NOVO OGAREVO, November 7 (Itar-Tass) - President Vladimir Putin said a flat income tax for individuals should remain in effect in Russia in the foreseeable future but did not rule a transition to a graded tax scale in the future.

“We should handle this very carefully,” Putin said at a meeting with the heads of constitution and law departments of Russian universities on Thursday, November 7. “Certainly, this looks like a fairer form of taxation when a person with a bigger income and bigger property pays more. But it’s a more challenging task in terms of administration.”

He recalled how the decision to introduce the flat income tax had been adopted. “When we moved on to the flat tax, a quite low one, actually, amid concerns - I made the decision myself and I remember I was somewhat worried by fears about an inevitable dramatic drop in tax revenues, which in fact increased many times, much to the surprise of those who had insisted on the use of this tax,” the president said.

At the same time, he believes that “one day we will have to think about moving on to a graded tax,” but “this should be done carefully.”

He noted that Russia had already introduced a graded tax scale for expensive cars and luxury real estate. “We will think about this but we will act carefully,” he added.