Overview of tax events for February 2021

Regulatory Developments

The Russian President has signed the law setting out amendments to the Russian Tax Code (No. 6-FZ). The law extends the list of goods with which international transactions are subject to the mandatory control of the Russian tax authorities.

The State Duma:

• has ratified the Protocol on amending the DTT with Malta;
• has adopted in the first reading the draft law on the taxation of digital currency.

The Russian Ministry of Finance:

• has posted for discussion the draft law on amending the Russian Tax Code within the framework of the Main Areas of Focus in Tax Policy for 2021–2023.
• may start negotiations to revise the tax treaty with Switzerland, said Alexey Sazanov, Deputy Minister of Finance.
  Further reading:
  The Netherlands still is opposing the revision of the double taxation treaty, said Mikhail Mishustin, Chairman of the Russian Government.
• is examining the foreign experience of introducing a “digital tax” to discuss whether introducing one in Russia is reasonable.

The Russian Ministry of Economic Development has developed a draft law that proposes a special economic region be established in the Crimea.

Practice

The heads of the Russian Federal Tax Service and Federal Antimonopoly Service have signed a Cooperation and Information Interaction Agreement.

The Russian Ministry of Finance has updated the list of international double taxation treaties between Russia and other states.

The Russian Federal Tax Service together with the Russian Finance Ministry has launched an electronic system for monitoring tax benefits in the country.

The 2021 Performance Plan for the Russian Federal Tax Service has been approved.

The head of the Russian Federal Tax Service has reported that it is necessary to step up the handling of the issues of major taxpayers declaring high levels of unformed VAT deduction sources.

The Russian Federal Tax Service is planning to introduce in 2022 a unified system for identifying risks of cross border transactions.

The Russian Federal Customs Service together with the Russian Federal Tax Service is promising to launch the documentary goods traceability system in the middle of this year.

The Russian Federal Customs Service’s tasks for 2021 include ensuring the holding of an experiment to introduce “customs monitoring”.

Russia is developing a special service to store electronic receipts.