MOSCOW, June 12 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's value-added tax may be gradually replaced by the sales tax in 2009-2011, a presidential adviser said Tuesday.
Arkady Dvorkovich, the head of the expert department with the Kremlin administration, said the move was related to the refund of the value-added tax on export operations, which involved a complicated procedure in comparison with the sales tax.
"We are becoming increasingly convinced that we need to withdraw from this tax [value-added tax] gradually in 2009-2011," Dvorkovich said.
Dvorkovich also said the gradual replacement of VAT with the sales tax would allow the government to make the transition without any significant budget losses.
