NATALIA KORNIENKO: KEY TASK FOR TO-DAY IS TO SAVE BUSINESS COMMUNITY

Natalia Kornienko, Head of Tax System Development Department of the Gaidar Institute, commented to “Vestnik Kavkaza” on the proposal by Boris Titov, Presidential Commissioner for Entrepreneurs’ rights, to nullify taxes for small and medium-sized businesses in the tumultuous environment.
Boris Titov emphasized: “We propose to forget for the time being about taxes for small business. Just approve the 0% rate, forget completely that small business is a fiscal budgetary source.” Therewith, he admitted that this measure could result in risks of business split-up, refusal to prepare tax reports. However, risks will be justified.
According to Natalia Kornienko, “pumping up the budget is now not as acute as saving productions and enterprises.”
“The coronavirus is spreading throughout the country and extends to every single sector of the economy. The key task to-day is to save active economic actors and business community. Those measures that we may observe at present, are not sufficient. Therefore, the proposal by Titov could be accepted in one form or another, in other words, it could be possible to defer paying taxes rather than nullify them, for three years, not for three - six months, that is, we should take into consideration the mid-term. This is a real danger for our state, collapse of the economy,” underlined the expert of the Gaidar Institute.
“It is worth supporting initiatives that offer real assistance for business and economic activity. The reason is very simple: when the recovery starts, active economic actors should remain viable in Russia, so that to have someone to boost the economy. At this time, we do not know when this will happen: either oil prices will rise or the epidemic will be under regulated control, however, that moment comes, sooner or later. Obviously, for this reason, it would be smart to watch out for the initiatives proposed by Titov, as they concern everyone,” concluded Natalia Kornienko.