The Influence of Geopolitical Factors on the Tax Policy of Russia at the Contemporary Stage of Development

Abstract

The problems analyzed in the article are new to the domestic financial and tax research due to their emergent character. The article considers the influence of geopolitical factors on the tax policy of the Russian Federation and marks the most visible implemented or prospective changes in the Russian tax system under the influence of the facts and circumstances related to the geopolitical component of modern development. The focus is made on the three factors of geopolitical nature, the influence of which on public finances and taxes of Russia has already been or may be the most noticeable in the future. These factors include the growth of military spending on the backdrop of escalating tensions in the political relations between Russia and Western countries; the exchange of trade and economic sanctions between Russia and Western countries; the pursuit of enhanced tax sovereignty of the regions in the framework of the current centralized model of fiscal federalism. The possible consequences of the policy of sanctions imposed as the result of the new round of geopolitical confrontation between Russia and Western countries are analyzed. Among these consequences we should name the use of tax incentives to compensate the losses of exporters; the use of tax regulators at the financial market; the search for new sources of tax revenues for regional budgets; anti-offshore policy in relation to the Russian tax residents; the limitation of the benefits of using the consolidated groups of taxpayers; the possibility of creating a special (free) economic zone in Crimea with the regime of preferential taxation. It is proved that the manifestation of geopolitics requires the serious understanding of its consequences in all spheres, including the system of public finances and taxes.