17.09.2021

FROM FEBRUARY 2022, A NEW DEADLINE FOR FILING APPLICATIONS WITH THE EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS WILL APPLY: FOUR MONTHS INSTEAD OF SIX

It is reported that Protocol No. 15 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms shortens the time limit for filing an application with the European Court of Human Rights after exhaustion of domestic remedies - from 6 to 4 months. This new rule shall enter into force on February 1, 2022.

16.09.2021

SPECIFICS OF CONCLUDING BANK ACCOUNT AGREEMENTS WITH MINORS AGED FROM 14 TO 18 YEARS

The Bank of Russia explains that bank account agreements with minors aged from 14 to 18 shall be concluded only with the written consent of their legal representatives. Such representatives shall also be entitled to access information on the bank accounts opened by their wards, as well as deposits and operations performed, even if constituting bank secrets.

15.09.2021

UPDATE FOR THE CORPORATE PROPERTY TAX DECLARATION HAS BEEN PREPARED

According to Federal Law No. 305-FZ (adopted in July 2021), the declaration of real estate items belonging to organisations and taxable with property tax at cadastral value shall be cancelled from 2023. That means that taxpayers that are Russian organisations shall, starting from reports for 2022, not include information on facilities, the tax base for which is determined as their cadastral value, into the property tax declaration.

14.09.2021

ACCREDITATION OF FOREIGN COMPANIES’ BRANCHES: NEW FORMS OF DOCUMENTS

The Federal Tax Service has updated the accreditation procedure, making changes in information contained in the state register of accredited branches, or representative offices of foreign legal entities, termination of the accreditation of a branch, or representative office of a foreign legal entity operating in the Russian Federation. Due to this fact, new forms and formats of documents used in such procedures, as well as the requirements for their formalisation, are approved.

13.09.2021

THE MINISTRY OF PUBLIC HEALTH HAS RELEASED ILLUSTRATED MANUALS FOR FIRST-AID KITS

According to orders of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, first-aid kits should be equipped, inter alia, with manuals for first aid. In late August 2021, such manuals were developed (and adopted) for four first-aid kits, including first-aid kits for providing first aid to employees. Each manual contains the following:

- brief instructions for the use of medical devices and medicines contained in the first-aid kit, written as understandable for non-professionals;

- a multi-purpose flexible algorithm for providing first aid in clip-art images.

10.09.2021

REPRESENTATIVE OFFICES OF FOREIGN COMPANIES: NEW RULES FOR ACCREDITATION IN RUSSIA

The Federal Tax Service has updated the accreditation procedure, amending the information included in the state register of accredited branches, representative offices of foreign legal entities, termination of the accreditation of a branch, representative office of a foreign legal entity operating in the Russian Federation.

09.09.2021

FROM SEPTEMBER 1, 2021 THERE WILL BE NEW RULES FOR PAYING CHILDCARE SICK LEAVE UNDER THE AGE OF 8

From September 1, 2021, childcare sick leave under the age of 8, regardless of the parent's insurance record, is paid at the rate of 100% of the average earnings.

08.09.2021

THE SALES PERIOD FOR TOURS IN RUSSIA WITH CASHBACK HAS BEEN EXTENDED UNTIL SEPTEMBER 14, 2021

The Federal Agency for Tourism decided to extend the period until September 14, 2021 during which a tourism service can be paid for in order to receive cashback when travelling in Russia. This deadline was to expire on August 31.

The rest of the program conditions remain the same. You have to pay for a tour or hotel accommodation with a MIR card, which must be registered on the website privetmir.ru. The cashback amount will be 20% of the cost of the tourism service, but not more than 20,000 roubles. The journey must begin no earlier than on October 1 (for cruises - no earlier than on September 1) and end no later than December 24, 2021. Travel and hotel accommodation shall be booked for at least two nights.

07.09.2021

FROM SEPTEMBER 10, 2021 THERE WILL BE NEW BANK ORDERS

The update of the rules for money transfers is due, among other things, to the implementation of the international standard for financial messages ISO 20022 in the national payment system.

The details and forms of bank orders have been revised. A new type of document has appeared - a payment order. Some of the amendments are related to the transition of the Federal Treasury to conducting operations through a single treasury account. The rules on the procedure for reflecting the code of the type of income in the orders on the transfer of funds are included.

06.09.2021

ELECTRONIC "LETTERS OF HAPPINESS" ABOUT TRAFFIC FINES WILL BEGIN TO COME THROUGH THE UNIFIED PORTAL OF PUBLIC SERVICES

This innovation will affect those who have a confirmed account on the Unified Portal of Public Services.

From September 1, 2021, a decision on an administrative offence case is sent to the information system of the organisation of the federal postal service, and then delivered to the addressee in the form of an electronic document by posting it in the addressee's personal account on the Unified Portal of Public Services. An important condition: delivery of the decision to the personal account on the portal is possible if the addressee has completed the registration procedure in the Unified Identification and Authentication System.

On the same day, the addressee will receive a corresponding notification about the placement of the decision on the addressee’s personal account on the Unified Portal of Public Services.

03.09.2021

AMENDMENTS TO THE LEGISLATION ON STATE REGISTRATION OF LEGAL ENTITIES AND INDIVIDUAL ENTREPRENEURS ENTERED INTO FORCE

On August 25, 2021, amendments to the Law on State Registration of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs and the Fundamentals of the Legislation of the Russian Federation on Notaries came into force.

According to the new rules, in cases where the notary certifies the authenticity of the applicant's signature on the application for state registration of a legal entity during its creation or on the application for state registration of an individual as an individual entrepreneur, the notary also transfers the package of documents required for registration to the registering authority.

The notary must send the documents on the day of attestation, within the framework of one notarial act.

02.09.2021

FROM AUGUST 22, 2021, THE CMTPL POLICY CAN BE PURCHASED REGARDLESS OF THE TECHNICAL INSPECTION

The rule obliging car owners, when buying a policy, to provide the insurer with information on the issued diagnostic card or a certificate of technical inspection has been removed from the Law on Compulsory Motor Third Party Liability.

However, this does not imply an exemption from the vehicle inspection. And even vice versa - from March 1, 2022, the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation will be supplemented with a general rule providing for administrative liability for driving a vehicle for which a diagnostic card has not been issued.

01.09.2021

STATIONARY SOUND ADVERTISING IS PROHIBITED FROM AUGUST 25, 2021

In the Law on Advertising, a norm has appeared that prohibits the distribution of sound advertisements using sound technical equipment mounted and located on external walls, roofs and other elements of buildings.

31.08.2021

THE PROGRAM OF THE PREFERENTIAL FAMILY MORTGAGE HAS BEEN EXTENDED UNTIL THE END OF 2023, AND MORE FAMILIES CAN APPLY FOR IT

The family mortgage program will be valid until December 31, 2023, and not until March 1, 2023. The circle of its participants has also been expanded:

- these are citizens who, from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2022, has their first child (previously the second) and (or) subsequent children who are Russians (the loan rate is 6% per annum);

- citizens living in the Far East and purchasing housing there, at birth (from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2022) their first child and (or) subsequent children who are Russians (loan rate - 5% per annum).

30.08.2021

MAKE WAY FOR ELECTRIC CARS!

The Government has approved the Concept for the development of production and use of electric motor transport in Russia for the period up to 2030.

Special attention is paid to supporting the production of electric vehicles and stimulating demand for them. Such vehicles will be included in preferential lending and leasing programs. It is planned to start an experiment on the free travel of electric vehicles on toll roads.

By 2024, Russia plans to produce at least 25 thousand electric vehicles and open more than 9 thousand charging stations for them.

27.08.2021

REMOVING UNVACCINATED EMPLOYEES FROM WORK IS JUST A RECOMMENDATION

On July 23, 2021, following a meeting of the Coordinating Council for Combating the Spread of the New Coronavirus Infection in the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Labour and the Federal State Agency for Health and Consumer Rights sent clarifications on the organisation of vaccination in work collectives and the procedure for recording the percentage of vaccinated employees.

Those clarifications stated, in particular, that groups of citizens defined in decisions of the chief state sanitary doctors of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation should be vaccinated; those who refuse vaccination should be suspended from work. And that it is employers who need to ensure a level of collective immunity of at least 80% of the payroll of the team. These theses and a number of other theses contained in the explanations raised certain doubts about their legality.

The Ministry of Labour explained in its new letter that these clarifications are of a recommendatory nature, are not a normative legal act and do not form new obligations for the employer and the employee.

26.08.2021

FROM AUGUST 27, 2021 RUSSIANS WILL BE ABLE TO FLY TO THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, SOUTH KOREA AND THE CZECH REPUBLIC

From August 27, 2021, Russia resumes flights to the Dominican Republic, South Korea and the Czech Republic. The number of regular flights to Hungary, Egypt, Cyprus, Kyrgyzstan will also be increased.

Air traffic restrictions with Tanzania have been extended until September 2, 2021.

25.08.2021

3.9 BILLION ROUBLES WILL BE SPENT ON THE PUSHKINSKAYA KARTA CULTURAL PROGRAM

The cultural program "Pushkinskaya Karta" starts on September 1.

With its help, young people aged 14 to 22 will be able to purchase tickets to theaters, museums or concert halls at public expense.

24.08.2021

DEDUCTIONS FOR HEALTH AND FITNESS SERVICES MAY BE OBTAINED STARTING FROM JANUARY 1, 2022

From January 1, 2022, a taxpayer may receive a social tax deduction for personal income tax in terms of expenses for health and fitness services. The deduction should not exceed 120 thousand roubles per year in total (including other social deductions for personal income tax).

Citizens may also take into account the costs for health and fitness services provided to their minor children (including adopted children) and wards.

23.08.2021

NEW RULES FOR PROVIDING SERVICES FOR SCREENING FILMS IN CINEMAS ARE APPROVED

From March 1, 2022, the Rules for Film and Video Services for the Population, adopted in 1994, will be replaced by new Rules.

Under the new rules, cinemas will be obliged, in particular, to do the following:

- post information on duration of advertisements and trailers to be shown before the film;

- inform visitors of presence of films with audio commentary and subtitles in the repertoire;

- provide, upon visitors’ request, information on the technical characteristics of cinemas.

20.08.2021

APPLYING FOR PAYMENT CLARIFICATION IS NOW AVAILABLE AT ANY TAX AUTHORITY

The Federal Tax Service informs that from August 2, 2021, if an error is found in a payment order, taxpayers are entitled to file an application for payment clarification with any tax authority, regardless of the place of registration.