An environmental tax will increase budget revenues, but will not save nature, experts say

What taxes are environmental?

In connection with the use of certain natural objects, there is a need to pay a tax fee. Let's take a closer look at the situations in which this happens.

1. Transport tax. In 2021, it must be paid if it is proven that the vehicle is harmful to the environment.
2. Mineral extraction tax. For example, when extracting natural resources, including coal and oil, which are exhaustible.
3. Water tax. In Russia it is paid for introducing an imbalance into the environment when using water resources.
4. Fee for the exploitation of aquatic biological resources in Russia, objects of the animal world. This tax is paid if damage to nature is caused as a result of hunting or other types of catching animals.
5. Land.

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What is an environmental tax

To understand what an environmental tax is, let us turn to the decoding of the concepts that make up its name. The term “ecology” characterizes, first of all, the relationship between a person (and in our case, also an organization) and the environment, and the concept of “tax,” the roots of which come from the ancient quitrent, defines a certain payment for the use of property objects.

Thus, the essence of an environmental tax is to collect fees for the use of natural resources and the impact on the environment. Currently, due to the absence of this type of tax in the Russian tax system, this can be achieved by non-tax methods. Although some taxes reflected in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation may fall under the characteristics inherent in an environmental tax. What taxes these are and why they can be classified in this category will be discussed below.

There are also non-tax payments that current legislation requires to be paid as a result of harm to the environment. These include an environmental fee and a fee for negative environmental impact, which can also be considered as types of environmental tax.

Let us note that in the EAEU countries there is a full-fledged environmental tax, for which all the main elements of taxation are formulated.

Read more about current environmental payments in this material .

Let us add that most likely, an environmental tax in the full sense of the word will soon appear in our country. The corresponding amendments to the Tax Code of the Russian Federation (draft) have already seen the light of day.

Procedure for paying taxes for environmental impact

The responsibility for transferring funds to the state budget lies with the management of organizations working in the field of environmental management. And also the environmental tax in 2021 is paid by companies renting equipment that harms the environment.

The calculation of the monetary amount of environmental tax in 2021 is carried out independently by management, based on:

1. Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 344 of 2003, June 12.
2. Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 632 of 1992. The same document is used when filling out a tax return.

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Who pays the garbage fee?

Sometimes the obligation to transfer money for garbage in Russia lies even with those who use the simplified taxation system. Just like filling out a tax return.

The general rule is that garbage fees are charged when consumer and industrial waste is disposed of. Disposal is not just about putting waste into trash cans.

But also maintenance in special facilities for subsequent burial. If a company does only this, it stores waste, but does not dispose of it.

It’s another matter if an entrepreneur conducts business and enters into an agreement with a special waste removal company (operating under a license).

The payment of taxes is then determined by the terms of the agreement. For example, if, according to the contract, ownership of waste belongs to a company, then the environmental fee becomes mandatory.

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General rules for paying environmental fees

The environmental tax in Russia was officially introduced only in 2015 by the law “On Amendments to the Federal Law “On Industrial and Consumption Waste”.

The payers of this fee, provided for in Article 24.5 of the Federal Law of June 24, 1998 N 89-FZ, are organizations and firms that import or produce goods along with packaging that are disposed of after losing their consumer properties.

But the environmental tax in 2021 must be paid only if the company does not fulfill its recycling obligations.

The list of goods and other items subject to disposal after loss of consumer properties in Russia is indicated in the order of the Government of the Russian Federation dated September 24, 2015, number 1886-r.

Calculated coefficients for each type of product and packaging will help you figure out whether a particular entrepreneur should pay tax.

Rates can be found in Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated 04/09/2016 N 284.

Therefore, it is important to remember a few rules.

1. If a company produces the goods indicated in the list, then it can dispose of them independently.
2. Or you can use the services of a third party.
3. But the environmental tax will have to be paid in 2021 if the required amount of waste has not been disposed of.

It is assumed that importers and manufacturers themselves will report on issues of compliance with standards or deviations from them. But so far there is no single form with which this could be done.

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Recycling

An environmental fee is a form of non-tax revenue from the federal budget paid by manufacturers and importers of products that require disposal upon loss of value for the user, the ability to safely use the products for their intended purpose, after the loss of necessary consumer characteristics.

Who pays the environmental fee?

Federal Law No. 89-FZ dated June 24, 1998 (Article 24.2) provides for: - manufacturers, importers of goods who do not ensure disposal of waste from the use of goods (including packaging), pay an environmental fee, or ensure compliance with recycling standards by concluding agreements with a legal entity carrying out activities related to the collection, transportation, processing and disposal of waste;

According to federal law, payments are made by enterprises engaged in the production or import of products that are subject to disposal after a certain period. Products subject to disposal are included in the list approved by the responsible government authorities. Payment of the environmental fee and submission of the corresponding report is a mandatory form of payment if the company deals with products from the list: 54 groups of goods.

Eco-Spas Bataysk LLC offers all manufacturers and importers of goods comprehensive solutions for the disposal of goods, including packaging, after they have lost their consumer properties, with the provision of the necessary package of documents for submitting reports on compliance with recycling standards to the Department of the Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources .

Features and procedure for paying the fee

The 2020 environmental fee is paid in the manner prescribed by law. Control over payments is exercised by the Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources.

Payment must be made by April 15 of the year following the reporting period. The form of the environmental fee is established by the authorized body. The amount paid as an environmental fee is determined according to a formula.

To calculate the amount of environmental fees, the following indicators are required:

• Rate – fixed amount;
• The recycling standard is a relative unit;
• Weight of finished products from the list, weight of packaging or quantity of products.

Indicators from the third point (based on the characteristics of a specific product) are multiplied by the indicators from the first and second points.

To confirm payment you must provide:

• Calculation of the fee amount;
• Copies of documents confirming the fact of payment.

Documents are submitted to the responsible body - Rosprirodnadzor, to the territorial office.

Payment of the environmental fee requires the following reporting documents:

• Declaration, the form of which is approved by Government Decree;
• A report confirming the compliance of the company’s actions in the context of compliance with standards and regulations;
• Fee calculation.

Environmental fee from 2021: who pays ?

Payment must be made to all companies that produce or import products from the list. The payment is a manifestation of the company's responsibility for the disposal of certain goods. The legal requirements apply to the destruction of not only products, but also packaging.

If a company is engaged in the production and sale of products that will be exported outside the country and will be disposed of there, by law such a company does not pay an environmental fee.

How to calculate taxes for those who do not recycle?

The total amount of environmental tax in 2021 is calculated separately for all types of goods that require disposal. The formula will be like this:

Sometimes the mass of the finished product is substituted into the formula, and sometimes the number of units for which disposal is required.

Recycling standards, together with environmental tax rates, will help you understand which indicator should be used for a particular type of product.

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Formula and calculation of environmental tax

The payment amount is calculated using the formula.

It is necessary to multiply the environmental fee rate by the mass of recycled goods and the recycling standard. The fee rates and standards are approved by government decree and order for each product group. At the same time, for some goods the standard may be zero, so the manufacturer will not pay anything. This applies, in particular, to textile goods, carpets, and clothing.

The Ministry of Finance is working to systematize non-tax payments from the beginning. Initially, the ministry intended to create a separate law for them, but later it was decided to define fees that are of a tax nature and transfer them to the Tax Code. For payments that are not of a tax nature, a separate law is still possible, defining the rules for their regulation, indexation and the introduction of new duties.

As the head of the business association “Opora Rossii” Alexander Kalinin said, there still needs to be a “thorough discussion” on the transfer of the environmental fee into a tax. According to him, business does not have a developed position on this issue.

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Alexander Kalinin also noted that the inclusion of payments in the Tax Code implies their stricter regulation.

Earlier, the head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, Alexander Shokhin, stated that if the fees are entered into the Tax Code, they will be subject to criminal liability for non-payment. He noted that it would be more convenient for business if a directly applicable law was created for non-tax payments without including fees in the Tax Code.

The main goal of the reform of non-tax payments is to make it more difficult for them to appear. Now departments themselves can introduce new fees and index them at their discretion. After the appearance of the law on non-tax payments and the inclusion of part of the fees in the Tax Code, this can only be done through amendments to the legislation.

At the same time, the inclusion in the Tax Code of some payments of a tax nature will make the merchants themselves more responsible, since sanctions for non-payment will be stricter.

Environmental fee

is a fee for the disposal of individual goods, which is levied on enterprises that produce or import products, but are not able to dispose of them themselves. The goods for which a fee must be paid are specified in the relevant government decree.

Deadlines and reporting

According to current legislation, environmental tax in 2016 is transferred until the 20th day of the month following the reporting period. And the reporting period itself is a calendar quarter.

As mentioned above, the organization carries out all calculations along with rates independently, depending on the amount of pollution arising due to its activities. The settlement declaration for such payments consists of several parts:

1. Starts with the title page, according to the tax code.
2. Next comes the total amount that needs to be transferred to the budget.
3. Then Section 1. It is devoted to the release of harmful substances into the atmosphere by stationary objects.
4. Section 2. The same thing, only for mobile objects.
5. Section 3. With information on discharges of pollutants into water bodies.
6. Section 4. Dedicated to the disposal of waste from production and consumption.

In the calculation of payment with rates, you should include only those sections that are really necessary for the organization. Depending on the negative impact it has on the environment. For example, there is no need to attach and fill out Section 1 if there are no stationary facilities that emit harmful substances into the environment.

There are several ways to submit a declaration along with rates:

• In electronic form, via telecommunication channels, or on magnetic media.
• On paper. By registered mail with notification, or through a representative of the organization.

In electronic form, declarations and calculations must be in XML format, as the Tax Code of the Russian Federation says.

The declaration may not be submitted electronically if the fee is less than 50 thousand rubles. Otherwise, this requirement must be met.

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How to report, deadlines and procedure for paying environmental fees

The reporting period for environmental fees is a calendar year.

Payment and calculation of the amount of the environmental fee must be made
before April 15 of the year following the reporting period.
Thus, for 2021, payment of the environmental fee must be no later than April 15, 2021.

In addition, according to the letter of Rosprirodnadzor dated January 17, 2018 N ВС-06-02-32/721 “On payment of environmental fees”, no later than April 1, 2021

You must also provide:

All declarations can be generated on the official website of Rosprirodnadzor in your Personal Account at the link https://rpn.gov.ru/small. In order to send a declaration through your personal account, you must obtain an electronic signature.

The declaration can also be submitted on paper by providing a copy of it in electronic form.

Where to submit a report and transfer money?

Currently, according to current legislation, only territorial departments of the Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources can receive budget revenues from negative environmental impacts.

In short, this organization is called Rosprirodnadzor. It determines who pays the fees.

Reports are submitted to such territorial bodies only in sealed LLC or stitched and numbered form. The document is submitted to the address where the stationary pollution object is located, as well as where the state registration of the mobile object took place.

A separate payment calculation is submitted for each source of pollution, even if there are several of them. If several pollution facilities are operated on the territory of one facility, payment is reflected for them in the form of a single calculation. But the sheet must be filled out separately for each of the municipal institutions.

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About some features of the calculation

For each pollutant and waste, payment amounts are calculated separately. This also applies to each type of fuel on which mobile objects operate. When calculating the payment for environmental emissions, several factors must be taken into account:

1. Additional coefficients 2 and 1.2.
2. Ecological significance coefficient for the region.

Emissions also require the determination of several indicators at once:

• Coefficient for suspended solids.
• Additional coefficient 2.
• Ecological significance of the region.

Finally, when the waste fee is calculated, it is based on:

• Coefficient of the location of the facility where waste is disposed.
• Additional coefficient 2.
• Ecological significance.

An inflation factor can be added to all of the above schemes. It is established in the Federal budgets for the next calendar year.

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Fee calculation and related documents

The regulatory documents that are currently in force do not provide for an additional package of documents to the current reporting. But territorial authorities may put forward their own requirements for the provision of additional papers.

• Documents to confirm the actual use of waste.
• Acceptance acts.
• Waste transfer agreement.
• Regulatory documents, including placement limits, MAP, MPE permits and conclusions.
• Lease agreement, evidence that the premises are owned.

This information is especially important when it comes to large payers. Sometimes only one certificate about the production activities of the enterprise is enough.

Each territorial body has its own rules of cooperation. It is better to find out about this in advance by visiting the relevant office.

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Small and medium enterprises. How do they pay for waste?

According to the law, representatives of small and medium-sized businesses must also prepare a report on the use of goods and waste.

And then, in accordance with current regulations, carry out disposal. Reports are sent to representatives of territorial bodies of Rosprirodnadzor before January 15 of the year following the reporting period.

At the same time, reporting must be confirmed not only by contracts with third-party organizations, but also by licenses of these organizations.

Otherwise, all documents will simply lose their validity. If documents or confirmation are missing, an increasing factor of up to 0.5 units is applied to the tax.

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What will change in the declaration procedure

As before, manufacturers of goods report to the territorial body of Rosprirodnadzor, and importers - to the Federal Rosprirodnadzor. At the same time, it is clarified: if a legal entity or individual entrepreneur is simultaneously a manufacturer of goods and an importer, then the declaration is submitted to the Federal Rosprirodnadzor.

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The Government Decree will come into force on August 4 (7 days after its official publication).

Do offices need to pay for waste?

It may seem that the activities of offices have nothing to do with this, since their activities do not affect the environment. But that's not true.

Rosprirodnadzor expects payments to come from any organizations and enterprises. This also applies to those involved in the so-called office business.

After all, consumer waste is always generated, including waste incandescent or fluorescent lamps, garbage, cartridges from office equipment, and so on.

But we must take into account that the environmental fee must be paid by the person to whom the waste belongs. And here everything is again determined by how the agreement is concluded with the organization that removes the garbage.

If it is owned by an organization, it pays tax. If not, then those who carry out the export must pay.

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Business against losing the opportunity not to pay when processing waste independently

The Ministry of Finance's bill on the systematization of non-tax payments has been supplemented with a chapter on the tax on the disposal of goods and packaging. This caused a storm of indignation from businesses, which, as part of the waste management reform, had a choice - pay an environmental fee or independently collect and dispose of the waste they create. Appeals against the initiative of the Ministry of Finance, according to Kommersant, are being prepared by the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Business Russia, the FIAC and even the Federation Council. The ministry itself told Kommersant that the amendments were being prepared to systematize non-tax payments - and are ready to discuss them with business

Part of the amendments to the Tax Code of the Russian Federation (TC) on replacing the fee for negative impact on the environment with an environmental tax (unlike the fee, it is not compensatory, but exclusively fiscal in nature) has been supplemented with a new chapter on the recycling fee. It involves expanding such collection from cars and machinery to all other goods and packaging.

As part of non-tax payments, it will become a separate chapter of the Tax Code

In the concept of waste management reform, companies can either invest independently in waste reduction, collection and disposal - or pay an eco-levy. The payment was to be used to finance government waste management programs. The fact that the environmental fee, in accordance with the government’s instructions to the Ministry of Finance on the systematization of non-tax payments, will fall into the Tax Code has been known since the beginning of 2021 (see “Kommersant” on March 19), but it is mentioned in the text of amendments to the Tax Code, published on regulation. ru, caused a storm of indignation from business. Companies have already begun to create industry associations for self-collection and recycling of waste and invest in infrastructure. In this situation, turning the environmental fee into a tax makes these investments meaningless. The tax regime contradicts the goals and objectives of the reform, “does not meet the needs, prospects for the development and functioning of the industry, worsens the situation of market participants, entails adverse consequences for them that the legislator and the participants in legal relations themselves could not take into account when establishing the obligation to independently dispose of waste goods and packaging, as well as on the payment of environmental fees,” states the draft position of the environmental committee of “Business Russia,” which Kommersant got acquainted with.

Why the Ministry of Finance proposes to make environmental responsibility fiscal from 2021

Lyubov Melanevskaya from the RusPEC association says that the amendments abolish the possibility of companies independently recycling waste - they are recognized as payers of the fee without any exceptions. “The regulatory framework for full-fledged independent recycling was formed only this year, by the same time associations of manufacturers had formed on the market, and recyclers saw options to develop their business through direct interaction with manufacturers,” she continues. “The independent implementation of companies’ responsibility for waste has always been advocated and the Ministry of Natural Resources. Now the entire system is automatically destroyed, turning into an additional source of budget replenishment.” At the same time, Ms. Melanevskaya does not argue with the need to increase the efficiency of administering non-tax payments - but no one told business that this would cancel the possibility of self-disposal.

According to Kommersant, this position is shared by all business and industry associations, in particular the RSPP, CCI, FIAC, RATEK. The Federation Council is also preparing a letter to the Ministry of Finance with business support. The Ministry of Finance itself, however, told Kommersant that the purpose of developing the amendments was to fulfill the order to systematize non-tax payments. The document may change. “The text has been published for discussion, including with the business community, which will be able to express their proposals for it,” the department says.

Kommersant continues to monitor developments.

Alexey Shapovalov, Olga Nikitina, Oleg Sapozhkov

About payments for air pollution from cars

Section 2 of the reporting is completed by those organizations that have mobile sources of pollution. It doesn't matter whether they are owned or rented.

There are no separate emissions limits for vehicles. But there are technical standards for emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere.

When conducting a technical inspection, specialists check whether a particular vehicle meets the specified requirements.

It is prohibited to operate a vehicle if it emits more harmful substances than specified in current regulations. Or a ban is imposed until the violations are eliminated.

The mass of pollutant emissions does not determine the payment standards. The determining factor here is the type of fuel used and its type.

The standards must be multiplied by the amount of fuel that was actually consumed. Primary accounting documents will help to accurately calculate how much fuel was consumed in a particular case. In volumetric units, fuel is taken into account by those who maintain waybills.

But basic payment standards are set separately for a ton of fuel. Liters are converted to tons for those interested in accurate calculations. To do this, multiply the volume of the material by the density.

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Warnings to managers and accountants

If the enterprise generates waste of hazard classes 1-4, then it is necessary to have passports for each of them. This also applies to unsorted household waste. Otherwise, the organization faces a fine for not complying with environmental requirements. The fine reaches 100 thousand rubles.

Material expenses within the approved limits - this is the section in which environmental payments are included in order to correctly calculate income tax. But when calculating the tax, emissions that go beyond the standard should not be taken into account.

Similar rules apply for the single tax on simplified taxation system. Payments for negative environmental impacts can reduce the tax base.

We can say that environmental payments are the same as ordinary tax levies that require reflection in reporting.

But when calculating taxes, they are included only if they are paid for maximum permissible discharges and limits.

Everything else is other expenses that are simply not taken into account for tax purposes. Regulatory authorities may request information on waste if the enterprise operates transport, but no payment is made for it.

If there is no response to the request, there is a risk of a serious fine.

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The procedure for calculating the environmental tax for emissions of pollutants in Belarus has been significantly simplified

How to calculate environmental tax

The need for calculation arises for organizations. In order to determine the amount of tax to be transferred, you will need to use the following calculation formula:

Taxtransp = Power * Rate * Tenure / 12 * Increasing coefficient

Let's look at each indicator in more detail.

The basis for calculating the tax is engine power, since it is this that acts as the tax base.

The base rate for transport tax is determined by the provisions of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. In turn, the regions have the opportunity to adjust it.

It is important to include the ownership period in the formula if the vehicle has been owned for less than one year.

An increasing factor is applied if the tax amount is determined in relation to expensive cars. In 2018, for luxury cars, the values ​​of increasing coefficients were reduced to a minimum level.

Today, legislation in force in the field of nature protection requires the payment of various environmental taxes to the budget, designed to ensure a level of environmental safety, as well as to finance environmental protection measures. One of these mandatory payments is transport tax. In the future, it is planned to replace this payment with an environmental tax. However, to date, precise information on this matter has not been provided.

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