Government of the Russian Federation prepared amendments to the Tax Code which complicate business operations

Cabinet of ministers proposes to amend a number of provisions of the Tax Code including the following:

• tax returns which contain arithmetic mistakes should be considered unsubmitted;
• taxpayer’s authorized representative will be required to have a notarized power of attorney or power of attorney in electronic form signed by encrypted qualified electronic signature of the principal.

So far, it is sufficient for a representative of a taxpayer to have power of attorney certified by signature of general director and seal of the organization. Proposed amendments can create significant difficulties for companies since notarizing power of attorney is not always a convenient procedure which requires personal presence of the head of principal organization.

On the one hand, such amendments in the sphere of tax legislation may negatively affect business in Russia. This is due to the fact that these amendments significantly complicate a number of procedures that must be complied with by organizations conducting commercial activities.

However, such amendments are not deprived of advantages. Thus, stricter rules to the taxpayer’s representative will allow to significantly decrease number of fraudulent actions. Offenders will not be able to make deals on behalf of organizations using false documents.