The procedure for entering the tax monitoring system has been simplified for residents of special economic zones. The relevant amendments to the Tax Code were approved by the President of the Russian Federation, they will come into force on January 1 next year. This was announced by the Minister of Economic Development of Russia Maxim Reshetnikov at a coordination meeting with the Ministers of economy of the regions of Russia in Ufa.
“Previously, tax monitoring was provided only for large companies whose basic taxes for the year were equal to at least 100 million rubles, and annual income was at least 1 billion rubles. Due to the new amendments to the Federal Law, companies with lower tax and monetary turnover will now be able to afford tax monitoring,” the minister said.
Alexander Bazaev, General Director of the Lipetsk SEZ, said that residents will be able to digitize accounting and receive support from tax authorities. “The value added tax will be reimbursed 2 times faster – 5 days instead of 10. When conducting accounting, the number of possible typical errors will be significantly reduced. There will be no need for desk and field inspections. The specialists of our companies who deal with accounting and tax reporting are really waiting for these changes. At the moment, residents are forced to collect a huge package of documents for VAT verification, which includes invoices, contracts concluded with all counterparties,” Alexander Bazaev stressed.
“The amendments are aimed at further improving the operation of the SEZ instrument. The Tax Service of Russia is one of the most advanced structures among federal agencies in terms of technical development, one of the first to apply new digitalization practices. Access to tax monitoring will simplify the lives of SEZ residents and improve the interaction of the tax service with SEZ investors,” commented Kirill Polyakov, Vice Governor of St. Petersburg.
“The state has given guarantees of non-application of legislation on taxes and fees to residents of the SEZ, which worsen their situation, which is also important for the financial and economic activities of enterprises. Thus, tax advantages for residents bring their service as taxpayers to a qualitatively higher level and facilitates their work,” said Anton Afanasyev, General Director of the Dubna SEZ.
“These amendments to the Tax Code of the Russian Federation will make all regulations governing the application of tax preferences at the regional level more universal and understandable for businesses.
Residents of the SEZ, along with participants in industrial clusters, will now receive the unconditional right to tax monitoring. Previously, many residents of the SEZ – SME entities faced obstacles due to high criteria for indicators of the total amount of taxes paid, income received, and the value of assets for the reporting year.
The new bill eliminates these complications for SEZ residents, which will undoubtedly increase the investment attractiveness of special economic zones,” commented Mikhail Labudin, Director of the Association of Clusters, Technoparks and SEZ of Russia.
