A one-time fee to the budget from the excess profits of Russian companies – the tax on windfall profits (literally “tax on income brought by the wind”) should not affect companies that have entered into agreements for the protection and promotion of investments (SZPK). This was stated by Deputy Minister of Economic Development Murat Kerefov during a conference at the Izvestia press center, Russian media followed the broadcast.
The Ministry of Economic Development is discussing with colleagues from the Ministry of Finance the windfall tax as it relates to SZPK participants. “It is expressly stated in the tax code and we have previously discussed with our colleagues from the Ministry of Finance that the new taxes do not apply to companies that have entered into an SZPK,” stressed Murat Kerefov.
“Of course, we will see what form the bill on the new tax will take, but I think that the positions enshrined in the code will be respected,” added the deputy minister.
The government intends to collect a one-time fee to the budget on excess profits of Russian companies for 2021-2022. It will affect 0.1% of enterprises with a profit of 1 billion rubles, with the exception of the oil industry, coal, small and medium-sized enterprises. The Ministry of Finance plans to raise 300 billion rubles in in limited quantity budget.
The mechanism of the new tax has not yet been approved – the bill has not been officially published. Formally, it is impossible to start levying a new tax before 2024 – by law, tax changes that make business conduct worse come into force only from the new year. Therefore, the Ministry of Finance will offer companies to voluntarily pay the tax as early as 2023, and in this case the rate will be 5%, not 10%, claim Sources Interfax.
“The exceptional tax will be a very good test for the NWPC. In fact, the mechanism of the stabilization clause will be worked out there,” said Maria Glukhova, vice-president of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP). “We are well aware that no matter how well written the wording is in the law, until we get through the first cases of disputes over the stabilization clause, the law cannot be said to be working,” underlined the vice-president of the RSPP. “If the test is successful, it will further increase interest in this tool.”
The stabilization clause is now “the most relevant” and “very often companies put predictability first, and not the availability of new tax benefits”, underlined Maria Glukhova: “In a situation where companies operate in conditions of extreme external instability , the ability to provide predictability and predictability of a number of key parameters for the implementation of projects – this is very important and necessary for companies. project is important, the more this predictability and this predictability are important for the project.
The SZPK was created as a systemic and universal mechanism to stimulate private investment in Russia. The government designed it to restart the investment cycle. The main thing is that the mechanism gives companies a “grandfather clause” – a guarantee of stable tax conditions.
Although the SZPK is one of the most interesting mechanisms for companies, it is “partly one of the most unlucky”, noted Maria Glukhova. The first SZPKs were concluded in 2020, and since April 2021, the conclusion of new agreements has been suspended for a year and a half due to the delay in the launch of the Capital Investments State Information System (GIS), by which all agreements had pass. “Several dozen projects are blocked, and the conditions for their realization have changed radically in a year and a half,” said the vice-president of the RSPP.
Initially, the GIS “Capital Investments” was developed by the ANO “Investment Promotion Agency” (AIR), created to support SZPK. Former agency employees complained President and Prime Minister for non-payment of salaries. Conservative to attract trillions in investment Andrey Ivanov after that LEFT post of First Deputy Minister of Economic Development. From now on, the GIS “Capital Investments” is managed by the Federal Tax Service (FTS).
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