The idea of State Duma deputy Nikolai Arefiev to raise progressive income tax up to 30% for very wealthy Russians, some experts consider pointless. In particular, Aleksey Zubets, head of the Institute for Socio-Economic Research of the Financial University under the government, described the proposal in this way.
In an interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda radio, he said that the number of Russian citizens who can be classified as «super-rich» , is small, and they always have the potential to evade paying taxes. As an example, the expert named the use of tax deductions and the change of registration of a legal entity.
According to the economist, the introduction of a direct scale and an income tax of 13% in the past helped increase budget revenues, but the use of a progressive scale will have the opposite effect .
Zubets also noted that in order to keep records of taxes of all relatives of a wealthy Russian, a large staff of tax officials would be required, and lawsuits may also arise due to the fact that «someone does not live together with someone and other».