Under the tax should be understood gratuitous mandatory payment. It is charged by public authorities of various levels from an individual and organization. The purpose of this fee is the financial support of the functioning of a municipal or state entity. The tax can be both hidden and official. These payments should be distinguished from duty. Their collection is not free of charge and is a condition for a number of specific actions regarding payers. Taxes are divided into indirect and direct. For example, the latter included a tax on childlessness in the USSR. What it is? What was it for? Does this type of collection exist today? More on this later in the article.
Payments of lonely Soviet people
The tax on childlessness in the USSR existed in the first half of the 20th century. It was approved in November 1941 by a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council. However, in July 1944, the decree “On the tax on bachelors, small families and single citizens of the USSR” was amended and supplemented. During the existence of the Soviet Union, the amount of this fee was 6% of the earnings of men (aged 18 to 50 years) and women (18 to 45 years). The only exceptions were persons who earn less than 70 rubles (they were not charged) and citizens with earnings less than 91 rubles (a lower rate was provided for them). This decree stipulated that people who were not able to have a baby due to health problems were exempted from the fee. In addition, a tax on childlessness in the USSR was not levied on parents whose children died (or were reported missing) during the war in the Second World War, on the heroes of the Soviet Union, on the military and their families, on citizens with 3 awards of the Order of Glory . Students under the age of 25 were also exempted from this payment.
1980-90s
Since the end of the 80s, newlyweds during the first year of marriage have received benefits on a childless tax. In view of this, even a joke appeared that you should give birth immediately after the wedding. The tax on childlessness in the USSR itself was popularly called "egg picking." The specified type of payment ceased to be charged from the moment of birth or adoption of the child. But in the event of the death of a single offspring, citizens had to deduct him again. Since the mid-90s, for the Soviet people, whose earnings were less than 150 rubles, the rate was reduced. From January 1 of the following year, it was approved not to levy a tax on women who have no children but are married. Since 1992, it was planned to abolish the fee for men who are also married, but did not have a single child. From January 1993, it was supposed to stop levying a childless tax in the USSR and from bachelors. That is, it was planned to completely eliminate this type of collection. When was the childless tax abolished? The official date is January 1992, when the collapse of the Soviet Union.
How is the deduction today?
At present, in Russia there is no tax on childlessness per se, but de facto this fee is levied. As you know, every person working in Russia is obliged to deduct a certain percentage from his salary to the state fund. So, according to the decree, a payment of 1,400 rubles per month is charged for one or two children, for the third child (and subsequent), this figure is 3000 rubles. If a disabled child is raised in the family, the amount of 3,000 rubles is fixed. The rate is 13%. The standard personal income tax deduction today is, to a certain extent, the same tax on childlessness in the USSR. A citizen with one child pays about 200 rubles less than a person who has no children in his family.
And what about the situation in other countries?
Note that this type of collection was introduced in ancient Rome. In 1909, Bulgaria also introduced a deduction from bachelors on its territory. In 2010, the deputies of the Ternopil city council turned to the president of Ukraine with a proposal to return the tax on childlessness in Ukraine (and only for men), but this proposal was not considered. However, in February 2012, a bill was submitted for consideration, which proposed to divide the rates on the income of individuals, depending on the number of children for citizens over thirty years of age.