Programme

Tax monitoring is form of tax administration and control that is new to Russia and based on the principles of transparency and trust between taxpayers and tax authorities. It replaces traditional audits with online interaction based on report access to the taxpayer’s information systems.

As of 2019, more than 40 major companies have already transferred to tax monitoring, 18 of them this year. Tax monitoring implies additional opportunities and advantages for participants, including:
– the company not having to undergo field and in-office tax audits;
– rapid period closing from the perspective of tax audits;
– an opportunity to receive “reasoned opinions” from the tax authority on matters of dispute relating to taxation of completed and future operations of the company, which, if followed, will release the company from fines and penalties.
Current participants in the tax monitoring system and representatives of the FTS of Russia in charge of the given sphere of FTS work will, as part of the presentation session, present and discuss the following topics:
– The key difference between tax monitoring and other forms of tax administration. What are the advantages for the taxpayer and the tax authority?
– How to prepare for participating in tax monitoring and how fast can the transfer to it be? What are the readiness criteria?
– Typical difficulties encountered by companies in preparing to transfer to tax monitoring
– Prospects for further improvement of the legislation on tax monitoring

Moderator
Irina Bykhovskaya, Partner, CIS Tax & Law Leader, EY

Irina Bykhovskaya

Partner, CIS Tax & Law Leader, EY

Background

► Irina is the CIS Tax & Law Leader and Tax Partner at EY Moscow.

► Prior to joining EY Moscow in May 2002, Irina worked for Arthur Andersen for 4 years (since 1998). She has more than 20 years of professional experience.

► Irina graduated from the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation with a degree in Finance and Credit.

► Irina actively participates in tax working groups of the International Financial Center in Russia, the Association of Russian Banks, the Russian Ministry of Finance and the Federal Tax Service focusing on the improvement of Russian tax legislation. She also is a regular speaker at various conferences and seminars.

Professional skills

► Irina specializes in providing tax services to banks, insurance companies, investment banking groups, investment funds as well as to non-financial organizations in respect of their treasury, trade financing and assets purchase financing operations.

► She has significant experience in M&A structuring and business restructuring, tax due diligence, tax function performance improvement and tax processes enhancement projects as well as integration of banking businesses.

► She has also specialized in transfer pricing since 2011 when the respective rules were adopted in Russia.

► Starting 2014, her areas of specialization have also included advice on the implementation of FATCA requirements and, starting 2015, the application of the Common Reporting Standard by financial and non-financial organizations and individuals.

Projects

► Irina leads projects on Russian taxation of transactions with securities, derivatives and REPO transactions.

► She leads projects on withholding tax, double taxation relief and application of the beneficial owner of income concept.

► She leads tax function performance improvement and tax processes enhancement projects as well as projects relating to effective tax rate projections.

► Her team helps to defend taxpayers’ interests to respond to the tax assessments by the tax authorities.

► She leads advisory projects on the tax implications of intragroup services provided by international groups of companies and banking groups.

► She has led a number of projects on the implementation of FATCA and CRS in a major Russian bank and several financial institutions in the CIS.

Panellists
Yuriy Bondar, Deputy managing director, Head of Department “Platform and Technologies”, SAP CIS
Maxim Vasilevsky, Vice President for Public Affairs, Mars, Incorporated in Russia
Pavel Gontarev, Head of B2B department, Mail.ru
Daniil Egorov, Deputy Head, Federal Tax Service of Russia
Dmitry Kornev, Director of Tax Administration Department, MTS OJSC
Marina Krasheninnikova, Deputy Head of the Desk Audit Directorate, Federal Tax Service of Russia
Mikhail Orlov, Chairman of the Expert Council of the Committee for Budget and Taxes of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation
Anna Plyakova, Deputy managing director, 1C