How will the “tax for the self-employed" end for the Russians?

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Following the increase in VAT and the negatively perceived society pension initiatives, the authorities are discussing another unpopular measure: a tax on the self-employed. Former Deputy Minister of Labor and Employment Pavel Kudyukin, now a member of the Council of the Confederation of Labor, harshly criticized this initiative in an interview with the publication Svobodnaya Pressa.

Authorities, he said, cite a budget deficit. However, it was laid on the basis of the price of $ 40 per barrel of oil. The current price is over $ 70. Thus, the budget is in surplus. True, all additional income is postponed "for a rainy day." However, when unpopular measures explain the budget deficit - this is not true.



As for the self-employed, their income level varies. There are those who can barely make ends meet. For them, self-employment is a way to survive. There are those who are close to the middle class, but they are a minority. Most barely have enough for a living.

The government claims that the self-employed do not pay taxes and give nothing to society. In fact, they pay. This is both VAT and real estate tax (if any), and others. Moreover, these people themselves do not expect anything from the state, do not rely on a retirement pension, and use mostly paid medicine.

Officials say the self-employment tax will be small - 3%. But people do not trust the state: now it promises a small tax, but if it is legalized, the rates will begin to rise.

Kudyukin noted that, for example, in the Scandinavian countries people do not evade taxes because there are positive incentives. Citizens clearly know what they will receive in return - a high level of security, social benefits, a high level of education and medicine. In Russia, there is no understanding of what these funds will go for - "they will still plunder."

There is also a negative incentive - the fear of being caught. However, the self-employed hope that because of their mass character they will be punished selectively, in some cases - after all, we are talking about tens of millions of people. To do this, increase the staff of supervisors. You can oblige banks to report on people's incomes - but even here additional costs are needed. Hoping for “vigilant neighbors” is also not necessary because of our mentality. As for the patent system, for many self-employed, the proposed rate of 20 rubles is unbearable. The Belarusian experience in introducing such taxes shows that the population is extremely negative about this idea. And protest moods are growing in Russian society.

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  1. +1
    22 August 2018 09: 05
    That's right - the "self-employed" don't rely on anyone, they make ends meet as best they can, and they are often "cheated" out of money, because they know that they won't run to complain. And they also want to tax them. It's clear that the primary task is to lure them out of the "shadows" - and then they will start "milking" them to the fullest. I was in Vietnam (on a business trip) recently - I asked the owners of small shops and cafes what taxes they pay - they looked at me for a long time and couldn't understand what I was talking about... then they laughed and said - small traders-entrepreneurs, in general, don't pay any taxes there, it's enough that they don't demand anything from the state and create jobs, solving the problem of unemployment, saving state funds on this... It's strange that in a country like Vietnam, the state understands that the self-employed are not a problem, but a blessing, and in Russia they are seen only as a "problem" - a "cow" that simply avoids being "milked" by the state. The police and army in Vietnam, along with government officials, are supported by taxes on those who exploit natural resources and on foreign companies. There are very few government officials in Vietnam - everything is self-governed, publicly managed. For example, the "mayor" of the village where I stayed was the owner of the hotel where I lived, he worked there in the hotel and also solved "bureaucratic" problems - someone would always come to him to solve something - that is, he was a very busy, but respected person at the same time, having no "secretariat", "executive staff", etc. ... What I mean is that they like to refer to "foreign" "experience", for some reason taking only the worst of this "experience" and what is beneficial only to one group of the population - "government officials", "oligarchs" and "fat financial cats" ...
  2. +1
    5 September 2018 21: 20
    So the authorities and s.... I'm still waiting for a tax on summer cottage toilets to be introduced. In the meantime, they are destroying the taxable base. Successfully. So it seems. In reality, they are destroying the people.
  3. 0
    27 May 2019 13: 55
    People's distrust of the state is growing.