The tax on vacationers will be an experiment in four regions; it should go towards the development of resort infrastructure

The Russian government reviewed and approved at its meeting a bill on conducting an experiment on the development of resort infrastructure in a number of constituent entities of the Federation. Specifically, we are talking about the introduction of a resort fee from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2022 in the Republic of Crimea, Altai, Krasnodar and Stavropol territories. Based on the results of the experiment, it will be decided whether to introduce a resort fee throughout the country or to abandon its introduction. The bill will soon be sent to the State Duma.

Return to the past

The draft federal law was prepared by the Russian Ministry of Caucasus in accordance with the instructions of the President following a meeting of the State Council Presidium on increasing the attractiveness of Russian resorts, which took place in August 2016. The document was approved by the Commission on Legislative Activities of the Government on April 17, 2017. The collection from resort guests should go towards the preservation, restoration and development of medical and health, socio-cultural, physical education, sports and recreational facilities.

Such a fee existed in our country; it was established by the law of the RSFSR of December 12, 1991, which became invalid in 2004.

The resort fee is an additional tax on tourists. Vladimir Putin asked the Presidium of the State Council to approach its collection with caution. “If you do this, then do it very carefully, without raising payments, unnoticed by others.”

The bill on conducting the experiment assigns to the subjects of the Federation the amount of the resort fee, the procedure and terms for its calculation, payment and transfer to the budget of the subject, and the list of persons exempt from paying it.

Both Russians and foreigners will have to pay a resort fee. Organizations and individual entrepreneurs doing business in resort areas are exempt from it. It is assumed that this fee will not be included in the cost of the tour; vacationers will pay it upon arrival or departure from the resort.

Have an extra hundred rubles

So how much will citizens who have grabbed their vacation have to fork out? There were discussions on this topic, different figures were voiced. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov spoke about 50-100 rubles a day. The Governor of the Stavropol Territory Vladimir Vladimirov called 100 rubles an acceptable amount, the Deputy Minister of the Russian Federation for North Caucasus Affairs Andrei Reznikov considers 150 rubles as such, and the Minister of Resorts and Tourism of the Crimea Sergei Strelbitsky thinks that the fee should be a one-time fee and not exceed 300 rubles per individual.

The bill provides that the amount of the resort fee cannot be more than 100 rubles per day of actual stay at the accommodation facility. It can be differentiated depending on seasonality (including reduced to 0 rubles), the time a person spends on vacation, the importance of the resort and the location of the territories of municipalities included in the experiment territory.

The draft law also talks about the creation of the Resort Infrastructure Development Fund, which will finance the design, construction, reconstruction, maintenance, and improvement of resort facilities

The resort fee, according to Deputy Minister for North Caucasus Affairs Andrei Reznikov, will not apply to children under 18 years of age, disabled people and their accompanying persons, veterans, Heroes of the USSR and Russia, Heroes of Socialist Labor, Chernobyl survivors and those who came to the region to study or work . Regions can also, at their discretion, introduce additional preferential categories of citizens.

Will tourists go to their grandmothers?

According to Igor Fomin, a member of the Federation Council Committee on Social Policy, regions should be strictly responsible for spending funds received from resort fees. And if it does not justify itself, does not prove its effectiveness, then nothing prevents it from being canceled based on the results of the experiment.

Crimea is currently not quite ready to introduce a resort tax, said the head of the republic, Sergei Aksyonov. Because there are still many mini-hotels and apartments “in the shadows” on the peninsula.

A supporter of additional fees for vacations is State Duma deputy Vitaly Milonov, who proposed introducing a resort fee back in 2015. He would like to see this money collected not only at resorts, but also in tourist cities. They will help bring order to the hotel business.

Member of the Federation Council Committee on Economic Policy Mikhail Shchetinin is against the idea that an additional tax on tourists should be spent, for example, on garbage collection - this is a matter for local authorities and hotel owners. But support for technical and medical-organizational work at resorts can be strengthened through fees from vacationers.

Representatives of the tourism industry are skeptical about resort fees. Now, as Larisa Akhanova, director of public relations at Tez Tour Russia, says, tourists are ready to go to another agency because of the difference in the price of the tour of 1 thousand rubles. And the fee for an entire family of several people can amount to a decent amount. “In order to save money, people will prefer to go on vacation on their own, renting a bed from their grandmothers. The share of organized tourism may begin to decline,” says Intourist General Director Viktor Topolkaraev.

However, resort fees are a worldwide practice. For example, in Egypt it is 7 dollars, and in Catalonia (Spain) - 0.75-2.50 euros per guest per night. In France, the amount of the fee is determined by the municipalities, and it also depends on the star rating of the hotel. Hotels below three stars charge 0.9 euros, and five-star hotels charge 3 euros. But in other tourist countries - Bulgaria, Turkey, India - there is no such tax.

The State Duma on Friday adopted the bill on resort fees in the first reading. It is planned to collect a tax from vacationers not exceeding 100 rubles per day. Depending on the seasonality and demand of the local resort, the level of service, the rate may vary.

Authorities will be able to charge 100 rubles per day from tourists in the Crimea, Altai, Krasnodar and Stavropol territories. These regions are designated as pilot regions.

The law is expected to come into force on January 1, 2018 and will last until December 31, 2022. The regional operator will have to collect money from tourists.

When discussing the bill, Raisa, a member of the State Duma Committee on Budget and Taxes, said that the additional income of the three main resort regions from the experiment in introducing a resort tax is estimated at 27 billion rubles.

“It is expected that the total additional volume of revenue from 2018 to 2022 during the experiment at a collection rate of 50 rubles in the Stavropol Territory will exceed 2.2 billion rubles, in the Krasnodar Territory - 8.3 billion, in Crimea - 16.4 billion rubles ", said Karmazina.

It is planned to exempt citizens under 18 years of age, heroes of Russia and labor, veterans of the Great Patriotic War, as well as local residents from the resort tax.

Based on the results of the experiment, in five years a decision will be made on whether to introduce a resort fee on a permanent basis or to abandon it.

Since the government introduced the bill, the chances of it passing through parliament with support are quite high. In the first reading, the document was supported by 313 parliamentarians, 68 were against it.

Pay for fresh air

Representatives of the tourism industry oppose the innovation. They previously stated that the experiment was not approved. In their opinion, the tax could lead to a decrease in demand for vacations within the country and will contribute to the reorientation of vacationers to the private sector, from which it will not be easy to collect the tax.

It will be difficult for Russians to explain why they are being taxed, given the underdevelopment of the domestic infrastructure, they note.

First, it is necessary to create a high-quality tourism product and put the infrastructure in order, and then collect taxes, representatives of the tourism industry believe.

Representatives of the tourism industry have at least three complaints about this legislative initiative, Sergei, general director of the Dolphin travel company, told Gazeta.Ru.

Firstly, its untimeliness. The idea was proposed back in 2016, when the market was growing due to the closure of popular destinations to Turkey and Egypt. And in high conditions course euro and dollar.

“Against the backdrop of a decline in departures, we got a tourist who previously preferred to vacation abroad. All domestic tourism participants increased by 40%. Legislators decided that this situation would happen every year, but this year we have almost lost all of last year’s growth,”

- says Romashkin. The reasons are also obvious - the weather at our resorts is bad, the currency has fallen in price compared to last year, Turkey has returned. Accordingly, there is an outflow.

The second complaint is the inflexible policy of hoteliers, who raised prices at the beginning of the year. Thirdly, it was originally planned that resort fees would be used to improve infrastructure. But not everyone, for something not very expensive - for example, to do something on the embankment, to paint benches.

“But in the latest version of the bill, infrastructure networks have been stuck there, such as sewerage, electrical networks, etc. These are large costs, and why tourists should finance urban services is not very clear,” says an industry representative.

According to industry participants, the introduction of tourist fees will result in image losses.

“The Turks are reducing prices, trying to bring back our tourists; now prices have returned to 2015 levels. And in our market, prices have increased by 20% in two years, and now we need to add another 4-5% resort fee.

Tourists will say: “What are you, fools? It’s getting cheaper everywhere...” This will affect both the economics of travel and the attractiveness of domestic tourism,” Romashkin is sure.

One hundred rubles for all the pleasures

Nevertheless, in the Krasnodar Territory, even on the eve of the summer season, the authorities reported that they were ready to begin the experiment. “All funds that will be collected as a result of the resort fee will remain in the resort municipalities, that is, in these resort cities. No one will take money from Sochi, Anapa, Gelendzhik for any other purposes to the regional budget. The resort fee will only work for the development of the infrastructure of resort areas,” promised the governor of the Krasnodar Territory.

Last year, it was Kondratiev who, at a meeting of the State Council Presidium on tourism development, proposed introducing a resort fee mechanism.

In Crimea, the government also approved an experiment to introduce a resort fee. There were even ideas expressed about introducing a resort tax at the entrance to Crimea, but the regional government decided that this would create traffic jams.

The head of the republic's parliamentary committee on tourism proposed establishing a resort fee of 35-50 rubles per day.

“We remain in our positions. The fee should be one-time, not daily,” the Minister of Resorts and Tourism of the Republic of Crimea told Gazeta.Ru.

He insists that local authorities will use resort income “to develop the tourism and recreational component of the region.”

In the Altai Territory, authorities stated that they intend to charge tourists no more than 30 rubles per day.

Resort fees existed in the USSR. Apartment renters had “Temporary Registration Books for Holidaymakers” and used them to pay a resort fee, having previously collected it from tourists. The vacationers themselves called the resort fee an “air tax.”

Federal Law of July 29, 2017 N 214-FZ "On conducting an experiment on the development of resort infrastructure in the Republic of Crimea, Altai Territory, Krasnodar Territory and Stavropol Territory"

Article 1. General provisions

1. Conduct in the Republic of Crimea, Altai Territory, Krasnodar Territory and Stavropol Territory (hereinafter referred to as the constituent entities of the Russian Federation) an experiment on the development of resort infrastructure in order to preserve, restore and develop resorts, form a single tourist space, create favorable conditions for the sustainable development of the tourism sector (hereinafter referred to as - experiment) and evaluate its effectiveness.
2. The experiment is carried out by introducing in municipalities whose territories are included in the experiment territory a fee for the use of resort infrastructure (hereinafter referred to as the resort fee) to financially support the design, construction, reconstruction, maintenance, improvement and repair of resort infrastructure facilities.
3. Financial support for the expenditure obligations of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation arising in connection with the experiment is carried out from the budget of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation.

Article 2. Duration of the experiment

1. The experiment runs until December 31, 2022.
2. The laws of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation on the introduction of resort fees must be adopted no later than December 1, 2017.
3. The resort fee will be collected no earlier than May 1, 2018.

Article 3. Basic concepts

1. For the purposes of this Federal Law, the following basic concepts apply:

1) resort infrastructure - a set of facilities for medical and health, socio-cultural, physical culture, sports and recreational purposes, including parks, squares, urban forests, boulevards, health paths, beaches, embankments, pedestrian areas, landscaping elements, as well as other objects , capable of satisfying the spiritual and other needs of tourists, helping to maintain their vital functions, restoration and development of their physical strength, located on the territory of the experiment, with the exception of objects of the communal infrastructure system and highways;

2) accommodation facility - an individually defined building or premises in a building intended for the provision of hotel services, services for temporary collective or individual accommodation, as well as residential premises suitable for temporary residence;

3) resort fee operator - a legal entity or individual entrepreneur carrying out, in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation, activities to provide hotel services and (or) services for temporary collective or individual accommodation and (or) activities to ensure temporary accommodation (including activities to provide use of residential premises), including in residential premises;

4) territory of the experiment - territories of municipalities where the law of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation introduces a resort fee.

2. Other concepts in this Federal Law are used in the meanings defined by the legislation of the Russian Federation.

Article 4. Powers of state authorities and local self-government

1. Government of the Russian Federation:

1) determines the federal executive body responsible for conducting the experiment (hereinafter referred to as the authorized body);

2) establishes the procedure and timing for the submission by the authorized body of a draft annual report on the progress of the experiment and the results of the experiment for the past period;

3) considers the draft annual report of the authorized body on the progress of the experiment and the results of the experiment over the past period;

4) approves and sends to the chambers of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation an annual report on the progress of the experiment and the results of the experiment over the past period.

2. Authorized body:

1) provides methodological support and coordination of the activities of the highest executive bodies of state power of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation related to the conduct of the experiment, and sends them proposals for improving the mechanism and procedure for conducting the experiment;

2) submits to the Government of the Russian Federation a draft annual report on the progress of the experiment and the results of the experiment over the past period;

3) establishes general requirements for reports on the progress of the experiment on the territory of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation, as well as the procedure and timing for their submission to the authorized body.

3. The highest executive body of state power of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation:

1) determines the executive body of the subject of the Russian Federation responsible for conducting the experiment (hereinafter referred to as the authorized body of the subject of the Russian Federation);

2) approves the procedure and deadlines for municipalities to submit applications for the inclusion of municipal territories in the experiment territory or for exclusion from the experiment territory, proposals for determining the amount of the resort fee and (or) for determining other categories of persons exempt from paying the resort fee;

3) approves the procedure for maintaining the register of resort fee operators and the list of information contained in it;

4) approves the procedure and timing for the submission by the authorized body of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation of a draft annual report on the progress of the experiment on the territory of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation;

5) develops and submits to the legislative (representative) body of state power of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation a draft law of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation on the introduction of a resort fee, taking into account the applications and proposals specified in paragraph 2 of this part;

6) provides methodological support and coordination of the activities of executive bodies of state power of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation and local administrations related to the conduct of the experiment;

7) approves and submits to the authorized body an annual report on the progress of the experiment on the territory of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation;

8) exercises other powers provided for by this Federal Law and regulatory legal acts of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation related to the conduct of the experiment.

4. Authorized body of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation:

1) establishes the form, procedure and timing of submission:

a) local government bodies - information necessary for monitoring the progress of the experiment and drawing up an annual report on the progress of the experiment on the territory of the relevant municipality;

b) resort fee operators - a report from the resort fee operator and information necessary for maintaining the register of resort fee operators;

2) maintains a register of resort fee operators;

3) monitors the progress of the experiment;

4) submits to the highest executive body of state power of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation a draft annual report on the progress of the experiment on the territory of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation;

5) exercises other powers provided for by this Federal Law and regulatory legal acts of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation related to the conduct of the experiment.

5. Local government bodies exercise the powers provided for by this Federal Law, including:

1) the head of the municipal formation submits to the highest executive body of state power of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation an application, agreed with the representative bodies of the municipal formation, for inclusion of the territory of the municipal formation in the territory of the experiment or for exclusion from the territory of the experiment, proposals for determining the amount of the resort fee and (or) for determining other categories of persons exempt from paying resort fees;

2) local administrations submit proposals to the highest executive body of state power of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation on the formation of the list of works specified in Part 8 of Article 9 of this Federal Law;

3) local administrations submit to the authorized body of the subject of the Russian Federation the information necessary to monitor the progress of the experiment and compile annual reports on the progress of the experiment on the territory of the subject of the Russian Federation.

Article 5. Procedure for introducing a resort fee. Resort fee amount

1. The resort fee is established by this Federal Law and is introduced by the law of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation in municipalities included in the experiment territory.
2. The collection of resort fees may be terminated on the territory of a municipal entity by law of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation on the basis of an application from the corresponding municipal entity for exclusion from the territory of the experiment.
3. The law of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation establishes the territory of the experiment, the amount of the resort fee, the procedure and timing of its transfer to the budget of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation, the procedure for monitoring compliance with the requirements of this Federal Law, other regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation, regulatory legal acts of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation related to the conduct of experiment, the procedure for providing information about the progress of the experiment to the legislative (representative) body of state power of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation, the procedure for posting on the Internet information and telecommunications network information about the list of constructed, reconstructed, landscaped and repaired resort infrastructure facilities.
4. The resort fee cannot exceed 100 rubles. Moreover, in 2018, the resort fee cannot exceed 50 rubles.
5. The amount of the resort fee can be differentiated depending on the season (including reduced to 0 rubles), the time of stay of the resort fee payer at the accommodation facility, the significance of the resort in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation on natural medicinal resources, health resorts and resorts, location location of the territories of municipalities included in the experiment territory.

Article 6. Resort fee payers

Payers of the resort fee are individuals who have reached the age of majority and stay in accommodation facilities for more than 24 hours.

Article 7. Exemption from paying resort fees

1. The following are exempt from paying the resort fee:

1) persons awarded the titles of Hero of the Soviet Union, Hero of the Russian Federation or who are full holders of the Order of Glory;

2) persons awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor or Hero of Labor of the Russian Federation or awarded the Order of Labor Glory of three degrees;

3) participants of the Great Patriotic War;

4) combat veterans from among the persons specified in subparagraphs 1 - 4 of paragraph 1 of Article 3 of the Federal Law of January 12, 1995 N 5-FZ “On Veterans”;

5) persons awarded the badge “Resident of besieged Leningrad”;

6) persons who worked during the Great Patriotic War at air defense facilities, local air defense, in the construction of defensive structures, naval bases, airfields and other military facilities within the rear borders of active fronts, operational zones of active fleets, in front-line sections of railways and highways, as well as crew members of transport fleet ships interned at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War in the ports of other states;

7) war invalids;

8) family members of deceased (deceased) disabled war veterans, participants in the Great Patriotic War and combat veterans, family members of persons killed in the Great Patriotic War from among the personnel of self-defense groups of facility and emergency teams of local air defense, as well as family members of deceased hospital workers and hospitals of the city of Leningrad;

9) persons exposed to radiation as a result of the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, as well as as a result of nuclear tests at the Semipalatinsk test site, and persons equivalent to them;

10) disabled people of groups I and II;

11) persons accompanying disabled people of group I and disabled children in accordance with Federal Law of July 17, 1999 N 178-FZ “On State Social Assistance”;

12) low-income families, low-income citizens living alone and other categories of citizens provided for by Federal Law of July 17, 1999 N 178-FZ “On State Social Assistance”, who have an average per capita income below the subsistence level established at the place of their residence in the relevant subject Russian Federation;

13) persons who arrived in the experiment territory in order to receive specialized, including high-tech, medical care or medical rehabilitation after the provision of specialized, including high-tech, medical care in the conditions of sanatorium-resort organizations, as well as the person accompanying them if the patient is a child under 18 years of age;

14) patients with tuberculosis;

15) persons under the age of 24 years studying full-time in educational organizations located in the territory of the experiment;

16) persons permanently working in the experimental territory on the basis of an employment contract or service contract;

17) persons who have a place of residence in the experiment territory;

18) persons who have the right of ownership of residential buildings (shares in the ownership of them) and (or) residential premises (shares in the ownership of them) on the territory of the experiment;

19) athletes, coaches, sports judges, as well as other specialists in the field of physical education and sports who arrived to participate in official sports events in the experiment territory.

2. Subjects of the Russian Federation have the right to establish by law of the subject of the Russian Federation other categories of persons exempt from paying resort fees, taking into account the proposals of municipalities specified in paragraph 2 of part 3 of article 4 of this Federal Law.

3. Exemption from payment of the resort fee is carried out upon presentation to the operator of the resort fee of the original document confirming the right to exemption from payment of the resort fee, or a copy of it certified in the prescribed manner. Exemption from paying the resort fee for the persons specified in paragraph 11 of part 1 of this article can also be carried out on the basis of a written application from the accompanied person or his legal representative.

Article 8. Procedure for calculating, paying and transferring resort fees

1. The amount of the resort fee payable is calculated as the product of the number of days the resort fee payer actually stays at the accommodation facility, excluding the day of arrival, and the corresponding amount of the resort fee. However, the amount of the resort fee payable is not included in the cost of your stay.
2. The resort fee will be collected no later than upon check-out of the property.
3. Repeated collection of resort fees for the same period of stay in the experiment area is not permitted.
4. The resort fee is subject to credit to the budget of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation on whose territory the experiment is being conducted.
5. The transfer of the resort fee to the budget of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation is carried out by the resort fee operator after the expiration of the period of actual residence of the resort fee payer in the accommodation facility.

Article 9. Resort Infrastructure Development Fund

1. The Resort Infrastructure Development Fund (hereinafter referred to as the Fund) is a part of the budget of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation to be used for the development of resort infrastructure.

2. Budgetary allocations of the Fund are directed exclusively to financial support for the design, construction, reconstruction, maintenance, improvement and repair of resort infrastructure facilities in the experiment territory.

3. The volume of budgetary allocations of the Fund is approved by the law of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation on the budget for the next financial year and planning period in the amount of no less than the projected volume of budget revenues of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation from paying the resort fee.

4. Budgetary allocations of the Fund are sent in the form of interbudgetary transfers from the budget of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation to the budgets of municipalities whose territories are included in the experiment territory, in order to financially support the design, construction, reconstruction, maintenance, improvement and repair of resort infrastructure facilities on their territories with taking into account the features established by Article 13 of this Federal Law. The provisions of this part do not apply to resort infrastructure facilities that are federally owned.

5. Budgetary allocations of the Fund that are not used in the current financial year are used to increase the budgetary allocations of the Fund in the next financial year.

6. Volume of budgetary allocations of the Fund:

1) is subject to an increase in the current financial year and (or) the next financial year by the positive difference between the actual and predicted amount of budget income of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation from the payment of resort fees, taken into account when forming the Fund;

2) may be reduced in the current financial year and (or) the next financial year by the negative difference between the actually received and predicted amount of budget revenues of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation, taken into account when forming the Fund.

7. The procedure for the formation and use of budgetary allocations of the Fund is established in accordance with the budget legislation of the Russian Federation, this Federal Law and the law of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation.

8. The list of works on design, construction, reconstruction, maintenance, improvement and repair of resort infrastructure facilities, subject to financial support from budgetary allocations of the Fund, is determined by an agreement concluded between the subject of the Russian Federation and the municipality on the organization of work on the development of resort infrastructure, taking into account proposals from local governments.

Article 10. Responsibilities of resort fee operators

1. Operators of resort fees, in accordance with the procedure established by the law of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation, are obliged to calculate, collect and transfer resort fees to the budget of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation.
2. The resort fee operator, when collecting from the resort fee payer the amount of the resort fee due for payment, is obliged to issue the resort fee payer a document confirming the fact of payment.
3. If it is impossible to withhold the calculated amount of the resort fee from the resort fee payer, the resort fee operator is obliged, in the manner and within the period established by the law of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation, to notify the executive authority of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation about the impossibility of withholding the resort fee from the resort fee payer and the amount of the resort fee payable , exercising control over the correctness of calculation, completeness and timeliness of payment of the resort fee.
4. Operators of resort fees, in the manner established by the authorized body of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation, are required to keep records of payers of resort fees and persons exempt from paying resort fees who were provided with the services specified in paragraph 3 of part 1 of Article 3 of this Federal Law, in compliance with the requirements of the Federal Law dated July 27, 2006 N 152-FZ "On Personal Data".
5. The resort fee operator is obliged to submit to the authorized body of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation a report of the resort fee operator, prepared on the basis of accounting data, as well as the information necessary for maintaining the register of resort fee operators.

Article 11. Monitoring compliance with the requirements of this Federal Law and other regulatory legal acts related to the conduct of the experiment

1. Regional state control over the implementation by resort fee payers and resort fee operators of the requirements of this Federal Law, other regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation, regulatory legal acts of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation related to the conduct of the experiment is carried out in the manner established by the legislation of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation, taking into account the requirements Federal Law of December 26, 2008 N 294-FZ “On the protection of the rights of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs in the exercise of state control (supervision) and municipal control.”

2. The legislation of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation establishes liability for violation of the provisions of regulatory legal acts of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation related to the conduct of the experiment, including the responsibility of resort fee operators for violations of the procedure and terms for calculating, collecting and transferring resort fees to the budget of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation.

3. By law of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation, local government bodies may be vested with certain state powers of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation in the field of regional state control exercised during the experiment, in the manner determined by Federal Law of October 6, 2003 N 131-FZ “On the general principles of organizing local self-government in the Russian Federation", with the transfer of the necessary material and financial resources.

Article 12. Public Council

1. A public council is created under the authorized body of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation in order to exercise public control over the targeted expenditure of the Fund’s budget allocations.

2. The Public Council should include representatives of resort fee operators, representatives of public and expert organizations operating in the experiment territory.

3. The procedure for the formation and implementation of the activities of the Public Council is approved by the highest executive body of state power of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation.

4. The main functions of the Public Council are:

1) exercising public control over the targeted expenditure of the Fund’s budget allocations;

2) development of proposals for organizing the experiment and creating a list of works specified in Part 8 of Article 9 of this Federal Law;

3) development of proposals to determine the amount of the resort fee, to determine other categories of persons exempt from paying the resort fee, as well as proposals to stop collecting the resort fee in the territories of certain municipalities;

4) other functions provided for by the procedure for the formation and implementation of the activities of the Public Council.

Article 13. Peculiarities of application of this Federal Law

1. Income from paying resort fees is not taken into account when determining the level of estimated budgetary security of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation for the distribution of subsidies to equalize the budgetary security of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.
2. From January 1, 2020, the constituent entities of the Russian Federation participating in the experiment have the right, by the law of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation, to vest local government bodies of municipalities, the territories of which are included in the territory of the experiment, with the state powers of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation to establish the amount of the resort fee on the territory of the municipality and establish other categories persons exempt from paying resort fees, as well as other powers not classified by this Federal Law as the exclusive powers of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation.
3. The volume of budgetary allocations of the Fund, sent in the form of an interbudgetary transfer to the budget of a municipal entity in accordance with Part 4 of Article 9 of this Federal Law, must in 2018 be at least 70 percent of the projected volume of budget revenues of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation from the payment of resort fees on the territory of this municipal entity and at least 100 percent - in subsequent years of the experiment.

Article 14. Entry into force of this Federal Law

This Federal Law comes into force on the date of its official publication.

The president Russian Federation V. PUTIN

On Wednesday, July 19, the law on the introduction of a resort fee was adopted in the third reading. The document provides for the collection of a special tax from tourists who visit the Altai and Krasnodar territories, Stavropol region, and Crimea. assessed the significance and prospects of the innovation.

Essence of the question

In accordance with the new law, from January 1, 2018, everyone who comes on vacation to one of the four Russian regions must pay a resort tax. The amount of payment depends on the season, location of the resort, length of stay in a particular place and other factors. Subjects of the Russian Federation have the right to set a specific amount independently, but it should not exceed 50 rubles per day per person in 2018 and 100 rubles in subsequent years. Disabled people of groups I and II, veterans, blockade survivors, heroes of the USSR and Russia, persons who arrived at the resort for specialized treatment, minors and some other preferential categories of citizens are exempt from the tax. Their final list also remains the prerogative of regional authorities.

The right to collect a resort fee is granted to any accommodation facility (hotels, sanatoriums, hostels, guest houses, campsites, private apartments, etc.) that provides the corresponding services on a legal basis.

Photo: Artem Kreminsky / RIA Novosti

According to forecasts, over four years the amount of revenues to the local budget will be quite significant. It will range from 2.02 billion rubles in the Stavropol Territory to 16.4 billion rubles in Crimea.

All funds raised are planned to be used for the development of regional tourism infrastructure. These include facilities for medical and recreational, sports, socio-cultural and recreational purposes, including forests, parks, beaches and embankments. For now, the innovation has been declared a temporary measure. The experiment will last five years - until December 31, 2022. After assessing its economic feasibility, a decision will be made whether to maintain it in its current form and whether to expand it to other regions.

World experience

There are two main models of resort fees: either the tourist pays a fixed amount per day or a percentage of the cost of services provided directly to the hotelier, or the resort fee is immediately included by the tour operator in the cost of the tour. In the latter case, the money is divided in a pre-agreed proportion between the tour operator, regional authorities and a specific hotelier.

Resort fees are a common practice in many countries around the world, and their effectiveness is beyond doubt. In Europe alone, 14 countries have introduced a tourist tax. Its amount depends on many factors - on the country, city, type of accommodation, level of the hotel and even the cost of a particular room. For example, in different parts of Italy the resort fee ranges from 0.5 to 7 euros, in France - from 1 to 3 euros, in Spain - from 0.7 to 2.5 euros, in Austria - from 1 to 2.5 euros, in Belgium - from 2.15 to 8.75 euros, in Bulgaria - from 0.5 to 1.5 euros, in Croatia - from 0.25 to 1 euro. In Paris - 0.99 euros per night in a hotel from three stars and below, in four- and five-star hotels - from 1.5 to 4.4 euros. In The Hague, a campsite guest will be charged 1.27 euros, and a five-star hotel resident will be charged 4.76 euros. In Berlin, Cologne and Amsterdam, the fee is tied exclusively to the room and amounts to 5 percent of its cost. In Budapest this amount does not exceed 4 percent.

In other parts of the world, the tourist tax is even higher. So, in New York it consists of two parts - fixed and floating. The first is $2 per night per person. The second is tied to the room rate per day and is equal to 13.25 percent. In Egypt, tourists pay 7 dollars, in Thailand - 12 euros, in the Dominican Republic - 20 dollars, in Cuba - approximately 22 euros. In Morocco, the amount of the tourist tax depends on the cost of the air ticket. Business class passengers pay 400 dirhams (about 36 euros), and those arriving in the country in economy class pay four times less.

Photo: Sergey Malgavko / RIA Novosti

The proceeds go to the local budget and are spent on maintaining tourism infrastructure in the broad sense of the word - not only on landscaping, but also on holding various festivals and restoring monuments. And in Barcelona, ​​the famous Sagrada Familia temple is being completed with the money of tourists.

In some countries, for example, in the emirate of Ras al-Khaimah, there is a progressive tax scale, thanks to which budget tourists do not pay for the rich.

From 1991 to 2004, resort fees also existed in Russia. It was set at 5 percent of the minimum monthly salary. For guests from foreign countries the amount was higher. In the mid-2000s, as part of the general policy of sharp tax cuts to bring businesses out of the shadows, the tax was abandoned.

What to expect

Participants in the domestic tourism market generally assessed this resolution positively.

“The introduction of a resort fee is the right way,” believes the general director of the Vipservice holding and advisor to the head. “However, in the first year it would be more correct to make it fixed and charge a single amount for the entire trip.”

According to the chairman of the State Council of the Republic of Crimea Committee on Sanatorium-Resort Complex and Tourism, Alexey Chernyak, this decision will have a positive impact on the development of the industry. “The new law will help legalize the activities of many accommodation facilities,” Chernyak told Lente.ru. “In addition, proceeds from the fee will be used to develop resort infrastructure, which is rapidly deteriorating due to the enormous influx of tourists during the high season.”

OneTwoTrip Development Director Arkady Gines agrees with him. “This measure is for the benefit of domestic resorts. Improving infrastructure will lead to the development of inbound and domestic tourism. At the same time, it is important that the funds received go exclusively to the development of tourism in the regions where they were collected,” Gines noted.

On the contrary, Tez Tour director of public relations Larisa Akhanova believes that it would be more logical to introduce a resort fee only after the entire tourism infrastructure of the country has been brought to a common denominator. “On average, Russians vacation at Russian resorts for 7-10 days. Moreover, a vacation within the country cannot be called budget. For a family of several people, the resort fee can be a significant amount. This means that there is a danger that tourists will react by going into the illegal sector,” Akhanova said.

The PR director of BSI Group agrees with her. “The cost of a vacation is one of the main advantages of Russian resorts. Therefore, it is necessary to introduce an additional fee as thoughtfully and carefully as possible, otherwise the consequences could be negative,” commented Baranova.

It remains to add that in all four regions listed in the new law on the introduction of resort fees, in 2017 there was an increase in tourist flow compared to the same period in 2016. According to Biletix, sales of air tickets to Gorno-Altaisk increased by 34 percent, to Sochi by 20 percent, and to Mineralnye Vody by 75 percent. As for Crimea, the peninsula continues to be the most popular tourist destination for the summer season.

Federal Law of July 29, 2017 N 214-FZ "On conducting an experiment on the development of resort infrastructure in the Republic of Crimea, Altai Territory, Krasnodar Territory and Stavropol Territory"

Article 5. Procedure for introducing a resort fee. Resort fee amount

1. The resort fee is established by this Federal Law and is introduced by the law of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation in municipalities included in the experiment territory.

2. The collection of resort fees may be terminated on the territory of a municipal entity by law of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation on the basis of an application from the corresponding municipal entity for exclusion from the territory of the experiment.

3. The law of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation establishes the territory of the experiment, the amount of the resort fee, the procedure and timing of its transfer to the budget of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation, the procedure for monitoring compliance with the requirements of this Federal Law, other regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation, regulatory legal acts of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation related with the conduct of the experiment, the procedure for providing information about the progress of the experiment to the legislative (representative) body of state power of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation, the procedure for posting on the Internet information and telecommunications network information about the list of constructed, reconstructed, landscaped and repaired resort infrastructure facilities.

4. The amount of the resort fee cannot exceed 100 rubles. Moreover, in 2018, the resort fee cannot exceed 50 rubles.

5. The amount of the resort fee can be differentiated depending on the season (including reduced to 0 rubles), the length of stay of the resort fee payer at the accommodation facility, the value of the resort in accordance with