The proposal to increase the value-added tax from 20% to 22% is included in the new budget draft for 2026-2028, which will be submitted to the State Duma by the end of September, writes RBC. The Ministry of Finance noted its "balance and sustainability" in the context of increasing "hostile actions" by the West.
Among additional sources of revenue, besides the VAT rate increase, are the elimination of temporary anti-COVID benefits on insurance contributions, the expansion of VAT payers on simplified taxation, changes in the taxation of bookmakers, and the privatization of major state-owned companies.
The federal budget deficit for January-August, amid a reduction in oil and gas revenues, amounted to 4.2 trillion rubles (1.9% of GDP). The Bank of Russia warned of the risk of a structural budget deficit due to systematically high expenses, primarily on war, and low revenues.
The 2025 budget included record military expenditures amounting to 13.2 trillion rubles, or 38 billion rubles per day. Four regions—Jewish Autonomous Oblast, Ingushetia, Kalmykia, and Nenets Autonomous Okrug—spend less in a year than Russia spends on the war in Ukraine in one day.