Where do the taxes we pay go? Popular opinion: people do not know why a property tax is needed. Change in fees
Your 13% income tax does not go to any funds; the money is transferred to the Tax Inspectorate and goes to the city budget.
But the budget is planned for 3 years.
This money also goes towards salaries of state employees, healthcare, housing and communal services, and medicine.
Here is an example of an expenditure item for the 2016 federal (not regional) budget..
Most of the citizens' taxes go to the maintenance of the State. the Duma, the Kremlin, for the maintenance of deputies, and it ends up in the pockets of certain gentlemen.
Your 13% is not distributed between funds; all of it goes entirely to the local budget and is spent on the needs of the municipality and its population. Here are approximate items of expenses that include your 13% income tax.
Insurance contributions to the pension fund, as well as to the health and social insurance funds, are not deducted from the employee’s salary; they are paid by the employer. If there are no benefits for paying contributions, then in total they amount to 30% of the employee’s earnings, of which 22% are paid to the PF (pension insurance), 2.9% to the FSS (social insurance) and 5.1% to the FFOMS ( health insurance).
As is known, the value income tax (NDFL) in Russia it is 13%, this tax is paid by all employers.
According to the budget code of our country, the tax is distributed as follows:
1) Most of this amount goes to the budget of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation - 85%.
2) The remainder goes to the local budget.
The 13% income tax collected by the Tax Inspectorate goes to replenish the federal budget. Then, during legislative assemblies, deputies set expenses for certain needs: for example, security, social policy, education, housing and communal services, medicine, environmental protection, etc.
According to the law, all income tax collected must go to the budget of your city, and there this amount is already distributed at their discretion for housing needs, for medical needs, and the money also goes to the salaries of those persons who are paid by city departments. To make it more clear to you, I will give an example of a small plate that shows how federal budget expenditures can be planned.
It all depends on the budget allocation this year. Thus, in 2017, the paid tax may be used for completely different purposes than in 2016.
Judging by this year, the bulk of the tax goes to social policy, national defense, the economy, security and law enforcement services.
You are rightfully and in accordance with the established norms of the law, 13% is withdrawn from the amount you generally earn.
Then these funds go to the city budget and here and there all these funds are divided into all the needs they account for, such as housing and communal services or healthcare.
By the way, our country has the lowest income tax than other countries and this tax is deducted from all officially working citizens. This thirteen percent goes to the state fund, where management already distributes what to spend it on. Perhaps it will be for road repairs, or maybe for the construction of a kindergarten - you can’t say for sure.
All your income tax (13%) goes to the local budget.
Who is recognized as a payer of personal income tax (NDFL) is determined by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.
What is the object of taxation is determined by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation (Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
The tax period for this tax is regulated by Article 216 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and is a calendar year.
According to Article 158 of the Budget Code of the Russian Federation (Budget Code of the Russian Federation):
Income tax is a federal tax that employees pay on their official income. Or rather, their tax agent, the employer, pays them, but from the employee’s salary. This tax is equal to 13%. It is not distributed in any way, but goes entirely to the federal budget. Further, according to certain standards, it is distributed to regional budgets for state needs.
We all know that we pay income tax on every penny we earn. Where does our thirteen percent amount go? The employer also pays social and pension taxes for employees. In addition, business owners pay income taxes. In our state there are still a lot of taxes that we all pay - road taxes, on vehicles, on real estate, on inheritance, on lottery winnings and many others. As a result, one can only guess what funds are collected in the pocket of the state. Where do taxes go? What do we, ordinary citizens, get from the money that we deduct monthly?
Formation of budgets
We fill the budgets of various levels with money from tax revenues. This is the federal budget, regional, municipal, district. Each subject of the Russian Federation has its own budget. All taxes are distributed and go directly to a certain type of budget. For example, land tax goes directly to the local budget, and real estate tax goes directly to the federal budget. And from there the money again goes to the municipality for the repair of communications, housing, etc.
What are taxes spent on?
Budgeting regulations clearly state what money can be spent on, which means where taxes collected from citizens go. This is the maintenance of budgetary enterprises and organizations, which are the police, healthcare institutions, education, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, firefighters, the pension fund, social authorities and many others. They determine the main cost items, where our taxes go. This is not only the payment of employees, but also the maintenance of offices, premises, the purchase of equipment, equipment, vehicles, and much more.
Our taxes also go to pay pensions and social benefits for vulnerable citizens. This includes the maintenance of orphans, their food and accommodation in orphanages, the maintenance of social workers, and assistance services in critical situations for children. Single elderly people also live in special institutions, which are supported by funds collected in the form of taxes.
The next major expense item is the construction of vital facilities in populated areas, both federal and local. These are houses, bridges, roads, factories, energy complexes, etc. Most of the taxes go to national security, the maintenance of the army, the armed forces. This includes allowances, uniforms, training of personnel, purchasing housing for military families, purchasing all kinds of equipment, and conducting combat operations.
Finally, one more point should be noted. Many businessmen do everything to hide profits and not pay taxes. Does this mean that they are irresponsible and breaking the law? More precisely, does this only mean tax evasion? Ordinary Russian citizens claim that they would be more willing to pay taxes if there was order in the state and there was less theft and corruption of officials.
Where does taxpayer money go? How efficiently are they spent? Why is the volume of corruption comparable to the volume of the country's budget? These and other questions are the topic of the 2nd Congress of the Russian Taxpayers Union, which opens tomorrow. Chairman of the Council of the Union Sergei Shakhrai answers RG's questions.
Russian newspaper | Until now, citizens were offered only one thing: pay and sleep well. Now we are talking about "people's control"?
Sergey Shakhrai | We believe that paying taxes is not only the responsibility of citizens, but also a special form of their participation in government. On the other hand, the state must also be responsible in spending our common wealth - the state budget. And since we honestly fulfill our duty to pay taxes, then we have the constitutional right to know how effectively the state forms and spends the state budget. Hence the concept of our union - the mutual responsibility of citizens and the state in the formation and management of public financial resources.
Our task is to raise the level of legal consciousness of taxpayers and create a tax culture. All this will ultimately lead to the creation of public control over the activities of government bodies in managing state budget funds, a mechanism for public support of government efforts to improve the budgetary and financial sphere and the formation of a unified system of state financial control.
RG | However, you must agree that so far the majority of taxpayers do not see much of a relationship between taxes and government spending.
Shahray | Unfortunately, you are right. But not only the level of our current well-being, but also the level of future tax burden depends on how legally and effectively the state spends budget funds. Because every illegally spent ruble falls on the shoulders of the taxpayer. It leaves a certain portion of government costs uncovered and increases the need for taxes. At the same time, when our taxes go to the budget, we cannot always control what happens to them. And it's not even about corruption. Formally, everything may look correct. How much was planned - so much was spent. The question is whether it was spent ineffectively, uneconomically or incorrectly.
RG | How do you see your relationship with the authorities?
Shahray | We are both opponents and helpers. We are all interested in an effective tax system that would ensure not only revenue flows to the budget, but also the free development of the economy. The tax system should not restrain entrepreneurial initiative and activity. It must be neutral in relation to the freedom of choice of economic activity. We understand that not all taxpayers fulfill their constitutional obligations responsibly. There are a lot of tax collection issues that require drastic solutions. Therefore, we are ready to cooperate in solving these problems, primarily with tax authorities and financial control authorities.
Only through joint efforts can we develop the only correct solution, which equally takes into account the interests of the state and society. Through public control, we intend to help the state eliminate its redundant and duplicative functions that divert taxpayer funds, but we will also check how effectively our funds are spent.
RG | That is, in some way you are claiming control powers of the same Accounts Chamber?
Shahray | One of the principles of the relationship between civil society and government is control over the use of the public domain, independent of its managers. Of course, such control is carried out by the Accounts Chamber. After all, it is formed by parliament and, on behalf of the citizens who elected it, controls the correct expenditure of taxpayers’ funds. But they are also independent from the executive branch and civil society organizations. Some monitor compliance with human rights, others monitor compliance with the law, say, in the field of intellectual property. And the union is for the correctness of the relationship between the state and citizens in the tax sphere.
However, the Accounts Chamber, on behalf of taxpayers, carries out an external, independent financial audit. That is, control over the state, while opposing the executive branch. And in this she is assisted by civil society institutions: the media, the Public Chamber, our union. So it is essentially an informal component of an independent financial audit.
? - such phrases can often be heard in political disputes when it comes to the responsibility of the state to citizens. But, writes “Slon ru”, in Russia this is very rare.
The taxation system is unfamiliar to most of the country, with the exception of transport, which people arrange on their own. To assess the tax burden in Russia, you need, firstly, to understand how much the state really depends on citizens’ payments. Secondly, you need to imagine what would happen if Russians did not pay taxes (receiving in return mediocre medical care and a meager pension), but used this money at their own discretion.
What taxes do Russians pay?
Individuals pay taxes on a car, apartment, house, land. Working citizens also pay personal income tax (NDFL). Indirectly, the population is borne by the value added tax on goods and services, employer insurance contributions to extra-budgetary funds, and excise taxes on alcohol and tobacco.
How much taxes does an officially employed employee pay?
Directly - only personal income tax, which is 13% of salary. The employee usually does not feel this payment, since the employer transfers the tax directly to the state. When talking about his salary, a person usually means the “net” amount that comes to his bank card or is issued at the cash desk. However, in reality, the salary is the money given to the employee plus tax.
In addition, the employer pays insurance premiums for the employee in Russian Federation (22% of salary before tax), Federal Fund(5.1%) and Foundation (2.9%). If an employee earns more than a certain amount per year, then insurance contributions to the Pension Fund are reduced to 10%, and to the Social Insurance Fund they are reset to zero.
What if there were no taxes?
An employee with a monthly salary of up to 100 thousand rubles costs his employer almost 1.5 million rubles a year: 1 million rubles of which goes, in fact, to the employee and almost 0.5 million rubles to the state. From a salary of 100 thousand rubles, a person receives approximately 87,000 rubles in hand. If we imagine that there is no state healthcare and pensions, and if there were no income tax, then the employee in this example would receive 125 thousand rubles a month and theoretically could spend 25,000 rubles. for your health and/or save for old age.
However, dreams of a tax-free world have their limits. If social contributions are abolished, it is unlikely that most people will save money from their increased salaries. Most likely, people will start spending “here and now,” which will lead to rising prices for goods and services. Thus, real welfare growth will increase only slightly.
How long do people work for the government?
You can look at taxes and contributions from another angle: this is additional time spent at work in order to pay them.
For salaries less than 60 thousand rubles (“in hand”), to which “discounts” on the payment of social contributions do not apply, this is 33% of working time. That is, every working day out of 8 hours spent at a factory, in an office or at a counter, a conventional Russian works for one hour and 21 minutes for the Pension Fund, 48 minutes for regional and local authorities, and another half hour for compulsory medical insurance and social insurance funds. Over the course of a year, this is almost 80 working days, which are spent on paying taxes and contributions.
Those whose salaries are higher give a smaller share of income to the state: the ratio of mandatory payments to total employer expenses decreases from 33% to 25% for salaries of 600 thousand rubles per month and above.
Where do personal taxes go?
Revenues from VAT go to the country's budget, 85% of personal income tax goes to the budget of the constituent entity of the federation, the rest to local budgets. The regions also get it. Excise taxes are divided between federal and regional budgets. For example, excise taxes on tobacco are sent to the center, while the regions receive most of the excise taxes on alcohol. and individuals go to municipalities.
Insurance contributions for pensions, medicine and social insurance go to the appropriate funds. This money goes to pay pensions to pensioners, the FFOMS pays for medical services for those who go to public hospitals and clinics, and the FSS pays benefits for temporary disability, pregnancy, childbirth and child care. Taking into account the fact that the Pension Fund operates with a large deficit, which has to be compensated from the federal budget, we can say that not only contributions from working Russians, but also other federal taxes are actually used to pay pensions.
Budget and taxes: what is the codependency?
The budget depends very much on taxes. In 2015, taxes together with insurance premiums amounted to 79% of income and 71% of expenses of budgets of all levels, as well as extra-budgetary funds. The contribution of personal income tax is more modest - about 10% of total income for last year. This is not enough for education, health care, or defense, but it is enough to maintain security and the work of law enforcement agencies.
However, writes “Elephant”, such a comparison is very conditional, because personal income tax goes to the budgets of the constituent entities, and not to the federal budget. That is, 13% of the salary goes not so much to the development of the defense industry or space technologies, but to schools and roads.