Appealed a refusal to return tax withheld in excess

The lawyers of the practice have successfully appealed the refusal of the tax inspectorate to return withholding tax paid in excess in the interests of a branch office of a foreign company. The inspectorate referred to it being impossible to return the tax in a manner other than to an account of type “C”, but such an account had not been opened for the branch office and there were no legal grounds for opening one. An account of type “C”, however, had been opened to another related party, a representative of the branch office under a power of attorney, and the company asked that the funds be credited there.

When the inspectorate refused to do so, our lawyers prepared a complaint to the Russian Federal Tax Service, which was upheld. As a result, the funds were credited to the account of a representative of the branch office and were subsequently used for mutual settlements in the territory of Russia.