Assessment of tax burden on the ownership and use of road passenger transport in Russia

Abstract

The article looks at how taxes influence the tax payers' decision as to whether to own and use commercial passenger vehicles. Types of taxes and fees imposed on the purchase and operation of road passenger transport as a business are described in detail. Substantiation is provided for an idea that it might be useful to introduce a classification that divides taxes into fixed, variable and operation categories with regard to the intensity of commercial passenger vehicle use. The study examines the share of different taxes in the cost of owning and running a commercial passenger vehicle. Calculations are done for the amount of fixed transport taxes per day of owning a vehicle regardless of the intensity of use. A conclusion is made that the total amount of all taxes grows in absolute values for vehicles with a bigger seating capacity, but declines per passenger-kilometer of travel. A conclusion is made that the total amount of all taxes on the use of road passenger transport is much lower than the amount of taxes paid on transporting passengers by car. The goal of this study is to design a method of analyzing the fiscal value of taxes in the cost of owning and operating road passenger transport in Russia. © 2017 WIT Press.