06.09.07
Russias Federal Tax Service to knuckle down to DTA with Seychelles
According to Russia’s Federal Tax Service (FTS), Russia needs to sign agreements on swapping tax information with the Seychelles and other offshore jurisdictions.
In the beginning of June, deputy head of Russia’s FTS, Konstantin Sedov, announced that in order to exchange tax information with the Seychelles, the British Virgin Islands, Gibraltar, the Normandy Islands and other offshore countries agreements are to be signed.
Russia has signed double taxation agreements (DTAs) with most countries, however, Sedov said that tax agencies are exchanging information through those agreements only on direct taxes. According to Sedov, to improve the exchange of information between countries on indirect taxes, it is needed to extend these agreements to indirect taxes. It is important for Russia to develop a mechanism to conduct joint tax audits. Currently, such control measures are envisioned in intergovernmental agreements with CIS countries and interagency agreements with the agencies of Sweden, Norway and Denmark.
The proposal has been sent by FTS to the Russian Finance Ministry that is expected to consider holding the relevant talks with the corresponding agencies of foreign governments, the Seychellois government includingly.