Approval Imminent For Russian Tax Administration Reforms

by Tatiana Smolenskaya, Tax-News.com, Moscow

11 February 2005

Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin has revealed that the government will within the next month approve new proposals aimed at reforming the country’s tax administration and restoring lost investor confidence in the Russian economic system.

Speaking at a conference organised by The Economist magazine on Wednesday, Kudrin, whose remit includes control of the Federal Tax Service, stated that a number of measures will be approved aimed at curtailing the broad powers enjoyed by tax inspectors involved in company tax investigations.

According to Kudrin, under the reforms, every tax inspectorate will have a separate department for dealing with complaints from taxpayers, while large tax claims will be subject to review within the tax department.

Furthermore, a time limit will be placed on the length of tax investigations, while restrictions will be placed on inspectors’ ability to conduct repeat audits and the type of documents that can be requested from a taxpayer.

Kudrin explained that these changes can be implemented swiftly as they do not require new legislation, and he added that the new measures should “remove anxiety about government actions related to tax” in the wake of several highly publicised and allegedly politically motivated company tax probes.

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