They love the bill: the Cabinet of Ministers may increase the tax bill for business

Russia has entered a period of "investment restraint" in the context of measures taken against inflation. This was stated by Vladimir Putin at a meeting with the government on June 10. And government members and business representatives entered into a discussion about additional support measures for those companies that continue to invest in production. Alexander Shokhin, the head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, proposed increasing the federal investment tax deduction from the current 3% to 8%, which allows companies to refund part of income tax payments on the amount of investments made. But Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak suggested limiting the growth to 5-6%. Other topics of the meeting included preparations for summer holidays and the first results of the "tax cashback" program, which allows many families with children to return 7% of personal income tax. What amounts are we talking about, and what Vladimir Putin said about the EU sanctions against the Eaglet is in the Izvestia article.

What will change in children's camps this year

Vladimir Putin held a meeting with the government on June 10. On the eve of the summer holidays, he devoted a significant part of his time to discussing the organization of children's recreation. A total of 40.5 thousand camps will be opened this summer, 280 more than last year. This means that over 5.5 million children will be able to go on vacation — 100,000 more than last summer.

— Improving children's health is our national priority. We are not retreating from it, despite all the external challenges. All these things are transitory, these challenges are external, and children and the younger generations are the future of Russia, the continuation of our people," the president said.

The children's recreation system is fully ready for the summer: all camps have been checked by supervisory authorities, All-Russian exercises have been conducted and emergency measures have been worked out, said Sergey Kravtsov, Minister of Education. Nevertheless, Vladimir Putin demanded increased security: children's centers, camps, and health resorts must be reliably protected during the holidays. Against this background, the president recalled the recent terrorist attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on a college in Starobilsk, where 21 teenagers were killed. The Minister of Education assured that the colleges will be restored and all graduates will receive their certificates.

Vladimir Putin also spoke about the recent decisions of the European Union to include some children's health camps, such as "Eaglet", "Scarlet Sails" and "Smena", in its sanctions list. The President called it complete nonsense and a disgrace to the authors of the initiatives.

— From the point of view of common sense, normal people in Russia, and in Europe, all over the world, this is a manifestation of some kind of stupidity, an attempt to do another petty dirty trick. It's amazing that people get to this point of absurdity. Meanwhile, children from all regions of the Federation and from foreign countries come to our children's centers with pleasure — and many of our children come from abroad, spend time in them interestingly and vividly, with great benefits for their development," he said.

However, if European figures "concerned about gender issues and the protection of various sexual minorities" are so annoyed by the sight of happy children, it means that the right values are being promoted in the Russian Federation, the president assured and promised to follow this further.

At the meeting, Vladimir Putin announced a large-scale upgrade of the children's recreation infrastructure and on the same day, via video link, took part in the opening of new children's recreation facilities. A center for educational technologies based on Orlyonka has started operating in Krasnodar, which the president called the leading center for children's recreation. A new facility has also appeared in the Lipetsk region — this is the building of the Prometheus sanatorium complex. A new building of the Aurora private wellness complex has been commissioned in Anapa.

Special attention is paid to the children of the participants of the SVO, children from large families, as well as families who find themselves in a difficult life situation. Vladimir Putin supported the idea of United Russia to allocate additional funding for their health campaign. Previously, we are talking about 3 billion rubles.

The President considers another measure of support to be fair, which came into force on June 1, 2026 — a reduction in income tax to 6% for working parents who raise two or more children but have low incomes. Such families can apply for a tax recalculation, and the 7% difference will be refunded to them by the Social Fund of Russia.

In the first 10 days of June, 1.5 million Russians have already submitted such an application, Vladimir Putin said. In total, more than 4 million families with over 11 million children will be able to receive payments. The money has already been transferred to more than 293,000 citizens who have over 680,000 children, said Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova. The largest amount of tax cashback in the amount of 141.2 thousand rubles was paid to a family from the Murmansk region, in which four children are being raised.

What does business think about the investment climate in Russia

The main topic of the meeting was also discussed — measures to restore investment activity. The head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, Alexander Shokhin, was the first to identify the scale of the problem. The May business survey recorded a deterioration in demand estimates, an increase in non-payments, and a difficult financial situation for companies.

"There is a risk that the investment pause will turn into a prolonged freeze," he warned.

The Head of State adjusted the tone of the discussion, suggesting that we should not talk about an "investment pause", but about "investment restraint". Nevertheless, the business stood its ground and proposed to increase the federal investment tax deduction from the current 3% to 8%.

Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak came up with a more cautious initiative - to increase the deduction to no more than 8% ado 5-6%, noting that the mechanism is not being used to its full potential: last year, businesses mastered only 26 billion rubles out of 150 billion planned. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov confirmed that the volume of financial assets in 2026 will be twice as much as last year, and did not object to the additional adjustment of the instrument.

— This measure will be an incentive for companies that make capital investments, for example, upgrade equipment or expand production lines. This will help reduce the tax burden on profits by partially compensating for the cost of fixed assets. The main problem of SMEs in the current conditions is the shortage of working capital, not just income tax," Natalia Poluyanova, a member of the State Duma Committee on Small and medium—sized enterprises, told Izvestia.

The discussion about the tax deduction rate became central to the meeting. Denis Astafyev, the founder of the SharesPro fintech platform, believes that the steady demand from businesses for the expansion of the tool indicates its relevance. Business is focused on maximizing the stimulating effect, while the government is looking for a balance between efficiency and budget discipline. A compromise in the range of 6-7% with a phased expansion of industry coverage is able to provide a sustainable result for investors without excessive budget burden, the expert believes.

In addition to tax measures, the meeting participants proposed other tools. Alexander Novak took the initiative to conduct an audit of suspended investment projects and create a register of 50-100 facilities for point-to-point support "in manual mode." The revision of such projects opens up the opportunity to restart exactly those facilities that provide the greatest multiplier effect for related industries and employment, Denis Astafyev noted. Large capital-intensive projects with a long payback horizon benefit from individual support.

The head of the Ministry of Economic Development, Maxim Reshetnikov, attributed the decline in investment activity to expensive loans and the effect of the high base of previous years. In 2024, investments increased by 38% compared to 2020, and their share in GDP exceeded 23%. At the same time, the profits of companies as a source for capital investments are decreasing, the minister noted. Alexander Shokhin appealed to the president not to impose restrictions on the payment of dividends for companies receiving state support.

— Private investors will buy stocks and bonds only when dividends are paid. It's an obvious motive," he said.

Such an adjustment of the dividend restrictions looks like a sign of the maturity of regulatory thinking, Denis Astafyev believes. Linking dividend restrictions to specific investment obligations — with gradual removal as they are fulfilled — creates the right incentive architecture: companies receive financial flexibility, and the government guarantees targeted use of support. This can make government support tools more attractive to a wide range of companies.

Concluding the meeting, President Putin expressed hope for a reduction in the key interest rate, which, according to Denis Astafyev, would be a natural catalyst for business. Reducing the cost of credit can greatly enhance the effect of all these tools and create conditions for sustainable investment growth, he noted.