The government has begun to discuss increasing the tax burden incumbent on business after the elections of 2018. The increase in insurance premiums on health care, as announced by the Minister of health, it is proposed to provide at the expense of increasing the total rate of insurance contributions — up to 30.8% in 2019 from the current 30%. RSPP agree to discuss the increase in contributions for one year only if it is a crisis.
Employers chip in for the may decrees
The total rate of insurance contributions to state extra-budgetary funds in Russia to 2019 will amount to 30.8 per cent, said on Friday Finance Minister Anton Siluanov. That the government plans to raise tariffs to the Federal Fund of obligatory medical insurance (FOMS) from 5.1% to 5.9% in 2019, said on Thursday the Minister of health Veronika Skvortsova. Such decision have already been agreed upon, she added. Detailed calculations according to the Minister, was reported to the President and the government, gave TASS.
In the White house discussed two solutions to the problem: increase the rate of HIF either through increasing the overall rate of insurance contributions paid by employers for their employees, either through internal redeployment (reduction to pension contributions or social insurance).
Redistribution in the end will not, said two people familiar with officials from economic and social units.
On Thursday, Deputy Minister of Finance Ilya Trunin claimed that the Finance Ministry has no plans to increase contributions to the HIF to 5.9% in 2019. “The Finance Ministry does not plan”, — he said. According Trunina with the Ministry of Finance this idea was not even discussed, “Because we have agreed on a bill to lower health insurance premiums in 2019 from 34 to 30 percent.” But on Friday Anton Siluanov said: “In 2019 was (in my calculations. — “Газета.Ru”) the imbalance of the budget of the HIF. So one of the proposals which were considered and adopted, is the increase in premiums in 2019 0.8 percentage points”. “The General rate, thus will increase, it will be 30.8 per cent”, he added.
In the HIF there is not enough money, in particular, on the implementation of the may presidential decrees on increasing the salaries of doctors, followed from published in early October, the draft budget of the Fund. Officials of the economic block of the government said that to ensure long-term balance of the budget of the HIF, the government takes additional steps. Primarily intended to solve the problem at the expense of internal sources.
For 2017 and 2018, the Fund will be balanced through the elimination of pick that FOMS should contribute to the Federal budget from the balances in your accounts (estimated volume — 91,2 billion roubles in 2017). But in 2019, this is not enough. Its budget deficit in 2019 HIF is estimated at 219,5 billion RUB Increase in contributions to health insurance will lead to growth of the income of the Fund to 190 billion rubles per year. Therefore, according to the official, starting in 2019 and a planned increase of insurance contributions for compulsory health insurance of 0.8%.
Today, the HIF payments to be paid by the employer with payroll in the General insurance payment, which is 30%. Insurance payment split: 22% — to the pension Fund, 2,9% — to the social insurance and 5.1% for mandatory health insurance. In addition, the employer paid 10% for pension insurance with salaries in excess of the size limit, which in 2016 is set at 796 thousand rubles per year.
Recall that in September the Ministry of Finance proposed to change the amount of insurance payment to the pension Fund, canceling from 2017 the threshold on salaries. Then this proposal was rejected by the government in the midst of preparing the budget for 2017-2019, as violating the presidential moratorium on the growth of the tax burden until 2018.
A nasty surprise for business
Total insurance contributions for employers will rise, confirms a source in the social block of the government.
For the business this decision is a surprise, said in the three largest business associations, the RSPP, “Business Russia” and “Support of Russia”. All three associations believe that such a decision will create problems for the entrepreneurs, and I hope for his review.
“Yesterday we sent a letter to the government office expressing its disagreement, because, like it or not, this increase in the fiscal burden,” — said President of RSPP Alexander Shokhin.
He intends to find a compromise: given the fact that this measure is only available beginning in 2019, there is time to argue, said the representative of big business. At RSPP already have an alternative proposal: in the case without raising contributions could not be dispensed with, to assume that this anti-crisis measure and to endorse only one year. “If the government will announce this as a temporary anti-crisis measure for exactly one year, it could still be something to discuss. But in principle we have expressed a negative position,” he said.
For small businesses the increase in insurance premiums will be a hard test. “Now a lot of discuss increases: insurance premiums, and personal income tax. This can lead salaries in shadow, provoke tax evasion, and the order of the President to withdraw workers in the “white zone” then simply will not run,” — said the Deputy head of Center of expertise “Support of Russia” Olesya Sapa.
“We will go to the government and to the Minister of health Veronika Skvortsova, now you can’t do this”, she said. She also noted that the decision came suddenly: the idea of increasing contributions to medicine did not pass the regulatory impact assessment.
Unexpected the government’s plans seemed to the Vice-President “Business Russia” Anastasia Alekhnovich. “It’s a surprise for us that the document we have not yet seen and hope this decision is finally made,” she said. The main problems of the health system, according to Alekhnovich, not associated with the lack of money in the HIF, and inefficiency costs.
“Just increasing the rate, will not solve the problem, and for business this is a serious problem: we continue to discourage the creation of highly productive, high-paying jobs,” she said.
With the entire system of insurance payments it is necessary to understand the complex, said Shokhin of RSPP, including output from the system of social insurance payments uninsured reasons, for example, it is necessary to determine the funded system. “It is impossible, without having the development strategy of the insurance premiums to do this piecemeal,” he says.
