Transparent sales needed for Russia to cancel investment gold VAT

MOSCOW, Sep 2 (PRIME) -- Russia can lift value-added tax (VAT) on investment gold only if the sales become fully transparent, Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseyev told PRIME ahead of the Eastern Economic Forum on Thursday.

"We were ordered to cancel VAT on investment gold. But only when we ensure its fully transparent turnover in the system of electronic tracking. What do we need for that? No one is going to cancel VAT on jewelry. It would be madness to impose VAT on clothing, but not to have it on jewelry,” Moiseyev said.

“The risk is that if we cancel VAT on some part of gold, this VAT-free gold will flow to jewelry. This is what unfortunately happens with fraudulent schemes."

He added that gold must become fully traceable electronically.

According to Moiseyev, the Finance Ministry is considering establishment of a jewelry cluster in the Far East, which will benefit from the incentives on processing, imports and exports of the raw material.

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