Russia breaks tax-freeze promise within a week of "election"

Russian authorities failed to keep a promise for even a full week after making it before the State Duma "election" — that taxes would not be raised in the near future. Just last Thursday, only days after voting concluded, Russia's Finance Ministry submitted several draft laws concerning the country's 2027 budget to the government.

Among the submitted documents are proposals to raise taxes. This directly contradicts the assurance authorities gave voters shortly before the vote, when they claimed the tax burden would not be increased in the near term. In practice, that promise held for only a few days — until the election process had formally concluded.

Budget plans

The new draft laws relate to preparation of the state's 2027 budget, and the tax changes they contain are one of the tools the Finance Ministry proposes using to secure revenue for the coming year. The source material does not specify which particular taxes would be affected or by how much.

The episode once again draws attention to how closely Russian authorities' pre-election statements match actual policy once voting is over. The State Duma "elections" have long been viewed by the international community and independent observers as falling short of free and fair standards, and this swiftly broken tax promise serves as a further example cited in that criticism.