22.09.2023

E-SIGNATURES: NEW RULES DO NOT AFFECT THE PROCEDURE FOR FILING TAX REPORTS

From September 1, 2023, accredited certification centers no longer issue so-called employee certificates, that is, qualified electronic signature certificates, in which company’s INN or INN of an individual entrepreneur is indicated, on whose behalf the individual acts by proxy. The certificates that have already been issued will be valid until the end of August 2024 (previously planned - until the end of 2023).

Thus, e-signature reform is being completed in Russia. From September 1, 2024, individuals acting under a power of attorney on behalf of a legal entity or individual entrepreneur, must use qualified certificates for individuals in conjunction with a machine-readable power of attorney (MChD) in a single format.

However, nothing changes in the interaction of taxpayers when filing reports, since the last stage of the e-signature reform does not concern the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

21.09.2023

INTERIOR MINISTRY EXPLAINED SOME PROVISIONS OF THE NEW LIST OF MALFUNCTIONS AND CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH OPERATION OF VEHICLES IS PROHIBITED

Departments are provided with explanations about the specifics of operation of tires, brake system, engine, etc.

Cheering news for car owners - since September 1, 2023, absence of a first aid kit, fire extinguisher or emergency stop sign is not a reason for prohibiting the operation of a vehicle and bringing the driver to administrative responsibility.

20.09.2023

LIST OF GOODS FOR WHICH ENVIRONMENTAL REQUIREMENTS ARE IMPOSED TO BE EXPANDED

The RF President has approved an order to the Government, to consider, in coordination with the Agency for Strategic Initiatives for the Promotion of New Projects, the feasibility of expanding the list of goods in procurement of which environmental requirements to be taken into account, including specifying the minimum share of secondary raw materials used in the manufacturing of such goods.

19.09.2023

INFORMATION FROM THE FEDERAL TAX SERVICE: A NEW WEB-PORTAL TO BE LAUNCHED FOR WORKING WITH THE UNIFIED SYSTEM OF MACHINE-READABLE POWERS OF ATTORNEY

For the convenience of working with machine-readable powers of attorney, a new specialized portal has been launched.

Federal Tax Service informs that users will be able to create machine-readable powers of attorney in a single format for exchange both with governmental agencies and between economic entities. Also in the web-portal, you can check the power of attorney created in third-party services and upload it to the distributed registry of the Federal Tax Service for storage.

Moreover, before downloading the machine-readable powers of attorney in the web-portal, you can clarify whether changes have been made to the power of attorney after signing, as well as check e-signatures for the validity.

18.09.2023

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT MINISTRY IS PREPARING RULES FOR CLASSIFICATION OF BEACHES AND SKI SLOPES

New rules for classification of beaches and ski slopes are proposed.

Adoption of decisions on the refusal to assign a category, as well as suspension or termination of certificates of category assignment, classification categories and requirements for them are developed. The form of a classification certificate is also proposed.

15.09.2023

DUE TO UPCOMING REDEMPTION OF THE FOREIGN CURRENCY ISSUE OF EUROBONDS, THE BANK OF RUSSIA WILL ACCELERATE TRANSACTIONS MIRRORING OPERATIONS RELATED TO THE INVESTMENT OF FUNDS FROM THE NATIONAL WELFARE FUND

The Bank of Russia will temporarily accelerate the previously announced operations for mirroring transactions related to the investment of funds from the National Welfare Fund in the first half of 2023. From September 14 to 22, the Central Bank will evenly sell foreign currency on the foreign exchange market with a total volume of 150 billion roubles. Thus, the daily volume of these operations will amount to RUB 21.4 billion during this period instead of 2.3 billion roubles.

The adjustment is due to the upcoming redemption of the foreign currency issue of Eurobonds on September 16, 2023. The decision taken will help satisfy possible additional demand for currency and reduce volatility in the foreign exchange market during this period.

14.09.2023

CENTRAL BANK HAS REGULATED THE MAINTENANCE OF A REGISTER OF PARTICIPANTS IN THE ISLAMIC BANKING EXPERIMENT

From September 1, 2023, an experiment in Islamic banking is being conducted in Chechnya, Dagestan, Bashkiria and Tatarstan. Banks receive profit from investments within its framework. It is prohibited to pay interest.

The issues of maintaining a register of experiment participants have been resolved. In particular, the documents attached to the application for inclusion in the register, the procedure for notifying the decision on the application, the rules for maintaining the register and the list of information contained in it, the form and rules for providing extracts are determined.

13.09.2023

BANK OF RUSSIA RECOMMENDS THAT BROKERS REFLECT THE KEY TERMS OF BROKERAGE SERVICES IN THE APPLICATION FOR JOINING THE AGREEMENT OR IN A SEPARATE SUMMARY

The Bank of Russia recommends that all brokers develop a brief summary for clients, in which the basic terms of the contract are stated in simple phrases. The investor must know what operations can be performed on its instructions and at its expense on exchange platforms

The broker needs to focus the client’s attention on the fact that there are no guarantees of profitability in investing and that he/she can not only lose all money, but also still owe.

12.09.2023

BANK OF RUSSIA HAS SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED INSURANCE RATES FOR COMPULSORY MOTOR THIRD PARTY LIABILITY INSURANCE FOR FREIGHT TRANSPORT FROM UNFRIENDLY COUNTRIES

From September 12, the territorial coefficient of the insurance tariff for compulsory motor third party liability (CMTPL) insurance in relation to vehicles of legal entities or individuals that are registered in unfriendly states and are temporarily used in Russia will increase from the current 1.7 to 30. Thus, the cost of an CMTPL policy for owners of such vehicles will increase by more than 17 times. The exception will be motorcycles, mopeds and light quadricycles, as well as cars of individuals. The value of the coefficient (1.7) will not change for them.

11.09.2023

AGE LIMIT FOR GRANTING A DEFERMENT FROM CONSCRIPTION FOR MILITARY SERVICE FOR IT SPECIALISTS INCREASED - UP TO 30 YEARS OF AGE

In connection with the increase in the age limit for conscription for military service to age 30 from January 1, 2024, the age limit for granting a deferment from conscription for military service for IT specialists has also been increased to age 30.

In addition, the procedure for renouncing Russian citizenship has been clarified. Male citizens between the ages of 18 and 30 (and not under 27) must present a military ID card when renouncing Russian citizenship.

08.09.2023

INCOME TAX FOR FOREIGN COMPANIES: RULES CHANGE FOR CURRENCY CONVERSION AND TAX CALCULATION

On August 31, 2023, amendments to the Tax Code of the Russian Federation came into force. According to the amendments, amounts of tax calculated by a tax agent on the income of a foreign company must be converted into roubles at the official exchange rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation set as of the date of payment of the income to a foreign company, but not as of the date of paying the tax, as it was before. The new rule applies to legal relations arising from January 1, 2023.

07.09.2023

USING RUSSIAN INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND DIGITAL SERVICES - WOULD BE A GOOD PRACTICE FOR BANKS

For transmission of personal data and information necessary for non-cash transfers and payments, in order to ensure banking processes, it is recommended to use domestic messengers, for example, ICQ, TamTam, VK messenger, Yandex.Messenger. The use of foreign services from the list posted on the Roskomnadzor website is a violation of the legal prohibition.

When information on the payment activity of bank customers is transmitted to third parties, the principles and conditions established by law for processing personal data must be observed.

06.09.2023

THE PROCEDURE FOR STATE SUPPORT OF ELECTRONIC AND RADIO-ELECTRONIC INDUSTRY ENTERPRISES HAS BEEN UPDATED

The rules for subsidizing part of the costs of Russian organisations for the creation of a scientific and technical reserve for the development of basic technologies for the production of priority electronic components and radio electrical equipment have been adjusted.

Products include software and hardware systems. Amendments have been made concerning the indicator of the volume of proceeds from exports of products.

05.09.2023

BUSINESSMEN CAN APPEAL THE RISK CATEGORY THROUGH THE PORTAL OF GOVERNMENT SERVICES

Firms now have the opportunity to challenge the category of risk of violation of mandatory requirements assigned to the object of control through the Portal of Government Services.

To submit an application for changing the risk category, an existing service of pre-trial appeal against decisions of control authorities is used. The standard term for consideration of the application is five working days.

Let us recall that, depending on the assigned category, the frequency of control measures is determined.

04.09.2023

HOW WILL THE BASE RATE OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL FEE BE CALCULATED?

On January 1, 2024, the law on improving the extended liability for producers and importers of goods and packaging will come into force.

It was decided to create registers of commodity producers and utilizers. For importers, bank guarantees and a surety agreement from the utilizer from the register have been introduced or payment of an eco-fee upon import of goods.

Differentiation of eco-fee rates has been established depending on the complexity of extracting and processing certain types of goods and packaging. To do this, a methodology for calculating rates with appropriate environmental friendliness coefficients will be developed.

01.09.2023

THE RULES FOR MONEY TRANSFERS HAVE CHANGED SINCE AUGUST 11, 2023

In connection with the introduction of the digital rouble in the Russian Federation, it has been established that the Money Transfer Rules will not apply to transactions with digital roubles that are made within the framework of a special platform.

The methods of transferring funds to bank accounts and without opening them have been clarified, taking into account the new type of operations with digital roubles.

31.08.2023

CONDITIONS FOR PAYING DIVIDENDS TO BE MITIGATED FOR FOREIGN INVESTORS IN THE RUSSIAN ECONOMY

The Russian Ministry of Finance in coordination with the Bank of Russia announced liberalization of previously established restrictions related to the payment of dividends to foreigners investing in the Russian economy.

This decision has already been taken into account by the Subcommittee of the Governmental Commission for Control over Foreign Investments in the Russian Federation.

It is now possible to issue permits to residents to pay dividends to foreign creditors from unfriendly countries, provided that such creditors made investments in the Russian economy after April 1, 2023 (including the expansion of production volume and development of new technologies). Dividends to be paid in an amount not exceeding the amount of investment (previously - no more than 50% of profit).

30.08.2023

UNTIL 2030, LEGAL ENTITIES ARE EXEMPTED FROM THE OBLIGATION TO POST INFORMATION ON LICENSES IN THE FEDERAL RESOURCE

Government of the Russian Federation adopted a decision providing for postponement, until 2030, of the requirement to post information on the Federal Resource on obtaining, reissuing and terminating a licence to carry out a specific type of activity (except for information on licenses to carry out activities related to protection of state secrets). The above requirement will not apply with respect to legal entities recognised as licensees in accordance with Item 6 of Article 3 of the Law on Licensing Certain Types of Activities.

29.08.2023

PERSONAL INCOME TAX DEDUCTIONS FROM 2024: MEDICAL ORGANISATIONS WILL PROVIDE INFORMATION ON PAYMENT FOR TREATMENT DIRECTLY TO THE TAX OFFICE

From January 1, 2024, amendments are made to the procedure for providing social tax deductions for personal income tax for medical services.

Thus, it is planned to introduce a unified document confirming the taxpayer's expenses for the medical services provided, replacing all documents confirming the right to a deduction and issued now. It also provides for the possibility of sending information on the costs of medical services to the tax authority directly by organisations providing medical services.

28.08.2023

ISSUANCE AND MAINTENANCE OF PERSONAL MEDICAL RECORDS ON PAPER IS ALLOWED UNTIL SEPTEMBER 2024

The Government of the Russian Federation has postponed transition to electronic personal medical books.

It has been established that until September 1, 2024, it is allowed to issue and maintain personal medical books on paper, drawn up on forms and in the form that were used before September 1, 2023. In this case, the information must be entered in the previously formed register of issued personal medical books.