What is the tax on childlessness in Russia?

In Soviet times, there was a tax on childlessness, according to which childless citizens, depending on their own income level, were forced to pay up to 6% of their earnings to the state budget. Such a collection operated until the collapse of the Soviet Union and was not so much an effective opportunity to increase the birth rate, but a source of budget filling. In 1991, the government abolished the tax for childlessness for women, and a year later - for married men who were slow to acquire offspring, and after the Russian Federation became an independent state, the childless population completely forgot about such payments.

In other forms, the tax on childlessness existed in foreign countries, and for the first time such a fiscal fee was established in the ancient era by the Roman censor Camille. In 1909 such payments were forced to pay childless residents of Bulgaria, as her government sought to increase the birth rate after the centuries-old Turkish occupation of the Balkan state.

Tax as an increase in the birth rate

The head of the Ministry of Health and Social Development and State Duma deputies consider the childlessness tax in Russia to be an effective tool for significantly increasing the birth rate and completely overcoming the demographic crisis. Since 2006, Mikhail Zurabov urged to increase the fiscal burden on bachelors, as well as on couples who do not have a child due to any circumstances, but a full-fledged bill has not been developed so far.

If the tax on childlessness was introduced in the form in which it existed in the USSR, it would be extremely difficult for the fiscal bodies of modern Russia to collect such fees from childless citizens, since a significant part of the population works unofficially, continues to receive "wages in envelopes," or finds other Methods of concealing their legal income.

The first public discussion of the possibilities of taxing childless citizens was held in 2010, and such an attempt by the authorities to impose a new fiscal fee caused a wide resonance in the society. Although, in addition to compulsory deductions to the budget, other stimulating programs were planned for childless citizens, which would contribute to an increase in the birth rate. So, the Ministry of Health and Social Development proposed introducing free provision of medicines for pregnant women, an increase in benefits for young mothers, as well as various tax deductions for parents with many children.

Tax deductions

Although the tax on childlessness in modern Russia as such has not been introduced, in practice it was replaced by deductions provided for parents at the time of paying income tax. This kind of fiscal collection is forced to pay working people, and the fiscal authorities of the Russian Federation take into account absolutely all incomes received by taxpayers, both in cash and in kind.

When paying income tax by the population of the Russian Federation, standard tax deductions are provided , and, the more children in the family, the greater the maximum amount of such deduction in monetary terms. So, in 2012, a family that has one or two children can count on monthly tax deductions, the amount of which does not exceed 1400 rubles. If a disabled child grows up in the family, parents will be able to receive a benefit of 3000 rubles when paying income tax, without paying such a sum to the state budget. The same amount of tax deductions is typical for Russian families, in which more than three minor children are growing up.

Thus, with a generally accepted income tax rate of 13%, the breadwinner of a family with one child will save up to 182 rubles monthly when paying a fiscal fee, unlike a childless citizen with a similar salary.