Infrastructure for Russia to transition to digital tobacco excise is ready, but decision is needed - Industry and Trade Ministry
MOSCOW. Jan 31 (Interfax) - The Ministry of Industry and Trade and CRPT, operator of Russia's Honest Sign product labeling system, are ready to switch to a digital excise tax on tobacco products, and all that is needed is a decision that the transition will be taking place, Vladislav Zaslavsky, director of the department for the system of digital labeling of goods and the legalization of product turnover at the Russian Industry and Trade Ministry, said at a press conference at the Interfax central office on Wednesday.
The ministry department presented the results of the fifth All-Russian study of the tobacco products market to determine the share of illicit tobacco trafficking in Russia and a study of the market for nicotine-containing products.
"Together with CRPT, we are expressing our readiness to transfer information on the retail sales of tobacco and nicotine-containing products to the Federal Tax Service as soon as the appropriate decisions on the transition to digital excise tax are made," Zaslavsky said.
He said there is a road map for the transition to a digital excise tax, approved by the head of the government apparatus Dmitry Grigorenko. The Ministry of Finance forms state policy with regard to this issue, he said.
As reported, the transition to a digital excise tax involves using information from the labeling systems for tobacco and nicotine-containing products. It is assumed that the state's accounting and special control mark used for tobacco in Russia will be combined into the Honest Sign digital marking codes already applied to all tobacco products.
The term "accounting and special control mark" will be introduced into the second part of the Tax Code.
Previously, the Ministry of Industry and Trade proposed that, after tobacco and nicotine-containing products, the digital excise tax should be applied to beer, beer drinks and sweetened soft drinks, which are also labeled.