10.04.2025, 08:45
In Russia, estimated budget losses due to illegal sweets
Source: OREANDA-NEWS
OREANDA-NEWS The losses of the Russian budget due to the illegal turnover of confectionery and chocolate products in 2025 will amount to more than 12 billion rubles per year. This conclusion was reached at the Center for Economic Expertise of the Higher School of Economics (HSE), Kommersant writes.
The calculations use statistics from recent years. Thus, according to the authors of the study, counterfeit sales in 2023 reached 1.49 billion packages in physical terms. The difference between consumption and production, together with legal imports, which reaches 10.4 percent, helps to estimate this volume.
As explained by Artyom Kontserev, Deputy Director of the Central Research Institute of Higher School of Economics, such products should be considered illegal, because they are not in the tax records.
It is expected that in the total amount of lost budget revenues this year, 7.39 billion rubles will be income tax, and 3.55 billion rubles will be VAT. There will also be 956 million rubles for unpaid customs duties, and 174 million rubles for income tax in the wholesale and retail sector, that is, during the sale of products.
Experts believe that, in addition to budget revenues, blocking the sales channel for illegal products will increase the profits of legal producers by 22.18 billion rubles, and sellers by 523 million rubles. Thus, the population will pay 25 billion rubles more for sweets than a year earlier.
The source of the publication emphasizes that illegal products cannot be considered low-quality, because they are often made from good raw materials, and they enter the gray zone when manipulating taxes. According to him, such tricks are used by small and medium-sized companies that are trying to reduce costs due to rising taxes and raw material prices.
Nevertheless, Artyom Kiryanov, head of the expert council on economic whitewashing at the State Duma Committee on Economic Policy, called the situation in the confectionery industry a direct threat to the quality of products, the main consumers of which are children.
In March, the publication, citing sources, reported that manufacturers of sweets in Russia, due to rising production costs, will increase selling prices by 5-15 percent, as well as reduce the volume of packages.
The calculations use statistics from recent years. Thus, according to the authors of the study, counterfeit sales in 2023 reached 1.49 billion packages in physical terms. The difference between consumption and production, together with legal imports, which reaches 10.4 percent, helps to estimate this volume.
As explained by Artyom Kontserev, Deputy Director of the Central Research Institute of Higher School of Economics, such products should be considered illegal, because they are not in the tax records.
It is expected that in the total amount of lost budget revenues this year, 7.39 billion rubles will be income tax, and 3.55 billion rubles will be VAT. There will also be 956 million rubles for unpaid customs duties, and 174 million rubles for income tax in the wholesale and retail sector, that is, during the sale of products.
Experts believe that, in addition to budget revenues, blocking the sales channel for illegal products will increase the profits of legal producers by 22.18 billion rubles, and sellers by 523 million rubles. Thus, the population will pay 25 billion rubles more for sweets than a year earlier.
The source of the publication emphasizes that illegal products cannot be considered low-quality, because they are often made from good raw materials, and they enter the gray zone when manipulating taxes. According to him, such tricks are used by small and medium-sized companies that are trying to reduce costs due to rising taxes and raw material prices.
Nevertheless, Artyom Kiryanov, head of the expert council on economic whitewashing at the State Duma Committee on Economic Policy, called the situation in the confectionery industry a direct threat to the quality of products, the main consumers of which are children.
In March, the publication, citing sources, reported that manufacturers of sweets in Russia, due to rising production costs, will increase selling prices by 5-15 percent, as well as reduce the volume of packages.
Комментарии