Ways to improve tax policy. Main directions of tax policy of the Russian Federation Directions of tax policy for the year

The Russian Ministry of Finance has developed a draft of the main measures in the field of tax policy planned for implementation in 2017 - 2019. The document contains plans by officials to optimize the tax burden on businesses and citizens, which will increase budget revenues. In particular, the Ministry of Finance proposes to increase excise taxes and penalties for tax arrears, introduce VAT on foreign purchases and limit benefits for small businesses. Most of the Ministry of Finance's proposals have already been submitted to the State Duma for consideration in the form of a government bill.

The Russian Ministry of Finance has developed a draft of the Main Directions of Tax Policy for 2017 and the planning period of 2018 and 2019 and sent this document to the Government of the Russian Federation and the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation. The document sets goals for the planned three-year period to optimize tax collection and increase budget revenues. Such an increase should occur despite the current moratorium on increasing the tax burden on business and the Government’s policy of supporting small and medium-sized businesses. According to the Ministry of Finance, in such conditions, income can be increased at the expense of citizens, oil producing companies and foreign retail.

At the government level, many of the Ministry of Finance’s ideas have already received support and have been formalized in the form of a bill on amendments to the Tax Code, which has already been submitted to the State Duma for consideration.

Optimal tax burden

Officials analyzed the level of tax burden on Russian citizens, entrepreneurs and legal entities and found that over the past 4 years this figure has remained virtually unchanged and was at the level of 31% - 32% of GDP. In 2015, tax revenues and payments to the Russian budget amounted to only 30.17% of GDP.

According to the Ministry of Finance, based on information from Rosstat, an analysis of the burden on certain types of taxes showed that the largest part is borne by oil and gas revenues - mineral extraction tax and export customs duties. The fiscal burden on business amounted to 26.2% of GDP. The most active tax payers were:

  • manufacturing industries;
  • production and distribution of energy, gas and water;
  • construction organizations;
  • financial organizations;
  • Iranian transport organizations;
  • trading enterprises;
  • housing and communal services organizations;
  • educational organizations and institutions;
  • travel business.

In general, the Ministry of Finance was pleased with the results, but sees prospects for the development and optimization of the tax system, and therefore budget revenues. Officials disclosed their plans in this direction in the document.

Small business

To implement the Address of the President of the Russian Federation to the Federal Assembly and the complex of anti-crisis measures of the Government of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Finance proposes to carry out a number of measures aimed at stimulating the activities of small and medium-sized businesses. Among them is the exemption from personal income tax for income from the activities of individuals who are not currently individual entrepreneurs, but want to start their own activities, for a period until December 31, 2018. Among the services provided by such individuals, officials propose to include cleaning, housekeeping, tutoring, supervision and care for children, the sick and the elderly, as well as some other activities.

Individual entrepreneurs who use UTII and will be forced to purchase new-style cash register equipment that ensures the transfer of fiscal documents to the tax authorities must receive a corresponding tax reduction by the amount of costs incurred for this.

Officials set the maximum amount of such a deduction at 18 thousand rubles, indicating that they would create a mechanism to reduce the cost of CCP purchased by taxpayers by providing grants in the form of subsidies from the federal budget to domestic manufacturers of this equipment.

The deflator coefficient, which is used within the framework of the taxation system in the form of UTII, must immediately last for 3 years, to ensure predictability of the growth of the tax burden for small businesses for the specified tax. In particular, it will be proposed, when adopting acts of legislation on taxes and fees as part of the budget process for the next financial year and planning period, to fix the values ​​of the specified coefficient for a three-year period, indicating the value for each year, based on the level of projected inflation. However, in reality this will mean growth of UTII, which was frozen in 2015.

Taxation of oil production

The Ministry of Finance proposes to stimulate the development of new fields and rational use of subsoil through a new taxation system (TDS) for pilot sites, including both new and mature fields. This means that there will be a reduction in the total amount of taxes depending on gross indicators (mineral extraction tax on oil and customs duty on oil), and instead of them, taxation of additional income from hydrocarbon production will be introduced. From these measures, officials expect increased tax flexibility due to the dependence of the amount of taxes on the economic result of reserve development.
The tax rate of the new tax will be set at 50%, while the AIT paid will reduce the corporate income tax base. The AIT tax base will be determined as estimated revenues from the production of hydrocarbons minus operating and capital costs for field development.

In addition, officials intend to exempt coupon income on bonds from taxation. According to officials, this should neutralize the risks of losing citizens' savings in case of investing in bonds, which are significantly higher than the risks when placing savings in deposits in banks, for which a deposit insurance system is provided at the legislative level. Due to these measures, the popularity of investments by individuals in the oil production sector of the economy should increase.

Income tax and consolidated groups of taxpayers

To ensure the balance of the budgets of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Finance proposes the existing ratio of corporate income tax rates between the federal budget and the budget of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation. For the federal budget, the income tax rate will be set at 3%, and for the constituent entities of the Russian Federation - 17%. Additional federal budget revenues received in this way will be used to support the least affluent regions. Thus, officials want to force rich regions to provide for poor ones.

In addition, the carryover of losses received by taxpayers in previous tax periods will be limited. Its size will be no more than 30% of the tax base of the current reporting (tax) period, calculated without taking into account the carry forward of losses from previous years. At the same time, the Ministry of Finance proposes to cancel the limitation on the period for transferring losses, which is currently 10 years.

To increase the efficiency of regulation of consolidated groups of taxpayers (CGT), the Ministry of Finance proposes to continue in 2017 monitoring the results of the application of this instrument, the results of which are expected to develop proposals aimed at improving its mechanism, including smoothing out the effect of the CTG on the sustainability of regional budgets . Officials want to change the approach to the formation of the consolidated tax base of the group and limit the amount of reduction in the tax base of the group formed by profitable members of the group by the amount of loss received by unprofitable participants, an amount not exceeding 30% of the profit of profitable members of the group.

Taxation of income and property of individuals

As one of the measures of social support for citizens, the Ministry of Finance proposed recognizing the income of pensioners as non-taxable in the form of a lump sum payment planned in the 1st quarter of 2017 from the federal budget, which is by its nature a social supplement to pensions. This is where the goodwill of officials ended, and financiers identified unfinished capital construction projects owned by citizens as an additional source of budget funds. Ministry of Finance draft law on the obligation to pay property tax for individuals in relation to capital construction projects registered in the cadastral register, but the rights to which have not yet been registered in the prescribed manner. They want to oblige the owners of land plots on which unfinished objects are located to pay such a tax.

VAT, excise taxes and penalties

To improve the VAT taxation procedure, the Ministry of Finance proposes to implement a mechanism for returning to foreign individuals part of the VAT amounts they paid when purchasing goods during their temporary stay in the Russian Federation. Although the so-called “tax free” in itself will not bring additional revenue to the budget, officials expect that this measure will increase the volume of sales to foreign tourists, and hence the collection of taxes from trading organizations.

Officials also expect to introduce legislation on taxes and fees aimed at collecting VAT in Russia on imported goods sold by foreign suppliers on the Internet. Starting from 2017 - 2019, the Ministry of Finance wants to oblige such foreign online stores working with Russian customers to register legal entities in the Russian Federation and pay VAT. Buyers of those stores that refuse to do this will have to pay VAT themselves when receiving parcels. The Ministry of Finance has not yet developed a mechanism for how this will look in practice, but is working on this issue.

In the period 2017 - 2019, officials also intend to significantly increase excise tax rates, including doubling excise tax rates on wines (with the exception of sparkling wines (champagnes), fruit wines, etc.). The list of excisable goods should include “electronic cigarettes” (disposable nicotine delivery systems), and excise tax rates on all types of tobacco products established for 2017 will be increased by 10%. At the same time, excise rates for the period 2018 and 2019 will be indexed by 10% annually in relation to the excise tax of the previous year. As for excise taxes on fuel, the rates for class 5 motor gasoline in 2017 will be set at 10,130 rubles per 1 ton, in 2018 - 10,637 rubles per 1 ton, and in 2019 - 11,062 rubles per 1 ton.

During the moratorium on tax increases, officials saw another source of budget revenue in tax arrears. They noted that the penalty, by its legal nature, is compensatory in nature and is payable in case of violation of the deadlines for payment of taxes established by the legislation on taxes and fees, therefore increasing its size will not only increase the level of budget revenues, but will also have a significant impact on reducing debt upon payment of the specified payments. The Ministry of Finance proposed to increase the size of the penalty from one three hundredth to one hundred and eightieth of the refinancing rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. In addition, officials proposed optimizing existing tax benefits and introducing a number of other amendments to tax legislation. The Ministry of Finance has already formalized some of its initiatives, while others are still planning to be framed in bills and lobby for them in the Cabinet of Ministers and Parliament. It is expected that most of the measures he proposed will be considered by the State Duma in the near future. In particular, the issues of increasing excise taxes on wine, gasoline and tobacco, as well as introducing a new procedure for taxing the mineral extraction tax, these are the proposals that were included in the Government bill.

The St. Petersburg legal portal will definitely tell you about all the decisions made in its materials.

The main directions of tax policy of the Russian Federation for 2017 and 2018 are not considered a normative legal act and are being prepared for the preparation of the draft federal budget for the following years. Thanks to them, problems in the field of budget planning are solved, guidelines for the activities of business entities are determined in connection with taking into account tax changes.

The Government of the Russian Federation has established a main priority, namely avoiding the tax burden on the economy. In addition, it plans to use tax incentives for investment and take actions to improve tax administration. Tax policy was developed taking into account low oil prices, as well as sanctions imposed against Russia.

So, according to the Address of the President of the Russian Federation to the Federal Assembly, related to the implementation of measures aimed at legalizing capital and taking actions to return assets to their homeland, it is proposed to introduce changes to the legislation of the Russian Federation. The voluntary declaration of property by individuals will make it possible not to apply criminal, administrative, tax, and currency legislation against them.

In addition, the Government is introducing anti-crisis measures. For example, the introduction of corporate income tax benefits for new industries. It is envisaged that subjects of the Russian Federation can use, in relation to organizations that have been recently created, a rate reduction of up to 10%. A reduction to 0% is also possible if these funds go to the federal budget.

The tax rate reduction will be implemented as part of the selection of investment projects established in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation in relation to regional investment projects.

The difference from the regional one will be that the benefit will apply to newly created industrial enterprises throughout the Russian Federation.

Next direction: increasing the initial cost of depreciable property for tax purposes.

It is proposed to increase the threshold value of the cost of depreciable property to 80-100 thousand rubles.

Measures for tax incentives for the development of small businesses through special tax regimes:

It is proposed to make changes to special tax regimes:

  • 1) increase the number of activities for which the patent tax system can be used;
  • 2) use the right to apply a 2-year “tax holiday” in the field of personal services;
  • 3) it is proposed to give the right to constituent entities of the Russian Federation to reduce the tax rate for subjects that use a simplified form of taxation from 6 to 1%;
  • 4) give the authorities of federal cities the right to reduce the single tax rate on imputed income from 15 to 7.5%;

Advance payments for corporate income tax:

To help organizations divert working capital to pay advance payments for corporate income tax, it is proposed to increase the threshold for revenue, which will allow payments to be made at the end of the quarter, by 1.2-1.5 times.

Application of VAT to advance payments: Currently, the Tax Code of the Russian Federation assumes that the buyer has the right to deduct VAT as a result of paying an advance payment. To improve the situation of both the buyer and the seller, it is proposed to simplify the calculation and deduction of this tax.

The procedure for exemption from excise taxes when exporting excisable goods:

In the case of exporting products, it is proposed to simplify the procedure for confirming the validity of exemption from paying excise duty on exports and proceed in a similar manner to confirming the validity of applying VAT at a rate of 0% when exporting.

Control over transfer pricing for domestic Russian transactions:

Due to the fact that the Russian Federation has a federal structure, tax control is exercised not only over foreign economic transactions, but also over transactions between our residents. This control is sometimes not necessary, but in cases where the corporate income tax forms the revenue base for the budgets of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, it is needed.

In addition to this, control is needed over transfer pricing for domestic Russian transactions in cases where significant damage to the budget system will be caused.

Taking into account these data, it is proposed to make the following changes:

Increase the threshold from 1 billion. rub. up to 2-3 billion rubles, which will allow control of domestic Russian transactions if the threshold is exceeded;

Simplification of the VAT refund procedure for exports:

It is proposed to establish a procedure for deducting VAT amounts on goods, services, and works that are used in the sale of goods at a rate of 0%, the same as the procedure for 10 and 18%.

Taxation of income of individuals: it is necessary to detail the procedure for exempting certain types of income from personal income tax when dismissing employees, military personnel, judges, clarifying the provisions on taxation when winning the lottery, when receiving income in foreign currency.

Improving the procedure for taxation with value added tax:

To reduce the period for VAT refunds and diversion of working capital, it is proposed:

  • - when carrying out transactions for which a 0% rate is used, it is necessary to apply the general deduction procedure;
  • - give preference to the use of the declarative procedure for reimbursement to taxpayers who have given guarantee to the parent company, which has the total amount of VAT, excise taxes, corporate income tax, mineral extraction tax paid for the three calendar years preceding the year in which the application for the application of the declarative procedure is submitted, without taking into account the amount of 33 taxes paid in connection with the movement of goods across the border of the Russian Federation and as a tax agent is at least 10 billion rubles;

In order to interpret the articles of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, it is proposed:

  • - it is necessary to establish a procedure for determining the tax base when calculating VAT when using advances in contracts that are concluded in foreign currency, but payment is made in rubles;
  • - it is proposed to establish the right of tax agents to deduct the amount of VAT listed as part of the advance payment, by analogy with taxpayers;
  • - the provisions of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation regarding deductions for property rights should be clarified.

To combat illegal VAT refunds, you must:

I. do not charge taxes when selling waste paper;

II. when reorganizing a legal entity, it is necessary to restore VAT on property transferred by the legal successor of the organization;

III. when transferring advance payments, it is necessary to clarify the amount of VAT that will be recovered by the buyer;

IV. in cases where the delivery was not made at a certain time, the taxpayer must restore the VAT recognized for deduction on the advance payment;

Taxation of natural resources:

Making proposals to harmonize Chapter 26 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation with the regulatory framework in the field of systematization of hydrocarbon reserves;

Development of proposals for determining the object of taxation of mineral extraction tax for the extraction of various types of ores that contain chemically pure metal;

Improving tax administration:

  • · Optimization of the list of information not related to tax secrets;
  • · Improving the institution of the consolidated category of taxpayers;
  • · Ensuring the possibility of automatic exchange of information on financial transactions for tax purposes with foreign jurisdictions;
  • · Changes in the taxation procedure for corporate borrowing (interest expenses);
  • · Improving the rules for taxation of income of controlled foreign companies;
  • · Improving tax rules for transfer pricing; MAIN DIRECTIONS OF TAX POLICY OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION FOR 2016

AND FOR THE PLANNED PERIOD OF 2017 AND 2018. - Access mode: System Garant

Tax aspects of improving the investment climate in the Russian Federation:

As part of the consideration of the order of the Government of the Russian Federation dated February 10, 2014 “Improving tax administration,” bills were developed providing for:

Expanding electronic document management, reducing the cost of preparing and submitting declarations, improving tax control, as well as reducing the threshold from 100 to 50 people for the mandatory submission of declarations in electronic form;

In addition, a mechanism will be introduced to regulate tax consulting, as well as liability.

Insurance contributions for compulsory pension, medical and social insurance:

Based on the foregoing, we can conclude that the directions of development of tax policy will allow economic agents to determine guidelines in the tax sphere for the future period, which will predetermine the stability and certainty of the conditions for conducting economic activity on the territory of the Russian Federation.

On December 8, 2016, Federal Law No. 401-FZ “On Amendments to Parts One and Two of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation” was published in the Parliamentary Gazette. The law introduces a set of changes to tax legislation aimed at implementing the main directions of tax policy for 2017 (and the planning period 2018-2019). The changes affected the provisions of the current legislation regarding the responsibilities of taxpayers, tax liability, tax control, as well as certain types of taxes and special tax regimes.

Most provisions of the federal law come into force on January 1, 2017.

The main changes made to part one of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation

    According to the adopted law, taxpayers’ obligations to pay taxes can be fulfilled by third parties. At the same time, third parties will not be able to demand the return of such tax from the budget on behalf of the taxpayer. Earlier, in 2004, the position on the impossibility of fulfilling these obligations by third parties was formed by the Constitutional Court due to the direct indication in the Tax Code of the taxpayer’s obligation to independently fulfill tax payment obligations.

    Before the adoption of the law, the outstanding debt of a taxpayer during the liquidation of an organization in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation could be recognized as uncollectible. Now, liquidation under foreign law can also lead to the recognition of debt as uncollectible for the purposes of tax consequences in the Russian Federation.

    The law establishes the form of a surety agreement for tax purposes, as well as a special procedure for collecting the debt of a guarantor: the obligation of the guarantor to pay the tax for the taxpayer occurs within 5 days from the moment the taxpayer fails to fulfill the initial requirement. At the same time, in order to monitor the guarantor’s performance of his duties, the tax authority has the right to take measures to collect the debt at the expense of funds and other property of the guarantor in the same manner as provided for the taxpayer.

    The law provides for a new procedure for calculating penalties for legal entities. If previously the penalty rate for all taxpayers was fixed at 1/300 of the key rate, then, according to the proposed procedure, the penalty rate for legal entities will be differentiated as follows:

    • 1/300 - for each day of delay during the first 30 calendar days from the date of delay,

      1/150 - for each day of delay, starting from 31 days from the date of delay.
      Thus, for organizations that have been late in paying taxes for a period of more than 30 calendar days, a double increase in penalties is provided. For individuals (including individual entrepreneurs), the interest rate of the penalty has not changed.

    The following transactions are excluded by law from the list of transactions between related parties recognized as controlled:

    • For the provision of sureties (guarantees) in the event that all parties to such a transaction are Russian organizations and are not banks,

      To provide interest-free loans between Russian related parties.

The main changes made to part two of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation

Value added tax and excise taxes

    Since 2017, a zero VAT rate has been established for the sale of services for the transportation of passengers and luggage by public railway transport in long-distance traffic (except for cross-border transportation).

    Transactions involving the issuance of sureties (guarantees) between Russian organizations (with the exception of banks) are exempt from VAT.

    A special VAT exemption is also provided for foreign organizers of the FIA ​​Formula 1 World Championship.

    The law introduces an additional tool for ensuring the application procedure for VAT refund and exemption from excise taxes in the form of a guarantee from a related party. At the same time, the law introduces special requirements for the guarantor:

    • Only a Russian organization can be a guarantor,
      ‒ The total amount of VAT paid by the guarantor for the previous 3 years must be at least 7 billion rubles,

      The amount of the guarantor's obligations under all guarantee agreements it has (including the one under consideration) should not exceed 20% of the value of the guarantor's net assets at the end of the previous year.

    The list of excisable goods includes the following goods:

    • Electronic nicotine delivery systems,

      Liquids for electronic nicotine delivery systems,

      Tobacco intended to be consumed by heating.

    The law introduces indexation of excise tax rates on certain types of excisable goods in 2017, and also establishes increased excise tax rates for 2018 and 2019. In particular, excise tax rates on alcohol-containing alcoholic products are almost doubled. Less significant indexation is provided for fuel and cars. Certain excise tax rates on tobacco products will be increased by 10% in 2017, and excise tax rates for 2018 and 2019 will be increased by 10%. will be indexed by another 10% compared to the previous year.

Income tax

    The law provides for a redistribution of income tax in favor of the federal budget: 3% will be credited to the federal budget (instead of the current 2%), and 17% will be credited to the regional budget (instead of the current 18%).

    One of the most discussed tax law changes was the elimination of the 10-year period for carrying forward losses to future periods. It is interesting to note that the text of the bill, which was presented for the first reading, strengthened the restriction on the transfer of losses and provided for a reduction in the transfer period from 10 to 2 years. By the third reading, the period for carrying forward losses was completely abolished. Thus, according to the adopted law, it is possible to carry forward losses to future periods until the accumulated losses are completely exhausted. However, for the next three years (from 2017 to 2020), the legislator introduces a temporary limitation on the amount of transferred losses: the tax base during these periods cannot be reduced by the amount of transferred losses by more than 50%. This limitation will also apply to losses on transactions with non-traded securities and derivative financial instruments. In relation to consolidated groups of taxpayers (CGT), the amount of losses of group members is taken into account in an amount not exceeding 50% of the consolidated tax base of the current reporting period. If, at the end of the reporting period, all participants of the consolidated group of taxpayers suffered losses, then the tax base of the consolidated group of taxpayers is recognized as equal to zero.

    The law expanded the list of non-taxable income provided for in Article 251 of the Code: the following income will not be included in the tax base:

    • income received by a joint-stock company, 100% owned by the Russian Federation, from the sale of shares of other organizations, subject to the transfer of such income to the federal budget in full (the corresponding norm is included in the list of expenses not taken into account for taxation),

      income in the form of services for issuing sureties by taxpayers who are not banks.

Corporate property tax and mineral extraction tax

    The main changes in relation to corporate property tax concern the procedure for applying tax benefits. The law introduces a new article, according to which, from January 1, 2018, property tax benefits (in relation to any movable property, as well as property located in the Russian part of the Caspian Sea bed) will be applied only if the corresponding benefits are introduced by the laws of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

    The law provides for changing the coefficients for calculating the mineral extraction tax of individual resources, as well as changing the formula for calculating the mineral extraction tax on oil, which will increase the mineral extraction tax rate for oil production by 306 rubles per ton in 2017 and by 357 and 428 rubles per ton in 2018 - 2019, respectively.

USN, Patent taxation system

    The law increases the values ​​of the following limits of the simplified tax system:

    • The amount of income for 9 months for the transition of an organization to the simplified tax system has been increased to 112.5 million rubles (previously this threshold had already been raised from 45 to 90 million rubles);

      Loss of the right to the simplified tax system occurs if income for a quarter, half a year, 9 months, or a year exceeds the threshold amount of 150 million rubles (previously the threshold was increased from 60 million to 120 million rubles).

      The threshold for the residual value of fixed assets remains at the level of 150 million rubles.

    The most significant change in relation to the patent system is the repeal of the Code's provision that failure to pay a patent on time is grounds for loss of the right to use the patent system.

In addition to the basic provisions described above, the adopted law regulates the accounting of “self-employed” persons, simplifies the flow of documents between tax authorities and taxpayers, and also clarifies the concepts used in tax legal relations.

Tax policy- These are the actions of the state in the field of taxes and taxation. The plan of intentions and actions in the tax sphere taken by the state is being developed by the Ministry of Finance of Russia (paragraph 5 of article 165 of the Budget Code of the Russian Federation).

State tax policy for 2018-2020

The main directions of the state tax policy for 2018 and the planned years 2019-2020 can be viewed in the project “Main directions of budget, tax and customs tariff policies for 2018 and for the planning period 2019 and 2020”, posted on the official website of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation 03.10 .2017.

The draft of this document declares:

  • not increasing the level of tax burden for bona fide taxpayers;
  • completion of work on systematizing the rules for establishing and collecting non-tax payments;

See materials:

  • reduction of the shadow sector of the economy as a result of changes in the administration of revenue receipts due to:
    • full coverage of the retail trading network with online cash registers, which ensures online data transfer to the Federal Tax Service servers;
    • integration of information systems and risk management systems of tax and customs authorities;
    • creation of a system for end-to-end traceability of the movement of goods from the stage of customs clearance to sale to the final consumer and the launch of a pilot project for the implementation of this project on the territory of the EAEU;
    • gradual expansion of traceability systems (USAIS, labeling) to other product groups;
    • integration of information arrays of state extra-budgetary funds and the tax service;
    • launching a unified state register of civil status records and creating a federal register of information about the population;
    • automatic exchange of tax information to combat tax evasion using low-tax jurisdictions;
  • providing an investment tax deduction for income tax (valid from 01/01/2018);
  • inclusion in the bad debts that reduce the taxable base for income tax, the debt of a citizen who has been declared bankrupt (valid from 01/01/2018).
  • expanding the circle of persons entitled to apply a 0% VAT rate when exporting by eliminating the attribute of a foreign buyer of exported goods as a condition for confirming the deduction;
  • establishing a zero VAT rate for the sale of air transportation services for passengers and baggage, if the point of destination or departure is located in the Kaliningrad region (effective from 01/01/2018);
  • clarification of the rules for collecting customs VAT when importing goods by individuals;
  • recognition by tax agents for VAT of buyers of certain types of goods (scrap and waste of non-ferrous metals, secondary aluminum alloys, raw hides) (valid from 01/01/2018);
  • suppression of abuses using the Unified Agricultural Tax (UAT) regime by recognizing UAT payers as VAT payers (based on the law “On amendments to parts one and two of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation” dated November 27, 2017 No. 335-FZ from 01/01/2019, the use of the Unified Agricultural Tax does not exempt from VAT);
  • limiting the number of real estate objects (their total area) in respect of which an individual entrepreneur can apply PSN for such type of activity as leasing residential and non-residential premises;
  • clarification of the types of activities in respect of which UTII and PSN may be applied;
  • fixing the criteria for self-employed citizens who are exempt from paying personal income tax until 01/01/2019;
  • providing the tax agent with the opportunity to notify the personal income tax taxpayer of the impossibility of withholding tax both in writing and through electronic services;
  • lifting the age limit for a disabled person of the 1st or 2nd group who is supported by a parent (adoptive parent, trustee, guardian) for applying a tax deduction for personal income tax;
  • clarification of the types of activities for which payers on the simplified tax system will have the right to apply reduced rates of insurance premiums;
  • clarification of the procedure for recognizing expenses for calculating VAT when selling a share in the authorized capital; withdrawal from the membership of the company; sale (redemption) of securities;
  • providing mineral extraction tax benefits to organizations that implement investment projects in the Far Eastern region;
  • extension of the increased mineral extraction tax rate for oil production;
  • changes in the procedure for determining the indicators used in calculating the mineral extraction tax for gas production;
  • improving the procedure for calculating excise taxes, clarifying the identification characteristics of middle distillates;
  • maintaining excise tax rates for 2018-2019 unchanged (except for gasoline and diesel fuel) and indexing excise tax rates for 2020;
  • establishing a differentiated approach to determining the amount of state duty for issuing a license to sell alcohol, depending on the number of places of activity.

Oil producing companies are expecting the introduction of a new taxation system - added income tax (AIT). It is expected that it will extend to pilot sites, including both greenfield and mature fields. The tax base for this tax is supposed to establish estimated income from the extraction of hydrocarbons minus the actual operating and capital costs of developing subsoil areas. And the tax rate is considered at 50%.

Main directions of tax policy for 2018

So, what can we expect from the state in 2018:

  1. Improving tax administration.
  2. Creation of a code of non-tax payments.
  3. Reduction of federal benefits and transfer of powers to establish benefits to the regional (local) level.
  4. Changes in tax legislation affecting either certain categories of taxpayers or certain transactions for various types of taxes.

In general, the state's tax policy continues the course begun in previous years.

Results

Typically, the Russian Ministry of Finance, long before the start of the coming year, publishes tax policy on its website - a list of events that are planned to be carried out in the coming year. It also discusses plans for the next 2 years. But the draft tax policy for 2018-2020 was posted on the website of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation only on October 3, 2017 and has not yet been approved by the Government of the Russian Federation. With the help of tax policy, the Russian Ministry of Finance is trying to accomplish the following main tasks: create predictable fiscal conditions, balance federal and regional budgets, and reduce the shadow sector of the economy. Partially, the plans of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation to solve these problems have already been implemented, and appropriate changes have been made to the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, and some measures are still being developed. Whether the plans of the Russian Ministry of Finance will remain just plans or will be implemented by changing the legislation on taxes and fees, time will tell.

The document is written in an easy-to-read manner; it is not a law or regulation; its main role is to serve as the starting vector for changes in the field of taxation. The main question that arises when reading: will everything written be implemented and become the new rules of our life. When and what tax changes should be expected.

The first part is conclusions about the tax burden and conditions for doing business in the Russian Federation and foreign countries. According to the Ministry of Finance, Russia is not the leader in terms of tax burden: in our country it is 31.89% of GDP, while the OECD average is 34.44%, the USA – 26%, Germany – 36.13% .

The second part is the main plans in the field of tax policy in 2017-2019 by taxpayers, types of taxes and non-tax payments (stimulating the activities of small and medium-sized businesses, improving the taxation system for oil production, income tax, excise taxes, transfer pricing, state duties, etc. ).

In the future we expect, for example:

  • establishing taxes on buildings and structures that have not been put into operation and are registered in the cadastral register,
  • increasing tax liability for legal entities,
  • the possibility of a 50% “discount” on quick payment (as for traffic police fines) of arrears and penalties for individuals.

Role and significance of the document

Ideally, the state should move in the directions of tax policy: adopt appropriate laws. Businesses and citizens should be prepared for the changes voiced in the document when planning their work and life.
But the ideal model and reality can differ significantly. Especially if you look not from the understanding of business processes by decision makers, but from the side of real entrepreneurs and ordinary citizens.

A video of the controversy on the Gaidar forum clearly illustrates the difference between how officials and statesmen see the world through taxes. See below.

Diverse opinions about the role and significance of the published main directions of tax policy, and a skeptical attitude towards the statements of the Ministry of Finance are due to the peculiarities of our state.

Causes:

  • the activity of legislative bodies in a “mad printer” mode (with such speed as in the Russian Federation, laws are not adopted or changed in democratic countries);
  • mono-composition of the party in power in the legislative bodies of the Russian Federation, subjects and local governments, natural almost unanimous approval of bills of the ruling bloc, the president and the government;
  • the traditional process of bypassing the procedure for assessing the regulatory impact of a regulatory document being created and its public discussion. The time for adoption is reduced, the public and business do not have the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the document, reflect their point of view about it and be ready for its work;
  • small and medium-sized businesses exist in a regime of selectively enforced laws, increased fines, and new liability for violations. There are no conditions for compliance with all established duties and the possibility of profitable work;
  • low level of trust in officially published statistics: calculations of the tax burden, real incomes of business and the population used to substantiate conclusions.

Taking this into account, the main directions of tax policy are not a document of 100% certainty of the future and improvement of the tax climate. However, it is useful to look through and find out what the state plans and how it sees taxes in the future.

At the moment, the significance of the position of the Ministry of Finance and the reality of implementing the main directions of tax policy for 2017-2019 is confirmed by the fact that some of the planned tax changes have already been enshrined in law and are in effect on the territory of the Russian Federation.

As for the measures announced in the main directions of tax policy under the slogan of stimulating the economy and business, assessment is possible only in the future, when the rules are applied. With regard to the topic of bringing the new tax category of self-employed citizens out of the shadows, which has already come into force in tax legislation, at the moment these measures are not at all effective.

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