The President approved clarifications to the procedure for the legalization of foreign assets, which was extended at the end of December 2015 without any changes. How effective the amendments made 3 months before the end of the campaign will be will become clear when summing up the results of the capital amnesty.

Also, the capital amnesty law was amended to exempt declarants from the repatriation of their assets. Banks, in turn, will not have to provide information about those clients who took part in the legalization of capital. However, they were obliged to transfer all backup copies of their electronic databases to the Central Bank of the Russian Federation for storage. Bankers will have to do this on a regular basis. Officials argue that such a rule is needed to ensure the best safety of information contained in the electronic databases of credit institutions. However, in reality it is also a method of protection against concealment of information by unscrupulous bankers.

Until now, the transfer of backup copies of electronic databases to the Central Bank of the Russian Federation was carried out only by those banks whose license to conduct banking operations was revoked by the financial regulator. At the same time, the credit institution often cleared all the data from the database, making it impossible to identify financial transactions aimed at money laundering, financing of terrorism, or other transactions prohibited by law. Therefore, the requirement to keep backups electronic documents absolutely all banks from the financial regulator, will make control over the financial market more complete, and the transactions themselves more transparent.

The extension of the capital amnesty, which was originally supposed to end on January 1, 2016, was on December 22, 2015, when the State Duma adopted a bill in three readings at once, extending the possibility of legalizing capital for another six months.

At that time, the deputies were in a hurry to legitimize the continuation of the amnesty until its expiration date, fulfilling the instruction and promise of Russian President Vladimir Putin, given by him in his message to the Federal Assembly. Therefore, the amendments on the terms were adopted as soon as possible and practically without discussion. At the same time, the capital amnesty itself did not show any impressive results by the end of its operation, and literally all parties spoke about the need to finalize it. Which, in the end, was done 3 months before its completion.

The law comes into force from the day of its official publication, except for the requirement for the transfer by banks electronic base for storage. This requirement will become effective one month after the official publication of the document. The rules relating directly to capital amnesty are retroactive and will apply to all declarations filed before the adoption of the law.

Partner

December 2017 was marked by the decision of the Government of the Russian Federation to conduct a second capital amnesty. Recall that the first capital amnesty was carried out from 07/01/2015 to 06/30/2016. Taxpayers could declare that they own foreign accounts, foreign companies, as well as other property and assets abroad, while, in accordance with the law, the taxpayer was exempted from administrative, tax and criminal liability for violations related to the acquisition of this property (including violations of currency legislation). Owners foreign companies it was allowed to liquidate your company and transfer assets to yourself in Russia without taxes. Most importantly, the state guaranteed the secrecy of those declared in the special. declaration of information and the impossibility of prosecuting taxpayers in connection with the information provided.

In 2018, the Government decided to hold a second amnesty in order to give those who did not have time to apply for the first time (or those who did not want to apply for the first time, but now want to) to declare their assets and not worry about the fact that it is too early or later, his property may be discovered, and he himself may be held accountable. It is worth paying special attention to the fact that the second capital amnesty to the first automatic exchange of tax information, according to which the tax authorities in September 2018 in automatic mode it becomes known about foreign accounts and companies of Russian taxpayers, and then it will be impossible to avoid liability. Taking into account the automatic exchange, the capital amnesty 2018 can serve as an excellent way out of the current situation.

The interim results of the capital amnesty as of November 2018, as well as the most common controversial issues and the practice of special declarations already filed, are described by the author in:

Benefits of capital amnesty

We emphasize once again that the amnesty has 2 key aspects operating in parallel:

• amnesty - exemption from administrative, tax and criminal liability for relevant violations related to the acquisition (formation of sources of acquisition), use or disposal of property (property rights) and / or CFC (i.e. they will not ask questions about where the money came from on the CFC ), or with the opening and/or enrollment Money to accounts, information about which is contained with special. declarations :
  • tax evasion - art. 119, 122 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation
  • tax evasion on a large and especially large scale - art. 198, 199 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
  • violation of currency legislation (illegal currency transactions on a personal account) - Article 15.25 of the Code of Administrative Offenses
  • customs evasion
• liquidation benefit - the ability to transfer the asset of a CFC upon its liquidation WITHOUT payment of personal income tax by the controlling person

At the same time, the amnesty does NOT exempt from liability for other crimes associated with methods and mechanisms formation of sources for the acquisition of amnestied capital, such as Legalization (laundering) of funds acquired by criminal means (Article 174 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), Fraud (Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), Illegal banking activities (Article 172 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), etc.

Normative base

Amnesty rules are contained in the following legal acts:

• FZ " On voluntary declaration by individuals of assets and accounts (deposits) in banks and on amendments to certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation” No. 140-FZ
• amendments to the Tax Code of the Russian Federation:
  • clause 2.1. Article 45 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation (actual exemption from personal income tax)
  • Clause 60 of Article 217 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation (extension of tax-free liquidation of a CFC)
  • clause 3.1. Article 25.14 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation (exemption from fines for late submission of the Notice of Participation in a Foreign Organization and Notices of CFCs)
• amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - on the extension of exemption from criminal liability

Terms of amnesty 2.0

The period for the second capital amnesty: March 01, 2018 to February 28, 2019. Exemption from liability is provided for violations committed BEFORE January 01, 2018. Currency transactions are "amnestied" until the date of filing a special declaration.

Main differences from the first amnesty

In addition to the scope of guarantees provided by the first amnesty, the capital amnesty 2018 provides the following additional rights and guarantees:

• the possibility of declaring personal bank accounts opened before January 01, 2018 and CLOSED as of the date of submission of the special. declarations
• the liquidation benefit upon liquidation of a CFC will apply to the CASH that is part of the assets of the liquidated CFC
• the opportunity to submit a special declaration again, for those who participated in the first amnesty (but at the same time, the second special declaration for such persons will NOT be considered clarifying)
• the declarant's right to submit special a declaration to ANY tax authority (its own territorial Federal Tax Service, the CA Federal Tax Service, any other Federal Tax Service, however, for a CFC, filing a special declaration together with notifications of participation and CFC is possible ONLY to the territorial Federal Tax Service)
• The Ministry of Finance is empowered to provide explanations on the procedure for filling out a special declaration
• The second capital amnesty exempts from fines for late submission of Notifications of participation in foreign organizations (50 tr.) and Notifications of CFCs (100 tr. for each year).

What can be declared?

• foreign bank accounts of individuals (open and closed)
• controlled foreign companies (CFCs)
• securities
• immovable (apartments, houses, etc.) and other (cars) property (property rights) located abroad

Author's note: “I draw your attention to the fact that it is possible to declare under the amnesty only the property that belongs to the declarant at the time of filing a special declaration. For example, it is unfortunately impossible to declare a closed CFC.”

Foreign bank account

In accordance with the terms of the amnesty, it is possible to declare a foreign bank account opened BEFORE January 01, 2018, as well as closed ON THE DATE OF SUBMISSION of the special. declaration (provided that it was opened before 01/01/2018).

For open accounts: jointly with Spec. declaration must be submitted to the Federal Tax Service Bank Account Opening Notice(Notice about the change of details - if there was a place to be). We also recommend submitting Cash Flow Statements for 2016 and 2017. (FZ-140 does not contain a norm exempting from such an obligation). At the same time, the declarant freed up from liability for failure to file the Account Opening Notice on time. The declarant is NOT exempted from liability for failure to submit Cash Flow Statements on time. Currently, the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation can hold liable for failure to submit Cash Flow Statements for 2016 and 2017. With respect to the Statement of Cash Flows for 2015, on June 01, 2018, the limitation period for bringing liability expired.

For closed accounts :jointlywith Spec. declaration to the Federal Tax Service must be submitted Bank Account Opening Notice, Bank Account Closing Notice,Notification of a change in details (if any) - clause 1 of article 7 of the Federal Law “. At the same time, the declarant is released from liability for failure to submit the specified notifications on time.

Author's comment: “With regard to Statements of cash flows on closed accounts, in practice there are often cases when it is IMPOSSIBLE to obtain any information about the cash flows that have taken place on a closed account . Thus, there are times when they cannot be physically composed. Because Amnesty, as mentioned above, does NOT exempt from liability for failure to submit reports on time, it seems that the declarant can receive fines both by submitting reports and not submitting them. Thus, I will leave the question of the expediency of disclosing the amounts that passed through your closed account to the Federal Tax Service open and completely at your discretion, the owner of the account.

Note. I remind you that the statute of limitations for bringing to administrative responsibility for not filing the Cash Flow Statement for 2015 on time expired on June 01, 2018. Attempts by the tax authority to issue a fine for the specified report are illegal.

Guarantees associated with a foreign bank account

• exemption from administrative liability (Article 15.25 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation) for not submitting notifications on opening / changing details / closing foreign accounts on time - Part 2 of Article 7 of the Federal Law “ About voluntary declaration…”
• exemption from tax liability (Articles 119, 122 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation) for failure to submit the 3-NDFL declaration on income received to foreign accounts before 2018 on time.
• actual exemption from personal income tax 13% from income credited to a declared foreign account, if the obligation to pay personal income tax arose before January 01, 2018(in accordance with Article 44 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation “on the obligation to pay a specific tax or fee rests with the taxpayer from the moment the established by law on taxes and fees of the circumstances providing for the payment of this tax or fee”, thus, we believe that 3-NDFL is NOT required to be submitted and tax is not required to be paid in relation to income credited to such an account until 2018) - paragraph 2, paragraph 2.1, article 45 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.
• exemption from administrative liability for violation of currency legislation related to illegal crediting to a foreign account ( 15.25 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation) - in relation to income credited to the account before the filing of a special declaration (i.e. committed, including AFTER 01/01/2018) - Part 4 of Article 7 of the Federal Law "On voluntary declaration ... »
• exemption from tax evasion on a large and especially large scale - art. 198, 199 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

After declaring, funds are NOT REQUIRED to be transferred to the Russian Federation. You can continue to use a foreign account, observing the requirements of currency legislation when crediting income to it and when debiting funds from it. You will also need to submit annual Cash Flow Statements to the Federal Tax Service and file 3-personal income tax upon receipt of income to a foreign account.

Author's note: “As of June 2018, the question of whether it is necessary to pay personal income tax on income credited to foreign accounts in 2017 is the most controversial. All official requests sent to the Ministry of Finance and the Federal Tax Service with a request to clarify clause 2.1. Article 45 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation remained unanswered. Thus, the declarants have time until July 15, 2018 in order to make an appropriate decision on the payment / non-payment of personal income tax for 2017 to the budget. As soon as an official position on this issue appears, it will be published on our website.

Controlled foreign companies (CFCs)

Owners of foreign companies, for whom such companies are recognized as CFCs and who have NOT informed the state that they have such companies, have the right to declare such CFCs in the special. declaration and is separately entitled to take advantage of the liquidation benefit upon liquidation of such a CFC.

Guarantees related to the CFC (in case the CFC is not liquidated)

• exemption from tax liability (Article 129.5 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation) for not filing the Notice of participation in a foreign organization (50 thousand rubles) and the Notice of CFC (100 thousand rubles for each reporting period) on time, if notifications are submitted along with special declaration— Clause 3.1. article 25.14 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. As mentioned above, the submission of these 3 documents can be carried out ONLY in the territorial Federal Tax Service;
• exemption from tax and criminal liability (only under sections 198 and 199 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) for relevant violations related to the acquisition (formation of sources of acquisition), use or disposal of a CFC (i.e. they will not ask questions about where the money came from for the purchase of a CFC and for her assets) — clause 2.1. article 45 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation;

At the same time, the OBLIGATION to pay tax on CFC profits remains, i.e., if the controlling person of the CFC had to pay tax on CFC profits, then it must be calculated, declared and paid. After the submission of a special declaration, the declarant, accordingly, has the need for further annual filing of notifications about the CFC.

Tax-free liquidation of a CFC within the framework of paragraph 60 of Article 217 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation

The second stage of the amnesty also goes hand in hand with the second stage of the tax-free liquidation of CFC. Its essence is that the state offers the owners of CFCs to liquidate them, while granting the right NOT to pay tax on the property that will be received by the owners as a result of such liquidation. Legislatively, this is enshrined in paragraph 60 of Article 217 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. The liquidation of the CFC must be completed before March 01, 2019. The specified period can be extended by 365 days if the decision on liquidation is made by the beneficiary before July 01, 2018.

Author's note: “Cypriot companies are liquidated (only voluntary winding up is needed, no strike off!) within a period of 6 months. – all owners of Cypriot companies are advised, just in case, to at least make their own decision on liquidation before July 01, 2018, and then decide whether to proceed with the procedure. BVI is liquidated in 3-4 weeks),

Guarantees related to the CFC (in case of tax-free liquidation of the CFC)

• exemption from tax liability (Article 129.5 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation) for late submission of the Notice of participation in a foreign organization (50 thousand rubles) and the Notice of CFC (100 thousand rubles for each reporting period) - see above
• exemption from tax, administrative and criminal liability - see above
• exemption from paying personal income tax on an asset received by an individual. beneficiary as a result of the liquidation of such a CFC. At the same time, an asset in the form of CASH received from a CFC is also exempt from paying personal income tax - clause 60 of article 217 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation

At the same time, it should be noted separately that the declarants who participated in the FIRST amnesty were NOT exempted from paying personal income tax on the CFCs received as a result of the liquidation Money HOWEVER, due to the fact that the SECOND amnesty improves the position of the taxpayer, its provisions HAVE RETROFECTIVE EFFECT. In particular, paragraph 60 of Article 217 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation extends its effect to legal relations that arose from January 01, 2016. However, in this regard, two questions seem incomprehensible:

• Does the tax-free liquidation of CFCs apply only to CFCs that gained control over the period from January 1, 2016 to January 1, 2018, or to all CFCs that gained control before January 1, 2018? similar question regarding property
• Is it possible to return personal income tax paid by declarants who participated in the first amnesty and what is required for this?

The procedure for accounting for expenses in the sale of property (property rights), including securities received from a nominal owner

item 2 Article 220 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation provides that if the taxpayer will sell the property in the future(property rights) that have passed to him from the nominal owner - if such property and its nominal owner are indicated in the special. declarations, then the taxpayer individual will be entitled to a property deduction in the amount of (whichever is LESS):

• documented value of such property ( property rights) according to the registration data of the nominal owner on the date of transfer
• market value of such property property rights, shares, etc.), determined taking into account the provisions of Article 105 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation on the date of transfer

Amendments to paragraph 13³ of Article 214.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation provide that if the taxpayer will sell SECURITIES (SHARES) in the future, which passed to him from the nominal owner - if such property and its nominal owner are indicated in the special. declaration, then the taxpayer should take into account the amount equal to the documented value of such securities according to the records of the transferring party, but not higher than the market value, as the amount of actually incurred expenses.

In other words, in the event of the future sale of property or property rights received by the declarant as a result of tax-free liquidation, the taxpayer-declarant has the right to reduce his income by the value of the property received according to the records of the CFC or nominal owner (for the Central Bank - no more than their market value).

Real estate, vehicles and property rights

The fact that there is movable or immovable property abroad does NOT in itself entail an obligation to notify any authorities in Russia about this. Thus, it seems that it is worth declaring such property:
1) in the event that the nature of the origin of the funds for which this property was purchased is unclear
2) if the property generated income subject to taxation in the Russian Federation
3) if the property was purchased with credit funds at a low interest rate, which BEFORE January 01, 2018 meant the formation of material benefits in the Russian Federation with the obligation to pay personal income tax at a rate of 35% of the difference (9% x%). From January 01, 2018, obtaining a loan from a foreign bank at a low interest rate (less than 9%) - Article 212 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

In accordance with clause 2.1. Article 45 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, an individual declarant is exempted from the obligation to pay tax (personal income tax), if such an obligation arose for the declarant before January 01, 2018 as a result of operations related to the acquisition (formation of sources of acquisition), use or disposal of property, information which is contained in the spec. declarations.

Other features

The amnesty does NOT apply to cases where tax, administrative or criminal proceedings are already pending against a person.

Submission of special declarations are made ONCE ONCE. Submission of specified special declaration is NOT provided.

What was in the previous law?

The first law - "On the voluntary declaration by individuals of assets and accounts (deposits) in banks" -. According to him, any Russian could disclose information about his property and accounts in foreign banks without any additional payments and taxes. In exchange, he received exemption from criminal (under a number of economic offenses), administrative and tax liability associated with the acquisition and use of such accounts and assets. It was possible to declare real estate, transport, shares and shares in companies. Cash was not included in this list (that is, the information about the bank account did not need to indicate the amount of money on it).

Another law in the framework of the campaign to return capital to Russia was the law on controlled foreign companies (CFC). According to this law, from January 1, 2015, Russians are required to declare their participation in foreign business and pay taxes on income from it. Subject to the liquidation of a CFC, until December 31, 2017, its owner was exempted from paying personal income tax in Russia for property received during the closing of the company (but if money is received from such a company, tax must be paid).

Initially, it was planned that the capital amnesty would be valid until December 31, 2015, but then the period was extended for six months. By the end of this period, 7.2 thousand people took advantage of the amnesty, Makarov told reporters on Wednesday, January 31.

The draft laws were received by the Russian Ministry of Finance, a representative of the department told RBC. “We are preparing a draft positive opinion of the Government of the Russian Federation on the bill on amendments to the Tax Code and a draft positive review on the bill on declaration. We hope that the federal authorities executive power- co-executors and the government - will support us, ”the ministry said in a statement.

Does the new amnesty change anything?

New bills, in fact, prolong the validity of the previous ones. But the order of actions in the new bills is spelled out more clearly, says Ekaterina Vlasova, a lawyer at BGP Litigation, and the conditions are better than in the last deoffshorization campaign.

“Many jurisdictions have a very complicated liquidation procedure. In particular, we were faced with the fact that in Cyprus, local government agencies were inundated with applications from Russian residents who wanted to liquidate their companies there. And if Russian residents - individuals wished to liquidate their company last year, they simply did not have time to do it before December 31, 2017. In this regard, the extension of the “preferential liquidation” period is a very important decision,” Mikhail Orlov, KPMG partner, who participated in the discussions of the bills, told RBC.

The terms of the "tax-free" liquidation of the CFC are extended until March 1, 2019, Vlasova points out. It is important that now personal income tax will not be taxed on cash income received during the liquidation of the CFC.

Why do you need retroactive power?

Now the Tax Code states that only property (at its value) received by an individual from a liquidated foreign company is exempt from personal income tax. And now money is also exempt. This is good news, besides, this norm is given retroactive effect, says Alexander Ovesnov, head of the practice of tax disputes at MEF-Audit PKF. “This means that, theoretically, declarants under the previous amnesty can also use it, if such funds were received by them after January 1, 2016. Such a decision seems to be fair, since the persons who used the terms of the amnesty earlier should not be in a worse position than those who did not do so initially,” Ovesnov believes.

Today it is impossible to declare the income that was received in 2016, says Maxim Voloboev, deputy head of the tax practice at NAFCO-Consultants. The amendments extend the amnesty for the tax periods of 2017 and 2018, which must be reported until 2019. The previous tax amnesty concerned legal relations that arose before January 1, 2016. If the new amnesty is not extended to 2016, then this tax period may fall under tax, administrative and criminal sanctions, explains Voloboev.

What will happen to those who have already paid personal income tax on the money received from CFC?

“Foreseeing such a norm for the future, it was necessary to give it retroactive effect so as not to punish those who have already returned the money to the country and have already paid 13% of them,” says Orlov. According to him, this should rather be considered not an additional benefit, but “correcting the mistakes of previous legislation.”

Personal income tax is a federal tax that is paid to the budgets of the regions. The return of the paid personal income tax from the budgets can become a shortfall in income, Orlov admits. “However, this amount is not comparable to the benefit that the state will receive, which has provided conditions for the return of capital. It is unlikely that we are talking about an amount of more than one billion rubles, ”he says.

Are there any conflicts of amendments with strict currency legislation?

IPT Group Senior Tax Manager Ilya Burtsev sees in the possibility of tax-free receipt of funds as a result of the liquidation of a foreign company pitfall" of amendments. “The difficulty lies in the fact that the transfer of funds from a foreign company as a result of liquidation to the account of an individual opened with a foreign bank will most likely require amendments to the legislation on currency regulation - now such currency transaction not directly named as permitted,” Burtsev points out.

Based on the current draft law, funds received from a liquidated company to a foreign account of a Russian currency resident will be exempt from personal income tax, but there remains a risk of violating currency laws (a fine of 75 to 100% of the amount credited), he claims.

What else is new in the amendments?

As Makarov noted, the introduced package of bills takes into account the proposals of the business community. In particular, entrepreneurs will be given the opportunity to declare already closed accounts and companies (this provision was not included in the first capital amnesty law). It will be possible to indicate in the declaration accounts and deposits in foreign banks opened as of January 1, 2018, as well as foreign accounts opened before January 1, 2018 and closed on the date of filing the declaration, follows from the draft law.

The bill also proposes to exempt from fines for violating the deadlines for filing notifications of CFCs, if these notifications are filed simultaneously with a special declaration on foreign assets and accounts, Vlasova notes.

Now a special declaration can only be submitted to the tax authority at the place of residence or stay. At the new stage of the amnesty, the declaration can be submitted to any tax authority. It is also planned to give the right to re-submit a special declaration to those who have already reported during the first stage of the declaration, says Ovesnov, and such a new declaration should not be considered a clarification of the previously filed. “In other words, for the previous participants in the amnesty, there is an opportunity to additionally declare their assets, which for some reason were not indicated by them in the initial declaration,” he explains.

Another innovation - it is proposed to establish that the amnesty does not apply to taxes payable by individuals in relation to the profits or property of the CFC, including those declared. “If the declared CFC is not liquidated, it will be necessary to pay taxes on its income and property in the general manner,” Ovesnov points out.

Will the new amnesty be more successful than the last one?

The new amnesty will be more successful than the previous one, Vlasova believes. “Unlike in 2015, now the procedure for declaring assets and foreign companies is much more clearly regulated and scheduled,” the lawyer says.

Since the previous "amnesty" there have been large-scale changes in international taxation, says Ovesnov. “The Federal Tax Service of Russia has signed several international agreements providing for the automatic exchange of financial and tax information. The number of countries carrying out tax exchanges is growing rapidly, and even such “classic” offshore territories as the British Virgin Islands have already confirmed their willingness to participate in the exchange,” he recalls. This capital amnesty will be perceived by business representatives more carefully than the previous one, the expert suggests.

It is more profitable for businessmen to save money and take advantage of amnesty and tax-free liquidation than to wait until the tax authorities themselves receive information and start issuing fines, sums up Vlasova.

According to Andrey Makarov, the author of the bill, the adoption of these amendments will protect Russian business and Russian citizens as part of the exchange that is currently taking place between the tax services. He noted that all materials on the bills were sent to the FATF (International Financial Action Group on Combating Money Laundering). “Any country must coordinate all amnesties with the FATF, this is a very important point in the fight against money laundering,” Makarov said, noting that the previous text was also coordinated with the FATF.

In the series of "pre-election gifts" there is something not only for citizens, but also for medium and even large businesses. Along with the forgiveness of transport and property tax debts, the State Duma promptly complied with the president’s order and adopted a law on a new capital amnesty, which allows for a simplified declaration of foreign assets and foreign companies without paying taxes and the risk of being held liable.

The law on the previous amnesty was adopted in June 2015, and the amnesty itself was initially held until December 31, 2015 inclusive, but then was extended until July 2016. Even during this short period, the law managed to undergo two amendments, and the last changes were made in April 2016. Only after that, many lawyers considered the amnesty more or less thought out.

According to various estimates, only 3,500 to 7,000 declarations were filed during the first amnesty, which is negligible. This failure was explained both by the very modest coverage of the initiative itself at the state level, and by legal problems. In fact, the full-fledged amnesty worked in April, May and June 2016, that is, only three months.

Nevertheless, after all the improvements, the law turned out to be quite balanced, and when adopting a new capital amnesty, the State Duma limited itself to making a few more clarifications to the already existing document of 2015 and extending its validity.

So, what happened on the eve of March 2018?

Validity

First, about timing. The declaration during the “second stage of the declaration”, as it is officially called, can be submitted from March 1, 2018 to February 28, 2019. Thus, a year is allotted for declaration.

What can be declared?

First, a wide range of property: land, any real estate, transport, securities, shares and shares in the capital of Russian and foreign companies.

Secondly, bank accounts, including closed accounts. It is also possible to declare accounts that are not opened in the name of the declarant, but at the same time he is their beneficiary.

Thirdly, it is possible to declare the ownership of controlled foreign companies that are not directly owned by the declarant.

Unfortunately, no changes have been made to the law regarding movable property. Even during the first declaration company, the Ministry of Finance explained that the term "property" should be understood as it is defined in Civil Code, that is, include including movable property, but the law itself in this part has remained the same.

By the way, important feature was the introduction of a clarification into the text that it is the Ministry of Finance that gives official clarifications on the application of the law.

Perhaps, taking into account the latest trends, one should expect that one of the first questions that will be asked to the ministry will concern the possibility of declaring cryptocurrencies.

Do I need to return property to Russia?

No. The very first version of the law contained a requirement for the return of property and capital from offshore companies, but subsequently these provisions were excluded and did not appear in the new version of the law either.

Is it necessary to disclose the sources of acquisition of property?

Again, no. This question arose, since the law provides for the right to disclose the sources of formation of property. Moreover, the law on the second amnesty explicitly states that the provision of the guarantees provided for by law does not depend on whether the data on the origin of assets are disclosed during the declaration or not.

However, it should be noted that the indication of the sources of acquisition of property will extend the guarantees provided by law to such sources as well.

What does the law guarantee?

Exemption from criminal liability in terms of tax crimes, as well as crimes related to currency and customs control. Exemption from administrative liability for illegal business activities.

A separate article of the law establishes that all transactions made on foreign accounts are recognized as completed without violating the provisions on currency control. The new law also extends this clause to already closed accounts, if they are included in the declaration.

It should be noted that if an indulgence regarding currency violations is issued in respect of all transactions committed before the date of submission of the declaration, then all other sins are forgiven only if they were committed before January 1, 2018.

Is it possible to participate in the amnesty again?

The law expressly states that even persons who filed a declaration during the first campaign may do so again. It is only necessary to remember that the declaration itself is presented only once during one amnesty. That is, you cannot submit a declaration several times during the year, constantly updating and supplementing it with new data.

What are the consequences?

If you nevertheless decide to take part in the amnesty, then it will not be superfluous to immediately think about further steps.

Currently Russian legislation imposes a variety of obligations associated with the ownership of foreign assets. In particular, for accounts opened with foreign banks, it is required to provide annual reports on the movement of funds, and for controlled foreign companies - to provide reports and pay tax if their profits amounted to more than 10 million rubles.

It must also be remembered that the amnesty does not apply to 2018, that is, when receiving income in the current year, it will be necessary not to forget to declare it in 2019 in the usual manner.

To participate in the amnesty or not?

In itself, a repeated amnesty in such short term is an extremely rare phenomenon and, obviously, is caused by a combination of both political and economic reasons. There is no reason to believe that this will turn into an "annual holiday".

Moreover, voluntary declaration is already becoming relevant in the light of the news that Russia has already set up an automatic exchange of information with 48 countries, including such popular jurisdictions as the UK and Switzerland.

So if you have any assets that you would like to "whitewash" - perhaps a new capital amnesty - this is the last such chance for the next decade.

13:58 — REGNUM A group of deputies headed by Andrey Makarov, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Budget and Taxes, submitted to the State Duma a package of bills on the launch of the second stage of the amnesty for capital withdrawn abroad, a correspondent reports. IA REGNUM January 31st.

We are talking about the amnesty of funds that entrepreneurs received in the course of doing business, but did not declare, as well as exemption from income tax from the activities of a controlled foreign company. It is assumed that foreign assets declared before March 1, 2019 will fall under the amnesty.

Didn't bring results

The capital amnesty was in effect in the Russian Federation from July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016 as part of the program to deoffshorize the economy. Citizens of the Russian Federation could voluntarily declare their property and assets abroad during this period, as well as report open accounts in foreign banks and controlled foreign companies. In this case, all income, operations and transactions that are associated with foreign assets of citizens of the Russian Federation were exempted from tax, administrative and criminal liability.

However, Russian President Vladimir Putin, at a meeting with business representatives in December 2017, said that the program should be extended. At the same time, the head of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation, Anton Siluanov, said that the results of the capital amnesty program in 2016 did not achieve their goals. Thus, according to various estimates, the number of people who filed declarations did not exceed 2.5 thousand people.

“The amnesty that was held in 2016 did not, frankly, give the expected results that we expected,” Siluanov said.

According to him, the proposal to extend the capital amnesty for those who have not yet taken advantage of it may affect medium-sized businesses and entrepreneurs who were previously afraid to return their funds to the Russian Federation as part of the deoffshorization program.

“Now you don’t have to be afraid to declare your accounts in the West, you can quite legally return money to the Russian Federation and work with this money on completely legal grounds,” Siluanov noted earlier.

New term and rules

The deputies propose to carry out the second stage of the capital amnesty - it will now be possible to declare your foreign accounts and assets from March 1, 2018 to February 29, 2019. At the same time, all guarantees and rights for those citizens who previously took advantage of the capital amnesty will also be preserved. Moreover, such citizens are allowed to participate in the second stage of the program by re-submitting an amnesty declaration for their funds.

The deputies also finalized the procedure for declaring - so, if during the first stage it was assumed that the declaration could be submitted to central office Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation or at the place of registration of an individual. As part of the second stage of the capital amnesty, deputies propose to allow filing a declaration with any tax authority. The Ministry of Finance, in turn, will also receive the authority to clarify the procedure for filling out a special declaration.

As part of the deoffshorization program, it is also proposed to extend the transition period, during which, in the event of the liquidation of a CFC, until December 31, 2017, its owner was exempted from personal income tax (13%) in relation to the property of this CFC. At the same time, such an exemption applied to any assets received upon liquidation of a CFC, except for cash. In addition, if the controlling person buys back the assets of his CFC and then liquidates it, then such income will also not be taxed. Deputies propose to extend the allowed deadlines for the liquidation of controlled foreign companies until March 1, 2019. Thus, at the suggestion of the deputies, the declared income and other property of the CFC will not be taxed. The new rules will cover all income in cash and in kind received by an individual upon liquidation of a CFC.

As previously reported IA REGNUM, The Council of the Duma will meet on January 31 for an extraordinary meeting to send the document to the relevant committee of the State Duma and to the mailing list. It is assumed that the bills will be considered in the first reading at the next plenary session of the State Duma on February 7.