New Russian Tax Law To Clamp Down On Offshore Tax Schemes

In March 2014 the Russian Ministry of Finance published a draft anti-offshore law which is currently submitted for consideration by The State Duma (parliament) with the decision expected to be made by the end of 2014. Russia is aiming to clamp down on the use of foreign offshore tax shelters in a new tax policy as part of President Putin's "deoffshorisation" campaign which was launched in 2012. With an estimated $800bn - $1trillion worth of assets being transferred to various offshore zones around the world, the draft law is a part of a series of measures undertaken by the Russian President to bring money onshore to Russia. The black list of jurisdictions will include various offshore countries (such as BVI, Belize, Seychelles and Panama) as well as low tax havens including Cyprus.

The new law is intended to introduce amendments to the Russian Tax Code which are aimed at Russian companies and individuals (tax residents in Russia) owning a controlling stake in foreign companies (Controlled Foreign Company ("CFC")), and as a result of that receiving so-called "passive gains" (such as dividends and royalties) without the CFCs distributing the respective gains back to Russian shareholders. Under the draft law such passive gains will be subject to tax in Russia - 20% for companies on...