the Russian Armed Forces, as well as full or partial payment for a flight to the Russian Federation, while the “whip” can be an increase in personal income tax from 13% to 30% for workers from abroad, even while maintaining formal tax residency.

Experts interviewed by the publication note that the deferment from conscription for IT specialists, declared since the spring of 2022, has not been fixed in any way. The increase in taxes, as noted by the head of NP “Russoft” Valentin Makarov and the head of the board of directors of “Basalt SPO” Alexei Smirnov, will only lead to a mass dismissal of specialists from Russian companies or the opening of offices abroad by the companies themselves.

Such measures were once again opposed by the Ministry of Digital Development itself. “We do not support the initiative to introduce a ban on remote work from abroad and the introduction of protective taxes – this will not help either the industry or the specialists themselves,” they answered the publication’s request. The department said that they are now working on “additional measures to support the development of IT companies” operating in the Russian Federation.

Mintsifra and earlier spoke against the introduction of a legislative ban on remote work for departed employees of IT companies, as this may lead to “a slowdown in the development of digital platforms and solutions, which may ultimately have a negative impact on their competitiveness.” By evaluation head of department Maskut Shadayev, there are now about 100,000 IT specialists abroad, 80% of whom work for Russian companies.

Earlier, in a conversation with Vedomosti, Andrey Klishas, ​​head of the Committee on State Building and Constitutional Legislation of the Federation Council admitted the introduction of restrictions for citizens of the Russian Federation who left the country against the backdrop of the beginning of partial mobilization. He added that, in his opinion, restrictions on work from abroad should be introduced for employees of “sensitive” sectors of the economy. As examples of such areas, he named transport security and the public sector.

On December 19, Andrei Isaev, deputy head of the United Russia faction in the State Duma, said earlier that prepared amendments prohibiting tax non-residents of Russia from entering into employment contracts for remote work in a number of specialties.

December 25 Chairman of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Volodin urged cancel preferences for those who left the Russian Federation and introduce an increased tax rate for them.