We are glad to be fair: in the Russian Federation, it was proposed to introduce a tax deduction for traveling with children in a taxi

Russia is going to develop a travel tax deduction system for passengers with children. This was stated by Dmitry Gusev, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Control, at a round table in the Public Chamber. Such a mechanism may become one of the measures in support of large families that the President of the Russian Federation has decided to develop. According to him, the tax deduction should at least cover the difference between the standard tariff and the increased child rate. The size of the latter raises questions among parent associations. About how they propose to reduce the cost of taxi rides for large families and who will compensate for the difference to carriers — in the Izvestia article.

What benefits can people with many children have in a taxi

A tax deduction for taxi rides for families with children may be introduced in Russia. Dmitry Gusev, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Control, spoke about the beginning of the development of such a bill at a round table on the organization of transportation for large families, which was held on Monday, March 10, in the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation.

In December last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the government and the heads of regions to submit proposals on setting preferential taxi fares for families with many children. The relevant report must be submitted to the head of state by March 15, 2025. The discussion in the OP took place within the framework of this assignment.

As Dmitry Gusev noted, the tax deduction could cover the difference in the cost of taxi rides with and without children.

"So mom's or dad's personal income tax will be less by the amount of taxi rides," he said. — For example, a regular taxi ride costs 1 thousand rubles, and a trip on a children's fare costs 1.5 thousand rubles, in this case 500 rubles is added to the tax deduction at the end of the year.

Dmitry Gusev called it unfair that people with many children ride the subway on benefits, while they have to choose a higher-priced fare by taxi.

Tatiana Butskaya, first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Family Protection, Fatherhood, Motherhood and Childhood, agreed with him.

— We are now in close contact with all taxi fleets and taxi aggregators, and I see that we are already one step away from this decision, that the children's fare cannot be more expensive. That is, it cannot be that a person who travels with a child has to pay more," the deputy said.

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The number of fines for incorrect registration reaches 90% of the total number of violations.

She also raised the issue of large families traveling to airports and train stations by taxi, as well as from and to train stations — they have to take several cars per family.

— You can run large cars that can fit the whole family. Now they need to call several cars, but they need to make the trip to the hotel cheaper than ordering three separate cars," Tatiana Butskaya suggested.

In her opinion, each region should have at least a few similar cars for the needs of this category of passengers.

Why taxi drivers don't want to take children

Passengers with children often behave improperly, Dmitry Vinogradov, a leading specialist in working with drivers at the Dobro taxi trade union, confirmed. He believes that adults don't have a taxi culture either.

— There are enough examples when a child is put in a chair, the trip begins, and the mother of this child begins to unfasten on the move, — he said. — The responsibility for this lies not with the mother, but with the driver. This can be partially solved by the presence of cameras that record the situation in the cabin. And, accordingly, to impose legislative responsibility on the parents who commit such acts, because under current legislation, the driver is responsible.

In addition, Dmitry Vinogradov urged not to compensate for the cost of trips at the expense of taxi drivers: according to him, they can receive 1.5-2 thousand rubles for a 10-12–hour shift in the regions, and fuel prices, the cost of spare parts and car maintenance are increasing.

Trade union representatives also reminded that drivers can get a fine for stopping incorrectly when they put passengers with children on. A fine is also provided for prolonged stops in paid parking lots.

The increased children's tariff as a whole raises questions, because the driver does not incur any special expenses, except for equipping the car with a child seat, according to the Association of Parent Committees and Communities (ARCS). Therefore, the cost of such a tariff raises questions from the parent community.

"If taxis are forced to carry everyone at the same rate, they can raise prices for everything," said Olga Letkova, chairman of the association. — Therefore, it makes sense to really make a tax deduction. Maybe it will be more economically beneficial.

She suggested focusing on the rates with minivans that have to be called for trips with many children. The cost of such transportation is more expensive than the children's fare.

—But if the issue is resolved, it will help improve the demographic situation in our state and show that the country cares about families," she added. — This is very important for Russians when they make decisions about having children. It is important to feel the care of the state and understand that they will receive comprehensive assistance, and not just in the form of some benefits, which, of course, cannot cover all the costs of children.

The participants of the round table proposed to reduce the commission of taxi aggregators and introduce the possibility of ordering cars through a special office of the social support service of the region.

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The absence of a commission for calling a taxi should be available if large families are registered in accordance with the procedure established by law and when ordering a taxi for children, the Union of Users of the Digital World Platforms explained.

"We propose to introduce incentives for taxi aggregators for drivers who have child seats and often take orders for transporting children by increasing their internal rating and providing them with priority access to more marginal orders," said Valery Korneev, Chairman of Digital World.

In addition, the union reported that benefits can be provided by reducing the commission of the aggregator and stimulating drivers who take orders with the transportation of children with additional internal preferences.

Specialized cars should be in any taxi, as it exists in the most sophisticated taxi systems in the world, for which the leading car companies create them, he believes. And such cars should already have at least two child safety seats built into the seats, as do many automakers that produce special modifications of cars for taxis. This also applies to high—capacity vehicles such as minivans and minibuses.