What else is being changed in the Tax Code
The government amendments also propose the “introduction into tax legal relations” of electronic bank guarantees, which were experimentally used for reimbursement of VAT or excises, but were regulated only by a separate letter from the Federal Tax Service. At the end of 2020, according to the explanatory note, 2.3 thousand such guarantees were accepted for 367 billion rubles. Now the Tax Code will directly stipulate the possibility of using electronic guarantees, which will directly come from banks to the tax authorities.
As Taxology partner Alexei Artyukh notes, on the one hand, this will make the guarantee mechanism more convenient - mainly for those who often use them, for example, for exporters who regularly refund VAT in an expedited manner. However, according to Artyukh, the use of bank guarantees in tax relations is unlikely to become widespread with the introduction of the electronic format - and now in practice they are used infrequently. For example, within the framework of tax audits, taxpayers rarely use this tool as an interim measure when calculating arrears: guarantees cost money, and if it is possible to pay off arrears, it is preferable to do this - otherwise, regardless of the availability of interim measures, within 75 days, the tax authorities must hand over (with a significant amount of debt) materials to the investigation.
Forward Legal lawyer Roman Gusak notes that the draft law also proposes to significantly increase the penalties for non-filing of declarations on settlements with foreign organizations and withheld taxes - we are talking about raising them to 5% of the unpaid tax amount for each month of delay, which “may affect many intercompany transactions in companies."
