Overview of tax events for May 2014

On 23 May, the following draft laws were put before the State Duma:

• to establish in the Russian Tax Code limits on taxpayers exercising rights and performing obligations within tax relationships. The principle of a taxpayer's good faith is introduced, while the concept of an "abuse of law" is defined.

If during tax audits the fact is established that a supplier has not paid taxes, the tax authority may refuse to allow the taxpayer to take its expenses and tax deductions into account, as long as the taxpayer could have known that the supplier lacked the necessary resources (equipment, staff and so on) and was thus unable to perform its obligations;

• to introduce into tax legislation the institution of tax monitoring. Even before it files its tax return, a taxpayer will be able to find out what view the tax authority takes concerning contentious tax issues. The tax authority will obtain real-time access to the taxpayer's bookkeeping and tax accounting data, meaning that it can check whether the taxpayer has booked business operations correctly and on a timely basis for tax purposes.

• 'On tax consulting' - it is proposed to regulate tax consulting activity in Russia.

The Russian Government has supported a draft law aimed at creating the legal conditions for information to be exchanged between Russian and foreign financial institutions and tax authorities. However, the State Duma's Financial Market Committee has sent it back to be reworked: Russian banks should not, on their own, cooperate with the tax authorities of the USA in the absence of the relevant agreement between the governments of the two countries.

itar-tass.com, 14 May 2014
www.kommersant.ru, 16 May 2014

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