April 30 is the last day for Russians to declare their taxable incomes for 2001. Long queues are not expected at tax inspectorate offices, though they have extended the length of their working day.
The reasons for the lack of activity by taxpayers are twofold. Firstly, there has been a significant decrease in the amount of Russians who have to report to the tax inspectors, and secondly, there is the familiar story of those who just do not want to pay taxes, even if it means missing out on tax
deductions.
As of this year, taxpayers who had incomes from several different sources in
2001 are exempt from giving a declaration. Those still obliged to report their incomes are entrepreneurs working outside the framework of a legal entity (except those who have gone on to a single taxation system for a predetermined income) and individuals engaged in private businesses such as private notaries, private detectives or security guards.
Tax declarations also have to be filled in by people who received remuneration in 2001 from their fellow citizens through personal agreements of which tax agencies have no knowledge (babysitters, governesses and housekeepers for example). Likewise, taxes have to be paid on incomes such as inheritances or lottery and casino winnings.
According to information from the Audit Chamber, even that small category of
people who have to declare their incomes try to avoid doing so. About 47% of
Russian organizations and individual businessmen registered with the inspectorate do not put forward information on their accounts or their income. As a result, according to Vladimir Panskov of the Chamber, the losses to the budget amount to $20 million.
The Ministry for Tax and Excise (MNS) expects that this year, the number of tax declarations received will be less than usual. At the same time, the tax
inspectorate expects to receive declarations of income claiming tax deductions from approximately 12.5 million Russians (in 2001 only 3 million were received). The deductions are only permitted after declarations for 2001 have been received.
However, the tax department suggested to Gazeta.Ru that these figures might be excessively optimistic. ''At present, companies getting deductions are not so common,'' said an employee of the ministry. ''People still do not know what to make of the deductions, but, undoubtedly, in a year or so, the amount of people providing declarations will grow,'' she continued.
The ministry intends to use advertising in order to educate the public about
the system of getting part of their paid taxes back. Tax inspectors promise that soon on national television, new adverts will appear urging Russians to
acquire an INN (a personal tax number) which will help them get the tax deductions they are owed quickly and efficiently.
The press service of the ministry refused to give any specific numbers of declarations received so far for 2001, citing a lack of definite information. The Moscow department of the ministry, however, turned out to be more active
in this area and stated that up until April 19, Muscovites had handed in 48 579 declarations. 6 941 of them had claims for social tax deductions and 11 716 for property tax deductions. Claims for social tax deduction amounted to
125 262 rubles while property tax claims came to 7.44 million rubles.
It is worth pointing out that by this time last year, the amount of declarations received was much higher. Then, the tax inspectors had received
110 665 declarations.
In order to cope with the situation, some offices of the Moscow inspectorate
worked overtime on Monday evening. The city department of the ministry has informed Gazeta.Ru that the city's inspectorate has decided to stay open later than usual on Tuesday as well, to allow all those wishing to, the opportunity to hand in their declarations.
Those Russians who still want to make the deadline can do so through the ministry's web site (www.nalog.ru), where all the necessary documentation is
provided.