On Wednesday, the Duma adopted amendments to the tax legislation in the third reading
The bill, adopted on Wednesday in the State Duma, resolves many important issues of the state's tax policy. But now, during the high tourist season, the so-called “tour tax” attracts special attention. Why is this good for both tourists and tour operators, the expert explains.
At a meeting on Wednesday, the State Duma adopted in the final, third reading a law on improving the tax system; amendments include, among other things, the introduction of a tourist tax from 2025. It will replace the “resort tax”, which was carried out in some regions of the Russian Federation and worked well.
The adopted law introduces a new chapter into the Tax Code starting from 2025, dedicated to the tourist tax. It is assumed that the tax will be introduced and terminated in accordance with the regulatory legal acts of the representative bodies of municipalities, and in cities of federal significance (Moscow, St. Petersburg and Sevastopol) — the laws of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.
The object of taxation is the provision of services for the provision of places for temporary residence in accommodation facilities owned by the taxpayer by right of ownership or on another legal basis, located on the territory of a municipal entity (as well as in the territories of the federal cities of Moscow, St. Petersburg and Sevastopol, federal territory » Sirius») and included in the register of classified accommodation facilities. Tax payers will be organizations and individuals providing such services.
Tour operator Svetlana Kalmykova believes that this tax will help everyone: both tourists and the hotel industry. “The fact is that utility bills are increasing every year. And in such a situation, hotels have no choice but to increase the cost of their services. The tourist tax will just solve this situation, because the final cost of the tour is important for tourists; if the tourist tax is included in it, the increase will be insignificant. And if hotels revise their tariffs, the cost of tours will increase exponentially.” Therefore, guests of tourist attractions — Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sevastopol and Sochi — will be able to solve problems with hotels in these megacities with a small amount of money. And other cities with a high tourist load will receive support for their hotel complex. Since the tax will be small for a specific person, tour operators who organize their vacation will not suffer from its introduction. Moreover, the hotel infrastructure will improve due to a small per capita tax: “And even an additional cooler installed in the hotel will already benefit from the introduction of a tourist tax.”
The conversion of the resort tax into a tourist tax will be carried out at a rate of 1 percent of the cost of residence in 2025 and its subsequent indexation by 1 percentage point per year until 2029, then — no higher than 5 percent. It is assumed that the tax will be local and municipalities will independently determine the need for its introduction and the rates. It will be paid to the budget at the location of the hotels and will not be calculated from the cost of accommodation services for privileged categories of citizens.
According to the vice-president of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia Sergei Romashkin, taking into account that according to official data, domestic hotels in Last year they earned 821 billion rubles; at a rate of 1 percent, in 2025 the amount of revenue from the travel tax will be about 8 billion rubles per year.