The proposal to raise personal income tax for some of those who left was called a “bomb for the economy of the future”

The government proposes to change the taxation rules for freelancers working from abroad for Russian companies: if you have lived abroad for more than six months, you will have to pay income tax of 30%. “MK” collected opinions about this initiative from politicians and experts, and so far they have more questions than answers.

The controversial document, submitted to the State Duma on the morning of April 24, does not in fact propose increased taxation for all relocators who continue to work for Russian companies or earn money in Russia in other ways – for those who have left, as this category is now called on social networks. Those who work for Russian companies under employment contracts are not affected by it. Those who work for Russian companies as self-employed or individual entrepreneurs – too. It is only about the so-called. freelancers who, while abroad, have entered into a civil law contract with Russian companies. Now their income is considered not received in Russia, and personal income tax is not taken from the money paid to them at all. So, the government considers it right to take income tax from such citizens using the Russian segment of the Internet at the highest rate – 30%. Moreover, the employer must pay the tax, withholding it from the amounts accrued to the employee.

The first deputy head of the Duma Committee on Budget and Taxes, Mikhail Shchapov (KPRF), told MK that he was still studying the bill, because “it is very voluminous and only 1% is directly devoted to this issue.” But even now, the deputy noted, “there are many questions for the Ministry of Finance and the Federal Tax Service, which we plan to ask when the document is considered in the committee.” According to Mr. Shchapov, “while the mechanism by which the Federal Tax Service will identify citizens who fall under the new rule is not clear, it is not clear who and how will determine at what rate personal income tax is collected and who will be responsible in case of non-payment of tax.”

“I don’t understand the ultimate goal of this innovation,” Oksana Dmitrieva, an independent deputy and member of the Committee on Budget and Taxes, told MK. – If there is a company in which, in accordance with corporate rules, remote work is not allowed, if you are outside the Russian Federation, then you simply cannot work in it. And, it seems to me, the employer is not able to track all the movements of the employee himself in order to assess whether he is a tax resident of the Russian Federation or not. On the one hand, they say that there are no personnel, there are not enough IT specialists, teachers, designers and engineers (by the way, many designers and engineers also work remotely). But the proposed measures will further exacerbate the shortage of personnel, will stimulate those who have left to finally break ties with Russia. In addition, it must be borne in mind that those who work remotely are, as a rule, highly qualified specialists; a secretary or office manager is not attracted to work remotely. This means that we must clearly define what the country really needs: so that these specialists do not break with it, work in Russian companies, or leave – so they left, cut the ends. But it is important that it does not turn out the way it happened with the liquidation of district hospitals and small schools – at first they carried out optimization, and now even for very big money we cannot attract health workers and teachers back, ”explained Ms. Dmitrieva.

Aleksey Nechaev, the leader of the New People faction, drew the attention of MK to the fact that last fall the Ministry of Finance opposed raising taxes for those working for Russian companies from abroad, and now the government is proposing to “fine” them. “Good specialists will simply find a job in the countries where they are. As a result, we will lose not only taxes, but also competent people, ”he explained: since those who have no one to replace most often work remotely,“ if they are left at work, higher rates will affect the cost of our goods and services. If you get fired, the quality will suffer. Or employers will simply go into the gray area and pay less taxes.” According to the deputy, “all such proposals” lay a bomb under the economy of the future.

Economist Igor Nikolaev, in turn, believes that “there is more political motivation here than economic.” If we talk about the economy, then “they will probably be able to raise some additional money,” the expert believes, but in many cases this stimulates the process of transferring Russians who have left to work in other, and no longer Russian, companies.

The question of political motivation is justified. Even last year, either in the Ministry of Finance or in the State Duma, it was repeatedly discussed, but the idea of ​​increased taxation of those who left did not find practical implementation. Many deputies from different factions, including United Russia, considered this a way of punishing the insufficient, from their point of view, patriotism of the relocators. A few months ago, Andrei Isaev, deputy head of the ER Duma faction, told reporters that amendments had already been prepared to increase personal income tax for individual entrepreneurs who had left Russia, but continued to earn money in it. According to the authors of the amendments, those who left should not be self-employed at all. Negotiations on these amendments with the government were difficult. Now, as we can see, a much softer option has been submitted to the State Duma to tighten tax regimes for those working for Russian companies from abroad.

But we must not forget that the text of the bill may be amended by the second reading. Moreover, the Ministry of Finance assures that work on it continues.