What will happen to pensions after January 1, 2023?

The President has amended Federal Law No. 236 "On the Pension and Social Insurance Fund of the Russian Federation," and they will begin to take effect very soon.

In the New Year, we will say goodbye to the old, rather long-standing PFR and FSS funds and start dealing with the new one - the Social Fund of Russia (SFR).

The upcoming changes raise a lot of questions:

How will pensions be paid now?

Will the amounts of contributions be changed?

Won't there be any difficulties when retiring?

Let's try to understand the nuances of the changes awaiting us.

Why did they decide to merge the Pension Fund and the Social Insurance Fund?

It was decided to merge the funds in order to optimize the expenses incurred by the Pension Fund.

Most Russians resented the chic buildings of the fund, the constant changes and innovations, new ideas, not all of which the FIU managed to bring to completion.

As a result, it became too expensive to maintain the PFR. Another reason for the unification of funds is the need for digitalization, which will allow to make changes to the database more quickly and automatically, that is, without the participation of employees.

But this, in turn, raises concerns among citizens, who doubt that such reformatting will go smoothly and will not create problems for anyone.

What's in store for Russians? What changes await us? We'll look into it further.

Difficulties in the work of the SFR: can they arise?

The Social Fund will deal with:

calculating length of service;

Determining the amount of benefits;

processing the data,

maintaining reports,

entering information into the database.

Experts note that at the beginning of the new fund there may be difficulties because new forms will be introduced.

Employers are accustomed to the transfer of information through standardized documents.

Now they will have to submit the data exclusively in electronic form.

Accordingly, situations may arise where, for example, employers will fill out the form incorrectly, or will not "check the box" where necessary, and as a result, the employee will no longer be credited with seniority.

Some may find it difficult to retire because of the digitalization process, and there may be some inconsistencies or glitches at first. Hopefully, things will get better later on.

Will rates and contributions change?

The contributions currently paid by employers are calculated using 3 forms and 3 payments are made:

Pension Fund - 22% of wages,

FSS - 2, 9% of salary,

FOMS - 5.1% of salary.

After the merger of FIU and FSS there will be 1 payment - 30%.

Thus, the amount of contributions will not change, but payment will now be made on a single form. As a result, there should be minimal paperwork, and the procedure of deductions should take a more comprehensible form.

What positive changes can be hoped for?

The activities of the merged fund will be organized according to the "one window" principle. As a result, payments will be automated after only one application is submitted.

It is important to emphasize that Russians will be able to submit documents through the portal of public services.

What about those who cannot fill out online forms or do not use the Internet at all? As of January 1, will the PFR offices be closed?

At first, the offices of the Pension Fund and Social Insurance Fund will still function. Probably their number will be reduced, but citizens will still have the opportunity to go to their usual addresses and receive advice.

Part of the duties of the Pension Fund will be taken over by the MFC, which, the organization assures us, can cope with the additional tasks.

Three expected improvements

First, employers will now have to pay for the sick leave of employees registered under civil law contracts.

Accordingly, this also applies to pregnancy and child care for children under the age of 1, 5 years.

Secondly, employers will have to pay additional insurance premiums, as a result of some monthly social payments will increase. But there will be an increase in rates not right away, but only from 2025.

Thirdly, and most importantly, there may be an increase in pensions, as savings from the association of the Pension Fund and Social Insurance Fund will be partially allocated to increase pensions. I wonder why in part?

Exact figures are not announced.

Unpleasant moment

It turns out that the amount of contributions will be the same, about 30%, but there will be additional contributions.

Accordingly, the cost of employers to pay taxes and fees will increase (Read more ➤).

The first question is why? After all, there were 2 funds and there will be 1, so why are the additional contributions being introduced rather than reducing the old ones?

The second question is whether this will affect the salaries of Russians.

Of course employers have to pay contributions not from wages, but as a rule, wages are reduced by the amount of contributions.

So there is a pattern: the more contributions, the lower the wages, especially when it comes to small organizations.