A press release from the Ministry of Finance published on the Russian government’s official website outlines changes proposed by the Ministry to excise taxes for certain goods. The government intends to implement these excise taxes mainly due to the increase in average prices on consumer goods and the predicted inflation rate for 2010-2012. It is proposing to set the excise rates at 10% based on the previous year’s rate, with the exception of tobacco products and all alcoholic products, including wine and beer.
The government is proposing to maintain excise rates on products with an alcohol content higher than 9% at current levels through 2010 and 2011. In 2012, they will then be indexed at 10% of 2011’s rate.
The government is additionally proposing to index excise rates on products with an alcohol content of 9% or less, which includes wine, at around 30% of 2009 levels in 2010-2012; the excise tax rates on beer will be indexed at about 50%.
As far as the rates for cigarettes, the bill makes provisions for increasing the component of the excise rate based on the maximum retail price, to 0.5% annually; the specific excise tax rate will be about 30% on cigarettes with filters and 50% on unfiltered cigarettes.
News
