The lower house of the Russian parliament has held first reading of the single tax database bill.
The idea of the initiative is to store all citizens’ data digitally and in one place, from medical files to military service IDs. One click will return a person’s passport details, their pension and social security numbers, taxpayer’s number, place of residence and date of birth.
The database will be operated by the tax authorities, while all government agencies will have access to it. The goal is to improve tax collection, track young men evading conscription, and at the same time develop a useful tool for public services.
Businesses can get access to the system as well, only as a commercial service. If the bill is adopted, the system will be launched for testing; the results will be summed up in March 2020, and regular operation will begin in 2022.