The government invited large businesses to make a voluntary contribution to the budget

First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov confirmed to journalists the circulating information about the proposal under discussion for businesses to make a one-time contribution to the budget. He also clarified that we are not talking about raising taxes.

“Yes, it is being discussed, one-time. The fact is that the financial results of last year were very good, and many companies, especially in the first half of the year, for the first three quarters, the results were strongly positive,” Belousov specified.

At the same time, the vice-premier stressed that the issue is “under discussion”, in which business is also actively involved. Commenting on the financial nuances of such a procedure, he noted that we are not talking about raising taxes, but the proposed payment is rather similar to windfall tax, that is, “a one-time tax collection”, and only large companies are expected to pay a contribution.

According to TASS, according to preliminary estimates of the financial authorities, the federal budget deficit in January 2023 amounted to 1.76 trillion rubles. At the same time, the budget law fixed the deficit for 2023 at the level of 2.93 trillion rubles.

Earlier, the media reported that during the discussion, business representatives proposed replacing a single collection of a certain amount with an increase in income tax by 0.5 percentage points, that is, up to 20.5%.