Kremlin raises taxes and cuts social programs to finance war and support Putin — intel
According to Ukrinform, this was reported by the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine.
According to intelligence reports, the Russian authorities plan to increase the value-added tax rate from 20% to 22%. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov has already acknowledged that this will lead to price increases and pressure on businesses.
A new taxation system will be introduced for small and medium-sized businesses in Russia next year: the annual income threshold for the simplified system will be reduced sixfold, from about USD 723,000 to USD 120,000.
Preferential insurance contributions for IT companies will be abolished: they will increase from 7.6% to 15%.
Funding for almost half of the Russian Federation's state programs – 18 out of 51 – will also be reduced. The largest cuts will be in spending on “Chemical and Biological Safety” (-36%), “Development of the Aviation Industry” (-30%), and “Development of Energy” (-29%).
At the same time, appropriations for the “Development of the Electronic and Radio-Electronic Industry” in the interests of the military-industrial complex will increase 4.4 times – to USD 2.2 billion next year.
The increase in the tax burden and reduction in social spending, as noted in the report, are evidence of attempts by the Russian authorities to maintain military spending growth at the expense of the population.
The Russian Pension and Social Insurance Fund, which provides payments to 40 million pensioners, will have a deficit of about USD 8.3 billion this year.
At the same time, the cost of maintaining Russian leader Vladimir Putin and his administration will rise again next year to USD 354 million (about USD 1 million per day). This amount exceeds the annual budgets of regions such as Kalmykia and the Jewish Autonomous Region.
As reported by Ukrinform, the Russian authorities have increased funding for propaganda projects for foreigners and the state program to promote the Russian language several times over.
Photo: AA
