Mordashov urged to make the tax system more predictable
Mordashov said there was a need to "balance the reasonable nature" of the new tax system. According to him, the number of taxes not related to the income of enterprises is growing in the metallurgy, and the additional load can affect investments
In Russia, it is necessary to ensure the balance and predictability of the new tax system, said Alexei Mordashov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Severstal, speaking at an industrial forum.
“The rationality of the new system must be balanced. Here ferrous metallurgy is a vivid example of distortion, I think, he said.
Mordashov noted that ferrous metallurgy has undergone a serious development path in recent years. “Steel has long ceased to be a commodity,” he said, explaining that metallurgists devote a lot of effort and time to the development of production of new types of products that can increase the competitiveness of consumers.
The head of Severstal recalled that three years ago, in conditions of high prices and incomes of metallurgical companies, an excise duty on steel and an increased mineral extraction tax (MET) were introduced. The situation in the industry has changed since then, but the tax burden has remained.
“Neither prices nor earnings are generally high. Our profitability, Severstal, in general, the leader in profitability in the industry, fell to 17% in 9 months. Of course, this is a good profitability, but radically less than what it was before. But the tax is not going anywhere, — said the businessman.
At the same time, the appeals of metallurgists to the government and the Ministry of Finance regarding these taxes meet the answer that the corresponding revenues have already been taken into account in the budget, Mordashov added.
Another problem Mordashov called the introduction of taxes related to the turnover of enterprises. “And what is very disturbing is that this increase is no longer so much in the direction of taxation of income, which is still somehow understandable – when there is income, there is a tax on them. Or maybe higher taxes, but there is income. And more and more taxes appear from turnovers, Mordashov said.
He explained that the excise duty on steel is calculated from turnover, MET – from production volumes, and now the tax associated with rising prices in metallurgy is being discussed.
According to Mordashov, due to cyclical price fluctuations, such a mechanism can lead to additional tax payments every three to five years, since when prices recover after a recession, their growth will become the basis for taxation. “If additional money is cut from us in the downturn, it will lead to a very difficult situation for industries and an additional challenge for our investment activity,” he warned.
Earlier, the Ministry of Finance in the budget package for 2027 and the planning period of 2028 and 2029 proposed the adjustment of taxation of natural rent. In particular, in the mining and metallurgical sector, we are talking about the introduction of a tax for individual mining organizations in the amount of 30% “of additional income received as a result of an increase in world prices in ruble equivalent for solid minerals to the level of the base year 2025”. For gold, the tax rate will be 20%.
The Ministry explained that for certain types of products of rental industries this year, there was an increase in world prices, due to which manufacturers received additional revenues.
The mechanism of the tax involves calculating the amount as a product of production by the difference between the average price of a fossil in 2026-2028 and the base price of 2025. For 2027 and 2028, the base price will be indexed with coefficients of 1.1 and 1.21, respectively. If the average price increases by less than 10%, the object of taxation does not arise.
In early October, sources of RBC reported that the RSPP sent to the Ministry of Finance proposals on the tax on super-income, prepared following a meeting with Finance Minister Anton Siluanov. The business has expressed concerns that the current model will affect companies with low profitability or losses. One of the specific proposals of the RSPP is not to charge NSD from unprofitable taxpayers.
Later, Siluanov confirmed the achievement of a compromise with the business on the super-income tax (NSD) for mining and metallurgical enterprises.
