MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Alexander Yurov) - Russia has declared a tax amnesty.
The law allows individuals to file a simplified income tax return between March 1, 2007 and January 1, 2008, for revenues since 2001 on which they have not paid taxes.
The amount of taxes to be paid can be determined by individuals themselves. It all seems simple and convenient, but this stage in the tax collection drive is not likely to succeed, just as the two previous attempts.
For the first time, Russia made a breakthrough in the tax reform in 2001 by introducing a flat income tax rate of 13%, one of the lowest in the world. As a result, the share of grey salaries went down by one percent a year. The amount of taxes collected rose accordingly.
In 2004 the government further alleviated the tax burden by reducing the Unified Social Tax (UST) from 35.6% to 26%. At the same time it adopted a regressive scale - the higher the employees' salaries, the less the employer has to pay. This reduction was expected to save businesses up to 280 billion rubles, which would be re-invested into the economy; the authorities also hoped to get rid of undeclared salaries.
But soon these hopes went up in smoke. In 2006 statistical surveys showed a drop in tax collection. Salaries headed for the shadow again. In the estimate of Rosstat (Federal Statistics Service), average salaries went up by 23%, while the grey share increased to more than 32%.
It is abundantly clear that the large-scale tax reduction has failed to achieve the desired effect. The government hoped to keep the Russian economy's fast growth, and ease the tax burden on businessmen. But a lighter tax burden did not expand the tax base.
The problem of tax collection has been discussed at great length. For years, the Russian authorities have been persuading their compatriots to pay taxes with amazing patience, but to no avail. Few believe that the tax amnesty will produce satisfactory results. Russian experts have already found some loopholes in the new law. For examples, it does not relieve of responsibility those businessmen failed to deduct taxes from their employees' salaries on time, or did not send the right UST to the government coffers. In other words, the appearance of self-reported tax criminals in a tax inspection office may spell trouble for their employers. Nobody is going to encourage whistle-blowers.
However, there are many people who will benefit from the amnesty. Those who are suspected of tax evasion and are about to face charges are likely to turn themselves in without delay. The amnesty will not apply to those who are already behind bars.
Yet, the new stage in the tax reform is indicative in many respects. The Russian authorities are determined to continue fighting tax evasion. Judging by all, they are getting ready to tighten regulations from January 1, 2008.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.
