Russia's tax strategy at the turn of the decade

On 14 December 2010, the 6th All-Russian Tax Forum, dedicated to ‘Russia’s tax strategy at the turn of the decade’, took place in Moscow. The Russian Chamber of Commerce organised the event with the support of the law firm Pepeliaev Group. The journal Nalogoved was the general information partner.

Taking part in the event were representatives from the Russian State Duma, the Russian Ministry of Finance and the Russian Federal Tax Service as well as regional chambers of commerce and other public bodies, members of the business community, tax lawyers and advisors and members of the scientific community.

Sergey Pepeliaev, the Managing Partner of law firm Pepeliaev Group and Co-Chairman of the Russian Chamber of Commerce’s Expert Council on the improvement of tax law, moderated a round table session on ‘Tax policy and practice in 2010’. This saw a discussion of the extension of the practice of imposing parafiscal charges, changes in the taxation of groups of companies and the possibility of the relationship between taxpayers and the tax authorities being ‘modified’. The outcome of the discussion was presented to the Forum’s plenary session by Sergey Pepeliaev. Also taking part in the round table were Galina Balandina, Partner and Head of the Customs Law and Foreign Trade Regulation Practice at Pepeliaev Group, and Vadim Zaripov, Head of Analytical Department at Pepeliaev Group.

The President of the Russian Chamber of Commerce, E.M. Primakov, opened the plenary session. The Chamber of Commerce’s Report ‘Tax and business in 2010: results and prospects’ was presented to participants in the Forum. The Report contained the proposals of regional chambers of commerce and member organisations from within the Russian chamber of commerce system as well as the opinions of tax specialists, lawyers and economists. S.I. Shtorgin, the Deputy Chairman of the State Duma’s Committee on the Budget and Taxes, related the outcome of deputies’ lawmaking activities in the area of tax and the economy in 2010. Taking this subject forward, S.V. Razgulin, the Deputy Director of the Tax and Customs Tariffs Department in the Ministry of Finance, spoke on innovations and planned amendments o the Russian Tax Code. A.A. Popovchenko, a Judge in the Russian Supreme Arbitration Court, gave a presentation on judicial practice in the resolution of tax disputes in 2010.

Recommendations have been prepared based on the Forum’s work and these will be sent to federal authorities in the legislative, executive and judicial branches of power.