The RUIE proposed to abandon export duties linked to the exchange rate from 2024

The Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) proposed to abandon the use of duties tied to the dollar exchange rate on the export of non-commodity goods from 2024. This is stated in the letter (.pdf) President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs Alexander Shokhin to the Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Budget and Taxes Andrei Makarov. The document was published on October 24 at page draft Basic provisions of the budget, tax and customs tariff policy of the Russian Federation for 2024 and for the planning period 2025–2026. The agency drew attention to the document Interfax.

The letter notes that exchange rate duties on the export of non-commodity goods lead to financial instability of companies, since the size of the duty is difficult to predict due to the instability of the exchange rate. According to the RSPP, the government “has actually introduced a mechanism for paying export duties, in which it is beneficial for the state to keep the ruble/dollar exchange rate low, which will create an additional burden on enterprises.” The document calls the abolition of duties from 2024 “the preferred option.”

The RSPP letter also proposes not to tax foreign carriers on profits received from Russian sources from the rental of property in Russia and income from international transportation. This proposal is explained by the fact that transportation costs are a significant part of exporters’ costs, and accordingly, the tax will increase the cost of transportation for exporters.

The government introduced duties pegged to the ruble exchange rate from October 1, 2023. According to the document, the measure is temporary. The duty was 4% of the customs value of the goods at an average rate of 80 to 85 rubles/$, 4.5% at a rate of 85–90 rubles/$, 5.5% at a rate of 90–95 rubles/$ . A duty of 7% is established at an exchange rate of more than 95 rubles/$. The duties apply to all exports, in addition to oil, gas, grain, timber and a number of other items. According to the acting head of the Federal Customs Service, Ruslan Davydov, since the beginning of October, export duty collections have amounted to 30 billion rubles.

Read more in the Kommersant article. “Linking to the course turned out to be inexpensive”.

Polina Motyzlevskaya