Special tax regimes for Small Businesses: Problems of choosing the optimal tax Burden

Abstract

In accordance with the norms of Russian legislation, taxpayers by default fall under the general taxation system. Developing financial and economic activities, commercial enterprises may apply various tax regimes: transition, for example, to the simplified taxation system (STS), unified agricultural tax, patent system, etc., is carried out at the initiative of the taxpayer, i.e. is of notification nature. It should be noted that due to the restrictions established by the legislation, special tax regimes may be applied not by all taxpayers, but only by those that meet certain criteria, including: the status of the taxpayer (legal entity or individual); type of activity; number of employees in the staff; value of depreciated property; size and composition of income; complexity of accounting and tax accounting, etc. The taxpayer’s status is not subject to special tax regimes. Since the aggregate of tax payments (tax burden) is a defining moment for a business owner, the issues of its optimization become particularly relevant. the purpose of the study is to develop a methodology for determining the tax burden by small businesses applying special tax regimes. In the course of the work we analyzed and systematized the norms of tax legislation of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Tatarstan, generalized economic literature in the field of small business taxation, as well as processed data on taxes and fees posted on the official website of the Federal Tax Service of Russia, using the economic and statistical method. the result of the study is the comparison of two regimes of STS and ASTS (automated simplified taxation system) and the choice of the optimal tax burden for small businesses in order to improve the efficiency of their activities.