Russia may launch tax free for non-excisable goods, alcohol Oct 1

MOSCOW, Mar 28 (PRIME) -- Russia may launch a tax free mechanism for all non-excisable goods and alcohol on October 1, Alexei Sazanov, head of the tax and customs policies department at the Finance Ministry, told reporters on Tuesday.

“We think that it (the tax free bill) will be submitted to the government sometime in mid-April and therefore, sent to the State Duma util the end of April or in the beginning of May. In case of favorable events, we expect it will be accepted during the spring session and will most probably be in force from October 1 of this year,” Sazanov said.

“It will cover any goods except excisable ones. It will cover alcohol as well despite this is an excisable good,” Sazanov said. “The government will be able to indicate goods not subject to value-added-tax (VAT) compensation.”

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev ordered the Finance Ministry to think on introducing tax free in order to promote tourism and Russian goods back in 2014. A pilot project is planned to be launched in Moscow and the Moscow Region, St. Petersburg and Sochi. Foreign tourists are expected to get refunds on purchases costing more than 10,000 rubles.

(57.0233 rubles – U.S. $1)

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