MOSCOW (Realist English). The discussion continues on the corporate superprofit tax, which was proposed last week by First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov.
The Ministry of Finance flatly refused to call it a tax, or to adjust the tax legislation for this purpose. But something else is important. Since the Ministry of Finance (which has traditionally opposed it) continues to exaggerate the topic, this time the initiative has too serious supporters in the government, and it will not be possible to sabotage the idea.
On February 15 , Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Sazanov tried to interpret the situation back and forth: that this, they say, is not a tax at all; and that no one has yet decided on the size and form of payment; and in general, we still need to discuss everything with the business. By business, he meant our raw materials monopolists and mineral developers bursting with profits. “That is, it may be a mandatory payment, it may be voluntary,” Sazanov said. In his opinion, it would be better for business if this payment becomes mandatory. “I think so, but it’s better to ask their point of view here,” he concluded.
And the ministry also calculated that voluntary and compulsory “contributions to the budget” from excess profits would bring about 250 billion rubles. This is an important recognition. This the first signal that the topic will be pushed through.
By the end of 2022, tax revenues to the consolidated budget of the Russian Federation turned out to be record ones: +17.8% (or 5.05 trillion rubles), reaching 33.6 trillion rubles. The audit and consulting network FinExpertiza estimated that almost three quarters of the total tax increase (72%) was provided by the mineral extraction tax (MET). MET revenues increased by 3.6 trillion rubles to 11 trillion rubles. As a result, the share of MET in the structure of all tax revenues in Russia in 2022 reached a third (33%).
