Federal Tax Service fines for receiving rent payments to foreign accounts – Kommersant

The Federal Tax Service has begun to regard as illegal currency transactions the receipt by owners of rental payments for foreign real estate to foreign accounts, they report “Vedomosti” with reference to the resolution of the Moscow department of the Federal Tax Service imposing a fine. The document sets out the corresponding position, the publication reports.

The resolution, which Vedomosti has at its disposal, states that the Russian resident, who owns six commercial premises in Germany, entered into lease agreements with German companies and received payments from them into a foreign currency account. The tax authorities considered the person’s activities to be entrepreneurial, and the receipt of rental payments was illegal, since the funds did not come to a Russian bank. The Federal Tax Service fined the Russian in the amount of 30% of the total amount of the operation, the publication reports.

The document clarifies that the tax authorities considered the citizen’s activity to be entrepreneurial because it was aimed at systematically generating profit. The Federal Tax Service noted that the Russian was registered as an individual entrepreneur, so he is a legal entity. Consequently, the provisions of Part 5.2 of Art. 12 of Law No. 173-FZ, which allow individuals to receive funds from non-residents without restrictions, was emphasized by the tax authorities.

According to current legislation, a legal entity is obliged to conduct foreign exchange transactions through Russian banks. According to paragraph 2 of Art. 14 of the Federal Law on currency regulation, this restriction does not apply, in particular, to settlements of Russian legal entities with foreign individuals in rubles under contracts for the retail purchase and sale of goods, in order to compensate for the amount of value added tax, as well as settlements when providing services to non-resident individuals in the territory Russian Federation of transport, hotel and other services provided to the population.

In December 2023, Vedomosti reported that the Federal Tax Service started request from Russians with dual citizenship or potential holders of a residence permit (RP) information about accounts in foreign banks. This happened after the government of the Russian Federation approved a resolution describing new requirements for the disclosure of reports on the flow of funds placed in accounts in foreign banks and other financial organizations, as well as on transfers without opening a bank account. According to interlocutors “Kommersant” and experts, the resolution will primarily affect large businesses.

Erdni Kagaltynov