It's a small matter: Putin supports the transition period for tax changes

It is necessary to avoid an excessive increase in the tax burden on entrepreneurs and an increase in their costs against the background of the new rules. Vladimir Putin said this on January 21 at a meeting with the government. The President supported the idea of a transitional tax period for small businesses in 2026. Other topics included social issues that Russians were concerned about during the direct line. The Cabinet of Ministers has already developed proposals to preserve the right of large families to a single benefit with a slight excess of income. The head of state also instructed to make the support system for the participants of the special operation and their families more effective.

Record snowfall in Russia

On January 21, Vladimir Putin convened the first meeting of the new year with the government. First, we discussed in detail the uninterrupted supply of heat, light and water to citizens' homes and businesses in conditions of frost and snowfall.

— I would like to address all my colleagues, both in the federal authorities and in the regions. Nevertheless, severe frosts are expected at the end of the week in Central Russia, in the Volga region, and the likely return of snowfall in many areas. Therefore, we must be prepared for such a development of the situation," Vladimir Putin said.

This heating season, the number of accidents in the housing and communal services sector decreased by 32%, with a total of 107 incidents recorded, Minister of Construction and Housing Irek Fayzullin said. During the New Year holidays, power outages affected 500,000 consumers in 12 regions. At the same time, energy consumption in Russia also increased by 3%, Energy Minister Sergey Tsivilev added.

The head of the department named the parts of the country whose energy sector requires special attention: among them the Far East, the southeastern part of Siberia, the south as a whole, the new and border regions of the Russian Federation, as well as the Kaliningrad region. The meeting was also attended by the head of Kamchatka, Vladimir Solodov, who spoke in detail about the consequences of the heaviest snowfall in 50 years.

Kamchatka is now fully supplied with fuel and food, and the situation in the region is returning to normal after the abnormal cyclones. However, Solodov asked for additional funds to be allocated for the restoration of the street road network. Putin instructed the Ministry of Construction to promptly respond to this request.

Meanwhile, during the New Year holidays, transport fulfilled its task, despite the abnormal weather in a number of regions, added the head of the Ministry of Transport Andrey Nikitin.: "More than 13 million passengers were transported during the holiday period."

At the same time, 3.76 million of them used air transport, which is 1.2% more than a year earlier. Long-distance trains carried 7.4 million passengers during the holiday period, an increase of 1.5%. The number of accidents on key Russian highways also decreased by 20% during the New Year holidays, Andrey Nikitin said.

According to the minister, the weather this year has become a serious challenge, in particular, the snowfall in Moscow was among the five heaviest in 146 years, and the height of snowdrifts in some places reached almost half a meter.

Support for families with children with a slight increase in income

Most of the meeting was devoted to the main topic — the issues received by the December direct line of the president. In total, over 3 million requests were received, and more than 20% of them related to social policy.

— The issues that citizens raise are not only the most important indicator of where and in which areas the state should focus additional efforts and achieve better results. But every appeal is a direct indication of the actions of federal, regional, and local authorities," the head of state noted.

First of all, they touched upon the improvement of the support system for families with children. In particular, the problems of termination of payments with a slight increase in income. Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova clarified that the Cabinet of Ministers has already developed proposals to preserve the right of large families to a single benefit if the thresholds are exceeded.

According to her, if, upon its re-registration, the average per capita income of a large family turned out to be higher than one subsistence minimum, but the excess is no more than 10%, the allowance will be assigned once more for 12 months. It will take an additional 25.4 billion rubles. "It is necessary to launch this system [of adjusting the provision of benefits] as soon as possible," the president instructed.

We also started working on another initiative that came from the Russians. In particular, the extension of the work of nursery groups in kindergartens so that parents can take their children home at a more convenient time after their working day.

The measures have been worked out, and the Russian regions have been given the necessary recommendations, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko said.

— It is very important for a woman to return to work as soon as possible after the birth of a child, so as not to lose her qualifications. And what can help to do this? It's the nursery groups, it's the extension of the child's stay in nursery groups and kindergartens," said Vladimir Putin.

Payments to SVO fighters and their families were also on the agenda. During the direct line, the wife of the deceased soldier complained that she was not receiving a survivor's pension. As Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anna Tsivileva said, the necessary payments have already been made in full. She stressed that the mechanism for providing payments from the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation was not always convenient.

The Head of State demanded to thoroughly deal with each such case and instructed to make the support system for the participants of the special operation and their families more effective.

— Of course, we need to continue digitalizing all solutions related to the issues that we are currently discussing, to make this whole system more efficient and workable so that our guys, who are now risking their lives and sometimes giving their lives in the interests of Russia, are confident that all issues of a social nature and Decisions will be made for them and their family members," the head of state said.

Putin supports the transition period for tax changes for small businesses

We talked in detail about the current business situation using the example of the Mashenka bakery near Moscow, whose owner the president contacted during the "Results of the Year with Vladimir Putin" program. Then the entrepreneur explained that he had used a convenient patent taxation system. But starting in 2026, he will have to pay income tax and VAT, and for this he will have to hire a professional accountant and incur additional costs. On January 20, the businessman told the media that he plans to close the bakery: the business remains unprofitable.

Since January 1, a phased transition for businesses to a simplified taxation system has been underway. The income threshold from which the obligation to pay VAT appears is adjusted from 60 million to 20 million rubles.

— In recent years, many measures have been taken at the government and regional levels to support small businesses, especially manufacturing ones. Of course, this sector of the economy should be able to comfortably transition to new taxation systems. In other words, it is important to avoid an excessive increase in the burden on entrepreneurs, an increase in accounting costs, and so on," the president said.

The head of the Ministry of Economic Development, Maxim Reshetnikov, explained in detail how the bakery owner can reduce costs: for example, a business operating in the catering sector can benefit from VAT exemption, provided that salaries are calculated at the industry average level, including last year.

At the same time, Reshetnikov proposed to introduce a transition period for small businesses in 2026 and take into account the parameters of companies' activities not for 2025, but for the first quarter of this year. Entrepreneurs faced the need to choose a tax regime only at the end of last year and could no longer influence the indicators. And the innovation will allow businesses to adjust their performance and receive tax benefits. Vladimir Putin positively assessed this proposal.

— Small businesses are very mobile, they are ready to adapt and develop in a variety of conditions, but they really need support. The situation is now under the personal control of the president, which is a key signal for business. The advantage of the transition period is that it removes the harshness of the changes. Small businesses get time to adjust their turnover, numbers and financial performance to meet new requirements," Natalia Poluyanova, a member of the State Duma Committee on Small and Medium—sized Enterprises, told Izvestia.

The transition to the new tax conditions will take place smoothly and taking into account the capabilities of entrepreneurs, she stressed. Natalia Poluyanova explained: the assessment of activities will be based on current data, and not on the previous year, which allows you to preserve tax benefits and special conditions.: This reduces the risk of closures and retreating into the shadows and provides entrepreneurs with clear and stable working conditions.