Tax law and tax disputes

The repatriation of foreign trade revenue has been partially abolished Starting from 1 July 2021, the statutory obligation to repatriate has been abolished for the major part of foreign trade contracts whereby residents generate revenue (‘export’ contracts).

Letter of the federal tax service on how article 54.1 of the Russian Tax Code should be applied The Federal Tax Service has sent to the tax authorities a letter with detailed recommendations on how article 54.1 of the Russian Tax Code should be applied. The clarifications of the FTS significantly mitigate administrative and judicial practice by pointing out that the tax authorities should identify the actual amounts of tax liabilities.  

New clarifications of the federal tax service on intra-group services: the concept of shareholder activity In its Letter No. ShYu-4-13/1749@ dated 12 February 2021, the Russian Federal Tax Service clarified how intra-group services and shareholder activities should be distinguished within MNE groups.  

New requirements for an internal control system are being prepared for companies that are subject to tax monitoring Pepeliaev Group advises that a draft of the new requirements for an internal control system and of the forms and formats of documents to be provided by a company when disclosing information about this system has been posted on the federal portal of draft regulatory acts.  

Tax consequences of capital improvements of leased property: new approaches

A law to improve Tax Monitoring Pepeliaev Group advises that the law to amend the Russian Tax Code provides for a number of measures to develop tax monitoring, such as lowering the thresholds to enter monitoring and extending the deadlines for applying to switch to monitoring; changing the procedure for information exchange between a monitored company and a tax inspectorate; a new procedure for suspending transactions in accounts and for conducting desk, field and cross-audits of a monitored company; changes in the procedure when a grounded opinion is drawn up at the initiative of the tax authority, and early termination of monitoring; and granting the participants in monitoring the right to have VAT and excise tax refunded under a declarative procedure.

Broadening information exchange between the Bank of Russia and the Russian Federal Tax Service The Russian Ministry of Finance has prepared amendments to the Tax Code the adoption of which may result in a significant increase of the volume of information transferred to the tax authorities concerning the transactions of bank clients.

The Unified Register of SMEs that receive state support has been published for the first time The Russian Federal Tax Service together with the Ministry of Economic Development has for the first time made available to the general public the Register of small and medium-sized enterprises which have received state support measures both during the spread of the coronavirus infection and during earlier periods. 

The timeframe is expiring for accepting applications of taxpayers from ‘affected’ industries regarding the deferral (instalment plan) of tax payments 30 November 2020 is the last day when the applications for granting a deferral (instalment plan) of tax payments is granted to entrepreneurs from industries most affected by Covid-19. At the same time, applications may be filed for any payments that become due in 2020 (including in December).

The Constitutional Court has explained the conditions for collecting corporate property tax based on cadastral value Pepeliaev Group advises that the Russian Constitutional Court has adopted Resolution No. 46-P dated 12 November 2020. This Resolution specifies in what cases a real estate facility can be treated as a shopping mall with the tax base calculated based on the cadastral value.

Less than two weeks before the compiling of the Register of SMEs that receive state support is complete The Russian Federal Tax Service (the "Service") has issued a reminder that 5 December is the final deadline for the submission of information by state and local authorities, the corporation responsible for the development of small- or medium-sized entrepreneurship and other organisations that provide support to SMEs.

Extension of the deferral for the payment of taxes and contributions granted to SMEs from ‘affected’ industries