How to pay tourist tax in Crimea. Resort fees will not be charged to “savages.” Collection history in other countries

Who and how will collect the resort fee from May 1, 2018? In which regions will the experiment to introduce the fee take place? Is a resort fee an additional fiscal burden on a business? You will find answers to these and other questions in this article.

Introductory information about the resort fee

The introduction of a resort fee in Russia is an experiment that will be carried out in the Republic of Crimea, Altai, Krasnodar and Stavropol region. This is evidenced by the very name of the federal law on the introduction of resort fees dated July 29, 2017 No. 214-FZ - “On conducting an experiment on the development of resort infrastructure in the Republic of Crimea, Altai Territory, Krasnodar region and Stavropol Territory." For convenience, in this article we will call this law<О курортном сборе>.

Resort fee, in fact, is a mandatory payment that individuals will have to pay for each day of use of the resort infrastructure in the territories of the municipalities where the experiment is taking place.

What is resort infrastructure

Resort infrastructure is a set of facilities for medical and health, socio-cultural, physical culture, sports and recreational purposes, including parks, squares, urban forests, boulevards, health paths, beaches, embankments, pedestrian zones, landscaping elements, as well as other objects that can satisfy the spiritual and other needs of tourists, contribute to the maintenance of their vital functions, restoration and development of their physical strength, located on the territory of the experiment, with the exception of objects of the communal infrastructure system and highways(Article 2 of the Federal Law<О курортном сборе>).

Organizations and individual entrepreneurs, as business entities, are not payers of resort fees. The fee will be charged exclusively to individuals. And not only citizens of the Russian Federation, but from all “physicists” (regardless of citizenship).

Who are the payers of the fee?

Payers of the resort fee are individuals who have reached the age of majority and stay in accommodation facilities for more than 24 hours.

Timing of the experiment

The indicated experiment in collecting the resort fee will be carried out until December 31, 2022. The resort fee can be collected no earlier than May 1, 2018. Payment of the fee before this date is not provided.

Who will collect the fee

From May 1, 2018, resort tax operators will take over the collection. They will be legal entities or individual entrepreneurs carrying out activities to provide hotel services and (or) services for temporary collective or individual accommodation and (or) activities to ensure temporary accommodation (including activities for the provision of residential premises for use), including in residential premises.

Thus, the operator of the resort fee will be, for example, a hotel located in the region where the experiment is being conducted. It will have to collect a resort fee from individuals and submit relevant reports to the authorized body (it has not yet been determined). How often will the resort fee be reported? Will it be quarterly, monthly, annual or daily? These issues have not yet been resolved at the legislative level.

The authorized body will be required to maintain a register of resort fee operators. It may include organizations and individual entrepreneurs who accommodate vacationers at accommodation facilities.

An accommodation facility is an individually defined building or premises in a building intended for the provision of hotel services, services for temporary collective or individual accommodation, as well as residential premises suitable for temporary residence (Article 3 of the Federal Law<О курортном сборе>).

Resort fee amounts from May 1, 2018

The resort fee cannot exceed 100 rubles. Moreover, in 2018, the amount of the resort fee cannot exceed 50 rubles (Article 5 of the Federal Law<О курортном сборе>).

Currently, the following resort tax rates are provided in the listed constituent entities of the Russian Federation:

Altai region– 30 rubles per person per day (in 2018);
Republic of Crimea – 10 rubles (from May 1 to September 30) or 0 rubles (the rest of the time);
Krasnodar region – 10 rubles per person per day;
Stavropol Territory – 50 rubles per person per day.

The amount of the resort fee payable will be calculated as the product of the number of days the resort fee payer actually stays at the property, excluding the day of arrival, and the corresponding resort fee amount. (Article 8 of the Federal Law<О курортном сборе>).

Resort fee = Number of days of stay x resort fee rate

Let's give a possible example of a calculation. Let’s assume that a family of three (husband, wife and minor child) live in a sanatorium in July 2018 Krasnodar region- 14 days. Resort fee – 10 rubles per person per day. Then for each adult family member you will need to pay 140 rubles (10 rubles x 14 days) as a resort fee in addition to payment for accommodation. For a family, two adult family members will need to contribute 280 rubles (140 rubles + 140 rubles). There is no need to pay a resort fee for a minor child.

Please note that the amount of the resort fee according to the law of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation can be differentiated depending on the season (including reduced to 0 rubles), the length of stay of the resort fee payer at the accommodation facility, the value of the resort in accordance with the law Russian Federation about natural healing resources, medical and recreational areas and resorts, the location of the territories of municipalities included in the experiment territory.

Thus, it is possible that, for example, in the winter-autumn period the fee will not be collected at all. It is also possible that the resort fee, for example, for the first five days of stay will be maximum, and then will be gradually reduced (for example, from 100 to 20 rubles per day of stay). All such questions will have to be determined by the authorities of the “experimental” subjects. And here it is necessary to analyze their local laws.

The resort fee operator will be required to calculate the resort fee. And when collecting a fee, provide the payer of the resort fee with a document confirming the fact of payment.

Who is exempt from paying the fee

Article 7 of the Federal Law<О курортном сборе>provides a list of persons who are exempt from paying the resort fee. Preferential categories include:

persons awarded the titles of Hero of the Soviet Union, Hero of the Russian Federation or who are full holders of the Order of Glory;
persons awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor or Hero of Labor of the Russian Federation or awarded the Order of Labor Glory of three degrees;
participants of the Great Patriotic War;
combat veterans from among the persons specified in subparagraphs 1 - 4 of paragraph 1 of Article 3 of the Federal Law of January 12, 1995 No. 5-FZ “On Veterans”;
persons awarded the badge “Resident of besieged Leningrad”;
persons who worked at the facilities during the Great Patriotic War air defense, local air defense, on the construction of defensive structures, naval bases, airfields and other military facilities within the rear boundaries of active fronts, operational zones of active fleets, on front-line sections of railways and roads, as well as crew members of transport fleet ships interned at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War in the ports of other states;
disabled war veterans;
family members of deceased (deceased) disabled war veterans, participants of the Great Patriotic War and combat veterans, family members of persons killed in the Great Patriotic War from among the personnel of self-defense groups of facility and emergency teams of local air defense, as well as family members of deceased hospital workers and city clinics Leningrad;
persons exposed to radiation as a result of the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, as well as as a result of nuclear tests at the Semipalatinsk test site, and persons equivalent to them;
disabled people of groups I and II;
persons accompanying disabled people of group I and disabled children in accordance with Federal Law of July 17, 1999 No. 178-FZ “On State Social Assistance”;
low-income families, low-income citizens living alone and other categories of citizens provided for by Federal Law of July 17, 1999 No. 178-FZ “On State Social Assistance”, who have an average per capita income below the subsistence level established at the place of their residence in the relevant constituent entity of the Russian Federation ;
persons who arrived in the experiment territory in order to receive specialized, including high-tech, medical care or medical rehabilitation after the provision of specialized, including high-tech, medical care in the conditions of sanatorium-resort organizations, as well as the person accompanying them if the patient is child under 18 years of age;
patients with tuberculosis;
persons under the age of 24 years studying full-time in educational organizations located in the experiment territory;
persons permanently working in the experimental territory on the basis of an employment contract or service contract;
persons who have a place of residence in the experiment territory;
persons who have the right of ownership of residential buildings (shares in the ownership of them) and (or) residential premises (shares in the ownership of them) on the territory of the experiment;
athletes, coaches, sports judges, as well as other specialists in the field physical culture and sports who arrived to participate in official sporting events in the experiment territory.

Also, constituent entities of the Russian Federation have the right to establish additional preferential categories. That is, for example, it is possible that in a particular region, for example, members of large families may be exempt from paying resort fees.

Where will the resort fee money go?

The money from the resort fee will go to the budget of the region in whose territory the experiment is taking place. Regions will also be able to create their own resort infrastructure development funds in order to manage the collected funds and use them to finance the design, construction, repair and improvement of resort infrastructure. To control the expenditure of funds, it is proposed to create public councils.

Resort Fee in Sochi is required to be paid by all vacationers in Anapa, Gelendzhik, Sochi, Adler on Krasnaya Polyana in Goryachy Klyuch and all four resort settlements of the Tuapse region: Novomikhailovsky, Dzhubga, Nebug and Shepsi from July 16, 2018, the amount of the resort fee is 10 rubles per day per person.

Resort Tax in Sochi, Who and How to Pay

The procedure for registering and paying a resort fee takes no more than 5 minutes; each guest, when checking into a guest house, hotel, inn or sanatorium, fills out a form in which he consents to the processing of personal data and pays the required amount simultaneously with payment for staying at the hotel. All detailed information Hoteliers are required to provide their own accommodation at the place of accommodation.

It turns out that for two weeks of vacation, mom, dad and two children will pay an additional 280 rubles (140 rubles from each parent, children are exempt from the fee). Compared to travel costs and prices in hotels, cafes and restaurants in the Resorts of the Krasnodar Region, this is not so much.

Who Will Pay the Resort Fee

All people staying in places of accommodation (hotels, apartments and private houses) for more than 24 hours, with the exception of beneficiaries, must pay the fee, it follows from the bill. It is proposed to exempt from the resort fee, in particular, Heroes of the USSR and Russia, full holders of the Order of Glory, participants and disabled people of the Patriotic War, Chernobyl survivors, Semipalatinsk residents and disabled people of groups I and II, as well as children under 18 years of age and students.

In addition, the fee is not expected to be taken from people who permanently live and work in the experimental territory, and also have their own housing there. Regional authorities will have the right to expand the list of beneficiaries.

Visitors will have to prove the availability of benefits by providing the originals of the relevant documents to “resort tax operators” - hotel employees, individual entrepreneurs, as well as owners of apartments or residential buildings they rent, and they will have to separately report to the authorities about such benefit recipients.

In confirmation of payment of the fee, the visitor will have to receive a special document from the fee operator; this document will be issued to him at the end of his stay at the accommodation facility, it follows from the bill. Responsibility for failure to comply with the law on resort fees will be established by special regional laws.

What Tour Operators and Travel Agents Say

Tour operators and representatives of the tourism industry are skeptical about the tourist tax. Any increase in price has a negative impact on the consumer - especially now, when outbound tourism in general has again begun to increase in momentum, including due to the opening of Turkey, says Dmitry Gorin, vice-president of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia.

The resort fee is valid in some countries of the world, but for Russians with their current tendency to save money, this is not a good idea, confirms the company’s director of public relations “ Tez Tour Russia" Larisa Akhanova.

Now tourists are ready to go to another agency because of the difference in the price of a package tour of only 1 thousand rubles. And the fee for a family of several people or, for example, for those coming for sanatorium-resort treatment in the Stavropol Territory can amount to a significant amount, Akhanova argues. The average stay for treatment is 21 days, she reminds.

If in the regions they propose to take into account the seasonality and popularity of resorts, then the tourism business pays more attention to the need to take into account the financial capabilities of Russians, especially those who are usually classified as budget tourists.

How much do they collect from tourists abroad?

In New York City, the tourist tax is 13.25% of the room rate, plus $2 per night.
In Vienna, a city tax of 3.2% of the room rate is charged for the first three months of your stay in the city. Minors and young people living in hostels are exempt from paying the tax.
In Amsterdam and Berlin, the tourist tax is 5% of the room rate per night. However, in the German capital the fee is charged for the first three weeks of stay in the city.
In Prague, the local tax rate is 15 CZK (about 35 rubles) per person for each day of stay, except the day of arrival. People under 18 and over 70 years of age are exempt from paying the tax.
In Lisbon, a tax of €1 per day is charged for the first seven days of stay, children under 18 years of age are also exempt from paying it.
In Brussels, city taxes range from €2.15 to €8.75 per night depending on accommodation conditions.
In Bern, the tourist tax consists of three parts: accommodation tax (1 franc), transport tax (1.5 francs) and resort tax. The resort fee for hotels and apartments ranges from 2.5 to 6 francs, for hostels and hostels - from 1.25 to 3 francs. At the same time, payment of the transport fee entitles you to receive a travel card, which provides the right to a free transfer to the airport, as well as trips to public transport in the center of Bern. Children under 6 years of age are exempt from all payments.

4,000,000 Rubles have already been collected in Resort Fee

Receipts from the Resort Fee in Sochi amounted to about 4 million rubles, Sergei Domorat, head of the city department of resorts and recreational resources, said about this.

According to him, July and August are the peak holiday season in Sochi. He added that by August 10, all enterprises hosting vacationers in the city and the entire Krasnodar Territory must submit reports on the first results of the experiment with resort fees, TASS reports.

At the same time, Domorat noted that the list of those objects to which funds from this collection will be directed is currently being discussed.

Resort Collection How it all began

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the introduction of the Resort Tax in Russia on September 22, 2016
Proceeds from the new tax should be used to develop the country’s sanatorium and resort complex, as noted in the president’s instructions.

The order was to be implemented by March 1, 2017, and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev was appointed responsible for its implementation.

In August, Putin supported the introduction of a resort tax. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov then said that the amount of such a fee would be no more than 50-100 rubles. It was planned to implement such an innovation in four regions of Russia - Altai Territory, Krasnodar Territory, Crimea and the Caucasus Mineralnye Vody(Stavropol region).

The head of state emphasized that the payment should not lead to a sharp increase in tariffs; if this is done, then it should be done very carefully, without raising payments, unnoticed by vacationers. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov replied that we are talking about a small amount, about 50-100 rubles.

Mayor of Sochi Anatoly Pakhomov

Mayor of Sochi Anatoly Pakhomov expressed his opinion on September 23, 2016, Resort Tax must be paid by all tourists, guests of private houses and mini-hotels

The contribution may be minimal. Even 100 rubles is also a contribution. The city will use this money to do improvements. There is world experience that is quite effective, and it will be studied in Sochi,” commented Anatoly Pakhomov.

The mayor of Sochi argued that now tax revenues to the resort budget are not enough to cover the costs of maintaining roads, recreation areas, natural attractions and housing and communal services infrastructure. It is on them that the load increases many times over during the high season. So far, most of the income goes directly to the owners of hotels, restaurants, and entertainment facilities. Therefore, the resort fee will be a good help for the city.

At the same time, Pakhomov noted that it is also necessary to develop a clear mechanism for collecting the tourist tax, so that all its burden does not fall on sanatoriums and hotels that pay other taxes.

This year, a resort fee will not be introduced in the Krasnodar Territory because “the bill is under development,” the Ministry of Resorts, Tourism and Olympic Heritage reported.

Governor of the Krasnodar Territory Veniamin Kondratyev

In turn, the Governor said that the Krasnodar Territory was one of the first regions that took the initiative to introduce a resort fee and we were ready to introduce the fee this year. But the corresponding federal law has not yet been adopted. We really hope that next year the measure will become mandatory. For the development of Kuban resorts, it is needed more than ever.

The Government Approved the Resort Fee Bill

On April 28, 2017, the Russian government supported the bill on resort fees. The document provides for the introduction, as an experiment, of a tax for the use of tourism infrastructure in Crimea, as well as in the Altai, Krasnodar and Stavropol territories.

The duration of the project is from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2022. The maximum collection amount is 100 rubles. At the same time, the regions will set the specific tax amount themselves. The funds raised will be used to improve resort areas and repair tourist infrastructure.

Based on the results of the experiment, a decision will be made either to introduce the tax on a permanent basis throughout Russia, or to abandon such measures; the bill also defined preferential categories of citizens who are exempt from paying tourist tax. Among them are participants in the Great Patriotic War, disabled people, and low-income families.

THE FEDERAL LAW

On conducting an experiment on the development of resort infrastructure in the Republic of Crimea, Altai Territory, Krasnodar Territory and Stavropol Territory

Vitaly Mutko, as Deputy Prime Minister said, in the conditions of fierce competition in the tourism market, Russian regions need to focus primarily on creating high-quality infrastructure and new tourism products, as well as improving the quality of service, and not constantly chasing higher prices.

The Russian government called on regions to approach the introduction of resort fees wisely and with great caution, not counting on this mechanism as an additional source of earning money.

We see that our competition in this area is very tough - we have Turkey, we have Egypt nearby, where a variety of mechanisms are used today. Incentive, not restrictive,” the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized, as quoted by TASS. Vitaly Mutko believes that the introduction of resort fees by federal subjects and municipalities “must be approached very, very carefully.

The Deputy Prime Minister’s words about caution have already been “heard” in the territories: a number of media outlets, with reference to regional governments, have already reported that the maximum collection amount will be from 30 to 50 rubles. Just a year ago, a figure of 150 rubles appeared in discussions: for example, such a maximum amount of resort fees was considered possible in Sochi and the Altai Territory. This year, the Russian government, having decided on the timing of the introduction of the new mechanism (from January 1, 2018), proposed a maximum amount of 100 rubles in the bill on resort fees.

However, this value in a number of regions today seems too high and scares off tourists. As the head of the Crimean health resort complex and tourism committee, Alexey Chernyak, said, it is not profitable to set a fee that is too large, given the fact that Turkey heavily dumps on the market.

In his opinion, in the first few years the size of the resort fee should be minimal, and besides, the territories need time to develop the collection mechanism and its practical implementation.

There is still no final understanding of the format in which the resort tax will be collected in Sochi; its size will vary depending on the municipality and the season (for example, in the low season the tax will not be applied).

in the third and final reading the law on the introduction of a resort fee. According to this document, from May 2018 until the end of 2022 in Crimea, as well as the Altai, Krasnodar and Stavropol territories, as part of an experiment, tourists will be charged an additional fee for using resort infrastructure.

Regions will have the right to regulate the amount of the fee, which, however, will not exceed 100 rubles per day. In 2018, the maximum fee will be 50 rubles per day. Russians staying at the resort for more than 24 hours will have to pay this amount.

The money collected will have to be directed to special funds intended for the design, construction, reconstruction, maintenance, improvement and repair of resort infrastructure. These funds will be considered as part of the budget of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation. Public councils will be able to control the targeted use of their resources.

The introduction of a resort fee will lead to the fact that a family of three will be forced to overpay three thousand rubles for a vacation in ten days, noted the deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Budget and Taxes Alexander Remezkov.

“For some, especially for large families and those who save every penny for vacation, denying themselves literally everything, this is already a significant expense,” he said.

Administering the fee will be very expensive, says the head of the State Duma Committee on the Financial Market Anatoly Aksakov. “The positive aspects associated with additional fees may be offset by the fact that administration costs will be too high,” he noted.

Who will be exempt from paying the fee?

The text of the law contains a list of groups of citizens who will be exempt from paying the “experimental” fee. These are Heroes of the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation, Heroes of Socialist Labor and Heroes of Labor of the Russian Federation, participants of the Great Patriotic War and combat veterans, people awarded the badge “Resident of Siege Leningrad”, war invalids, family members of war invalids and combat veterans, as well as people affected by the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

Disabled people of groups 1 and 2, children under 18 years of age, low-income families and citizens, as well as people accompanying persons entitled to receive state social assistance are exempt from paying the fee. The benefit applies to those who come to the resort region to receive specialized medical care or rehabilitation, and if a child is being treated, then also to accompanying persons.

People who permanently live or work in the “experiment territory” will also not pay the fee. But you can study without paying a fee in a resort region only until you are 24 years old, then you will have to pay on a general basis. In addition, athletes participating in official sporting events and some other categories of citizens are exempt from paying the fee.

To be exempt from paying the resort fee, you will have to take with you on vacation a document confirming your right to this benefit.

In Crimea they supported the idea, in the Krasnodar Territory they doubt it

The Crimean authorities supported the idea of a resort fee. They hope that it will give “additional impetus” to the development of the region’s resort infrastructure.

“We have already agreed with the leaders resort regions that we will create a working group that will monitor how convenient and easy the resort fee is for tourists. This will allow you to quickly respond to the situation and make the necessary changes,” said the head of the region. Sergey Aksenov.

In the Krasnodar Territory they urged to approach resort fees with “extra caution.” “Today we already see certain risks. Nowadays, resort fees need to be approached carefully and carefully. This is, indeed, a source of additional income for the development of the industry, but in today’s conditions it must be introduced very carefully so that it does not work in reverse side", the Minister of Resorts, Tourism and Olympic Heritage of the Krasnodar Territory said earlier Christopher Konstantinidi.

In Russia it made a lot of noise in our society. And it cannot be said that only oppositionists “from the people” were opponents of innovations. Disputes flared up at all levels, including the cabinet. As it should be in a “normal democratic” state, President V.V. Putin himself put an end to it. As you know, after his opinion, all discussions and disputes stop. What is a resort fee in Russia? Why is it needed, what is its essence? We will try to answer all these questions in this article.

Concept

A resort fee in Russia is a mandatory fee levied on tourists coming to a specific tourist site. Its goal is to maintain the existing infrastructure.

Where should the funds from the collection be sent?

All funds from the collection go exclusively to the budget of the complex in which the vacationers are located. Apparently, this is why federal officials strongly resisted its introduction. It is one thing to introduce a new tax that goes to the Center, another thing is to introduce a fee that will go towards the development of a specific facility. This decreases popularity, because the new collection has not yet given anyone popularity, and no more money is added. The essence of the resort fee, which will be in effect from March 1, 2017, is that the funds from it must be in the hands of a specific tourist attraction and must be directed to:

Modernization of resort areas.
Financing of environmental activities.
Improvement of service.
Reconstruction tourist sites, monuments, etc.

That is why the heads of those regions that have huge tourist flows were the most active in supporting it: Krasnodar Territory, Altai Territory, regions of the Golden Ring, etc.

New - well forgotten old?

Middle-aged and older people know that resort fees in Russia, reviews of which among ordinary citizens are extremely negative, already existed relatively recently. It was introduced back in 1991 - by the RSFSR Law “On resort fees from individuals” - and lasted until 2004. In the early 2000s. a course was taken for a sharp reduction in taxes. The country was “coming out of the shadows”; such measures were well advertised. The fees per person were minimal, and they did not carry any special financial burden. The uninitiated did not even know that it existed, and only heard about it after its abolition.

Today everything is different. Society very negatively perceives the introduction of any additional fees or taxes, as well as the increase in existing ones. In an era of economic crisis and declining purchasing power of citizens, on the eve of the presidential elections, such a step speaks of the authorities’ complete confidence in their actions.

How much will you have to pay

The peculiarity of the new fee is that there is no fixed amount, which our vacationer did not particularly notice. The new prices will be differentiated - the regions have been given economic will and freedom of action. This means that the collection price announced today, from 50 to 450 rubles per day, is just a recommendation that does not have the force of law.

The final cost will depend on the specific tourist site and on the rates that local officials will set. It was not for nothing that it was the governors of the tourist regions who united and lobbied for the initiative as a united front.

What will collection mean in practice?

In practice, a resort fee in Russia will mean one thing - a significant increase in the cost of vouchers. So, for example, a family of 4 people can additionally spend about 2 thousand rubles per day at our resorts. Let's add this for 10-15 days and we get almost the cost of one last minute trip to Turkey.

Resort fees are not for everyone

It is unknown how things will be in the future, but from March 1, 2017, it was decided to introduce a resort fee in test mode in four regions:

Altai region.
Krasnodar region.
Stavropol region.
Crimea.

Each region will determine the size of the resort fee independently, so far it has been recommended to keep it as low as possible.

The Altai Territory has not yet disclosed its data on tariffs; as for the remaining test regions, the sizes have already been determined in them and the possible profits have been calculated. At the Ministry of Affairs North Caucasus expect to receive about 700 million rubles in the new holiday season, this is with a maximum rate of 150 rubles/day. Crimea announced a one-time fee of 300 rubles, regardless of the number of days.

What about them?

The practice of resort fees is common in many tourist countries, but not in all. You will definitely have to pay in France (1-3 euros), Egypt (7 dollars), Spain (0.7-2.5 euros). In Turkey, Bulgaria and India there are no such duties, but Russia in such matters always relies on the experience of those who raise taxes and fees and introduce new ones.

The difficult way to introduce the fee

The new collection to local budgets has truly earned its right to exist. Back in 2011, President D. A. Medvedev ordered to study the issue of local tax and develop the necessary mechanisms. Then the governor of the Stavropol Territory lobbied for this idea. At that time, officials and economists from various departments were against such an idea. The following were stated as arguments:

Lack of feasibility and efficiency of collection.
Negative attitude towards domestic tourism. Then there was no talk of any import substitution, sanctions or counter-sanctions, or calls for patriotism. Our citizens chose a last minute trip to Turkey instead of the Krasnodar Territory, because it was much cheaper and the service was better. Now, with devaluation, economic and political problems in Russia and the world, this balance is gradually leveling out, and in the near future, most likely, the role of domestic tourism will greatly increase.
Such a collection, according to many officials, can provoke various gray and corruption schemes. The tenacity and persistence with which local authorities are promoting this idea gives reason to think about it.

Be that as it may, Medvedev’s proposal was “lost” in the Ministry of Finance. The Deputy Prime Minister tried to understand the situation in April, and already in May the Ministry of Finance made a final decision that the collection was inappropriate. This ended the initiative of D. A. Medvedev as president. The next time he remembered it was in September 2014 at the International Economic Forum.

In May 2015, the Government already rejected the project of senators Evgeny Bushminov, Sergei Ryabukhin, Vladimir Petrov. However, not a single ministry was interested in him: neither Rospotrebnadzor, nor the Ministry of Finance, nor the Ministry of Economic Development. Federal officials estimated that the costs would be much higher than the fees themselves. Perhaps, in this way, officials hinted at the lack of desire to work for specific regions for free, since all funds will be completely deposited locally.

There is a fee - no service

Tour operators were also against it. The main argument is the negative assessment of consumers. This is logical: how can you collect an additional fee where there are no more or less normal conditions compared to Turkey. The necessary funds for the reconstruction of existing complexes will be collected through such collections only after a few years. Consequently, the first holidaymakers will actually pay for others who will come here a few years later. This, to put it mildly, is unfair and even, one might say, unconstitutional.

The fight for collection continues

In the summer of 2015, the Association of Tour Operators (ATOR) announced that a pilot project would appear in the Stavropol Territory. The law is being lobbied by the Ministry for North Caucasus Affairs. It offers to make a fixed bet - 50-100 rubles. The funds should be used to pay for the hotel and boarding house after the fact. There was no talk then of any increase in the price of travel tickets due to the introduction of a new fee.

In April 2016, the Ministry of Economic Development gave a negative opinion on such measures. The main argument is a significant increase in the cost of travel in the absence of proper control over in cash. Let’s imagine that a family of 4 people will give away almost 8.5 thousand rubles in half a month, and it is unknown what this money will be used for. One can hardly hope that without proper control, every penny of this money will be spent on infrastructure development. According to the Ministry of Economic Development, this money will end up in the gray bureaucratic schemes of local officials.

The President has the final say

V.V. Putin supported the introduction of a resort fee. After this, all contradictions between officials at all levels immediately ceased. The project became expedient, profitable, and justified. Instead of one pilot region, four were introduced. Resort fees in Russia, judging by the project, range from 300 rubles once to 450 rubles. per day per person.

Resort or “tourist” taxes have been levied in many countries for a long time. foreign countries. In Italy, Spain, the USA, Egypt, Thailand and a number of other countries, such a tax is received from a tourist upon entering or leaving the country, or is included in the cost of an air ticket, hotel, visa payments, etc. In 2017, it was decided to introduce a resort fee in Russia. We will talk further about what this fee is, who will pay it and where, and in what amount.

What is a resort fee

“Resort” is one of the types of taxes that the state establishes in areas where citizens come en masse for vacations, sanatorium treatment, etc. This is a fixed amount that tourists and vacationers pay to regional budgets during their stay there on vacation.

Proceeds from the resort fee go to the local budget and are used to develop the resort and sanatorium infrastructure of the region.

Introduction of resort tax in the Russian Federation

The law on resort fees was already in force in Russia from 1991 to 2004. At that time, its size was 5% of the minimum wage, but due to its ineffectiveness, this law was repealed. According to the new law dated July 29, 2017 No. 214-FZ, the introduction of an additional fee from tourists is an experiment aimed at developing resort areas so far only in four regions of Russia:

in Crimea,
in the Altai region,
in the Krasnodar region,
in the Stavropol region.

The time frame of the experiment is limited: collection of the fee will begin no earlier than 05/01/2018. and will last until December 31, 2022. At the end of the experiment, legislators will evaluate its effectiveness and, perhaps, the law on resort fees will extend to other “resort and sanatorium” regions of the country.

On the territory of the subject, the fee is introduced by local law, which establishes the specific territory of its operation, size, procedure for transferring to the budget, etc.

Resort fee: size

The law determined the maximum amount of the resort fee introduced by regional authorities: in 2018, the fee cannot exceed 50 rubles, and from 2019 its amount is limited to 100 rubles.

The amount of the fee charged is fixed, but can vary depending on the season, for example, increasing in the summer and being minimal in the winter, or even zero if, in the opinion of local authorities, this will attract more holidaymakers. Also, it is allowed to change the amount of the fee depending on the time of stay of the vacationer in the resort area, or the degree of importance of the resort (Article 5 of Law No. 214-FZ).

The regions themselves will determine the specific amounts of the fee in their regulations, although today it is already assumed that the resort fee in Crimea will be from 25 to 30 rubles. per day, in Altai - 30 rubles, in the Stavropol Territory - 30-50 rubles. per day of stay. The lowest estimated resort fee is in the Krasnodar Territory: it is expected that it will not exceed 20-30 rubles. per day.

Resort tax: how it will be collected

All adult individuals staying in a hotel or other accommodation facility for more than 1 day (24 hours) must pay a resort fee. The fee applies not only to Russian citizens, but also to foreigners. However, it will not be collected from persons working or living in resort areas, or having real estate there, from students studying in this territory, from tuberculosis patients, from persons who arrived to receive specialized medical care or rehabilitation, low-income families and citizens, disabled people of groups I and II and their accompanying persons, war invalids, military veterans actions, participants of the Second World War, Heroes of the Russian Federation, the Soviet Union, Socialist Labor and others (Article 6 of Law No. 214-FZ). This list benefits may be expanded by local law.

To calculate the total fee, the number of days of stay at the accommodation facility (excluding the day of arrival) is multiplied by the resort fee established in the region. The fee should not be included in the price of your stay.

Collection of the fee occurs no later than the departure of the individual payer from the hotel or other place of residence. An individual pays the required amount to the resort fee operator - these are organizations or individual entrepreneurs that provide temporary accommodation services. In this case, the individual must receive from the operator a document confirming that the fee has been paid. It is not yet clear what this document (check, receipt, etc.) will be; its form must be approved by the Government.

Beneficiaries exempt from paying the resort fee must confirm this with the appropriate documents, which are presented to the operator. Repeated deduction of the resort fee for the same period of stay on the “resort” territory is unacceptable.

The transfer of the withheld fee to the budget is the responsibility of resort tax operators. The transfer period must be established by the law of the subject, and it cannot be earlier than the expiration of the period of residence of the individual payer (Article 8 of Law No. 214-FZ).

It is not yet known how resort fee operators will keep track of the funds received and report to the budget. At the same time, all operators will have to submit information for inclusion in a special register, as well as bear certain responsibilities.

Resort fee 2017

Despite the fact that Law No. 214-FZ came into force on the day of its official publication, July 30, 2017, in 2017 the fee will not be collected from vacationers and tourists. All regions participating in the experiment must adopt and publish their own regional laws on the introduction of a resort fee before December 1, 2017. The region has the right to refuse to introduce the fee if it considers it economically unfeasible.