Proposed by the Ministry of Finance.
[From Russkia Vedomosti, No. 225, Oct. 1 (14), 1914.]
In the long list of new Russian taxes the income tax is the most
interesting. It is still only a drafted bill. The Government hesitates
to press it. Perhaps the Duma will take some steps to make this bill a
law. Its main provisions are as follows:
All annual incomes of 1,000 rubles ($500) and above are to be assessed
at a progressive rate ranging from 1-1/2 per cent. on 1,000 rubles to
the maximum of 8 per cent. on incomes of 200,000 rubles ($100,000) and
above. All persons engaged actively in the present war shall be exempt
from this tax.
All persons freed from military service within the last four years are
to pay an additional tax equal to 50 per cent. of their income tax,
provided the incomes of the parents whose sons have been freed reach
2,000 rubles ($1,000).
All persons freed from military service having incomes below 1,000
rubles ($500) are to pay a uniform tax of 6 rubles ($3). A special war
tax is to be levied in provinces where the whole population or certain
groups of the population are freed from military service.
Note: For a poor country like Russia the minimum exempt from taxation is
very high. The large number of able-bodied men in war would cut into
this tax considerably. It has been figured out that the special 6-ruble
tax on those freed from the military service would yield about
13,000,000 rubles ($6,500,000). The total revenue from this tax would
hardly reach 50,000,000 rubles. Commenting upon this bill, critics have
proposed to reduce the minimum exempt from taxation from 1,000 rubles
($500) to 750 rubles ($375) and to cut out the special 6-ruble war tax.