Tatarstan to collect a trillion rubles in taxes for the first time
Only two-thirds of Tatarstan enterprises (according to official data) managed to recover quickly after the lockdown in 2020, while taxmen started to actively catch everybody who dodges paying taxes
The Tatarstan authorities have started to fight dishonest taxpayers and abuse in this sphere more actively amid the pandemic. Meanwhile, nearly 40% of Tatarstan enterprises didn’t manage to recover from the coronacrisis cutting income tax payments by 8 billion rubles. However, taxes have demonstrated an explosive growth — to 800 billion rubles in nine months, which gives the foundation to expect a record of a trillion rubles in 2021.
Trillion rubles by the end of the year
Tatarstan functionaries continue breaking tax collection records. Since the beginning of the year, taxes paid to all budget levels have reached 785,6 billion rubles, which is 319,7 billion more than in 2019 before the pandemic. “Despite the ongoing pandemic, Tatarstan’s economy managed to recover from the coronacrisis,” head of the Tatarstan office of the Federal Tax Service Marat Safiullin commented on the impressive results. “Taxes have increased not only compared to January-September 2020 but also outstripped the results of (favourable) 2019,” he said. According to him, the taxes have grown because of a rise in oil prices together with effective tax administration measures.
More than 70% of taxes have been paid to the federal budget, or 255,9 billion more than last year. The other 30% were paid to the republican treasury. So a total of 551 billion and 233,7 billion rubles of tax respectively have been paid to the federal and republican treasury.”
All main taxes have gone up. The corporate tax, VAT, income tax, which are more susceptible to the coronavirus pandemic, show good dynamics. Forecasting future dynamics, Safiullin claimed that taxes collected in Tatarstan could top a trillion rubles for the first time by the end of the year.
38% of enterprises didn’t manage to remain intact
Tatarstan Minister of Finance Radik Gayzatullin focused on corporate tax collection, which couldn’t help but have losses. According to the Finance Ministry, two-thirds of enterprises, which is 801 companies, managed to quickly recover and go back to the growth trajectory. Since the beginning of the year, they increased corporate tax payments by 43,5 billion rubles. So petrochemistry transferred 46,2 billion rubles against 15,9 billion in 2020. This sector secured over 60% of taxes to the treasury.
However, nearly 40% of the companies didn’t manage to rebound and risk collapsing. Interestingly, at this moment, Gayzatullin chose the Tatar language not all the attendees of the meeting spoke to explain the situation. So the evaluation of the scale of the crisis in this sector was clear only to those who understood the language well. The profitability of 485 enterprises fell by 8,1 billion rubles.
The picture is better in payments made by natural persons. Income tax collection dynamics are smooth and positive, Gayzatullin said. 65,5 billion rubles against last year’s 55,4 billion have been collected. At the same time, there is a decrease in ten districts. He urged municipal governors to intensify the work.
Minnikhanov: it is yet early to relax
The economy in general has shown good results since the beginning of the year. “GRP’s growth has been 102,9% compared to last year, the industrial production index is 105,2%, the rise in construction is 103,7%,” Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov said.
Own incomes in nine months were 232,4 billion rubles. Despite this, the president urged the audience not to relax because “the situation remains strained.” Notable revival has been achieved in the economy of Tatarstan, but the positive results shouldn’t calm one down, he thinks. “We continue working amid the pandemic, and a lockdown is announced from 30 October to 7 November,” Minnikhanov reminded them. The president said that a budget draft for 2022 was presented to the parliament of the republic on 25 October. For the first time, it was created with a record deficit of 11 billion rubles that will have to be filled with carry-overs.
According to him, the tax debt in the republic in general is 7,8 billion rubles as of 1 October. Compared to the same period last year, it reduced by 7,1%, or 602 million rubles. “This isn’t an easy job, but there is a result. We didn’t permit a rise. There is certain decline, it is our reserve,” the Tatarstan governor noted.
Natural persons’ tax debt in the republic totals 1,8 billion rubles. Minnikhanov stressed that it is necessary to work more actively with citizens, to notify them about debts.
1,5 times more bankruptcies
Meanwhile, there is a concern about citizens’ fulfilment of tax obligations. Their property tax is 8,1 billion rubles, which is 350 million rubles more than in 2020. 2,15 million Tatarstan citizens received tax notifications.
The number of bankruptcies has surged 1,5 times among natural persons. Mostly this is caused by overdue payments of loans and the pandemic, which has a negative impact. Here the head of the Tatarstan office of the Federal Tax Service for some reason asked employers to make sure their workers paid taxes.
To sum up, Minnikhanov reminded them that the main task was still to save the stable growth. He tasked financial agencies and ministries with not only constantly monitoring enterprises but also quickly responding to producers’ petitions, providing support within federal measures. “Indeed, some large and mid-sized enterprises reduced payments. It is necessary to continue the work of balance commissions and develop solutions to stabilise their operation,” he concluded.