President Putin defines tasks for taxmen

The first and foremost task is to create an "efficient system of state financial control", Russian president Vladimir Putin told the all-Russian conference of tax bodies and the federal bodies of the tax police. With this end in view, it is necessary not only "to have a clear idea about the fundamental issues of the state tax policy, its principles and prospects, but also to frankly discuss them," the President is quoted by RIA Novosti as saying. "The state tax policy is one of the key instruments of the economic development strategy," he stressed. Also, Mr. Putin spoke in favour of a “consistent and measured” lowering of the tax load. At that, he ruled out the possibility of changing the already existing 13-percent income tax: "We guarantee that the 13% tax rate has come to stay for years," he told the conference. Again, President Putin spoke of the necessity to simplify and debureaucratize taxation. He warned taxation bodies against “any groundless interference” in companies’ and persons’ affairs.