September 30, 2009 at 12:03 UST at a reduced rate for software developers
The Ministry of Finance of Russia suggested that software developers not switch to insurance premiums from January 1, but remain payers of the Unified Social Tax (UST). Moreover, software exporters will now be equated with residents of special economic zones (SEZs) and will pay UST at a reduced rate of 14%, rather than 26%. Yesterday, a meeting of IT companies with Deputy Minister of Finance Sergey Shatalov took place, where these options were discussed, Kommersant writes .
Unified social tax benefits can be granted to IT companies that meet several criteria. The share of revenue from software sales should be at least 90% of total revenue, while at least 70% of revenue should be received from abroad.
The Ministry of Finance is still coordinating the final parameters of the benefits with IT companies, but even under such conditions, a deal with the state looks quite acceptable.
Recall that it all started with an open letter from the largest Russian software developers to President Medvedev. It did not go unnoticed. Moreover, the president immediately reacted to him and instructed the Ministry of Finance to deal with this issue and develop a list of benefits for IT companies, which was done within 30 days.
In an open letter, software manufacturers complained that state initiatives to support the industry were not finalized. The construction of technology parks has been stopped, the venture capital industry fund has not started work (although it received money from the budget), the adopted tax benefits have been canceled, and the question of the special business regime has been removed from consideration altogether.
The authors of the letter emphasized that from January 1, 2010 the UST will be replaced by insurance premiums, and this will increase the costs of software exporters by 50-80%, since their salary fund accounts for the lion's share of the costs.
Actually, in the original version of the law on the replacement of UST with insurance premiums, there was a mention of benefits for IT companies, but in the final version it disappeared. Now the error should be fixed.
Unified social tax benefits can be granted to IT companies that meet several criteria. The share of revenue from software sales should be at least 90% of total revenue, while at least 70% of revenue should be received from abroad.
The Ministry of Finance is still coordinating the final parameters of the benefits with IT companies, but even under such conditions, a deal with the state looks quite acceptable.
Recall that it all started with an open letter from the largest Russian software developers to President Medvedev. It did not go unnoticed. Moreover, the president immediately reacted to him and instructed the Ministry of Finance to deal with this issue and develop a list of benefits for IT companies, which was done within 30 days.
In an open letter, software manufacturers complained that state initiatives to support the industry were not finalized. The construction of technology parks has been stopped, the venture capital industry fund has not started work (although it received money from the budget), the adopted tax benefits have been canceled, and the question of the special business regime has been removed from consideration altogether.
The authors of the letter emphasized that from January 1, 2010 the UST will be replaced by insurance premiums, and this will increase the costs of software exporters by 50-80%, since their salary fund accounts for the lion's share of the costs.
Actually, in the original version of the law on the replacement of UST with insurance premiums, there was a mention of benefits for IT companies, but in the final version it disappeared. Now the error should be fixed.