00:52 Feb 2, 2008 

That is interesting to note, Vladimir. I should have added a caveat that the main difference in the UK is between state and private employers, the former (as far I know) do not offer private medical insurance, the latter sometimes do, depending on the sector and seniority. For anyone with a burning desire to learn more, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Insurance!

20:53 Feb 1, 2008 

Also, reading Simon's comment i found that for UK it's a bit different. People just pay taxes here and may or may not have medical coverage from employer. Filing tax returns is mandatory indeed but with 'social contributions' it depends (in Canada I mean)

20:09 Feb 1, 2008 

to Igor Blinov:"nothing to do with gov.' comparing with 'taxes'; government may control/monitor social contrbutions made by businesses. Then businesses (and people) pay taxes and some funds from those taxes giovernments may aallocate for социальные нужды

19:35 Feb 1, 2008 

@Igor - Yes, I agree with you. Contributions can be to both the company's own pension and medical schemes (which may or not be mandatory) and into (sadly!) governments' coffers!

19:29 Feb 1, 2008 

Well, after all I surrender "taxes" in favour of "contributions" - this was well-reasoned decision, although I still disagree with Vladimir's assertion that these contributions "have nothing to do with government" - indeed they are established by it!

16:51 Feb 1, 2008 

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions and the interesting debate. No idea where 'fringe benefits' came from on multitran. They are akin to small perks such as a free travel loan (usually given to Londoners who have to fork out lots of money to buy an annual travel card for the tube). Anyway, as to the difference between contributions and taxes, I agree with both sides of the argument. From a UK perspective, social security deductions on income, both by the employee and employer, are indeed taxes and mandatory...on the other hand, the term contributions is usually used for pension related payments, the idea being that you pay your contributions into a central pension fund, whether it is a company pension fund or the state's pension fund. The other area covered in the definition used above relates to medical insurance. In the UK, this would be National Insurance contributions to support the NHS. Thus, in all cases, the word contributions would fit. For this reason, I went for contribution over taxes. I checked my old employees handbook and this is what is used. I would like to split the points between Misha & Zamira but obviously cannot...once again, ogromnoye spasibo!

10:10 Feb 1, 2008 

and more: companies can actually deduct social contributions they make from company taxes (paid to government).

10:07 Feb 1, 2008 

Dear ruslingua: the reason is simple: taxes are collected by governments; but 'social contributons' (отчисления на социальные нужды) have nothing to do with government; companies make отчисления to their own special accounts/funds. Big difference.

10:00 Feb 1, 2008 

Vladimir is right, for the UK contributions is correct, social taxes would be just too broad.

10:00 Feb 1, 2008 

I thought only charity was voluntary :)

09:58 Feb 1, 2008 

In my opinion these "отчисления" should be "taxes" because it must be paid mandatory and at rates established by law

09:49 Feb 1, 2008 

>Vladimir Dubisskiy: I believe, "contributions" involve the same problem as "fringe benefits": they can be voluntary. Taxes cannot. And I don't really see any reason why these отчисления couldn't be called "taxes"

02:04 Feb 1, 2008 

Agree with Misha about "fringe"; though it's really more 'contributions" than 'taxes'; those company-made contributions can be tax deductible, yes, but it's hardly taxes.

19:21 Jan 31, 2008 

Whatever they are, they are not fringe benefits for sure. Fringe benefits are voluntary, taxes are not. In your case, they are taxes.

18:49 Jan 31, 2008 

Spasibo vsem za otveti...I should have made clear in my question that this is UK only - this is obviously one area where terminology differs considerably between the two 'dialects' for want of a better word.

18:11 Jan 31, 2008 

Sorry, I didn't see you second comment when I submitted my answer. If that's what it is, then my answer is way too narrow for your purposes. Please, ignore it.

17:54 Jan 31, 2008 

отчисления на социальные нужды (пенсионный фонд, фонд социального страхования, фонд занятости, обязательное медицинское страхование)

the text has a definition 12 worksheets later

17:19 Jan 31, 2008 

multitran suggests fringe benefits expenses but am not convinced...