Large criminal code ZPIF offered the Ministry of Finance two options for taxation of funds

Management company "Modern real estate funds" (SFN) offered the Ministry of Finance its vision of taxation of closed mutual funds (ZPIF). About this on the air of the program "Markets.Main" on the TV channel and Radio RBC told the General Director of this UK Elena Chernykh. Earlier, the Ministry of Finance proposed to tax 15% of passive income of closed (ZPIF) and interval (IPIF) mutual funds, the bill passed the first reading in the state Duma.

Ekaterina Chernykh cited two tax options that, from her point of view, would be more optimal than those proposed now in the bill. Of these two options, the UK, according to her idea, will choose the most suitable for themselves:

payment of tax by the fund at a rate of 15% excluding the expenses of the fund itself for a situation when the ZPIF does not distribute investment income between shareholders; mandatory distribution of income between shareholders in the amount of at least 70%, but in this case the tax should be transferred from the ZPIF to the level of shareholders. To do this, the fund must annually distribute to shareholders at least 70% of investment income.

The expert stressed that such a tax design is proposed to be extended to all ZPIFs for “qualls”. At the same time, the funds will be able to choose the most acceptable model for themselves, she added.

“It doesn’t matter how many shareholders you have, whether you distribute the income or not. If you distribute 70% of your income, you don’t pay 15%. This choice will allow the market to build different strategies, the fact is that 15% is better than 22%, if you want to reinvest, that is, your task is to increase capital, then you will pay 15% and will not distribute [income to shareholders].

Speaking about why the threshold of 70% is proposed, Chernykh noted that this figure is a market consensus, since with a higher interest rate, the fund practically loses resources for reinvestment.

In the draft budget, the government laid out a plan of income from taxes on funds in the amount of пл100 billion annually. Chernykh is sure that such a scheme will allow the state to collect the declared amount “and even more”, just these payments will be made in the form of personal income tax.

How can ZPIFs be taxed?

The bill, which provides for the introduction of a 15% tax on passive income ZPIF (interest, dividends, royalties and rental income), passed the first reading in the state Duma.

Now mutual funds do not pay income tax, the tax arises at the level of the shareholder when he sells shares or receives payments of passive income from the fund. However, these payments can be postponed indefinitely for tax optimization purposes. The amendments provide that tax payments from the fund will subsequently be counted in the taxation of shareholders. The new mechanism can work as early as January 1, 2027.

Earlier, Vedomosti, citing two officials, wrote that the Ministry of Finance is discussing with business amendments to the bill for the second reading and is ready to keep for a number of ZPIFs the current mechanism for paying tax at the time of repayment or sale of shares.

What other proposals for ZPIF were voiced by market participants

The proposal to transfer taxation to the level of shareholders, rather than the fund, was previously voiced by other professional participants. In early November, more than 80 management companies appealed to the government, the state Duma and the presidential administration with a request to revise the proposed mechanism of taxation of passive income of ZPIFs for “qualls”.

Managers then expressed concern that the actual fiscal burden on the fund's profits would exceed its profitability due to the fact that the proposed tax is actually negotiable.

Against this background, representatives of management companies then proposed:

tax on profits and personal income tax not themselves ZPIF, but directly their shareholders. One such mechanism may be the introduction of a mandatory regular distribution of a part of the income formed in the ZPIF to the owners of investment units; to maintain the current tax regime for funds paying at least 50% of net income. Under the net income in the document refers to the income of the fund minus those expenses that are allowed to be paid from the property of the ZPIF.

President of the National Association of Stock Market Participants (NAUFOR) Alexei Timofeev told RBC Investments that the brokers association in October also sent its proposals that are similar to the above, and is currently consulting with the Ministry of Finance.

“The basis of the compromise that we are looking for with the Ministry of Finance is the share of income, in the distribution of which a closed mutual fund is exempt from tax, as well as the rules for calculating the tax base for other closed mutual funds, whose income is not distributed or distributed in a smaller share,” he said.

Earlier, market participants expressed their proposals on how to clarify the proposed taxes on funds for the second reading. Specific measures include:

directly determine what is considered the income of the shareholder and what is the income of the fund; allow transferring the unused balance of the credit to subsequent years; extend the credit to the income from repayment of units and resolve the issue of the shareholder who sold the unit before payment; work out the accounting of economically justified expenses of the fund in determining the tax base.