Next month, Russian citizens are looking forward to several important changes. They will impact retirees, IT professionals, soccer fans, as well as drivers and those who are planning to vacation in the summer.
Pension Increase
Starting from June 1, pensioners who retired in February 2022 will receive higher pensions. They expect to receive the increased payments for the missed indexations in March, April, and May. No extra applications are needed, everything happens automatically.
Also from June 1, pension payments for those who turned 80 in May will increase. Their old-age insurance pension will be doubled to 13,128.62 rubles in 2022. No applications to the FIU are needed, and the increase applies only to those receiving an old-age insurance pension.
The process for calculating survivors’ pensions will also change. Orphans will now be able to receive a pension until September 1, and payments will continue until the age of 23 if they enroll in a university or college.
Fan ID for Russian Fans
The new law, which requires a personalized card for stadium entry, goes into effect on June 1, 2022. It can be obtained at public services and may be required for attending various competitions, including soccer matches.
The FAN ID will include identification information and a record of the individual’s behavior at sporting events. Individuals who have a history of disturbing public order at a stadium may be denied a Fan ID.
Fan passports have already been implemented in several countries, and were used in Russia during the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Lawmakers believe that the introduction of the Fan ID will simplify the process of purchasing tickets for sporting events and identifying potential order violators.
The bill has faced strong criticism from fan associations, with soccer fans boycotting matches in protest against the Fan ID. Currently, fans from 15 Russian Premier League clubs have joined the boycott.
Easing of Restrictions for Investors
The Central Bank of Russia has decided to lift the current ban on short selling of securities, which was implemented on February 24. The ban is being lifted to enhance trading liquidity and is aided by reduced volatility in the financial markets.
The Central Bank has reduced the amount of borrowed funds available to a broker to provide to a client for unsecured transactions with financial products. This measure aims to protect customers and is effective from June 1 to December 31.
Additionally, the Central Bank will permit the buying of foreign currency, which was previously banned on February 27.
IT mortgage
Starting from June 1, Russia will initiate a program to offer discounted mortgage loans to IT industry workers. The Ministry of Digital Development will soon transfer a list of accredited IT companies to the operator of the mortgage program. The Cabinet of Ministers will allocate 1.5 billion rubles from the reserve fund to subsidize mortgages in 2022. It's estimated that the program will enhance the living conditions of at least 10,000 IT workers. By the end of 2024, it's forecasted that around 50 thousand loans totaling approximately 240 billion rubles can be issued.
The interest rate for this program will be a maximum of 5% annually. Loans will be offered to employees of accredited companies aged 22 to 45 years old.
According to experts, the program will support IT industry workers but will not significantly impact the housing market in Russia, as the proportion of such specialists is relatively low.
Innovations for drivers
On June 29, a new regulation for driver’s license holders will take effect. They will have the option to use the license instead of a passport for various services such as insurance, banking, mobile and postal. The license can be used for personal identification and when sending or receiving money transfers. Additionally, the document number can be specified along with the full name, phone number, series and passport number.
From the specified date, any organization dealing with financial or other transactions can instruct the bank to identify its customers, including a simplified process. Previously, only professional participants in the securities market had this authority.
Also, starting from June 29, car owners can make payments of up to 40 thousand rubles for CASCO and OSAGO without identification. Previously, payments up to 15 thousand rubles could be made without personal identification.
New procedure for accounting for taxes on revised declarations
From June 1, 2022, the procedure for handling taxes on revised declarations will change. The new rules will apply to reports submitted from that date. Companies will only be able to request offsets or refunds of overpayments after a desk audit, as it will not show up in the reconciliation until then. This applies to revised declarations provided by taxpayers in connection with the detection of inaccurate information or errors in the primary declaration that do not result in an underestimation of the amount of tax payable. Before submitting them, lawyers advise paying all taxes and fees, as well as settling any late fees, to avoid potential fines for non-payment.
Changes in tourism
By June 30, 2022, all travel agents, both companies and individual entrepreneurs, must enter their information into the Unified Federal Register of Travel Agents of Rostourism. Those not included in the register will not be able to continue operating.
The innovation will allow tourists when purchasing a tour to check whether a certain travel agent is listed in the register and whether it operates legally. In electronic form, the names of travel agencies, their details and registration data will be available.
Also, customers will be provided with information on a specific tour. Tour operators are engaged in the formation of a tourist product, and agents carry out only the promotion and sale of tours. In the electronic system, each travel agent will be associated with a particular tour operator by a separate agreement, information on which will be available to the tourist. According to experts, such measures will reduce the number of cases of fraud in the tourism market. Previously, scammers were more focused on outbound tourism, but now they have switched to domestic tourism.
Starting June 1, Aeroflot will launch direct flights from nine Russian cities to Sochi. During the highest tourist season, planes will fly every day from Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Omsk, Perm, Yekaterinburg, Ufa and Tyumen. Also, the Russians retain the opportunity to return up to 20% of the cost of the tour as part of the tourist cashback program, which has been extended until the end of the year.
Additional day off
In June 2022, Russians will have an additional day off, as June 12 is a public holiday – Russia Day. As recalled in Rostrud, if employees go to work on weekends and holidays, the employer is obliged to pay these hours in double the amount.
Since June 12 falls on a Sunday, the day off is moved to June 13, the next working day. Thus, the weekend will continue from 11 to 13 June. Friday, June 10 will not be a shortened working day, since this date is not a pre-holiday date.
Employees who work in the six-day format will be able to rest on June 12 and 13. On June 11, working hours for them are reduced by 1 hour. For those who work on a shift schedule, additional days off are not provided, but if the shift falls on June 12, double payment is due for it.
