Tax apartheid
One of the main changes was the addition of the following norm to para. 2 art. 101 of the Tax Code:
A tax authority must provide a person (or his representative) in regards to whom a tax inspection was carried out with an opportunity to familiarize himself with the tax inspection materials, as well as with the materials of additional tax control measures on the territory of the tax authority no later than two days from the date of submitting the relevant application by such person. Familiarization with such materials is carried out by their visual inspection, preparation of extracts, making copies.
An issue with access to inspection materials is not new, it’s existed for almost 20 years. And it is being solved by microscopic changes made with incredible efforts. One could say: ‘That’s something at least’, however there was a nuance in the form of transitional provisions. Para. 4 art. 2 of the Law No. 130-FZ says:
Provisions of paragraphs 1, 2 and 6.1 art. 101 of part 1 of the RF Tax Code (as amended by this Federal Law) are applied in reaching decisions on the results of tax inspections that were completed after the date of entry into force of this Federal Law.
Yes, we were surprised too. It’s hard to find logic in such regulation. Why can’t the taxpayers who received the Inspection Report before June 1, 2016 take advantage of the improvements? Considering the fact that para. 3 art. 5 of the RF Tax Code points directly to the retroactive effect in relation to the norms establishing additional guarantees to protect the rights of taxpayers. It is surprising that in a similar situation about the action in time of procedural rules the RF Federal Tax Service in the Letter of July 4, 2013 No. CA-4-9/12019@ clarified in favor of taxpayers. Will this approach be repeated this time around? Or the same taxpayers will be denied to become familiar with the reference to the transitional provisions?
In any case, once again we have to wonder about the quality of tax laws.
P.S. It is worth paying attention to the peculiar terminology of para.4 art.2 of the Law No.130-FZ, namely a reference to some completed inspections. In the RF Tax Code, a very specific concept of the last inspection day is used (in para. 15 art. 89 of the Tax Code). Tax Code uses quite clear definition "last day of tax audit" (para.15 art.89 Tax Code). One might get the wrong impression that the inspection is completed by making a decision based on inspection results.