For parents with a small income, this will be a good help
The presence of a «tax cashback» for families with children is one of the important innovations proposed by the Ministry of Finance as part of creating a fairer fiscal system. Russian families will be able to apply for such a deduction starting in 2026. This follows from the draft basic law «On annual payments to working parents with two or more children», which was developed by the Ministry of Labor. It is assumed that the payment will reduce the actual personal income tax rate from 13% to 6%. How many families will this affect, will payments be made automatically, or will it be necessary to go through many authorities? MK found out.
The Ministry of Labor has prepared a bill to provide families with two or more children with a “tax cashback”. It is expected that the payment will reduce the actual personal income tax rate by more than half — from 13% to 6%. The document was developed “as part of the introduction of a progressive tax scale,” the accompanying documents say. It follows from the text that citizens who are entitled to such a deduction have the right to submit an application for its appointment from May 1 to October 1 of the year following the year in which the personal income tax was paid. Thus, if the law is adopted, citizens will be able to apply for the 2025 deduction from May 1 to October 1, 2026. The operator of the payment will be the Social Fund of Russia (SFR), and to receive cashback, parents need to send an application through State Services or MFC.
Working parents, as well as guardians and trustees with two or more children in families whose average per capita income is below one and a half times the subsistence level established in the region.
For parents to be able to receive “tax cashback”, the age of children must not exceed 18 years (if the child receives full-time education, up to 23 years old). Each parent will be able to receive the payment, provided they have no child support arrears. When assigning a payment, the SFR will calculate the average per capita monthly income of the family based on the amount of income on which tax has been paid. The availability of movable and immovable property will also be taken into account.
According to the head of the analytical department of AMarkets Artem Deev, the bill on “tax cashback” for families with children, it will affect households with two or more children and an average income below one and a half regional subsistence levels per person. “The exact number of families who will be able to take advantage of this support measure will depend on the cost of living established in each region. For example, in Moscow for 2024 it is 22.6 thousand rubles, and in Udmurtia 16.8 thousand rubles,” — notes the interlocutor of «MK».
According to the Ministry of Finance, about half of all families with two or more children in Russia will be able to receive the «tax cashback». The specific figure is not named, but according to official data, there are 24.5 million families with children in the country. The payment will be financed from the federal budget. The government has already calculated the cost of the issue: 101.1 billion rubles from the federal budget will be required annually for tax refunds.
«Tax cashback» in the amount of 7% of the personal income tax paid can be a significant help for families with children, especially for those who have a low average income, says Deev. “The measure will help citizens cover additional costs associated with raising and educating children, or, for example, direct funds to improve housing conditions,” — The expert is convinced.
Economist Andrei Loboda, director of communications at BitRiver, considers the legislative initiative of the Ministry of Labor to be very correct and extremely necessary for families with children. “Conditions of “tax cashback” quite effective and will be able to interest Russians,” — he's sure. At the same time, the expert asks the question: will this cashback be permanent or will the program be periodically extended? If the validity period of this innovation turns out to be limited, then, given the low level of financial literacy of the population, there is a risk that some families will not have time to take advantage of the program if they are not properly informed and attention is not drawn to the possibility of returning funds. “Ideally, such innovations should be automated and immediately connect these categories of families through personal accounts of the State Services,” — says the economist.