Will the government manage to collect super profits from Russian metallurgists

Apparently, the oligarchic "freemen" in our country has finally come to an end. The deficit of the federal budget did not leave the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation indifferent to the super profits that exporters of metallurgy and other natural resources receive. The state can no longer turn a blind eye to how it is "crammed" and begins to impose increased taxes on domestic billionaires. Those, of course, are not too happy about this.

Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov has already spoken with obvious indignation that Russian metallurgists profit from abnormally high world prices for their products and at the same time pay “ridiculous” taxes to the budget, and even manage to sell metals to the state at inflated prices. At the same time, he used a very capacious expression "pull up", characterizing the relationship between the oligarchs and the budget of our country. The government has taken metallurgists seriously, and now they have also added representatives of the entire mining sector, with the exception of developers of diamonds, precious metals and common minerals. The oligarchs let out crocodile tears over this, but for some reason they do not feel at all to feel sorry for them.

Poor billionaires

To understand why Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov is so indignant, it is necessary to give some indicative figures. It is customary in our country to scold "snickering" oil and gas workers, but in the oil and gas industry the tax burden is one of the highest, amounting to 48%. For comparison, for other extractive industries this figure is 12,6%, and for “unfortunate” metallurgists - only 5,4%. In the revenues of oil and gas companies, the share of MET (mineral extraction tax) and customs duties varies from 40% to 60%, for mining companies it does not exceed 8%. Ah, let's all take pity on them together!

But such a disproportion in the distribution of the tax burden is far from the most outrageous fact. For metallurgy, the size of the MET is set based on the cost of extracting raw materials and the costs incurred by companies. But when the price of the final products of metallurgy rises on the world market, manufacturers pay tax at the same minimum rate, which leads to the formation of super-profits for them. Yes, there is also a profit tax, but its rate is constant, which does not prevent our oligarchs from receiving super profits.

State position

Initially, the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation offered large business three options for solving the problem. In the first case, the MET was supposed to grow from 3,5% to 5%. In the second, income tax could be calculated on a progressive scale, taking into account the level of investments and dividends. In the third case, the MET was to be tied not to the cost of mined ore, but to the final proceeds. The oligarchs did not particularly like the latter option, and they promised to think it over. It would be better if they immediately agreed.

The state desperately needs money, a lot and on an ongoing basis, so the new proposal sounds much cooler. Now the MET for representatives of ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, coal and mineral fertilizers will be calculated based on the volume of mined ore and the exchange price of the final product. This means that producers of iron ore will pay 1,5 times more to the budget, 1,7-2,5 times more for multicomponent ores, and 2-2,5 times more fertilizers than now. On average, the MET rate for them will rise to 6%.

The position of the oligarchs

Big business, of course, is shocked: how can it be, after all, everything was so good, and now it suddenly became so bad. At the same time, the "captains" clearly understand that the authorities are determined to "pinch" them very seriously. Therefore, instead of a dull defense, they came out with a counter proposal.

Instead of increasing the severance tax, linking it to the stock exchange quotations, the oligarchs simply propose to increase the profit tax, making it progressive, taking into account the benefits on the size of investments and dividends. According to them, the tax burden will grow naturally with an increase in profits. Industry experts explain that all companies have different products, cost levels and investment volumes, so they cannot be all “one size fits all”. They are wondering what will happen if world prices for raw materials fall and the increased MET continues. And then what would you like to do with investments in your own production, with the maintenance of low-profit projects?

What do we see: if the authorities bend and accept the position of the oligarchs, then the state will receive less money in the federal budget than it expects, and if the position of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation is more than big business is willing to take away from itself voluntarily. So who will prevail, bureaucrats or oligarchs? Will show it in the near future.