What will change in the lives of Russians from April 1
With the coming of April, several important changes will come to the lives of Russians, including the indexing of a number of social and state pensions. The new rules will also affect foreigners, who will no longer be able to use a foreign driver's license and send their children to school if they fail to pass the Russian language proficiency test. Read about all the significant changes of the month in the Izvestia article.
Enrolling in school
In the second month of spring, the first admission campaign to schools will start — educational institutions will consider applications for enrollment of future students from April 1 to June 30. At this time, the appeals of children who live in the territory attached to a specific educational organization are being studied. The list can be found on the website of the school or the regional Ministry of Education.
As an exception, applications from beneficiaries outside the place of registration are also accepted in the first wave: for example, these are children of military personnel, employees of the Department of Internal Affairs, Rosgvardiya, courts, prosecutor's Office, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation (if a boarding school), as well as those who already have a brother or sister in this institution.
In addition, starting from the 1st, the procedure for enrolling children of foreign citizens in schools will change. Now, for admission, they need to confirm their knowledge of the Russian language by passing a special exam. It will be conducted in a testing format and will be considered "successfully passed" upon receiving at least three points. Rosobrnadzor clarified in its Telegram channel that test options are being developed for applicants from 1st to 11th grade of secondary schools. First-graders need the skills of speaking, listening and understanding oral speech, as well as lexical and grammatical knowledge. From the second grade, reading and writing assignments are added.
Testing will be free, and you can take it at a state or municipal educational institution. In addition, in order to enroll in schools, migrant children must provide a document confirming the legality of their stay in the territory of the Russian Federation.
Pension increase
In April, social benefits will be indexed by 14.75%.
Social pensions include disability payments; survivor payments for children who have lost a parent; and old-age payments if a person does not have enough seniority or pension points to receive an insurance pension.
In addition, state pensions will be indexed for citizens who were disabled during military service, participants in the Great Patriotic War, residents of besieged Leningrad, citizens awarded the badges "Resident of besieged Sevastopol" and "Resident of besieged Stalingrad", victims of radiation or man-made disasters and their family members, as well as flight test personnel.
Also, by the 1st day, additional payments for caring for people over 80 years of age and group I disabled people will be finally transferred to those who received them before the beginning of this year, when the new rules began to apply. Now such state aid is credited automatically and even in the absence of a designated person for care.
"Family mortgage" for the secondary
On April 1, loans will be issued at 6% per annum for secondary housing for families with children. Families with a child under the age of seven or a disabled child will be eligible.
The program conditions are quite strict. You can purchase a secondary home no older than 20 years old and not recognized as an emergency, but it should be located in a city with limited construction. In total, the list includes 901 settlements, including Blagoveshchensk, Norilsk, Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Murmansk, Tuapse and others.
You will be able to use the mortgage only once. You cannot buy an apartment from interdependent persons (spouses, parents, children, guardians, wards, and siblings).
Limits on mortgages and car loans
Starting from April 1, the Bank of Russia will be able to set limits on risky auto and mortgage loans. Restrictions on mortgage loans at the first stage will affect apartments in new buildings and finished houses. In January, restrictions will apply to the construction of houses and other loans secured by real estate.
Customers who spend more than half of their income on loan repayment will be recognized as problem borrowers, and a low down payment will also be taken into account when buying real estate. The debt burden will include limits on unused credit cards.
CTP for motorcyclists
Starting from April 17, CTP for motorcycle owners will be calculated in a new way. Now, when determining the cost of the policy, engine power will be taken into account, and a separate table of power coefficients will appear for this purpose. The maximum coefficient of 1.66 will apply to all motorcycles with more than 90 horsepower.
A separate table with age-length of service coefficients is also being introduced for motorcyclists. For categories A and M, the calculation of this indicator begins at the age of 16.
Limitation of SIM cards
Starting from April 1, 2025, telecom operators will not be able to register more than 20 subscriber numbers per person. Service providers are also required to check all information about their subscribers who signed contracts earlier than the date by November and make sure that they do not have an unacceptable number of SIM cards registered.
We remind you that since January 2025, a similar limit has been in effect for foreign citizens - no more than 10 rooms per person. When registering a SIM card, it is mandatory to verify the identity of the subscriber. It can be done using a passport or biometric data.
Rights for foreigners
Starting from April 1, foreign driver's licenses of citizens who have issued a residence permit or citizenship of the Russian Federation no later than April 1, 2024, will be invalid in Russia. To drive a vehicle, foreign citizens will have to take a theoretical exam and exchange their license for a Russian one.
Similar changes will also affect Russians who entered the country before April 1, 2024 and did not have time to exchange foreign rights (except those issued in Belarus).
Other
The instruction of the Central Bank dated 07/11/2024 N 6801-U from April 1 will prohibit banks from checking passports and other documents from customers who have been identified through a Single Biometric System (through the bank's website or mobile application).
After April 1, the Federal Tax Service will recalculate the tax paid by citizens on interest on long-term deposits for a period of more than 15 months in 2024 (for 2023). This is due to a change in the rules, as the amount of non-taxable income for each year of such a deposit is now taken into account, and not only for the period when the deposit was closed with interest accrual. Before the beginning of the month, financial institutions must provide updated information on long-term deposits for the year before last, then depositors will be able to receive a tax recalculation.
By April 30, it is necessary to file tax returns for all those who received income in 2024 and did not pay personal income tax on it. It is necessary to make a report if in 2024 a citizen sold real estate owned for less than the minimum period of ownership, shares, cryptocurrency; received gifts not from close family members; won small amounts (up to 15 thousand rubles) in the lottery; leased property or received income abroad. The declaration must also be submitted by individual entrepreneurs, notaries, lawyers who have opened their own offices, and other persons engaged in private practice.
On April 30, the deadline expires during which foreigners and stateless persons, whose information is to be included in the register of controlled persons, must regulate their legal status in Russia, otherwise they face expulsion.
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