Putin: Progressive income tax in Russia unreasonable now

MOSCOW, Dec 23 (PRIME) – Russia may discuss introduction of a progressive personal income tax scale but launching it would be unviable, President Vladimir Putin said at an annual press conference on Friday.

“Can we switch over to a differentiated income tax? We can and maybe it will be done one day. But I think that this is unreasonable now because as soon as we start doing this, there will be a second step after the first, a third, a fifth. We will be so much confused by the differentiation that it will lead to tax evasion,” Putin said.

He said that social justice goals can be met without the introduction of a progressive scale, with taxes on luxurious cars and housing. The system must be fine-tuned, he said.

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