Effective January 1, 2023, the Ministry of Finance proposed introducing a daily hotel tax throughout Russia to replace the current resort tax. This information was published on the legal information portal.
The bill "On the introduction Amendments to Parts One and Two of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation" provide for the inclusion in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation of certain non-tax payments of a quasi-tax nature (fees for negative impact on the environment, recycling fees, environmental fees, fees for the use of federal public highways, taxes on public communication network operators, and hotel fees).
"The bill establishes a new Chapter 331, 'Hotel Tax,' of the Code, which provides for the introduction of a hotel tax as a new local levy. This tax replaces the resort tax, a non-tax payment currently in place on an experimental basis in four constituent entities of the Russian Federation," the explanatory note states.
This approach is driven by the need to create additional sources of revenue for local budgets by taxing hotels and other accommodation facilities located not only in resort areas but also in other areas.
It is envisaged that the hotel tax will be paid by organizations and individuals engaged in the provision of hotel services, temporary accommodation services and (or) provision of temporary accommodation for individuals in hotels and other accommodation facilities.
It is proposed that the object of taxation be defined as the use of real estate for the implementation of the specified activity.
Given the local nature of the hotel tax, it is proposed that the authority to set specific rates be granted to local government bodies, with only the maximum value being determined at the federal level.
The draft law provides for the powers of local government bodies (government bodies of the federal cities of Moscow, St. Petersburg and Sevastopol) to identify new accommodation facilities and submit relevant information to tax authorities, which serves as the basis for issuing demands to taxpayers to pay the fee.
According to Federal Law No. 214-FZ of July 29, 2019, "On the Experiment to Develop Resort Infrastructure in the Republic of Crimea, Altai Krai, Krasnodar Krai, and Stavropol Krai," the experiment on collecting resort fees will end on January 1, 2022.
In this regard, the introduction of a hotel tax in municipalities (the federal cities of Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Sevastopol) in accordance with Chapter 331 “Hotel Tax” of the Code will be possible from January 1, 2023.
In addition, the bill proposes to include in the Code, as a state duty, a number of payments that are currently collected in the form of non-tax payments for the provision of information (making changes, viewing information, etc.) from state registers (registers), the maintenance of which is carried out by federal executive bodies and (or) institutions subordinate to them.
The bill complies with the provisions of the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union and the provisions of other international treaties of the Russian Federation.
Source: trn-news.ru