State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin has suggested that the Kremlin could consider axing Russia's 13 percent flat tax rate in favor of a more progressive system.
"In my personal opinion, it's possible to consider the introduction of different levels of taxation depending on income," he told the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper on Tuesday.
Despite this, Deputy Russian Finance Minister Ilya Trunin confirmed on Friday that the Finance Ministry had no immediate plans to implement any changes to income tax.
Russia's economy is facing continuing uncertainty, having suffered from falling oil prices and Western-imposed sanctions since 2014.
The Kremlin spent 18.4 percent of its reserve fund in August 2016 to plug deficits in the federal budget, while a report published last month by Moscow’s Higher School of Economics predicted that the country's reserve fund could be exhausted before the end of 2016 if energy prices failed to rise.
A Message from The Moscow Times:
Dear readers,
We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."
These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.
By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.
Remind me later.
