Within the event, more than 400 representatives of major Russian companies and Kept experts discussed the tax realities of 2024 and their potential impact on business, as well as key legislative changes and trends in law enforcement practice.
Alexey Sazanov, State Secretary – the Deputy Minister of Finance, made a guest of honor at the Kept conference. He answered business questions about the state tax policy. The discussion was moderated by Mikhail Orlov – the Head of Tax & Legal at Kept.
Here are some key quotes from Alexei Sazanov on the conference outcome:
- The period of anti–crisis tax regulation is ending; anti–crisis tax measures are not planned to be extended. If in 2021–2023 the tax policy was built on the need to respond to external challenges, now, as the economy and budget policy adapt to external shocks, it is possible to move on to systemically building the tax policy in the medium–long term so that it is more predictable. Business always asks for this, and government authorities are also interested in this. The Ministry of Finance is ready for a constructive dialogue with the business on the additional configuration of the tax system.
- The incentive function of taxes will be implemented mainly through the development of preferential regimes. The Ministry of Finance is ready to consider the extension of the investment tax deduction and the RIP regime. According to the RIP regime, there are some questions regarding the advisability of applying the mineral extraction tax reduction coefficient on Mining tax, the rest of the regime has shown its effectiveness – companies invest in development and create jobs.
- The Ministry of Finance suggested that a number of Gulf countries begin negotiations on adjusting double tax treaties. The standard model of the 10–10–10 agreement with exceptions for government agencies, sovereign funds and state–owned companies (i.e. withholding tax rates on dividends, interest and royalties in a single amount of 10%) is taken as the base. The purpose of finalizing the texts of the agreements is to prevent business from using foreign jurisdictions solely to apply reduced tax rates or tax evasion. Agreements should facilitate the inflow of foreign investment.
At the second session, Kept experts covered in detail the most important topics for business:
- Natalia Valkovskaya talked about what taxpayers should prepare for in the area of transfer pricing;
- Anna Voronkova spoke on the topic “Stricter regulation of cross–border transactions – DTT suspension, withholding tax on services/work in transactions with related parties”;
- Alisa Melkonian highlighted issues of state support;
- Galina Akchurina told us about tax control techniques in modern realities.
Kept would like to thank all participants for their interest in the event and discussions on its results.
