MOSCOW, January 25 (RIA Novosti) - The medium-term program of Russia's social and economic development in 2006-2008 includes a provision to reduce value-added tax from the current 18% to 13% in the coming three years, a government source said Wednesday.
Earlier, the size of VAT reduction was not specified in the program's outline, the source said.
"It is necessary to make a decision on reducing the basic VAT rate, considering positive trends in the development of the Russian economy, and bring it down to 13%," the authors of the program said.
The VAT reduction issue has long been under discussion in the government, evoking different response from various departments. Particularly, the Finance Ministry proposed considering the VAT reduction from 2009.
