SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC BASES OF THE RUSSIAN INEQUALITY

The paper considers the Russian institutions, which increase the inequality and restrict opportunities. The author writes, in particular, about the rules of taxation of private customers’ income, luxury tax, and the rules supporting ultra-high level of centralization in the country. The flat scale of income tax established since the beginning of the 2000th years, and the restrictive actions of state institutions for establishment of luxury tax increase the tax burden on middle and poor classes of the Russians and promote the growth of poverty. The author gives the income and property indicators of inequality, which prove that the income differentiation in the country increases. At the same time, the number of persons with the below poverty line income increases, the middle class narrows, and the wealth concentration level increases. The paper shows that the regional policy in modern Russia characterized by overcentralization of public administration institutions does not cope with the problems of equalization of economic development of territories. The interregional inequality feeds the social inequality and restricts the opportunities of inhabitants of certain territories. The author proves the conclusion that the inequality developed in the country and the restriction of opportunities cause the decrease of human and social capital level. These consequences become the reasons for low efficiency and stagnation in economy. The author offers to update the task of overcoming of excess inequalities and, according to this leading directive, to carry out the corresponding institutional transformations concerning the introduction of the progressive scale of private customers’ taxation and the inter-budget regulation.