Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Thursday urged the government to improve tax administration to make tax breaks efficient for high-tech projects.
"We need to improve the quality of tax administration to make new and existing benefits for high-tech production yield tangible results," Putin said at a government meeting.
Putin said the government would finally approve on Thursday tax policy guidelines for the next year and also a tax package intended to stimulate innovations in the real sector of the economy.
The premier said the government measures included compensation for growth in obligatory social insurance rates for high-tech business, reduced tax rates for innovation business special economic zones and innovation businesses at universities until 2015.
Other measures included amendments to the procedure of amortization accrual, procedures on registering R&D expenses, a reduced list of documents required for applying the zero VAT rate in exports, exemptions of energy-efficient equipment from corporate property tax for a period of three years and other measures.
Russia is currently constructing a high-tech business park in Skolkovo near Moscow to ensure breakthroughs in the country's innovation sector. The project has already been dubbed Russia's answer to Silicon Valley.
Russia considers the development of the high-tech and innovation sector its top priority and has pledged billions of U.S. dollars to finance the sector, which it hopes will end the country's dependence on raw material exports.
The activities of the high-tech research hub in Skolkovo will focus on five priority spheres: energy, information technologies, communication, biomedical research and nuclear technologies.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said in April the high-tech business park near Moscow will enjoy unprecedented privileges and will be exempt from major taxes.
Medvedev said residents of the technological park will enjoy tax holidays during a period of ten years and will be exempt from the payment of profit tax, VAT, property and land taxes until their annual sales reach 1 billion rubles ($34 million) and eventually until their accrued profits amount to 300 million rubles ($10 million).
MOSCOW, May 20 (RIA Novosti)
