You can often hear complaints from car enthusiasts that the cost of fuel is inexorably rising. And in addition to this, transport tax and customs duties for foreign cars. Well, as a result, the roads are of poor quality, and they are not available everywhere.
At the legislative level in the Russian Federation, it was decided to replace the transport tax with a fuel tax.
The essence of these changes is that those who travel more often in their vehicle and who have a more powerful car engine must pay more.
In Russia, they propose to make the fuel tax rate within 3-6% of the total price of gasoline. This mechanism is still under consideration and will come into force no earlier than 2018. At this point, all possible changes must be considered and ultimately a decision made.
But in total, the price of excise taxes on fuel is planned to increase by one ruble in 2018 as a whole. And do this in stages, from January 1 next year, and after, from July 1.
What does the cost of fuel consist of?
If we consider what the cost of gasoline consists of, we can distinguish the following categories and find out its real cost:
- VAT is 18% of the final cost of the product. That is, if the price of gasoline is 39 rubles, then the value added tax on it will be equal to 7 rubles per liter.
- Excise tax on fuel. Currently, the amount is 10.5 thousand per ton of gasoline. And if we equate this amount in terms of one liter of gasoline, we get 7.5 rubles. But it is worth knowing that the lower the fuel class, the higher the excise tax on it will be. This is done with the aim of making motorists give preference to more expensive gasoline.
- Mineral extraction tax. This indicator is calculated taking into account the extracted oil, and not the result obtained, that is, the yield of gasoline. And for different fields the indicator will have different values. But if you take its approximate cost at one specific gas station, it will be 8 rubles.
These are the main components that will make up the final cost of gasoline.
And if we subtract all this from the retail cost of fuel presented at the gas station (for example, 39 rubles per liter is taken), then the cost of gasoline comes out to 16.5 rubles.
That is, more than half of the total cost is taxes. And if in the future the excise tax only increases, then the price of fuel will have a constant tendency to increase.
Video: Discussion of deputies on the fuel tax
« Transport tax is included in the price of gasoline“- a similar statement can often be heard lately from an ordinary car owner. At the moment this is not true, although legislative projects on this issue appear and are discussed regularly.
What is involved in determining the price of fuel?
If we turn to the provisions of Ch. 28 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, then it will not be possible to find any close connection between the amount of transport tax and the cost of fuel. Why don’t discussions of this issue among the population stop?
The fact is that among representatives of the ruling elite, there has been a debate for many years about the need to transform the transport tax into a new type of excise tax on gasoline or another type of fee that would participate in setting the price of fuel. At the same time, the fact that the excise tax on fuels and lubricants has existed for quite a long time and its increase is unlikely to please taxpayers is lost on the initiators.
The following theory serves as a justification for the proposed measure. Car owners do not always use their car all year round. So why should they pay transport tax for the period when they are not driving anywhere? If you include an additional fee in the cost of fuel, then it will be paid only when the driver refueles the car, and therefore uses it for its intended purpose. In winter or during another period, when some vehicles are idle in garages and fuel is not purchased, tax payments will not be made.
According to supporters of this approach, the following results will confirm their correctness:
reducing the tax burden on those who rarely use a car;
a proportional increase in the burden of payments for citizens who intensively use personal transport;
inclusion in such a tax of a compensating component to compensate for the damage caused to the environment during the operation of machines.
The expected results will allow, on the one hand, to make the taxation system more fair and increase the percentage of payment collections. In addition, there will be no need to introduce the so-called environmental fee, the possibility of which has also been subject to lengthy discussions.
Probability of changes in gasoline pricing in the near future
The government does not currently plan to switch from transport taxes to additional excise taxes. There are several reasons for this. Most of them are voiced by the Russian Ministry of Finance:
difficulties in monitoring new payments and the complexity of checking statements;
a possible, unsubstantiated surge in gasoline prices.
It is difficult to disagree with such conclusions. However, supporters of changes in the State Duma offer possible ways to solve problems and are inclined to continue discussions. In terms of ensuring control, they refer to the possibility of using digital reporting methods that simplify the audit procedure. Moreover, there are more and more examples of successful implementation of such methods.
General rules for the application of excise taxes
Excise taxes on fuel have long been used as an independent type of taxes included in the price of goods. In this regard, it is not difficult to understand that car owners compensate the tax paid to gasoline sellers when purchasing it.
Considering the provisions of paragraph 3 of Art. 204 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, you need to pay attention to the obligation of fuel producers to pay excise taxes by the 25th day of the month following the last day of the tax period.
The objects of taxation in this case are:
gasoline for cars;
motor oils for all types of engines;
straight-run gasoline;
diesel fuel.
Excise duty tariffs are established in relation to 1 ton of petroleum products. Based on clause 2 of Art. 195 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, as well as instructions from the Ministry of Finance of Russia, the accrual of the corresponding amounts payable occurs on the day of shipment of the goods.
When processing third-party raw materials on a toll basis, received from contractors who do not have permits to carry out the relevant types of work, the responsibility for accrual and payment of tax also falls on the processor. It does not matter what special tax regime the company is in. She still has to pay excise taxes.
Do excise taxes fall on the shoulders of motorists?
Although the use of excise tax deductions is provided for in Art. 200 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, this right does not apply to companies engaged in the retail sale of finished gasoline and owning gas stations. In this case, a parallel can be drawn with VAT, which, unlike excise taxes, can be deducted by all companies without exception, subject to certain conditions.
Refining complexes, unlike the retail trade segment, have the appropriate permits for working with petroleum products, and therefore can apply deductions without restrictions.
If we talk about gas stations, they do not belong to excise tax payers under the provisions of Art. 179, 200 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and the right to deduction does not apply to them. Complying with the provisions of paragraph 1 of Art. 199 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, they include the paid tax in the price of the goods. It turns out that these payments lead to a slight increase in fuel prices for the end consumer, since he, in addition to the purchase price and markup, must compensate the retail network for the excise tax paid to oil refineries.
Based on this, it follows that motorists are already paying excise tax in proportion to the amount of fuel used, that is, they are already doing what the legislators plan to introduce. It turns out that, in essence, nothing new is being proposed.
IMPORTANT! In case of acceptance of the proposed changes to includetransport tax included in the price of gasoline and the introduction of a corresponding new excise tax, there is a need for separate accounting of fuel sold to enterprises and citizens. In this case, it would be logical to use a separate payment (excise tax, sales tax), which applies exclusively to individuals.
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Although at the moment no changes are expected in the procedure for paying transport tax, proposals to replace it are regularly circulated in the State Duma. It is difficult to say whether these proposals will gain the force of law.
In any case, these initiatives have both positive and, to a large extent, negative sides. In particular, the complexity of administration and a significant increase in the cost of the final product may negate the expected increase in collection efficiency from the redistribution of the tax burden for consumers using transport with varying degrees of intensity.
It remains to monitor changes in legislation and wait for possible solutions to this issue.
The government decided to radically revise the payment of the fee for vehicles and tie it not to the horsepower value of the vehicle, but to the fuel it consumes, by including the amount of the fee in the payment for gasoline.
Many European countries, as well as the North American principle of taxation, provide an interesting example in terms of these relations between citizens and the state. In this article we will consider the very possibility of including a transport tax in the price of gasoline and some other issues that may arise in this area.
Before directly discussing the radical replacement of the transport tax, it is necessary to refresh our memory in terms of the current situation. The tax on vehicles is under the control of regional authorities, who determine the amount of the fee, its benefits and the possibility of providing them.
In most geographic divisions of the country, the following categories are exempt from transport tax:
- vehicles with engine power less than one hundred horsepower;
- vehicles related to specialized equipment;
- rowing boats without engines;
- funds belonging to disabled people and people with disabilities.
As for the collection rate, the limit introduced by the government is equal to two hundred rubles, which are paid per unit of engine power. Local legislative bodies can either reduce or increase this value at their discretion, based on various factors. If for land transport the engine power is of fundamental importance, then for water transport it is tonnage.
Several years ago, legislators came up with a proposal to take into account the year of production of a vehicle and its relationship to the environment. Both factors significantly increase the coefficients affecting the final tax value.
For individuals, the amount of transport tax is calculated by the local tax office, after which an annual payment notice is sent to the owner’s residential address. Any vehicle owner can challenge the assessed fee by providing evidence and the necessary documents.
Inclusion of transport tax in the cost of fuel
The first talk about this rethinking of the transport tax began at the beginning of 2010. Then it was proposed to take the European system of collecting taxes from vehicles as a model.
The fundamental factor in the transition to such a system was that only those citizens who directly use the vehicle would pay. Those who have cars or other equipment in garages, parking lots and do not participate in the general “transport collapse” are exempt from payment.
As for the ease of accounting for tax services, there are also undoubted advantages here, because instead of tracking millions of car owners and potential taxpayers, it will be necessary to keep records of relationships with organizations that directly service fuel dispensing points.
As soon as the tax is included in the cost of fuel, the seller is immediately obliged to pay the tax instead of the car owner. A citizen is freed from the annual obligation to maintain relations with the tax service, and an organization that sells fuel already transfers certain taxes, so one more will not add complexity to tax relations.
Of course, such a change in the policy for calculating transport tax will increase the cost of gasoline by an average of thirty to fifty kopecks per liter, but there are still more positive aspects:
- The less a vehicle is used, the less money you will have to pay for it.
- Transport tax benefits will not be cancelled. People who paid lower fees or were waived altogether will receive significant discounts on the fuel they purchase.
- Reducing tax accounting will lead to a reduction in the staff of the relevant services, which in turn will reduce the expenditures of the country's budget, which is replenished by taxpayers.
- Today, transport tax is collected throughout the country in an amount not exceeding fifty percent forecasts. If the payment is included in the cost of fuel, the fees will be paid in any case by paying directly for gasoline.
The preliminary value of the fuel surcharge rate will be no more than three percent of the cost of a liter of fuel. There will be an option included for local authorities to increase this to five per cent.
The downside to the increase in the cost of gasoline is the possibility of an increase in prices for petroleum products in general, which will entail an increase in price categories in areas dependent on the oil refining industry.
But legislators proposing this direction of development rely on social justice and the economic feasibility of the project.
Despite all the positive aspects of this initiative, replacing the transport tax with a fuel tax is still in its infancy. Authorities also do not lose sight of the fact that with ongoing crisis surges, an increase in prices for gasoline and fuel in general will lead to uncontrollable price hikes for other consumer goods.
The bill, which has already been submitted for consideration, has not yet passed the main authorities and, as they say, “lies on the shelf” awaiting the best moment of adoption and implementation of a new system of relations with vehicle owners.
Another point in introducing such a system for collecting taxes on vehicles included in the cost of fuel was the desire to encourage vehicle owners to update their fleet of vehicles. The acquisition of new vehicles that meet environmental standards and have lower gas consumption was not the latest goal of legislators.
To summarize this article, we can safely say that the experience of foreign colleagues can be a good basis for replacing the transport tax with a fuel surcharge. However, it is necessary to take into account not only the experience of colleagues, but also take into account the modern realities of the regions and even the center.
Replacing the transport tax with fees included in the price of gasoline has both its undeniable advantages and noticeable disadvantages, due to which this innovation has not yet been introduced into the relationship between car owners and tax services.
Road tax on fuel
more news on this topic from another source
The Upper House of Parliament supported the idea of including transport tax in the retail price of gasoline. This will lead to an increase in fuel prices by at least 50 kopecks per liter, reports the business portal BFM.ru.The corresponding amendments to the Tax Code received support in the Industrial Policy Committee of the Federation Council and their concept has already been submitted to the State Duma. “The authors of the bill assume that the tax will be levied based on the principle: the more you drive, the more you pay,” the publication quotes committee chairman Valentin Zavadnikov.
A bill to abolish the transport tax in Russia and replace it with a fuel surcharge was submitted to the State Duma about a year ago. After support by the relevant committee of the Federation Council, the chances of the project becoming law increase significantly. If adopted, vehicle taxation will be based on the principle “the more you drive, the more you pay.” This practice is actively used in many countries around the world and is considered the most fair to car owners.
Let us remind you that currently in Russia the transport tax rate is set depending on the engine power of the vehicle. This dependence is progressive in nature, which forces owners of cars with powerful engines to pay quite large sums, regardless of the intensity of use of the car.
According to Valentin Zavadnikov, changes will be made to the second part of the Tax Code, which propose establishing a tax rate of 3% to 6% of the cost of motor fuel, and this tax is proposed to continue to be sent to regional budgets.
In addition, he said that the inclusion of transport tax in the price of gasoline will reduce the cost of maintaining numerous tax office employees involved in the administration of transport tax, and will create an incentive for car owners to use more economical and environmentally friendly cars.
According to Maxim Rokhmistrov, a supporter of the bill, a member of the State Duma Committee on Property of the Russian Federation, the price of gasoline will increase by only 53 kopecks if a 3% transport tax is included in its calculation. “Externally, we see that a tax is being introduced that increases the cost of gasoline,” he explained on the air of the “Morning of Russia” program. “But its second part implies that the entire cost of gasoline will be subject to taxation, and the tax office will monitor this entire system.”
As Valentin Zavadnikov noted, the bill still needs to be finalized in order to preserve benefits for those categories of citizens (WWII veterans, large families, etc.) who pay a lower transport tax.
Bill, which, in essence, proposes to include a transport tax in the price of gasoline, was submitted to the State Duma for consideration by the LDPR faction. Deputies believe that this scheme is more fair, since the amount of tax will depend on the intensity of use of the car. In this case, the taxpayers are not car owners, but sellers of automobile fuel.
The tax rate will be set regional authorities in the amount of 3–6%. Moreover, the rate may be differentiated for different brands of gasoline and diesel fuel and depending on who the taxpayer or buyer is, as noted in the explanatory note to the bill.
The tax will be automatically included in the check for fuel. Ecological transport - using alternative types of fuel - will be completely exempt from transport tax under this bill. Alexey Shumak
"This is the most correct approach. The tax will become more reasonable and fair: whoever drives more will pay more,” says the head of the St. Petersburg organization for protecting the rights of motorists “Freedom of Choice”.
"Despite that there is no direct connection now, in the minds of the motorist, the transport tax is money for roads, for the fact that we spoil them. The motorist who drives more fills up more and pays more. This is quite reasonable,” agrees the chairman of the committee for the protection of motorists’ rights, Alexander Kholodov.
In addition, this system is more convenient for the car owner. “Today we pay tax in one payment - the entire amount at once, but we will pay it as if on credit, in small installments. It’s simpler,” he notes.
First of all Owners of powerful cars - SUVs, American cars, the tax on which is quite high today, will be delighted with the innovation, Shumak notes. “But we need to understand how much gasoline will eventually rise in price for all other motorists. An increase of 1.5 rubles per liter is already very significant,” he says.
And without including tax According to experts, prices for motor gasoline in Russia may soar by the summer. Thus, in February, automobile fuel prices increased everywhere ().
This is not the first initiative on the organization of a “European” transport tax system in Russia. Previously, the government did not support such proposals. On the contrary, regional authorities were given the right to raise the transport tax rate by 10 times; transport tax is a significant revenue component of budgets.
LDPR proposal may cause inconsistencies with the legislation and will significantly complicate tax collection, says Tamara Sudareva, senior financial consultant at the Nalogovik law firm.
"Transport tax is one of the regional. If it is collected through retailers in the same way as VAT or excise taxes, it will cause not only a lot of problems for the taxpayers themselves, but also for regional authorities, she says. - It will not be so easy to “pull out” your share of the tax from the revenue of gas stations. And if we take into account that many transportations are carried out on intercity and international routes, then we will have to figure out how to offset the transport tax in gasoline purchased by a foreigner - after all, he does not have to pay transport tax.
The most important obstacle in her opinion, this is part 1 of Art. 3 of the Tax Code, which establishes the following: “Every person must pay legally established taxes and fees. Legislation on taxes and fees is based on the recognition of the universality and equality of taxation. When establishing taxes, the actual ability of the taxpayer to pay the tax is taken into account.”
"The bill's chances are slim.“, says Alexey Shumak. “The wrong party proposed the bill,” joked Alexander Kholodov, adding that today the cost of fuel already has a large tax base.
Opponents of the new system note that the innovation will hurt the owners of inexpensive domestic cars. These cars consume a lot of gas, and they will have to pay, just like the owners of expensive SUVs.
"Such changes, like any “levelling”, may worsen conditions for the poorest groups, notes Tamara Sudareva. - Many Russians have cars produced 5, 10, or even 20 years ago. The engines of such cars actively burn fuel. And such cars are owned mainly by those citizens who cannot afford to buy modern cars - low-income citizens, pensioners, and the disabled. They may actually not be able to withstand such a sudden tax burden and refuse to use their cars."
Transport tax rate in St. Petersburg in 2010 remained at last year's level, with the exception of low-power cars (up to 100 hp). A more global increase was postponed “until better times.”
For cars with a power of 100–150 hp. The transport tax rate is 35 rubles per “horse”, with a vehicle power of 150–200 hp. - 50 rubles, 200–250 hp. - 75 rubles, tax rate for cars with power up to 100 hp. in 2010 it was increased by 2 rubles, to 24 rubles.
St. Petersburg budget revenues from transport tax last year amounted to 5.082 billion rubles. Which, for example, is 1.5 billion more than revenue from land tax.
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