MOSCOW — Russia’s wealthy elite could face higher income taxes, according to a proposal the country’s finance ministry floated on Tuesday.The proposal involves a progressive tax on personal incomes and represents a change of course from the current flat-rate tax that was credited with bringing order and improving tax collections after it was introduced in 2001.
It envisages imposing a 13% tax for incomes of up to 2.4 million rubles a year. For incomes over that amount, a steadily higher tax rates would apply. The maximum tax would be 22% for annual incomes exceeding 50 million rubles . The increased taxes would affect only 3.2% of Russia’s working population, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on the ministry’s website. The 2.4-million-ruble level is about three times higher than the country’s average salary, he said in a commentary.Biden White House highlights a coming showdown with GOP over 2017 tax cuts that are due to expireThe 13% flat tax was put into effect in an attempt to discourage tax evaders and boost the state’s revenue.
That new tax brought in an extra 8.3 billion rubles the first year it was imposed, the Russian business news site RBC reported.