For the first time, the Central Bank assessed the potential contribution of VAT to inflation

An increase in value added tax (VAT) may contribute to inflation from 0.6 to 0.7 pp. This assessment of the economic situation was given by Alexey Zabotkin, Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank, on RBC radio.

"Probably, this is my personal current expectation. We will continue to look at the data," he answered the corresponding question from presenter Elina Tikhonova.

In the same way, the Central Bank estimated the contribution of the VAT increase in 2019, when the tax was raised from 18% to 20%. At the same time, an increase to 22% is also expected in 2026.

"The final prices depend on the willingness and ability of the business to do this (to compensate for the VAT increase through prices. — Ed.), and this is largely dictated by the active demand that this business is dealing with. If demand is more restrained, then there will be less postponement," he explained.

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Also on October 3, the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation developed amendments to the Tax Code, which envisage the introduction of VAT from 2027 on foreign goods imported into Russia and purchased by individuals through electronic trading platforms.

On September 24, Izvestia got acquainted with the materials of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation, from which it follows that the authorities plan to lower the threshold for VAT payments for small and medium-sized businesses from 60 million to 10 million rubles per year. It was noted that lowering the threshold to 10 million rubles should reduce business fragmentation and provide growing companies with a smoother transition to common tax conditions.

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