Overview of tax events for May 2017

REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS

The Russian Government has approved the rules for making and maintaining the list of investment projects which entitle industrialists to tax and levies benefits until 2025.
government.ru, 31 May 2017

The Russian Central Bank will soon present the drafts of the virtual currency (including bitcoin) taxation regulations.
kommersant.ru, 25 May 2017

It is proposed that, in Russia, paper reporting be prohibited by 2019. This is provided for by the draft state Digital Economy programme produced by the inter-agency working group at the Russian Ministry of Communications. Before this, by 2018 the reporting forms will be audited and updated, and tax, accounting, statistics and other official reporting systems will be streamlined.
izvestia.ru, 12 May 2017

PRACTICE

The representatives of the Russian Federal Tax Service and the Tax Department of Cyprus have decided to reduce the timeframes for information exchange and to expand the range and the degree of detail of the information presented regarding tax violations.
www.nalog.ru, 26 May 2017

This year the Russian tax authorities have for the first time received VAT returns from foreign companies providing e-services in Russia. Over the year, around RUB 10 billion of estimated revenue has been collected. 112 companies filed their returns.
www.nalog.ru, 4 May 2017

Corn market participants have signed a charter regulating a common policy to fight tax schemes in relation to the circulation of agricultural products.
www.kommersant.ru, 18 May 2017

The Federal Customs Service development programme provides for a complete system to be constructed to control business operations, the service’s automation, and shift to electronic document flow, while customs officers will have a reduced role in inspections. This system will allow the movement of goods across the EAEU to be monitored and will reveal which companies understate customs duties and taxes as well as the beneficiaries of such companies. For the rest of business, it is promised that the burden will be reduced.
www.vedomosti.ru, 25 May 2017

The Russian Ministry of Finance considers it unjust to additionally charge amounts of excise duty from Russian importers of wine with a protected geographical status and protected designation of origin. The Ministry of Finance is drafting amendments to tax legislation which are going to allow retroactive additional charges of excise amounts to be avoided.
www.vedomosti.ru, 25 May 2017

The Federal Tax Service has issued explanations regarding the beneficial owners of income when double tax treaties are applied.
www.vedomosti.ru, 23 May 2017
For your information:
(vz.ru, 21 May 2017)
The amount of funds moved from Russia with the help of fly-by-night companies has dropped 18-fold.
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Boris Titov, the Business Ombudsman, has presented his annual report to the Russian President. With regard to tax, business has traditionally complained about the large volume of reporting, high fiscal burden and inspections. Another issue, according to the report’s section titled the ‘Book of Complaints’, is the seizure of company’s bank accounts when tax arrears are identified, which paralyses business operations. Among other issues are high insurance premium rates for individual entrepreneurs, over-valued real estate, and constantly high rates of non-tax related compulsory payments and levies.
www.vedomosti.ru, 24 May 2017

In order to streamline double tax treaties and prevent evasion of taxes on capital and income, the Consultative Committee of the EAEU will analyse international experience and produce their recommendations on a number of matters. The monitoring system of information exchange for tax purposes among tax authorities of the member states upon request and at their own initiative was also approved. It has been decided to develop the e-trade taxation concept in the EAEU.
www.eurasiancommission.org 3 May 2017