| Abstract: |
By the "Main Directions of the Budget, Tax, and Customs Tariff Policy for 2021
and the planning period of 2022 and 2023", voluntary registration for foreign
suppliers using the VAT office when carrying out any type of activity (sales
to Russian buyers) is stated as part of the topical issues of taxation in the
future. This issue was proposed by the business community and should be
considered by the Government of the Russian Federation soon. In Appendix 2
(Tax Policy Measures by Types of Taxes) of the “Main Directions of the
Budgetary, Tax, and Customs Tariff Policy for 2022 and the Planning Period of
2023 and 2024”, paragraph 5 of the subsection “Value Added Tax” is also
devoted to the issue of changing the procedure for determining places of sale
of works (services) for VAT purposes and voluntary registration for foreign
suppliers using a VAT office, which states that a foreign supplier of works
(services) will be able to pay VAT independently in the event of voluntary tax
registration in the Russian Federation Federation. Thus, the relevance of the
research topic was indicated in the Main Directions for two years in a row, in
2021 and 2022. The geopolitical changes taking place today only increase the
relevance of this study, the purpose of which is to free from the formal
barriers of the system of registration for VAT purposes of foreign companies
providing electronic services to recipients in Russia, to attract as many
foreign companies to taxation in the Russian Federation. The implementation of
the results of this work can make the conditions for the work of foreign
companies in Russia more attractive. The main tasks to be solved within the
framework of the study are: to analyze the foreign experience of paying VAT by
foreign companies with an emphasis on the voluntariness of registration and
online interaction with tax authorities and; to analyze the current tax
legislation of Russia in terms of paying VAT by foreign companies, including
the issue of applying the institution of tax agents; prepare proposals for
improving the tax legislation in Russia, including amendments to certain
articles of Chapter 21 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. The subject
of the study is the procedure for indirect taxation of foreign companies in
Russia using the VAT office. The method or methodology of research is a
combination of general scientific and special methods of cognition, namely,
system analysis, the method of analogy, the general logical method of
generalization, comparative legal, structural, and functional analysis. The
sources of information are research materials of Russian and foreign
scientists, legislative bases, websites of tax authorities of the countries of
the world, mass media, and other sources. The main applied result of the
research is the answer to the question of the advisability or not of the
introduction of voluntary registration of foreign suppliers using the VAT
office in the implementation of activities in Russia (sales to Russian
buyers), which is specified in the "Guidelines for the budget, tax, and
customs tariff policy for 2021 and the planning period of 2022 and 2023"
(Guidelines). In addition to the above main applied result, the applied
results of the study will be proposals for improving the payment of VAT in
Russia by foreign companies. The scientific novelty of the main applied result
is due to the novelty of the question itself about the advisability of
introducing voluntary registration within the framework of the Guidelines. The
scientific novelty of other applied results is due to the analysis of the
current tax legislation of Russia, and foreign experience, on the topic of the
study for 2021, and 2022, initiatives in 2023. As a result of the analysis of
foreign experience, the following conclusions were drawn in the world,
voluntary registration for the purpose of paying VAT of foreign suppliers, and
not always through personal accounts or special services similar to the VAT
office on the websites of tax services. Voluntary registration is not limited
to e-services, but also, for example, includes low-value goods. As a
recommendation, it seems appropriate to allow voluntary registration for VAT
purposes for foreign companies in Russia. In the future, this work can become
a starting point for studying the issues of changing approaches to taxation,
and administration of income of foreign companies in Russia, including direct
taxation. |
| Keywords: |
VAT office, foreign electronic services, tax agent, tax representative, VAT, tax on goods and services, foreign experience, voluntary registration, EAEU taxes |