08.06.09

The Federal Tax Service (FNS) believes that the reason tax debt is growing lies within the current economic crisis. Experts believe that enacting an aggressive policy to recover debt may lead to further growth in arrears.

Mikhail Mokretsov, the Head of the FNS, reports that in the first quarter of 2009, tax debt increased by 7%. At the beginning of 2009, unpaid taxes amounted to 88 million rubles. However, as of April 1, 2009, this sum had increased to 1.4 billion. Mokretsov also gave the details of the FTS’s newly expanded staff.

Meanwhile, throughout the past four fiscal years, companies’ debts gradually decreased by nearly half, from 2.5 percent to 1.3. According to Mikhail Mokretsov, the growth of the debt is a direct result of the economic crisis, connected with the decrease in liquidity and business solvency.

While the amount of debt continues to rise, the effectiveness of debt collection has increased as well. During the first quarter of 2009, collection was at 38%. During the first quarter of 2008, collection was only 24%.

Lawyers claim that the decrease in voluntary tax payments directly varies with the increase in forcible tax collection. 

At the same time, regional and local governments have seen tax collections rise by 21% in comparison to January-March of 2008. For example, corporate property tax payments have grown 29%, transport and real estate taxes are up 19%, and individual property tax collections up 1%. However, Mokretsov explained that these taxes do influenced by the profitability of the taxpayers’ financial and economic activities.
 

Translated by Alinga Consulting Group.

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Source: Rbc