Posted on 09/24/2025 11:17:05 AM PDT by marcusmaximus
Russia plans to raise value-added tax (VAT) to help finance its war on Ukraine, the Finance Ministry said on Wednesday.
Under the draft 2026 budget proposal, the VAT rate would increase to 22% from the current 20%. The government said it would continue to meet all social policy commitments, but listed defence, security and support for soldiers and their families as "strategic priorities."
Military and security spending already accounts for about 40% of total government expenditure in the 2025 budget, according to government estimates.
Large state orders for the defence industry and hefty payments to soldiers and their families have fuelled a period of growth for Russia's war economy.
But signs of strain are emerging in civilian sectors, and inflation is squeezing household budgets.
(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...
And marcusmaximus can but has not as yet raised any visible sign of his support for Free Republic.
Come on, man! Put your moniker in bold black letters in the quarter's tabulation. Donate and show your moniker in the lists, with pride.
Marcus is of the OTHER-PEOPLE’S-MONEY tribe in all things.
Russian Forces Completely Outflank Ukrainian Defenses Giving Major Advantage
Putin is delivering both.
Putin’s VAT tax hike is in addition to his Income Tax hikes to be approved next week.
marcus is here to troll and disrupt. It doesn't appear that he'll donate - because he's here TO TEAR DOWN Free Republic, not to help it.
Since topics are often not framed with enough information to flesh out a picture, here is the picture of the European Union "member states" VAT percentages, and others in Europe though not in the EU. Some are below the Russian proposal and about half are -- thinking of Lenin's "crushing the bourgeoisie" with taxes -- higher.
So here, for discussion about VAT rates"
VAT rates in the European Union, arranged lowest to highest ------ LOWER THAN 22 percent
Switzerland (CH) -- 8.1
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Luxembourg (LU) -- 17
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Georgia (GE) -- 18
Malta (MT) -- 18
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Cyprus (CY) -- 19
Germany (DE) -- 19
Romania (RO) -- 19
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Austria (AT) -- 20
Bulgaria (BG) -- 20
France (FR) -- 20
Moldova (MD) -- 20
Turkey (TR) -- 20
Ukraine -- 20
United Kingdom (GB) -- 20
-------
Belgium (BE) -- 21
Czech Republic (CZ) -- 21
Latvia (LV) -- 21
Lithuania (LT) -- 21
Netherlands (NL) -- 21
Spain (ES) -- 21
-------22 percent
Estonia (EE) -- 22
Italy (IT) -- 22
Slovenia (SI) -- 22
-------HIGHER THAN 22 percent
Ireland (IE) -- 23
Poland (PL) -- 23
Portugal (PT) -- 23
Slovakia (SK) -- 23
-------
Greece (GR) -- 24
Iceland (IS) -- 24
-------
Croatia (HR) -- 25
Denmark (DK) -- 25
Norway (NO) -- 25
Sweden (SE) -- 25
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Finland (FI) -- 25.5
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Hungary (HU) -- 27
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So we are below the lowest all across Europe.
I have to ask. Is Russia the new North Korea? Are they the new attack dog for China against America and The West? What Russia is doing seems so self-destructive and for what? They could’ve had both victory in the war in Ukraine and peace and many more good things. What is their real motivation here?
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4342185/posts
“Hey, BooBoo, hey, how about a little something, you know, for the effort, you know.”
Get your name on the board, Wimpy! 😉😂😂
Thanks
New slogan for our non-donor neocon buddies:
“Spam doesn’t spend”
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Does the number $37.5 Trillion ring a bell, dummy?
Putin didn’t think things through and never had a plan b.
The Plan B would’ve been to take the peace deal where they get gobs of Ukrainian land, favorable terms, and get a bunch of lucrative business deals.
Would love a link or two if you could validate your assertion. Best I can tell, after using two search sites, there was not a "Plan B" offered as you've detailed it.
If Russia were “about to collapse” as the globalists keep telling us it would be more than a 2% increase. Will be fun continuing to watch the economic numbers in Europe vis-a-vis Russia. We’ll see who collapses first. ;-)
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