The Federal Tax Service released data showing a rise in personal income tax payments from the wealthiest Russians, specifically those earning more than five million rubles. The year saw a 15 percent increase in these high earners’ tax contributions, and in 2023 the federal budget benefited by 159.5 billion rubles, roughly 4.06 billion dollars, marking a seven percent rise from the prior year, according to RBC reporting on tax figures.
Nearly half of the total collections came from Moscow, accounting for 49.4 percent or 78.8 billion rubles, about 2.01 billion dollars, as highlighted in the coverage.
Petersburg followed with nine percent of the total, about 365 million dollars, with the Moscow region in third place at seven percent, or 284 million dollars.
Krasnodar Territory also joined the list of leading regions, ranking fourth in absolute terms of rising personal income tax collections, as noted by tax officials.
In terms of the relative share of wages linked to the two percentage point increase, the personal income tax reflects larger contributions from smaller regions in the broader revenue landscape.
In certain regions, the additional two percentage points pushed the share of all personal income tax receipts higher. Kostroma region recorded 2.8 percent of total collections, while Kaliningrad region contributed 2.7 percent, according to the Federal Tax Service statistics.
Commenting on the geographic patterns, social geographer and Moscow State University professor Natalya Zubarevich suggested that high indicators in these areas may signal inclusion within special economic zones or dividends paid to shareholders tied to activities there.
Kaliningrad’s elevated share is attributed to the presence of a special economic zone, where companies have undergone re-registration, Zubarevich noted in the discussion.
A sizable portion of the increased income tax receipts—68.7 billion rubles, equivalent to about 1.76 billion dollars, or 43 percent of the total—came from dividends paid to individuals with income above five million rubles. Within this segment, Moscow accounted for 28.4 billion rubles, Saint Petersburg for 6.3 billion, and the Moscow region for 5.1 billion rubles, according to the tax data and subsequent analysis.
Bloomberg economist Alexander Isakov commented that the Rosstat data do not fully capture the tax situation of high-income households, with income inequality at the national level markedly higher than regional disparities suggest.
In contrast, Russians with salaries currently under fifty thousand rubles were not subject to the same taxation dynamics as those at the very top, reflecting shifts in tax policy that affect different income groups.
There has been ongoing talk in Russia about reducing the tax burden for both individuals and businesses, a topic that has resurfaced in policy discussions and public debate.