Court settlement of tax disputes

Alexey Stanchin

In the course of an on-site tax audit, the tax authority came to the conclusion that the taxpayer had artificially included organisations that had attracted dishonest counterparties. In particular, the tax authority believed that: (1) the taxpayer artificially included in the structure of economic relations organisations that attracted dishonest counterparties (2) the counterparties were actually created for the Company's needs to perform work; In connection with the above, the taxpayer was requested to prepare a legal position confirming the company's good faith. The Tax Compliance team helped the client to develop a legal position confirming: (1) the absence of controllability between the organisation and the counterparties; (2) the tax saving scheme belongs to another counterparty.

The court accepted the taxpayer's arguments. Tax claims in the amount of 278 million roubles were reduced in full as a result of the project, which is 100% of the tax authority's original claim.

Anastasia Arzhanova, Alexey Stanchin

The tax authority, as part of an on-site tax audit, came to the conclusion that organisations that had attracted unfair counterparties had been artificially included. In particular, the tax authority believed that: (1) the nature of the activities of the counterparty's group of companies constituted a scheme of "splitting" the business aimed at unjustified reduction of the tax burden. In connection with the above, the taxpayer was offered counterarguments to the arguments of the tax authority and evidence substantiating the business purpose of the acquisition of business entities (pharmacies) by the Client's shareholders and the independence of their business activities. The Tax Compliance team represents the Client's interests in the court of first instance in a dispute with the tax inspectorate. Within the framework of the court dispute, Tax Compliance lawyers: (1) prepared a legal position (2) represented the Company's interests within the court hearings in the court of first instance, (3) filed interim measures in the form of suspension of the tax authority's decision until the court decision came into force.

The court accepted the taxpayer's arguments. As a result of the project implementation, tax claims in the amount of 698 million rubles were reduced to 188 million rubles, which is 73% of the initial requirement of the tax authority.

Alexey Stanchin

The tax authority, within the framework of an on-site tax audit, concluded that there was a scheme aimed at reducing the tax burden. In particular, the tax authority believed that: (1) the transaction was driven solely by tax motives; (2) a scheme using technical companies to increase deductions and expenses was used in the course of business activities. The Tax Compliance team helped the client: (1) to conduct tax reconstruction in the court of first instance; (2) to develop a legal position confirming the possibility of reconstruction and justifying the method of calculating valid tax liabilities.

The court granted the taxpayer's application in full.

Ivan Tsvetkov

The Company purchased raw materials used in the production of textile products which were subsequently sold to the Company's customers. As a result of an on-site tax audit, the tax authority concluded that the Company's purpose in concluding transactions with the disputed counterparties for the supply of raw materials was not to obtain the results of entrepreneurial activity, but to obtain tax savings, on the basis of which it imposed additional VAT and profit tax on all transactions with the said counterparties. In the opinion of the tax authority, transactions with the disputed counterparties were performed not by the said counterparties but by other persons who were not parties to contracts concluded with the Company.

Successful defence of the interests of a textile manufacturer in an arbitration court on the application of tax reconstruction

At the end of 2016 the Moscow authorities decided to revise the value of a number of key facilities and to make its application retroactive. The Company did not agree to pay corporate property tax for 2016 based on the recalculated value, which led to a dispute with the tax authority. (The project was implemented by an employee before joining Tax Compliance)

As a result of developing the right strategy, based on the position of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation in the case of Yumaks, we were able to convince the court of the legitimacy of the client's claims.