Russian citizen demands that his taxes be returned that were spent on the Crimea
Dmitry Kalinin, a lawyer from the Russian city of Uralsk, has tried to get his taxes, which were spent by the Russian Government to support the Crimea, returned. He feels that the peninsula’s annexation is illegal. He sent an application and a demand to the Russian Ministry of Finance.
Kalinin substantiated his demands by mentioning the fact that a referendum on the possibility of the accession of a new territory has not been conducted in Russia.
The Russian Ministry of Finance responded that all taxes paid by citizens became part of the common budget, and that budget expenditures cannot be linked to certain budget revenues. The repayment of the funds allocted to the Residents of the Crimea is not possible.
The Russian Minister of Finance, Anton Siluanov, had previously admitted that the frozen pension funds of Russian citizens would never be returned to them as they were already spent on the Crimea. The practice of freezing pensions still continues, while the Russian Government has explained its need to fulfill current social obligations.
The well-known phrase of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, which is “there is just no money, but you take care!”, caused an uproar in the Crimea. This phrase was in response to women who complained about the shortage of pension funds.