One of the most important key challenges for the development of the Russian economy and domestic economic growth is the level of tax rates on personal income determined by legislation. As in all countries of the world, Russia has a complex and extensive system of taxes that are levied on individuals. However, until 2021, the basic personal income tax rate (personal income tax) was equal to 13%, regardless of, in fact, the amount of income of an individual – these were the realities of a flat scale of taxation, which were justified by the need to ensure economic equality of all citizens, regardless of property or financial situation. This statement can indeed be called fair to a certain extent, since the tax rate in this case turns out to be the same for everyone, but at the same time it carries a logical incident: citizens can be economically equal both in the eyes of the state and in the eyes of each other, and a flat scale of taxation provides only the first of these cases of equality – equality before the state. As unambiguously as this can be called a sign of civil society, it can also be called a sign of the lack of social orientation in the state, which is expressed not only in the breadth of the range of socio-financial assistance and support programs for the population and business, but also in ensuring a minimum difference in living standards of different income groups of the population. The practical significance of the presented research lies in the possibility of using its conclusions and results to build a new scheme for the implementation of the progressive scale of taxation in the Russian taxation system and its painless internal acclimatization, not focusing on its immediate fully functional independence, following the example of existing tax rates applied for many years.