NATALIA KORNIENKO: PROPOSAL TO EQUALIZE PIT RATE FOR RUSSIANS AND FOREIGNERS IS A GOOD MEASURE

The discussion was about the proposal by Anton Siluianov, Minister of Finances of the Russian Federation, to reduce PIT rate for foreigners working in Russia fr om 30% to 13%, thus, equalizing tax rate for foreign specialists working in Russia with Russians. Responding to a question raised by moderator with regard to expediency of this innovation, Natalia Kornienko said: «Being an expert, I think that this is a good proposal. For the time being, there are 1.7 million foreign citizens who paid PIT according to Federal Tax Service. However, many foreigners have not paid any taxes due to sufficiently high rate among other reasons».
According to Natalia Kornienko, this measure will not result in this particular income tax gaps. “We will probably profit after a while because it is not that difficult to pay 13%. It concerns especially citizens of states wh ere PIT progressive rates are enforced”.
Natalia Kornienko added that according to results of 2018, PIT budget revenues increased by 112.4% proving efficacy of tax rate used for Russians. The expert concluded: “In addition, system of PIT taxes for Russian citizens has its bonuses resulting in property deductions, however, they do not and will not exist for foreigners”.