MOSCOW, December 27The Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation does not plan to increase the income tax in 2024, but will consider relevant proposals from business when preparing the main directions of tax policy for the next budget cycle; the idea of increasing the income tax in the Russian Federation and increasing investment deductions must be weighed, said Finance Minister Anton Siluanov.
«»The budget has been adopted, for 2024 — that’s all. And for 2025-2026, this is already a new budget cycle. We will consider the Main Directions of Tax Policy, business is preparing some proposals there, I know. We will interact with business and consider their proposals,” Siluanov told reporters, answering a question about the possibility of raising taxes in Russia.
Commenting on business proposals to increase the profit tax rate, Siluanov clarified that it is too early to talk about any specific decisions. “It’s too early to say whether it’s possible or impossible (increasing the income tax rate — ed.). We always listen to business and try to coordinate the main issues with it,” he said.
The head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, Alexander Shokhin, made a proposal to increase the income tax at the end of November at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He proposed this as an alternative to one-off tax decisions, such as the company's excess profit tax adopted this year. Shokhin said that big business is not against increasing the tax rate in exchange for expanding investment deductions and guarantees of stability for other mandatory payments.
«»There are different proposals regarding the income tax,» the head of the Ministry of Finance confirmed. “On the one hand, they seem to want to increase the rate, on the other hand, to increase investment deductions. But we have already gone through this, we had a period when we had huge deductions and the rate was high,” the minister said.
“»We must always consider how this will break down into different sectors of the economy. Suppose the financial sector does not have such investment expenses and will pay more, and accordingly those companies that invest today will pay less. Everything must be weighed. None no decisions have been made in the government today, no concepts are being considered either,” Siluanov said.