NATALIA KORNIENKO: “WE WANT TO LIVE LIKE IN EUROPE, WHILE CONTINUING TO PAY RIDICULOUSLY LOW TAXES”

The draft law on the introduction of luxury tax was rejected by the government. It has been noted that the adoption of that law could result in double taxation. Natalia Kornienko, Head of the Gaidar Institute’s Tax System Development Department, spoke about the taxation system on the air with the Public News Service (OSN Media).

“We want to live like in Europe, but we want to pay taxes our way: the less the better. The problem is that our people do not earn as much as in Europe. Our pensioners do not receive as much money as in Europe. The stumbling block here is the issue of where our people will get their income from, because the situation has been critical over the last 2 years as a result of the pandemic. Our salary gap is between RUB 60,000 and RUB 12,000. Accordingly, each region relies on its own salary level. On the other hand, the problem is that luxury goods, including the elite segment of real estate, have risen in price. I know that the market has warmed up, prices have climbed. We have the Family Code of the Russian Federation, it makes mention of luxury goods. Although we have lived in a new era for 30 years, there is still no definition of luxury. This is the estimate-based opinion of the authors of that law. It is impossible to create a methodology for dealing with this issue,” the expert explained.

The draft law on luxury tax was prepared by the deputies of ‘A Just Russia’ faction. It suggests that from 2022, tax should be increased for the owners of residential real estate and land plots worth RUB 50 million and more; cars worth from RUB 8 million; and airplanes, helicopters, yachts, and speed boats worth from RUB 15 million.