---

Published: March 23rd, 2016

On the theme:
The economic crisis Russia is facing, not so much caused by the sanctions and artificially lower oil prices, as by unprofessional actions of the government and the Central Bank. Pursue of the expensive credit, high taxes and the artificial limitation of budget expenses provoking a decline in production and a reduction in real incomes, mutually multiplying each other. The government is strangling business quazifiscal high taxes and payments although a large amount of budget funds aimed at supporting the banking system has not been used in a targeted manner.


Moderators:
Oksana Dmitrieva, member of the State Duma Committee on Budget and Taxes
Georgiy Kleiner, Director of Research of the Central Economics and Mathematics Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences


Among participants: Cyril Belokrylov, Alexander Warsaw , Valery Goregliad, Jeffrey Steinberg, Victor Kozlov, Andrei Krutov, Victor Kudriaviy, Bulat Nigmatulin, Natalia Petukhova, Yury Roslyak, Nikolai Tyutyuryukov, Sergei Shtogrin.

The economic crisis Russia is facing now, is caused not only by sanctions and an artificial reduction in the price of oil, but by an unprofessional actions of the Government and the Central Bank - that is the opinion of the participants of the conference "Fiscal policy: brake or incentive?", which took place in the framework of the fourth Moscow Economic Forum .

The speakers shared their views on the current state of the economy and made suggestions how to contribute to its development. Thus, it was proposed to establish the country's basic economic values, in the first place - the equality of all before the law, property rights, human rights and freedoms, to enhance the role of public administration in the field, change the monetary policy, and pay attention to the experience of different countries in the distribution of tax applying a system of "balanced disparities".

Alexander Varshavsky, Head of the Laboratory of modeling the economic stability of the Central Economics and Mathematics Institute believes that the unjustified policy of expanding consumption, excessive income inequality in Russia and its regional differentiation led us to the current situation.

"The difference between Moscow and the Ivanovo area is about seven times. And in the US between states about a deuce. That's too bad, because there is a internal migration. Moscow and Moscow region, together with a temporary resident has 25 million people. This is 18% of Russia's population, 26% of GRP at 0.27 area. Budget revenues - 1.67, 78% of the largest companies has a head office in Moscow ", - cited the example Varshavsky.

Answering the question "what to do?" The speaker proposed to increase the role of public administration, to stabilize the exchange rate, the rate of accumulation or to go to a harmonious inequality. First, at the level of Greece, Spain and the UK. Then, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden.

"We should use the experience of the USA and establish the Internal Revenue Service. A sample - Moscow. If in Moscow double the tax for the wealthiest, you can get 320 billion rubles. Compare this with the plan of anti-crisis measures:. 827 and all loans in the region - 310 billion This is much higher than loans in the regions. Thus, we can save the loans in the regions ", - summed Varshavsky.

Professor Bulat Nigmatulin said that the main investment project of Russia should be affordable housing, mortgage loans with a rate of not more than 5%, and a large number of jobs.

"The first theorem of Boris Nigmatulin: not spaceport" East ", not the Olympics, no soccer fields, not the ASB, not the railways and everything else. It will come later, when we return to "be rich". There are young people here, ask each of them what do they need, but love. Accommodation. The main investment project in Russia today - affordable housing. What happened in our country, when many of you were children? Since the adjustment to the present day, we had 0.5 m2 of housing per capita. In 2016, it again falls to 0.5 m2. So this is 500 million m2 of housing is not built. This is what we robbed the youth, 0.5 m - a 70 million of construction projects ", - said the speaker.

According to his calculations, if in 10 years we will reach the 1 m2 of housing, then we obtain an additional 400 million m2 of housing. On the basis of the average price in 2015 - 35 thousand, while the mortgage rate - 5% we obtain additional investment in fixed assets in the amount of 260 billion rubles. Another such highlycirculative investment project in Russia is not present, said Bulat Nigmatulin.

Russian politician, the auditor of the Audit Chamber of the Russian Federation Sergey Shtogrin believes that the trend when, instead of the tax rules associated with the new payments are accepted sectoral laws and government regulations, dangerous for the tax system as a whole. Hence, there are so-called quazipayments - various fees received through laws such as environmental, the recycling, the system "Plato". This approach has the most negative impact on the attitude of taxpayers to the fact that they are required to do.

Another important point, which drew the attention of the Speaker - income distribution between regions and municipalities.

"I think there is a mistake in giving subjects of federation the income tax of organizations,to which they cannot affect at all, as the main source of income. And it would be logical after all, that the income tax was a profit source for the federal budget, and then it would all be leveled within the country, and the subjects of the federation need another source, which - it is possible to talk and discuss. To which they could actually influence, and it would depend on their activities, how they develop this or that business,"- said Shtogrin.

The speakers noted that the current tax system - "noose" around the neck as the economy as a whole and each individual citizen, and the current tax burden is not acceptable. With a total rate of 13% real payers are the poor, as the basis for tax revenue - indirect taxes, which are known, are regressive. VAT, excise duties, customs duties - and as a result of a family that spends on consumption of 100% of their income, gives the state of 35-40%, and in some cases all of 47%. It turns out that the poor maintains the state. Can the state be rich if it robs the poor ?!

It was suggested that we need a non-taxable minimum equal to the cost of living worker and at least one of his dependents. Then, each ruble tax-exempt in this respect, go to the market, leading to stimulation of demand, and the economy. Compensate for the lack of income is available at the expense of progressive taxation.

In her final word moderator of the discussion member of the State Duma's committee on Budget and Taxes Oksana Dmitrieva said that the issues of tax system inconsistencies and legislation, budgeting and spending, pulling resources from the real into the realm of the virtual economy and financial speculation is not just a problem of our country and we need to pay attention to this phenomenon, on the interaction of the real economy and the virtual sector.

"The degree of draging tha capital is more and more intense. The banking system and the stock market can not cope and actually perform the function of collecting funds for themselves. But then demands for real products of the real economy, because the beneficiaries of a virtual paper market do not eat the paper, do not live in the papers, do not dress up in the papers. So I think that this is a problem, which increasingly need to deal with, both theoretically and practically to look - how goes budgeting. Because the main outflows from the budget is not kickbacks and theft, main outflows from the budget - it is legally designed financial scam. On 1 trillion do not steal, but 1 trillion in 2014, was handed over to the banks. To find out the sectors where they steal 1 trillion - very hard, but it is in one fell swoop. This is about the Olympiad. But from the Olympiad something embodied, in spite of the low efficiency of these funds. And then just a 1 trillion and 1 trillion ... ", - concluded Oksana Dmitrieva.

Speakers recognized that the holding of expensive credit policy, high taxes and the artificial limitation of budget expenses are provoking a decline in production and a reduction in real incomes, mutually multiplying each other.

Source: PR department of MEF