Zolotareva, A. B. New Rules of Tax Control of Prices as a Great Delusion

Abstract: Right after Section V.1 of the Tax Code came into force, it was viewed as a considerable loosening of tax control over price formation. If read literally, the section sets forth that the control over price formation can be performed only by the Federal Tax Service of Russia and only when major transactions between related parties are involved (so called ‘related-party transactions). However, at the end of 2012 there appeared new interpretations of the legal provisions contained in Section V.1 as offered by the Ministry of Finances of Russia. Those interpretations did not only level down the legal rebates provided for taxpayers, but even put taxpayers into worse conditions compared to when Articles 20 and 40 of the Tax Code were effective. In her research the author of the article uses the method of comparative law analysis. She also analyzes the arguments supporting official interpretations of the provisions of Section V.1 of the Tax Code and concludes that these interpretations do not correspond to the actual law. However, it is the author’s opinion that we should not read the Section V.1 of the Tax Code literally because it would give related parties many chances to avoid paying taxes. Based on the results of her analysis, the author makes suggestions on how to improve the existing legislation and eliminate contradictions between the Tax Code provisions and law enforcement practice.

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