The State Duma intends to exempt the poor from income tax and tax the rich

Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Labor Yaroslav Nilov announced that a project on a progressive scale of taxation for individuals has been submitted to parliament. The document proposes the introduction of rates from 0 to 35%. This is not the first attempt by legislators to remove the tax burden from the poor and shift the focus to wealthy Russians. Previous initiatives were not successful. How will it be this time?

According to some experts, the government will once again “roll” the initiative coming from representatives of the LDPR faction. Other economists argue that right now there is a real chance to adopt it, since the deficit budget needs to be filled and this opportunity cannot be missed.

What do the Duma members propose? Individuals with an income of 360 thousand rubles per year or less are generally exempt from paying income taxes. This will improve their level of well-being. Leave the traditional 13% for those whose income ranges from 360 thousand rubles to 5 million.

Next comes the “heavy artillery”. If the income is 5-10 million rubles, take 15% tax, 25% is levied on amounts from 10 to 50 million rubles. For those with an annual income in the range of 50-100 million, set a tax of 30%. And if the income exceeds 100 million rubles (imagine, there are such Russians!), then take the full amount from them, that is, 35%. Moreover, if an individual shows an income of, say, 53 million rubles, then with 50 million he will pay 25%, and with 3 million – already 30%.

Of course, such a scale is beneficial for people who live, as they say, on one salary, which, moreover, does not exceed 30 thousand per month. Society has long had a kind of social order to take more from the “rich Pinocchios” in order to equalize the standard of living in the country.

However, not everything is so simple here. Almost 40% of Russians have a monthly income below 30 thousand rubles per month. And if this part of the population stops paying, their well-being will certainly improve. But what will happen to budget revenues?

According to financial analyst Sergei Drozdov, the current time – economic sanctions, high inflation, tense geopolitics – is not the best time to change tax rates.

“In my opinion, today there is no need to change the rules of the game and raise taxes on those who earn more,” he says. – After all, this is the most active part of the population, and such creative comrades may simply lose the desire to invent and come up with something. Besides, the government is fighting for economic growth, so why discourage those who are trying to make money?

– Probably, if you want, you can evade paying taxes? Does the country have control mechanisms?

As far as I understand, when the current Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin was the head of the tax department, he created a clear system of control over payments. Another thing is that there are completely legal tax evasion schemes. There is a risk that instead of the expected replenishment of the budget, the opposite result may occur – failure, a decrease in revenues to the treasury.

Financial analyst, Candidate of Economic Sciences Mikhail Belyaev is more categorical about the new bill

“We passed a draconian tax rate of 35% in the 90s of the last century,” the expert recalls. “But at that time, the country’s economy was dominated by low legal responsibility and collection rates were poor. Apart from government agencies, few people paid 35%. Then they remembered one American theorist who argued that taxes should be reduced. Everyone will start paying, and the total amount will flow into the budget. The government introduced a flat tax scale – the familiar 13%.

– Now is the time to raise rates and introduce a progressive scale?

– Considering the socio-economic state of society, I believe that the flat scale has exhausted its usefulness. There is a striking gap between rich and poor in the country. This shouldn’t happen. The time has come to introduce a progressive scale. Although the option that is proposed is questionable.

– What don’t you like?

– The tax should be real, not discourage a person from developing, and not undermine the meaning of working. People must remain motivated to move forward. If we enter 35%, then we’ll probably collect it into the budget once. But then the shadow evasion schemes from the arsenal of the 90s will multiply, and they will come up with something new. By the way, strict administration of this tax – monitoring, control – will also require funds. It may happen that we lose more than we collect. I believe that a soft tax scale is necessary.

– If not 35%, then how much?

– I’m not ready to say right away, our government agencies must calculate this so that individuals do not go into the shadows, so that there is no ripping off. It is important to introduce penalties for non-payment of taxes. Equate this to theft from the budget, to the theft of public funds. There are 15 million people in the country who renovate apartments and cars, are engaged in tutoring – and do not pay a penny from the income they receive. This is also one of the channels for replenishing the budget.