Russian government introduces measures to support the economy in connection with the spread of coronavirus infection COVID-19.

The Government of the Russian Federation, along with other countries affected by coronavirus infection, is taking measures to support affected industries.

To date, the following measures have been taken on the basis of the government’s instructions:

1) Suspension of outgoing tax and scheduled outgoing customs inspections until May 1, 2020, with the exception of unscheduled inspections, which are based on causing harm to the life and health of citizens, natural and man-made emergencies, or result in the issuance of permits, licenses, accreditation certificates, and other documents of a permissive nature (from March 18, 2020).

• Tax control measures related to direct contact with taxpayers, witnesses, and other persons (finding tax officials of the tax authority on the territory (premises) of the taxpayer, conducting interrogations, examinations, calls to the tax authority, seizures, taking inventories, etc., will be excluded. etc).
• The consideration of tax audit materials will be carried out using video communication conferences;
• Familiarization with the materials of cases of tax offenses will be done by making copies and sending them through telecommunication channels;
• Until May 1, 2020, the initiation and conduction of inspections for compliance with the requirements of the legislation of the Russian Federation on the use of cash registers will be suspended,
• Until May 1, 2020, the initiation and conduction of inspections of compliance with currency control legislation will be suspended, except for cases when violations of currency control legislation have already begun to verify compliance with the statute of limitations for administrative liability for which expires before 01.06.2020.
• Started and incomplete inspections related to monitoring compliance with the cash registers and observance of currency control legislation, as well as pending administrative offense cases, will be excluded from direct contact with taxpayers (via telecommunication channels, through the taxpayer’s personal account, by mail).

SCHNEIDER GROUP Commentary

Please note that these measures concern only field inspections. The request of documents within the framework of office tax audits and pre-inspection analysis can be sent and the organization still needs to ensure that responses are prepared by the established deadline.

2) The Federal Tax Service has been instructed to ensure deferred payments of taxes and social contribution (tax holidays) , the period of payment of which falls on May 1, 2020 for taxpayers in the tourism and air transport industries, as well as those engaged in physical culture and sports, art, culture, and cinematography.

SCHNEIDER GROUP Commentary

Postponement will be granted in two forms:

• tax claims will be sent no earlier than May 1, 2020 (if this does not entail a violation of the deadlines for sending the claims established by law)
• decisions on the collection of taxes and social contributions will be made no earlier than May 1, 2020 (if this does not entail a violation of the deadlines for making such decisions established by law)

By March 20, the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation should develop a draft law on the suspension of penalties and introduction of additional grounds for deferral for these categories of taxpayers.
In the future, the measures under consideration may be extended to other industries.

3) The Federal Tax Service of Russia, state corporations, and executive authorities will have to postpone the deadlines for filing bankruptcy applications regarding legal entities which has a debts to the budget until May 1, 2020.

SCHNEIDER GROUP Commentary

It is also planned to take the following measures to enforce the moratorium on bankruptcy:

• By April 1, a draft federal law will be developed that will provide for a moratorium on bankruptcy applications
• A draft federal law will be developed, which will introduce a procedure for restructuring the debts of organizations
  In addition, the Russian government has so far announced a number of possible measures that may be taken in the future. Among such measures:
• Provision of a 3-month grace period for social contributions payment for small and medium-sized businesses
• Abolition of import duties and maintenance of the green corridor regime for importers of food and non-food essential products, including medical products

This issue is also being actively discussed in the business community. Representatives of business associations are planning to ask the authorities to take additional measures to ease the current crisis situation in the near future.

How can SCHNEIDER GROUP help?

SCHNEIDER GROUP is not only actively monitoring the situation, but also taking part in the discussion of proposals in this area from the business community. We will continue to inform you about news in this area.
SCHNEIDER GROUP’s tax experts are ready to consult you on the application and implementation of measures aimed at supporting the economy in the conditions of coronavirus infection spread.