New tax modifications will affect restoration work: expert

The new tax amendments that the Russian Ministry of Finance presented to the government at the end of May will affect the operation of the restaurant, but this impact will not be painful thanks to the transition to OSNO with preferential VAT. This opinion was expressed by RB.RU. founder of “Meat & Fish”, public commissioner in the field of catering, Sergei Mironov.

The tax changes will affect all restaurants with a high level of service, but they will hardly affect small establishments and fast food establishments.

According to the expert, if the innovations are adopted, restaurateurs will have three options for the development of events.

The first option, says Mironov, is to pay 5% VAT, which cannot be deducted, after reaching a turnover of 60 million rubles, which is essentially “labor interest.” This 5% is added to the taxes already familiar from the simplified system: it is 6% on income or 15% on “income minus expenses.” The second option is 20% VAT according to OSNO with deductions. In both cases, restaurateurs do not have to pay income tax. The third option is to switch to a general tax system, in which zero VAT is provided to catering companies with a turnover of up to 2 billion rubles.

“In this case, restaurateurs will have to pay a profit tax of 25%, and not 20%, as before, but this is a percentage of profits, not turnover, which is important for the restaurant business,” said the expert.

It is the preferential VAT on OSNO that will allow the restaurant business to run smoothly.

“This is not painful for the restaurant business; I don’t see any special problems,” Mironov said.

Mironov did not rule out an increase in prices in restaurants after the introduction of the new tax system. But, thanks to the possibility of moving to a preferential system with zero VAT, this increase will be insignificant.

On May 28, the Ministry of Finance presented the Russian government with a package of bills that included amendments to the Tax Code. The proposals will be considered in the commission on legislative activities and then at a meeting of the Government of the Russian Federation. The changes can be adopted by the State Duma already in the spring session (which lasts until July 30) and will begin to take effect, presumably, in 2025.

Among the proposals of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation is an adjustment of the tax regime for small and medium-sized businesses. The department proposed to adjust the simplified tax system (STS) regime, increasing the threshold for applying this system to 450 million rubles and at the same time introducing the obligation of companies to pay VAT on turnover of 60 million rubles , in addition to existing taxes. For companies operating under OSNO, income tax will increase from 20% to 25%.

Companies will have an alternative to pay VAT to choose from: a general regime with a rate of 20% (10% for a certain category of goods) and all deductions, or a VAT of 5% without the right to deductions for income of 60 -250 million rubles and 7% for income between 250 and 450 million rubles, Interfax wrote.