Page 133 - RusRPTFeb23

summer, the Ministry of Finance advocated a complete revision of the approach to taxing the salaries of employees of Russian companies living abroad and working remotely.
The Kremlin is distancing itself from this issue, with a source close to the presidential administration saying in December that the Presidential Administration believes people will return on their own. However, the problem of shortage of IT specialists in Russia remains acute.
9.1.9 Tourism sector news
The number of foreigners visiting Russia as part of an organized tour plummeted by more than 90% during 2022 as the country’s international isolation over its invasion of Ukraine kept most travelers away, the Kommersant business daily reported on Tuesday. Official figures place the y/y drop in Russia's inbound tourist numbers as a whole at just 40%, from almost 290,000 last year to 190,000 in 2022, Kommersant said. In 2019, some 5.1mn tourists visited Russia, of which as many as 400,000 came as part of an organized tour.
The Russian Ministry of Economic Development has proposed lifting the VAT rate for domestic and inbound tour operators, to align the support measures previously passed for hotels, Vedomosti daily reported. This move follows the law on nullification of the VAT for hotels that was signed in July 2022, which was seen as a "milestone" decision by the ministry that has attracted investments in the industry. Reportedly, setting a zero VAT rate for the tourism operators could be done "retroactively" from January 2023 to July 2027. The EconMin reportedly argued that traditional tourism operators are losing competition to small companies that operate on simplified tax systems, as well as to online platforms that operate under other fiscal schemes. The proposal has reportedly received support from Russian President Vladimir Putin and Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, who believes that it will stimulate the tourism business (although previous the FinMin turned down additional support measures for the industry).
Russian airlines increased passenger traffic during the New Year holidays by 11.3% to over 2.26mn people, the Federal Air Transport Agency reported on January 9.
Russian tourist traffic to the Maldives sank 8.4% year-on-year to 201,952 visits in 2022, the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) said on Monday, citing data from the Maldives’ authorities.
"From January to December 2022 inclusive, 201,952 visits by citizens of the Russian Federation were counted in the country. To recap, 220,424 visits by Russians were registered there in 2021, a record-breaking year for Russian
133 RUSSIA Country Report February 2023 www.intellinews.com