Pyotr Tolstoy, head of the United Russia Moscow list for the State Duma elections, listed tax increases and a ban on foreign words on signs among the party’s key initiatives to improve citizens’ social well-being. He  stated this to Nikolai Bondarenko , a communist from Saratov .

Tolstoy considers the changes to the tax system to be the key achievement. When asked if he was referring to the VAT increase from 20% to 22%, he replied, “That’s among other things.” He added that the additional tax revenues make it possible to rebuild schools, fire stations, and purchase ambulances. “Of course, this has helped the country,” Tolstoy said. He also believes that raising the corporate tax from 20% to 25% has also benefited Russians, as this money allows regions to build roads.

Tolstoy cited the law banning foreign words on signs, markers, and advertising as another important achievement of United Russia . “We no longer feel like a colony. When ‘Gadyukino Village’ and all that happened,” he explained. Bondarenko then noted that these measures hadn’t made people richer and hadn’t solved the problem of poverty.

Effective January 1, 2026, the government increased VAT from 20% to 22% and lowered the income threshold for individual entrepreneurs and companies exempt from it from 60 million to 20 million rubles per year. As a result, entrepreneurs began closing their businesses en masse . Also in 2025, Russia introduced a progressive personal income tax scale—from 13% to 22%—and the basic corporate income tax rate increased from 20% to 25%.

According to Central Bank monitoring data , business activity in the economy declined in July of this year. Profits at large companies have been falling for the third year in a row, and one in three small and medium-sized entrepreneurs, according to  a survey , blames the increased tax burden for the decline in their business profitability.

Restrictions on the use of foreign words in public visual media came into effect on March 1, 2026. Meanwhile, in June, President Vladimir Putin complained that Russia still had an excess of signs and advertising in Latin script.

(c)THE MOSCOWTIMES 2026