17 March 2004 14:13
DUMA MAY TAKE UP UNIFIED SOCIAL TAX REFORM DRAFT IN JUNE
MOSCOW. March 16 (Interfax) - The State Duma's first and second readings of a bill aimed at the reformation of
Russia's unified social tax are planned for June, the lower house of parliament's deputy speaker Georgy Boos
told the press on Tuesday. Taxes will not be increased during this reform, Boos said.
This bill is one of the Duma's spring session priorities, Boos said. He noted that one option for reforming this
tax is making private individuals responsible. This would have to be done at the same time wages increase. Otherwise, a
worker's real wages will go down, he said. This is only one of many possibilities for unified social tax reform,
and no final determination has yet been made, he added. As regards changes to the budget process, Boos express the wish
that the draft budget for next year would be surplus-free. As he explained, surpluses are used around the world as an
instrument for bolstering economic in the event a country expects a crisis in production. In Russia, Boos said, there is
no such problem, as all funds have to be put into developing production and not into putting together a budget surplus.
Over the several years Russia had budget surpluses, it was able to resolve only one problem-that of foreign debt, he
said. In his view, if funds are put not towards making a surplus, but toward economic development, them good results
would be possible to achieve.
[Interfax] |
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