Pavlinova O.V. The Mineral Resource Extraction Tax (MRET): current situation and opportunities for future development

Abstract: Due to the resource oriented state of the Russian economy, the taxation of the recovery of minerals is one of the main sources of revenue for the budget of the Russian Federation. Even minor changes in the price of oil on the international market have a huge impact upon the national budget of the Russian Federation, and the problem of replenishing it has lately become quite relevant. Over the course of being enacted the Mineral Resource Extraction Tax (MRET) has proven its fiscal orientation, while its regulating regulatory function has moved to the background and in doing so, acquired multiple problems in the field of oil extraction. This article reveals the flaws within the MRET of the Russian Federation and reviews the ways of improving it under the current conditions. The conclusions are made on the quality of the conducted tax policies in the Russian Federation with regards to taxation of the petroleum extraction industry, including changes to the current legislation. Presently, we can observe an annual increase in the MRET revenue into the budget of the Russian Federation and the growth in the specific weight of tax within the overall structure of budget revenue. However, despite the positive dynamics of the MRET index, there is a growing number of flaws within the current system of oil taxation that have negative effect on the present state and future development of the industry.

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