РОССИЯ НА ПУТИ ЭКОЛОГИЗАЦИИ ТРАНСПОРТНОГО И ТОПЛИВНОГО НАЛОГА

Abstract

Рассматриваются вопросы реформирования транспортного налога в направлении его экологизации. Автором изучена история развития и становления транспортных налогов, взимаемых на территории РФ, начиная с 90-х гг. ХХ в. до настоящего времени. Проведен анализ внутренней структуры налога, изучено региональное налоговое законодательство в области дифференциации налоговых ставок, а также порядка предоставления льгот с точки зрения учета экологических критериев по состоянию на 2015 г. В заключение автором предложены пути дальнейшего реформирования транспортного налога с учетом экологической составляющей. ; The problem of air pollution by road transport is particularly relevant for Russia because the number of vehicles has increased significantly in recent years, and their emissions have a negative impact on public health. In order to solve this problem, it is proposed to change the structure of transport tax, transforming it into ecological tax. The purpose of the study is to assess the pace of Russia's advancement towards greening the transport tax. For this purpose, it is important to evaluate the system of taxes related to vehicles that has existed in Russia since the 90s of the twentieth century. The transport tax was introduced to current Russian tax system in 1992. It should be noted that there were six vehicle taxes in the 90s of the twentieth century. In addition, the Russian government introduced excise taxes on gasoline and the pollution charge in the 90s of the twentieth century. They were supposed to be transformed over time into the ecological tax. The system of transport taxes was replaced by the transport tax and excise tax on cars in 2003. All the above mentioned taxes (except for pollution charge) did not contain environmental criteria. They were targeted and were used to finance the construction and repair of roads. Only in 2010 the state began implementing a policy of greening the transport tax, granting regions the authority to differentiate rates by age of a means of transport and the emission standard. An analysis of regional legislation shows that none of the Russian Federation subjects use their right to differentiate rates depending on the emission standard. Eleven subjects of the Russian Federation out of 85 differentiate rates by age of a means of transport. Only two subjects of the Russian Federation out of 11 interpret the age of a vehicle as an environmental criterion. The other subjects of the Russian Federation use it to specify the paying capacity of a taxpayer. This study also involves an analysis of the existing environmental exemptions. An analysis of the 85 subjects of the Russian Federation revealed that 17 of them use criteria that take into account the negative impact of vehicles on the atmosphere. These environmental criteria include: 1) use of electric motors; 2) engine emission standards; 3) use of natural gas as a fuel; 4) age of a vehicle. Thus, the analysis shows that regional policy in the area of greening the transport tax is very weak. With this in mind, it is necessary to note that the reforms of transport tax will have to be initiated at the federal level. Currently, there are the following three models for the transport tax reforms are determined: 1) Preservation of the existing tax base and introduction of the environmental criteria, enabling to differentiate the tax amount depending on the level of ecological safety of a vehicle; 2) Replacement of the existing tax base with a new tax base, indirectly reflecting the environmental damage combined with additional environmental criteria that ensure differentiated tax payment; 3) Complete replacement of the tax base by abandoning the old criterion and transiting to the new criterion of the tax base, which reflects a direct correlation between the characteristics of a vehicle and its impact on the environment.Russia has yet to choose its model for reforming the transport tax.