Going to Tula - for gingerbread and with ...taxes: The story how one city received the entire treasury of Russia

Julia Suntsova

There have been talks about the introduction of a Single tax account for a long time, and on January 1, 2023, the plans were implemented.

The Federal Tax Service calls this a "technological reform." If earlier taxes from all subjects of the federation were accumulated on 84 accounts – each region had its own account in the Federal Treasury for paying taxes, then from this year all of them are combined into a single account in the same Federal Treasury.

Many organizations and individuals and sole proprietors have already begun to receive notifications of tax arrears from the Tula department.

When calling the main line of the Federal Tax Service of Russia 8-800-222-22-22, the autoinformator first notifies – yes, this is not a mistake, even if you have nothing to do with the Tula region: "From January 1, 2023, all tax payments go to the Treasury of the Tula region".

At the end of January, the Federal Tax Service published on its website a sample of filling out a payment order for the payment of a Single tax Payment, focusing on the fact that the Federal Treasury Department for the Tula Region should be indicated in the details for the transfer.

The rule applies to all taxpayers, regardless of their registration or the location of the objects of taxation.

"To simplify, the Federal Treasury has made a technological decision on the processing of payments by the Treasury Department for the Tula Region," the changes in the payment procedure in the Federal Tax Service were briefly explained. - This does not affect the accounting of payments in the tax authority in any way. If the taxpayer has indicated his TIN, then the funds will be reflected in his single tax account and further redistributed according to taxes and budgets corresponding to the place of his registration or conduct of business".

It is not yet clear whether this will facilitate the relationship of taxpayers with the tax service or not, but many have a reasonable question – why was Tula chosen as the center of the administrative boiler and why did it suddenly become "more convenient" for Moscow? Isn't there some kind of trick buried here?

Novye Izvestia tried to find out why the authorities took such a step. There are two opinions among the experts we interviewed. Some believe that the decision is purely technical and the name of the region did not matter. Others believe that the answer to the question "Why Tula?" lies in the political plane. 

Dmitry Potapenko, economist:

- The transfer of the tax administration center is associated with the creation of a Single tax account.

On what principle was Tula chosen? The devil knows, just poked. 

Igor Nikolayev, Economist, Chief Researcher at the Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences:

- A technical reform was carried out – a single tax account was created.

The explanations given by the tax service, in principle, satisfy me. It was necessary to choose one place. The common base, of course, does not arise from scratch, but quite logically – where there is already an account of some regional administration. Why Tula? Well, why not Tula? With the same success, it could be the Ryazan, Kostroma or Tver region, and so on.  I am not inclined to think that there is something behind this choice that they are afraid to advertise.

First of all, of course, we are talking about the convenience of the tax authorities themselves. If earlier different types of taxes – on profits, on income, excise taxes, state duties, VAT, etc. were credited to different accounts, now everything goes into a common barrel, and only then there is a breakdown. From the point of view of budget formation, I don't see much difference. Let's see, of course, how it will all work. At the beginning of 2023, delays with additional charges were blamed on the difficult start of this reform, although in reality these two things were not connected.

Lilia Aleyeva, PhD in Economics, Director of Marketing and Direct Sales of ICL Services:- Processing of payments from all regions has been transferred to the Federal Treasury Department for the Tula region, but this does not mean that all the money will flow to Tula.

It is not about processing cash flows, but only about processing payment documents. The funds will continue to be reflected in a Single Tax Payment and distributed accordingly. But why Tula? The Federal Tax Service remains silent.

If we consider the issue in the political plane, there can be only one plausible explanation: Tula governor Alexey Dyumin. Dyumin is considered one of the most productive governors in all of Russia. He has an interesting background, starting with a radio electronics engineer and ending with the Russian Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation. He underwent professional retraining at the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia. The large volume of data that will flow to the region meets the necessary level of secrecy, which the region is used to maintaining at the proper level thanks to a strong defense industry. 

However, there is no doubt that the Federal Tax Service on the basis of Tula only collects taxes. The distribution of funds will continue to be handled by the relevant ministries in Moscow. No one will ever give real control levers to the region.

Telegram channel "Moscow Telegraph":

- First of all, it is connected with its.

There are 30 defense enterprises in Tula. All military orders, if urgently needed, can be financed without unnecessary red tape. The money accumulated in one place allows you to use it when you need it, not quite for its intended purpose.

Namely, the priority in the near future will be the financing of its own, the social network goes to the second, if not the tenth plan.

The head of the region Alexey Dyumin is a close acquaintance of Putin. The president entrusted all the taxes of the country to him, since Dyumin will not create problems when it will be necessary to finance his own.

However, people in a hurry forgot to explain why all taxes are now paid in Tula. The authorities are not at all embarrassed that taxes are people's money, about the spending and movements of which it would be nice to report.

Andrey Kashkarov, publicist:

- The information guides of the last five years give out one interesting trend – Tula, along with megacities, really often finds itself in the center of federal and even international interests.

In 2019, the XX-th Russian-Finnish Cultural Forum was opened in Tula (the greeting of President Putin was read by Governor Dyumin).

Relatively regular (against the background of other regions) trips of the president to Tula indicate the favor of the federal government. Alexey Dyumin used to serve in the FSO (Federal Protective Service, - editor's note), he grew in positions quite quickly. In certain circles, he is called a good friend of Vladimir Putin. With the arrival of Dyumin in the region, Tula was ennobled, flourished, money appeared in the region. Residents are more satisfied with their lives than not – in contrast to what it was.

The transfer of tax money to the Treasury of the Tula region does not seem to me accidental. In view of the special trust in him on the part of the country's top leadership.