Russian econ ministry supports tax preferences for bonds

MOSCOW, Apr 12 (PRIME) -- The Economic Development Ministry supported Finance Ministry’s idea to provide tax preferences for bonds, Deputy Economic Development Minister Nikolai Podguzov said Tuesday at a forum.

“The Finance Ministry has developed a bill, and we are looking positively at that. I think we should make taxation of securities and deposits equal from the point of view of stimulation of investments in instruments with fixed income,” he said.

The bill says that a coupon yield will be taxed only if the rate exceeds the central bank’s refinancing rate. “The economic ministry is positive aboutprovision of tax preferences to individuals in the first place,” he said.

Central Bank First Deputy Chairman Sergei Shvetsov said that the regulator offered a 3-component initiative: to relieve bond coupons of taxes completely or if it exceeds the refinancing rate plus 8%, just like the tax applied to deposits; to relieve the yield of taxes when a bond is redeemed, not sold; and relieve coupon of taxes due to the currency revaluation.

“If we implement all the three components, we will see the wish of households to buy them, and bonds will show a better yield compared with deposits. Plus, we will stimulate households to hold bonds until redemption, as only in this case currency revaluation will not be quoted,” he said.

Previously, President Vladimir Putin suggested the government relieve the coupon yield on corporate bonds of a personal income tax so that it would be profitable to invest money in development of the economy.

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