Spox denies Russian plan to raise taxes after presidential election

MOSCOW, May 16 (PRIME) -- Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for President Vladimir Putin, on Monday denied reports that Russia plans to raise taxes after a presidential election in 2018.

The Wall Street Journal reported on May 15, citing government officials who spoke on a condition of anonymity, that the government is considering raising income tax and value-added tax rates after the election in order to cover shortfalls in budget revenue because of cheaper oil.

“There are no decisions in this regard, no dominant point of view and it is impossible to talk about that, sure,” Peskov told reporters. He added that there are no economic plans envisaging a tax increase and an economic situation in 2018 is hard to predict.

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