14 May 2004 08:46
DUMA PASSES BILL RAISING SPECIFIC EXCISE RATES 8% IN 1ST READING
MOSCOW. May 14 (Interfax) - At a plenary session on Friday, the Russian State Duma passed in the first reading Tax
Code amendments that would increase by 8% the specific (absolute amount per unit) rate for excises.
Deputy Finance Minister Mikhail Motorin announced during the session that the specific excise rates for subject
goods, excluding cigarettes, would be indexed 8%.
Motorin said the non-filter cigarette excise rate would be indexed 30%, that for filter cigarettes 17%.
The message accompanying the bill notes that the specific excise rate for filter cigarettes would according to the
bill be 70 rubles per thousand units, for non-filter cigarettes 30 rubles per thousand. "The advalorum component is
kept at 5% of factory price. With the rate indexation, the proportion of excise in the price for filter cigarettes would
be around 25%," it says.
The bill provides for a tax rate on ethyl alcohol made from all kinds of base material would be 19.50 rubles per
liter. The excise on non-traditional fortified wines would be 95 rubles per liter, for wines excluding natural,
non-traditional, champagne and sparkling wines it would be 56 rubles/liter, for champagnes and sparkling wines 11.30
rubles/liter.
Beer containing up to 0.5% ethyl alcohol inclusive would be subject to a zero excise, that containing over 0.5% to
8.6% to 1.67 rubles/liter, over 8.6% to 5.70 rubles/liter.
The bill passed by a 347-18 margin with one abstention.
During discussions of the bill a number of Duma deputies expressed
The excise on pipe tobacco would be 620 rubles per kilogram, for smoking tobacco (excluding that used as raw material
in the making of tobacco products) 254 rubles/kg, cigars 15 rubles per unit and cigarillos 170 rubles per thousand
units.
Deputy chair of the Duma banking committee and Unified Russia
faction member Valery Zubov said this is the second year in which
Cars powered by engines of up to 90 horsepower (67.5 kilowatts) would be subject to a zero excise per 0.75 kilowatt,
by engines from 90 to 150 horsepower (112.5 kWt) 15 rubles per 0.75 kWt and by engines over 150 horsepower 153 rubles
per 0.75 kWt.
Motorin noted that tobacco excise receipts were up 55% in 2003.
Independent deputy and member of the Duma budget committee Oksana
The excise on gasoline with up to 80 octane inclusive would be 2,657 rubles/tonne, other octane component 3,629
rubles/tonne, diesel fuel 1,080 rubles/tonne, oil for diesel and carburetor engines 2,951 rubles/tonne, distilled
gasoline zero rubles/tonne.
concern about its passage. Liberal Democratic Party of Russia faction member Alexei Mitrofanov said he thought
increasing the non-filter cigarette excise will "mainly hit the poor." In his view, this increase "is
being done in the interests of three major tobacco companies," "all of this is lobbying by American
companies."
"tobacco excise collection is falling." This came about right after the excise was transferred tot the
federal level, and local authorities lost interest in its collection, Zubov said. This has to be addressed during
discussion of the budget for 2005, he said.
Dmitrieva said she thinks that the bill's second reading has to include rules for receiving oil product excises.
They partially offset insufficient regional spending on road-building, she said. "This problem continues," she
said.
Motorin noted that the view that increasing excises automatically forces up retail prices by roughly the same amount
is incorrect. Increasing excises 25%-30% causes retail prices to rise only by 3%-6%.
If the bill does become law, it would take force on January 1, 2005, but no earlier than one month after its official
publication.
[Interfax] |
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