GORKI, February 8. /TASS/. The Russian government has not made the decision to impose a tax on car tires, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told reporters.
"There isn’t such decision", he said.
Earlier, the Russian Business Consulting agency (RBC) reported referring to its sources that the Russian government may put tires on the list of goods, which are subject to excise duty. According to the sources, now the introduction of excise duties is being considered only regarding three items - palm oil, soft drinks and tires.
In his turn, chairman of the Association of manufacturers of tires and CEO of NokianTyres Russia Andrei Pantyukhov said he knew about possible introduction of excise duties on tires. According to him, this is being discussed in the government.
Pantyukhov said that amid the economic crisis, when there is a decline in sales of new cars, and the purchasing power of citizens falls, the introduction of excise duties will lead to a new rise in prices and further market contraction. This will be followed by a reduction in personnel and tax revenues.
He also noted that the car is already an excise product and introducing an additional excise duty on one of its components will be redundant.