Cases

Mikhail Begunov

The client was interested in a number of services regarding the transition to tax monitoring (hereinafter referred to as TM): - diagnosing readiness to join the TM with the development of recommendations and a roadmap; - finalization and formalization of the internal control system in terms of the tax function and the tax risk management system in order to comply with the requirements of the Federal Tax Service of Russia; - preparation of a package of documents in the formats approved by the Federal Tax Service of Russia for submission upon entry into the tax monitoring regime; - development of requirements for the information system of tax monitoring for the possibility of providing access to it to the tax authority; - development of requirements for electronic archive;

Diagnostics of the Company's readiness to join the NM was carried out, a road map was developed. Improved and formalized systems of internal control and tax risk management. A package of documents for entry into the NM has been prepared. The documents, including the regulation on information exchange and regulations on internal control and tax risk management systems, have been agreed upon and successfully adopted by the tax authority. Requirements for the tax monitoring information system and electronic archive were developed, discussions were held with the developers. The documents have been agreed upon and successfully accepted by the developers.

Alexey Stanchin

The tax authority, as part of an on-site tax audit, came to the conclusion about the existence of affiliation (of the Client) with the first links. In particular, the tax authority asserted that: (1) there was no reality of performance of works; (2) the counterparties had no sources of VAT refunds; (3) they also lacked the necessary material and technical resources for performance of the accepted works. The Tax Compliance team helped the client to elaborate a legal position which confirmed: (1) the reality of performing construction and installation works by disputable organizations; (2) lack of controllability between the participants of the contractual relations chain; (3) unfoundedness of assigning VAT gaps to disputable counterparties.

The tax authority accepted the arguments of the taxpayer

Alexey Stanchin

The client had the task of reorganizing the legal structure of the business. Significant problems in implementing the project were: (1) restrictions on corporate matters by the founders; (2) a significant amount of accumulated deductions for inseparable improvements; (3) possible tax risks associated with the foreign element of the business. In view of the above, the taxpayer was offered ways to reorganize the existing legal structure. The Tax Compliance team has prepared a guide on how to implement the said project with the least risk of future tax claims.

The client received a guide on how to improve the existing legal structure and with step-by-step actions to implement it

Alexey Stanchin

The tax authority in the framework of an on-site tax audit came to the conclusion that the taxpayer used technical links for the purposes of obtaining tax profits on VAT and income tax. In particular, the tax authority believed that: (1) in fact the provision of services took place directly from organizations that apply special tax regimes (without VAT); (2) the taxpayer and the counterparty are related business entities. In view of the above, the taxpayer was invited to dispute the technical nature of the disputed counterparties. The Tax Compliance team helped the client to elaborate a legal position which confirmed: (1) lack of controllability between the participants of the contractual relations chain; (2) economic feasibility of the transaction; (3) the reality of financial and economic activities of the disputed counterparties.

The tax authority accepted the arguments of the taxpayer

Mikhail Begunov, Nikita Zharov, Andrey Solomyany

In the course of an on-site tax audit, the tax authority questioned the reality of the Company's relationships with a number of disputed counterparties. As a consequence, the tax authority reconstructed the Company's tax liabilities, which were based on information about real business transactions. At the same time, the tax authority denied the Company the right to a VAT deduction for relations with real counterparties. In the opinion of the tax authority, the Company was not entitled to a separate VAT deduction (as part of the reconstruction) due to the expiration of the three-year period established by Art. 172 of the Tax Code, as a prerequisite for applying deductions.

Tax Compliance team helped the client to prepare a legal position and represented the company in court proceedings. The court of the first instance fully satisfied the claims of the Company, admitting unlawful additional charges of VAT (including the appropriate amount of penalties). The decision of the court may have a significant impact on the development of practice of application of Article 54.1 of the Tax Code, in particular on the issue of the procedure of determining the actual size of the tax liabilities and the inapplicability of the condition of the deadline for claiming deductions in case of tax reconstruction.