Russia Hopes to Improve Doing Business Ranking Through Tax Administration – Minister

MOSCOW. Oct 17 (Interfax) – Russia hopes improve its ranking on the Doing Business index by improving tax administration, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said.

In the last Doing Business index, Russia was number 120. The country’s authorities have selected this index as an indicator of the success of their efforts to improve the business climate. In his first instruction after becoming president, Vladimir Putin set the task of climbing up to number 50 by 2015 and to number 20 by 2018.

“In terms of the Doing Business index we are with the Federal Tax Service and Mikhail Mishustin (the head of the Federal Tax Service) working with the World Bank (the index is compiled by World Bank private sector arm – the IFC) to provide an objective assessment of the Russian tax system and Russian administration in order to move several notches up for this criteria.

I hope that next year Russia can considerably improve its position in the Doing Business index,” Siluanov said in an interview with the Nalogi program on the TV channel Rossiya 24.

The Bureau of the OECD Forum on Tax Administration is meeting at the Federal Tax Service Wednesday.

“This is a very significant event. Russia’s tax system has recently undergone major changes. We have brought our tax legislation into line with OECD requirements. This is very important for the convenience of taxpayers – we have simplified the tax system. It is important for the harmonization of our tax system with the best world standards. We have also recently made a decision on avoiding double taxation and on transfer prices on all principles, which are laid down in the OECD requirements,” Siluanov said.

The OECD Forum on Tax Administration will take place in Moscow in 2013. “This is also a confirmation of the successes that Russia has achieved both in tax legislation and tax administration,” the minister said.

The Forum takes place in May, Mishustin said at the Bureau meeting.

“In our opinion the joint efforts of different countries and the OECD need to be directed toward resolving global tax issues, such as bank information exchange, information on the revenues of end beneficiaries, as well as the search for a balance between reducing administration costs and implementing and efficiently monitoring compliance with tax legislation,” Mishustin said.