It was 30–40% more profitable to dispose food than to donate it to food banks or food sharing organizations in Russia due to income tax and VAT until 2020. We managed to abolish the 20% income tax in 2020 and make this technology more attractive for business. We continue to work on this.
Tax Initiative
2017
We were trying to increase the tax attractiveness of food sharing technology on behalf of the Expert Council on the Reasonable Use of Food together with the auditing company Technologies of Trust (formerly PricewaterhouseCoopers).
The Council included representatives of public and international organizations, major manufacturing companies and retail chains, as well as experts in taxation. It took us not long to word the amendments to tax legislation that would remove barriers to technology development in the country.
March 26, 2020
Yulia Nazarova, President of Foodbank Rus, told Vladimir Putin about industrial food sharing and reminded him of the tax barriers blocking its development at a meeting of the president with entrepreneurs and representatives of NPOs.
Following the results of the meeting, Vladimir Putin instructed the Government of the Russian Federation to introduce changes to the Tax Code. Since that year, companies can donate up to 1% of their revenue in cash or products to charity without being subject to income tax.
June 8, 2018
Anna Alieva-Hrustalyova, Vice President of Foodbank Rus and food sharing expert, told Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev about the existing tax barrier to the development of commodity charity in the country at the conference State and Charity Givers: Together towards a Common Goal.
After the conference, the Government of the Russian Federation instructed the relevant ministries to study the issue of commodity donation taxation. This launched a flow of meetings, consultations, and working groups.
The next step is to expertly participate in the discussion and contribute to the introduction of changes to VAT on products and food donated by businesses to charity.
2017
We were trying to increase the tax attractiveness of food sharing technology on behalf of the Expert Council on the Reasonable Use of Food together with the auditing company Technologies of Trust (formerly PricewaterhouseCoopers).
The Council included representatives of public and international organizations, major manufacturing companies and retail chains, as well as experts in taxation. It took us not long to word the amendments to tax legislation that would remove barriers to technology development in the country.
June 8, 2018
Anna Alieva-Hrustalyova, Vice President of Foodbank Rus and food sharing expert, told Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev about the existing tax barrier to the development of commodity charity in the country at the conference State and Charity Givers: Together towards a Common Goal.
After the conference, the Government of the Russian Federation instructed the relevant ministries to study the issue of commodity donation taxation. This launched a flow of meetings, consultations, and working groups.
March 26, 2020
Yulia Nazarova, President of Foodbank Rus, told Vladimir Putin about industrial food sharing and reminded him of the tax barriers blocking its development at a meeting of the president with entrepreneurs and representatives of NPOs.
Following the results of the meeting, Vladimir Putin instructed the Government of the Russian Federation to introduce changes to the Tax Code. Since that year, companies can donate up to 1% of their revenue in cash or products to charity without being subject to income tax.
The next step is to expertly participate in the discussion and contribute to the introduction of changes to VAT on products and food donated by businesses to charity.
We are grateful to the media for their support.
