Radik Gayzatullin: ‘I personally went to the State Duma to talk with Makarov’

Ministry of Finance of Tatarstan is preparing for the “second” write-off of the national debt

At the upcoming parliamentary session of the State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan on June 8, a report on the implementation of the 2022 budget will be submitted for approval. There is no special intrigue around it. Despite the general economic shock associated with the introduction of international sanctions, large industrial enterprises were able to mobilise and did not break their financial obligations.

Anticipating the report, the chairman of the budget committee, Leonid Yakunin, said that the revenues of the treasury of the republic even increased by 24,5%, and expenses — by 38%. According to him, the business was able to build new logical chains and continue working in new economic conditions, providing tax deductions. As a result, the republican budget revenues amounted to 452,7 billion rubles, expenditures — 463,2 billion rubles, deficit — 10,46 billion rubles.

The head of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Tatarstan, Radik Gayzatullin, specified that the republic's own revenues increased to 366,6 billion rubles. The main sources of replenishment of the treasury were the income tax of 166,1 billion rubles, personal income tax — 115,3 billion rubles. We should add that the centre of profit in the economy of Tatarstan last year fell on the oil industry, defense industry, and mechanical engineering. Almost 80% of enterprises showed profit, and the average monthly salary increased by 15,9% to 52 thousand rubles, the minister said. Gratuitous receipts amounted to 86 billion rubles, most of which came from federal subsidies and transfers.

The only Achilles heel of the republican budget remains the astronomical state debt of 103,5 billion rubles. Today, the minister of finance of the Republic of Tatarstan announced a radical elimination of debt dependence. According to him, over the next 10 years, the republic intends to write off about 73 billion rubles, or almost 70% of its total amount.

Gayzatullin noted that a significant part of the debt is planned to be liquidated within the framework of the federal mechanism for reinvesting budget resources in large infrastructure projects with access to an increase in tax deductions. This scheme is prescribed in the resolutions of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 1704, 1705, and 1740, the main provisions of which were adjusted with the personal participation of the rais of the republic, Rustam Minnikhanov, said Gayzatullin.

“Last year, 1,7 billion rubles were written off under this scheme, and this year it is expected to write off more than 7 billion rubles," he said.

Later, the minister of finance of the Republic of Tatarstan explained to Realnoe Vremya that this year the republican budget will allocate over 19 billion rubles of investments for the continuation of infrastructure projects, which should bring returns in the form of an increase in tax deductions in the Russian Federation. He did not say what the 10-year programme of budget injections into infrastructure is, making a reference to the supervisor of the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Tatarstan.

Are tax deductions to blame for the collapse of personal income tax collection?

After the deplorable results in collecting personal income tax in the first quarter of this year, the head of the ministry of finance of the Republic of Tatarstan was asked whether it was worth waiting for improvements in the future. It turns out that at the beginning of the year municipalities faced a shortage of funds to pay salaries to public sector employees. The deficit had to be covered by a balance carried forward of 5,3-5,8 billion rubles remaining on the accounts of the ministry.

As Realnoe Vremya has already told, with the transition from January 1 to the single tax account, personal income tax is not credited directly to local and regional budgets, but is concentrated in the federal treasury. For this reason, 33 municipalities missed more than 3 billion rubles, although they expected to receive 5 billion rubles more due to a 16% increase in wages. However, federal deputies intervened, obliging to transfer personal income tax to the regions as a priority.

“When the personal income tax 'left', it caused us indignation. I personally went to the State Duma to talk with Makarov," the head of the ministry of finance of the Republic of Tatarstan shared his emotions.

According to him, the decision to transfer personal income tax as a priority will improve the situation with the payment of wages. At the same time, he is of the opinion that the collapse of fees is more related to tax deductions that occurred at the beginning of the year. According to him, 4,2 billion rubles were returned to citizens. He also predicts that this factor will directly affect the fees in the future. In the meantime, the situation has stabilised. According to him, 30,3 billion rubles of personal income tax were collected in 4 months, which corresponds to the level of 29,9 billion rubles of the previous year.

“Everything should be fine — the wage fund is good," said Gayzatullin.

“Tax authorities often [boast] that they return money to people. In 2024, tax deductions for citizens will even increase. But no one is making refunds for regional budgets. The support is provided at the expense of another," the deputies of the State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan worried.

But the Tatarstan budget has a new nuisance. Due to the February adjustments for the reimbursement of excise tax from oil production, Tatneft will reorient most of the payments in favour of the federal budget to the detriment of the regional one.

“We cannot say that the situation [on income tax] is going to improve. In February, a number of legislative initiatives were adopted that improve revenues to the federal budget and worsen revenues to regional ones," Gayzatullin said.

According to him, due to changes in the return of excise tax on mineral extraction tax, all this amount will go to the federal budget, whereas it was previously credited to the regional one. And thus our income tax base will decrease. “Yesterday, the board of directors of Tatneft [calculated] — it will be less by 8,5 billion rubles (for the first half of the year — author's note)," the head of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Tatarstan, Radik Gayzatullin, expressed a disappointing forecast. “This year, the price of oil and petroleum products has sharply decreased, and this is the main income.” How the new hole will be patched remains unknown.