Tax breaks for IT companies in Russia

The main articles are:

• Benefits and support measures for IT companies in Russia
• Taxes in Russia

2024

Putin instructed to reduce income tax for enterprises of the radio-electronic industry

The President of Russia instructed the Cabinet of Ministers to reduce the rate of income tax and insurance premiums for enterprises producing equipment and materials for radio electronics. The corresponding item is contained in the list of instructions given following the meeting of the Council on Science and Education. This was announced on August 2, 2024 by the press service of Anton Nemkin, a member of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Information Technology and Communications.

Ensure that amendments are made to the legislation of the Russian Federation aimed at applying a reduced income tax rate and reduced insurance premium rates for organizations engaged in the production of special technological equipment, components and consumables for the radio-electronic industry, the instruction says. The deadline is set until April 1, 2025.

The most striking example of the effectiveness of tax incentives was demonstrated by the IT sector. The reduction in rates made it possible to redistribute the profits received for the implementation of large infrastructure projects, including in the field of import substitution. Of course, positive experience should be applied in other areas. Let me remind you that tax preferences have already been introduced for electronic enterprises, but only for those who are included in the special register of electronic products of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The manufacturers of equipment for the radio-electronic industry themselves, in fact, remained aside, - the deputy explained.

In addition, it is extremely important to achieve control over the main points of the technological cycle of electronics production. Of course, it has been noted more than once that today no country in the world can allow full-cycle production, and international cooperation allows for lower costs. However, it is necessary to strive for control over the creation of key components, including in terms of the production of direct equipment for the industry. Achieving the set tasks directly depends on the effectiveness of support measures, the deputy emphasized.

IT companies will be able to receive tax breaks only from profits from sales of Russian software

In Russia, on July 23, 2024, the State Duma adopted in the third reading a bill that limits tax breaks for IT companies. According to the new rules, the reduced income tax rate will apply only to income from the implementation of domestic software.

According to Vedomosti, amendments to the bill on the implementation of the main directions of tax policy are aimed at supporting Russian developers and restricting access to benefits for companies promoting foreign IT products. The representative of the Ministry of Finance explained that these changes will make the benefits more targeted, focusing them on supporting domestic developments in the IT sphere.

IT companies will be able to receive tax breaks only from profits from sales of Russian software

The new rules will affect Russian IT integrators who sell and adapt foreign software solutions. Such companies will not be able to receive a profit benefit from the sale of foreign software. This can significantly affect the business models of many market participants.

Svetlana Skripnik, partner of the tax and legal consulting department of Kept, noted that previously companies with state accreditation of Ministry of Digital Development could take advantage of the benefit if at least 70% of their revenue was "qualifying" income in accordance with the list established by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

The bill also makes changes to the definition of a "group of persons" for the purpose of obtaining state support. Russian IT companies that are part of the same group with foreign organizations will be able to apply tax breaks only if foreign companies are controlled by Russian citizens.

The Russian government has extended the 5% reduced income tax rate for IT organizations until 2030, while the rate will be zero by the end of 2024. However, the current amendments adopted in the first reading imply the end of the benefit in 2027.^[1]

Russia adopted a law introducing a 5% income tax rate for IT companies

On July 10, 2024, the State Duma adopted a law on the income tax rate for IT companies at 5%. The document amends the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, aimed at adjusting the tax system in Russia.

According to TASS, citing the text of the bill, the zero income tax rate for IT companies, introduced from 2022, will be valid until the end of 2024. Further, in 2025-2030, the tax rate on the tax to be credited to the federal budget is set at 5%. In the editorial office of the first reading, it was about 2025-2027.

In Russia, a 5% income tax rate is introduced for the IT company

By July 10, 2024, the legislation provides for a zero income tax rate for IT companies until December 31, 2024. The law, which zeroed the income tax until 2024, was adopted in the spring of 2022 and became one of the support measures for the sector after the imposition of sanctions by the United States and the EU.

The amendments adopted in the second reading establish the possibility of applying benefits for IT companies during reorganization in the form of allocation. Also, for organizations of the radio-electronic industry, a list of revenues is established, which are taken into account for the application of reduced insurance premium rates.^[2]

Benefits for IT companies are undoubtedly needed: the industry contributes to the development of the domestic market and future export expansion, says Lev Matveev, chairman of the board of directors of SearchInform. - The income tax rate of 5% is a compromise. However, it is necessary to consolidate it indefinitely, since predictability is important for the development of private investment in business.

Ilya Samofeev calls the rate of 5% co-CEO of red mad robot a "balanced measure" in relation to both IT companies and those who buy IT services. Because raising the rate to 25%, as in other industries, would inevitably lead to an increase in the cost of services of IT companies, he said in a conversation with Forbes.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin proposes not to give benefits to IT companies in which they pay less than 120% of the average salary in the region

In early July 2024, it became known that the Moscow authorities are proposing to change the conditions for providing IT benefits for income tax. It is assumed that the innovations will help stimulate investment growth and will contribute to the accelerated development of the industry.

According to the Vedomosti newspaper, the capital's mayor Sergei Sobyanin sent proposals to the chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin. We are talking about three key innovations. In particular, Sobyanin considers it necessary to apply a benefit to that part of the profit that was not aimed at paying dividends, as well as to provide a benefit if the organization's investments in intangible assets and fixed assets amounted to at least 30% of the preferential profit. At the same time, it is proposed not to give benefits to those IT companies, the average salary in which is less than 120% of the indicator for the IT industry in the region.

The mayor notes that the zero rate, in effect since 2022, is an important measure to stimulate investment in the IT industry. However, the conditions for obtaining benefits do not contain requirements to direct preferential profits to investments in the creation of new technologies. Market participants say that a significant part of profits in the IT sector can be directed to paying dividends to the owners and shareholders of companies or accumulating profits, including for paying dividends in future periods. This is contrary to the initial goal of providing benefits, which involves accelerating the development of the IT industry.

At the same time, Anna Zelenskaya, partner of the law firm MEF Legal, believes that the use of criteria such as the payment or non-payment of dividends and the formation of intangible assets in a certain percentage of profit is not correct "for the application of the incentive tax regime." And Emil Baburov, partner of the tax and law department of Business Solutions and Technologies, adds that the introduction of two of the three proposed additional criteria for providing benefits "will be extremely difficult to translate into well-working provisions of tax legislation."^[3]

The Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation advocated a 7% income tax for IT companies

At the end of June 2024, it became known about the bill of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation, in which the department proposes to introduce a profit tax on IT companies in the amount of 7% instead of the previously planned 5%. According to market participants, the innovation should not lead to significant negative consequences, as well as a weakening of investment activity in the market.

In accordance with paragraph 1.15 of Article 284 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, for Russian organizations operating in the field of information technology, starting from the tax period of obtaining a document on state accreditation of an organization operating in the field of information technology, a tax rate on corporate income tax is established in the amount of 0% in 2022-2024.

From January 1, 2025, income tax for Russian IT companies may amount to 7%

According to the initiative of the Ministry of Finance, from January 1, 2025, income tax for Russian IT companies may amount to 7%.

According to analysts at BCS World of Investments, the higher the tax rate, the less profit and dividends in the future. The higher rate is negative for companies in the sector, although the situation is quite dynamic. The main risk is that even 7% may not be the last tax figure, experts say.^[4]

In their opinion, the preferential tax rate can be raised even higher (and closer to the standard rate - 25%), since in the IT sector, most likely, profits will grow.

Investment bank analysts interviewed by Interfax, in turn, do not expect that the introduction of the rate may have a noticeable impact on the dividend potential of public IT companies.

Not everyone pays dividends among public IT companies, and those who pay are likely to pay attention to a set of factors. In general, the tax burden, even after the increase, will remain relatively small - and significantly lower than in many other industries. This means that the state is interested in maintaining stimulating measures in the sector, says Artem Mikhaylin from Veles Capital.

Putin proposed to introduce a 5% income tax for IT companies

On June 7, 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the need to set the country's income tax rate at 5% for IT companies until 2030.

To support the IT industry, we will provide a number of measures, including accounting with an increased ratio of expenses on domestic digital solutions when calculating income tax. We will also establish a reduced income tax rate of 5% for Russian IT companies, the head of state said.

Vladimir Putin announced the need to set a rate of 5% on income tax for IT companies in the country

Putin added that he would ask "the government to work out additional measures to support domestic software developers, including determining the level of purchases of companies with state participation from small technology companies and startups."

This is a guaranteed level of procurement, below which the volume of purchases cannot fall, the Russian leader emphasized.

According to experts from industry associations, specialized analysts of investment banks and market participants interviewed by Interfax, the introduction of a 5% income tax in Russia for IT companies should not lead to significant negative consequences, as well as a weakening of investment activity in the market.

Keeping the reduced income tax at 5% is quite optimal for IT companies. Under such conditions, software development companies will retain the possibility of further growth and investment in the creation and development of their products in accordance with the requirements of customers, - Renat Lashin, executive director of ARPP Domestic Software, commented on the initiative.

President of the Russoft Association Valentin Makarov calls the introduction of a tax rate for IT companies "a compromise in relation to the budgets of the regions," in which, judging by his assumption, tax will be paid.^[5]

Zero income tax on IT companies in Russia will be canceled in early 2025

On May 28, 2024, the Ministry of Finance of Russia submitted to the government a package of bills to change the tax system. Among other things, it provides for the abolition of zero income tax on IT companies.

The reduced income tax rate for IT market participants has been in effect in Russia since 2020. Initially, its size was 3%, but in 2022 it was reduced to zero as a support measure in the current geopolitical situation.

The Ministry of Finance of Russia submitted to the government a package of bills to change the tax system

From the document of the Ministry of Finance it follows that the zero income tax rate for IT companies will be valid until the end of 2024. From January 1, 2025, the value is set at 5% - such a tax rate will be relevant until 2027 inclusive.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the need to clarify the parameters of the tax system, making them fairer, in a message to the Federal Assembly at the end of February 2024. According to him, it is necessary to stimulate business that invests in development, in the implementation of infrastructure and social projects. At the same time, as Putin stressed, it is necessary to "close all sorts of loopholes that are used by some companies to avoid taxes or underestimate their tax payments." The main task is to redistribute the tax burden, making it more feasible at the expense of recipients of higher incomes.

Earlier, IT companies asked Ministry of Digital Development to make the zero rate on income tax indefinite or to fix the return of the 3% rate forever. Participants in the Russian market fear that tax increases will complicate import substitution projects for foreign equipment and software. In the summer of 2023, Ministry of Digital Development discussed with the Ministry of Finance the possibility of an indefinite extension of the zero income tax rate for IT companies. In addition, the issue of extending the benefit until 2030 was considered.^[6]

The authorities of the Nizhny Novgorod region began to pay IT companies for attracting IT specialists

In early April 2024, the Government of the Nizhny Novgorod Region launched a program for paying personal income tax compensation for each IT specialist involved from other regions of Russia. This support measure was developed by the Nizhny Novgorod Ministry of Digital Development of Digital Science together with the Gorky Tech ANO within the framework of the Digital Economy national project.

We expect to motivate companies and IT entrepreneurs to create and develop their offices in the Nizhny Novgorod region, attracting highly qualified IT specialists to the region on the terms of compensation for relocation costs. We want to show IT specialists from all over the country how serious our intentions are to create a world-class IT hub - Governor of the Nizhny Novgorod Region Gleb Nikitin.

The government of the Nizhny Novgorod region launched a program for paying personal income tax compensation for each IT specialist involved from other regions of Russia

The deputy governor of the Egor Polyakov region told about how this initiative works. According to him, first the budget of the Nizhny Novgorod region receives personal income tax withheld from the wages of the attracted IT specialist, and starting next year it will be possible to receive compensation.

Refunds will be transferred within five years of the IT professional moving to the region. The maximum amount of payment for one relocated IT specialist can be about 16 thousand rubles a month and up to 190 thousand rubles a year.

To participate in this program of state support, companies must meet a number of requirements, including registration in the Nizhny Novgorod region and comply with the rules for the employment of specialists from other regions. Also, an IT specialist, for whom it will be possible to receive 100% personal income tax compensation, must have at least three years of experience in the IT sector in other entities and during the same period not be a personal income tax payer in the Nizhny Novgorod region, said the Minister of Digital Development and Communications of the Nizhny Novgorod Region Alexander Sinelobov^[7]

The Ministry of Digital Development is thinking about keeping the zero income tax benefit for IT companies after 2024. But, most likely, not for everyone

The zero income tax support measure for IT companies helped many players show positive momentum in 2023, but this benefit will end in January 2025. Deputy Chairman of the IT Committee of the State Duma Anton Gorelkin at an expanded meeting in the State Duma on March 26 raised the question of whether to leave this measure in the future for small and medium-sized companies.

According to Maksut Shadayev, in a certain form, the income tax benefit can be retained after 2024

According to the Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media Maksut Shadayev, the department is now fighting to preserve this benefit in a certain form.

We are now waiting for the final tax report to generally analyze how the shortfall in government revenues - we understand that this is mainly a regional tax - affected the development of IT companies. And we have a hypothesis related to the fact that in general, companies, investing in the development of their business, these funds additionally, as a result, either compensated for the falling taxes, or approached almost comparable figures, "says Maksut Shadayev. - And we agreed with the Ministry of Finance so that on specific calculations we try to convince that income tax gives the economy in the medium term a return more than going to the budget directly.

One of the options that the Ministry of Digital Development will offer is to limit the list of companies that will continue to enjoy an income tax benefit, a certain revenue threshold. According to the minister, the departments with which the Ministry of Digital Development is discussing the benefit indicate that many companies are doing well according to tax reports, and wonder why they should be exempted from income tax.

When we get the final figures, we will raise the question that at least it is necessary to maintain this benefit for companies to a certain revenue ceiling, "the minister said.

What exactly this threshold will be, Maksut Shadayev has not yet indicated.

2023

Ministry of Industry and Trade refused to extend IT benefits to contract electronics manufacturers

In mid-September 2023, it became known that the Ministry of Industry and Trade refused to extend IT benefits to contract electronics manufacturers. Thus, these companies will not be subject to reduced income tax rates (3% instead of the standard 20% rate).

The ministry said that it is interested in the support mechanism to affect most of the manufacturers of domestic radio electronics, but contract manufacturers only provide services for the manufacture of printed circuit boards, computers, communication equipment, etc. The government decree introduced benefits only for manufacturers, and not for companies providing production services.

The Association of Russian Developers and Manufacturers of Electronics (ARPE, includes more than 160 companies) asked to include codes for contract production in the list of radio electronic products in the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the State Duma, the Federation Council and the office of Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko. Thus, the Ministry of Industry and Trade refused.

Small companies that develop from 100 to 1 thousand niche devices most often cooperate with contract manufacturers, Maxim Polyanichko, general director of A-Contract, told RBC. He says that with such volumes it is unprofitable to launch its own production.

About 20% of the electronics produced in Russia are produced at the facilities of contract manufacturers, said Georgy Levin, general director of MicroEM Technologies, head of the ARPE contract production committee. In the world, according to him, the penetration rate of contract production is about 40%.

In unstable conditions, the industry needs a financial cushion, insists Alexander Golovlev, general director of the Moscow contract manufacturer SmartEmSis. The presence of such a benefit among manufacturers who own intellectual property rights to electronics leads to a flow of personnel from contract manufacturers to them.^[8]

The Ministry of Digital Development will indefinitely exempt IT companies from income taxation

In mid-March 2023, it became known about the initiative of the Ministry of Digital Development of the Russian Federation to permanently zero the income tax of IT companies. The corresponding proposal is contained in a letter that the deputy head of the department, Alexander Shoitov, sent to the plenipotentiary representative of the Government of the Russian Federation in the State Duma, Alexander Sinenko.

As Vedomosti writes with reference to this document, the legislation provides for a zero income tax rate for IT companies until December 31, 2024.

Taking into account the possible deadlines for the adoption of the bill, the actual period of application of the proposed benefits will be limited to a calendar year. In this regard, we propose to provide for a rule within the framework of the bill establishing the indefinite nature of the effect of the preferential income tax rate, the letter says.

With a proposal to nullify income tax for IT companies, "the largest Russian associations of software developers" previously applied to the Ministry of Digital Development indefinitely. As Kommersant wrote in January 2023, it was already discussed at a meeting with the participation of Deputy Minister Maxim Parshin. Vedomosti clarified that the initiator of the appeal was the Association of Software Developers "Domestic Software." According to the representative of the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Digital Development did not receive such a proposal to them by mid-March 2023.

The Ministry of Digital Development made a proposal for a zero rate after an appeal from Anton Nemkin, a member of the State Duma's information technology committee. In his bill, he proposed expanding the list of IT companies subject to tax breaks. The document noted that tax breaks currently apply to IT product developers, but do not apply to IT companies that service IT systems.

Anton Nemkin believes that this approach develops "unequal competitive conditions in the market" and can lead to disproportionate development of various segments of the IT industry and "a general slowdown in the development of the IT industry in Russia."^[9]

Putin instructed to introduce tax breaks to buyers of Russian IT solutions

On February 21, 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin, during the announcement of the message to the Federal Assembly, instructed to expand tax incentives for the purchase of Russian IT equipment by companies.

I ask the government to make proposals on the list of such equipment, on the industries in which it is used, and the procedure for providing benefits, "he said.

The head of state also noted that from 2023, Russian companies can reduce income tax payments if they purchase advanced domestic IT solutions and products using artificial intelligence. He clarified that these costs will be taken into account with an increased coefficient of 1.5 times more than actual costs.

The new support measure may also apply to solutions from register of domestic software Ministry of Digital Development the register of Russian electronic products, Ministry of Industry and Trade said Polylogue Lyudmila Bogatyreva, head of the digital solutions department of the agency "." Special adviser to the KA Pen & Paper Natalya Bunina believes that ON electronic engineers the initiative involves increasing the list of Russian products and creating a new unified register and, but "which ministry will be responsible, is not yet clear." Experts reported this. ""To the businessman

Arseny Brykin, general director of the Basis consortium, believes that the tax deduction announced by Putin will not radically affect the profits of Russian companies, but "it will be a good signal that it is necessary to buy Russian."

This thesis is no longer about the benefit and effectiveness of the tax deduction, but a clear indication of what needs to be done to be in the fairway of public policy, he added in a conversation with Vedomosti.

The support measure announced by the president will be able to at least double the indicator of companies in the process of switching to domestic software, that is, bring the import substitution rate to 50%, says Aleksei Sinitsa, president of a mobile application developer, client-server solutions and web development at IW Group.^[10][11]

2022

Putin: business will receive tax breaks when introducing domestic IT solutions

On November 24, 2022, the President RUSSIAN FEDERATION Vladimir Putin announced the introduction of tax incentives for companies using the Russian IT solutions and instructed to FTS monitor the implementation of measures in this area.

{{quote 'Innovation doesn't have to be a big cost to the business. For this, starting from January 1, 2023, when buying and implementing domestic solutions, including in the field of artificial intelligence, a business can take advantage of tax incentives and direct additional funds for technological updating, the head of state said. }}

He gave an example when the calculation of income tax will not take into account an amount 1.5 times higher than the company's actual expenses for the acquisition of advanced Russian developments.

{{quote 'I ask the Federal Tax Service to closely monitor how conveniently and quickly these and other tools being developed and proposed will work, he instructed. }} At the same time, Putin noted that in order for domestic business to expand its potential, the state must create the necessary conditions. In this regard, the president gave several instructions:

• The government should organize the transition of government agencies to an artificial intelligence system using a platform approach.
• Also, the Cabinet of Ministers needs to update digital transformation strategies in all areas, including industry, taking into account the development of artificial intelligence.
• The government and the Alliance in the field of artificial intelligence were instructed to develop a rating of universities on the quality of competencies for training specialists in this area.
• The Federal Tax Service has been given the task of carefully monitoring the convenience and speed of the tools being developed for business in the field of artificial intelligence.^[12]

The authorities of 14 regions will return part of the income tax to telecom companies

On August 10, 2022 Ministry of Digital Development , it reported that 14 regions countries introduced a investment tax deduction (TIN) for telecommunication companies. Thus, they will be returned part of the income tax.

This will help preserve the quality of communication without attracting additional funding, as well as preserve the investments of operators in the operation and modernization of communication networks.

These are:

• Amur Region
• Krasnodar Territory
• Lipetsk region
• Moscow region
• Novosibirsk region
• Republic of Dagestan
• Republic of North Ossetia - Alania
• Republic of Tuva
• Rostov region
• Smolensk region
• Stavropol Territory
• Tula region
• Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug - Ugra
• Chelyabinsk region

The cumulative effect of savings for telecom operators in these regions will amount to several hundred million rubles in 2022.

The Ministry of Digital Development draws the attention of the regions to the fact that this support measure should be available without any additional restrictions, and also hopes that all constituent entities of Russia will distribute ING on telecom companies.

The Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation decided to exempt military software developers from VAT

On August 10, 2022, it became known about the decision of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation to exempt military and dual-use software developers from VAT. The corresponding amendments are intended for Art. 149 of the Tax Code.

According to the document referred to by Vedomosti, the VAT exemption will affect the transfer of exclusive rights to computer programs and databases included in the unified register of results of research, development and technological work of military, special or dual use. Such a list is maintained by Rospatent based on information from the Ministry of Defense, the FSB and the Foreign Intelligence Service. The transfer of rights to use such programs and databases (including updates to them and additional functionality) will also be exempted from paying tax.

According to a newspaper source close to one of the Russian software developers, the bill concerns the transfer of exclusive rights, as well as R&D, which were not subject to the rules of the tax maneuver and did not meet the requirements necessary for obtaining benefits.

The Ministry of Finance explained that by August 2022, as part of a tax maneuver in the Internet technology industry, developers of Russian software from the Ministry of Digital Development register are exempted from VAT, but it does not include programs related to ensuring the country's defense and security. The publication notes that we are talking about a ban on entering them into the register because of the information that constitutes a state secret.

The amendments initiated by the Ministry of Finance are relevant primarily for developers outsourcing of automatic control systems that give software production to the unnamed interlocutor of the newspaper in the defense industry.^[13]

The government approved lists of materials, technologies and electronics for tax breaks

The Government of the Russian Federation approved lists of materials and technologies, as well as a list of finished electronic products, manufacturers and developers of which will be able to take advantage of benefits on insurance premiums and income tax within the framework of a set of measures developed by the Government to support the domestic radio-electronic industry. A message about this was published on the website of the Government of the Russian Federation on August 1, 2022.

Thus, the list of technologies includes 59 items, including the production of semiconductor plates with crystals, inertial microelectromechanical systems, the creation of fiber-optic cables, laser welding technologies for quartz glass and piezoelectric generators. It also includes more than 30 types of materials, including ruthenium in the form of powder, gold and silver solders, chromium and copper oxides and hydroxides, ammonia and others.

Microelectronics created using these materials and technologies are necessary for a wide range of products: from cars, aircraft and spacecraft to household appliances.

There are 18 items in the list of electronic products. It includes smart cards, computers, cash terminals with the ability to transfer data, liquid crystal TVs, video cameras.

Organizations and enterprises that specialize in the development and production of such products will be able to pay income tax at a rate of 3%. For them, a preferential rate of insurance premiums is also provided - 7.6%.

These support measures are part of the so-called "tax maneuver 2.0," developed to stimulate the development of the domestic radio-electronic industry in conditions of external restrictions. Changes to Part Two of the Tax Code were adopted in July 2022.

"All this will expand the production of its own radio electronics against the background of the imposed import bans and increase its competitiveness," said Mikhail Mishustin during a meeting with Deputy Prime Ministers on August 1, 2022.

In Russia, a "tax maneuver" is introduced for the electronic industry

On July 14, 2022, it became known that developers and manufacturers of the electronic component base (ECB) and electronic products will receive benefits in the form of reduced corporate income tax rates and insurance premium rates.

According to the press service of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation with reference to the new bill "On Amendments to Part Two of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation," it provides that benefits in the form of reduced rates on corporate income tax (3% - to the federal budget, 0% - to regional budgets) and insurance premium rates (up to 7.6%) now apply not only to developers, but also to manufacturers of ECB and electronic products.

In addition, the conditions for applying these benefits are expanding by reducing the minimum value of the threshold share of "profile" income from 90% to 70%, taken into account for the purposes of applying benefits, in the total amount of income. To apply the benefits of the organization, it is necessary not only to achieve the specified share of income, but also to be included in the register of organizations operating in the field of the electronic industry, which will be formed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The implementation of the "tax maneuver" according to estimated data will preserve in the industry about 16 billion rubles annually, which can be used to develop production.^[14] INDUSTRY

As Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Dmitry Chernyshenko noted in June 2022, the electronic industry is the third sector of the world economy after healthcare and banking in terms of market turnover and the first in terms of development dynamics.

The volume of the modern domestic radio-electronic industry market exceeds 3 trillion rubles with the prospect of further growth to 9 trillion rubles by 2030, Chernyshenko said.

IT divisions of banks and online delivery services left without tax breaks

On July 6, 2022, the State Duma of the Russian Federation in the third (final) reading adopted a law restricting the application of tax incentives for the IT industry - they will not apply to IT divisions of banks, online food and taxi delivery services, as well as other highly profitable organizations.

Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Sazanov said that the bill will help narrow the list of IT organizations that will apply benefits and is aimed at protecting regional revenues and the federal budget.

The amendments are aimed at ensuring that organizations such as IT divisions of banks, individual highly profitable companies such as Yandex.Taxi or Yandex.Delivery and other taxi and food delivery services cannot apply income tax benefits and insurance premiums, because the margin of these businesses is quite high, he said (quoted by TASS).

The law changes the procedure for applying a zero income tax rate in 2022-2024, as well as a reduced premium rate for IT organizations. At the same time, on the one hand, the restriction on the number of employees is canceled and the share of income for applying the zero tax rate is reduced from 90% to 70%, and the composition of income that is taken into account when calculating this share is significantly expanded.

In addition, the adopted law provides for the use of an increasing coefficient of 3 when calculating depreciation in relation to fixed assets included in the unified register of Russian radio-electronic products, as well as intangible assets that are exclusive rights to computer programs and databases included in the corresponding unified register. At the same time, it is proposed to stipulate that such a procedure does not apply to intangible assets whose useful life is determined based on the validity period of the patent, certificate or from other restrictions on the terms of use of intellectual property objects.^[15]

Russia adopted a law on tax incentives for the development of the IT industry

On July 5, 2022 State Duma RUSSIAN FEDERATION , in the third (final reading), it adopted a law on tax incentives for the development of the IT industry. The document establishes an investment tax deduction for payment costs ON from the register of domestic, software as well as fixed assets included in the unified register of Russian radio-electronic products.

"Allocation of the fixed asset included in the unified register of Russian radio electronic products, programs for computers, databases included in the unified register of Russian programs for electronic computers and databases, to the field of artificial intelligence is carried out on the basis of a special feature provided by these registers, indicating that such fixed assets, programs for, COMPUTER databases belong to the field of artificial intelligence,- it is explained in the text of the law, which programs can be assigned to the register.

When determining the cost of depreciated property, an increasing coefficient of 1.5 to the costs of purchasing Russian radio electronic equipment, software and databases, which belong to the field of artificial intelligence, is established.

For organizations designing and developing electronic (radioelectronic) products, an electronic component base, as well as materials and technologies for such a base (according to the list approved by the Russian government), income tax is reduced: the federal budget will have a rate of 3%, to regional budgets - 0%. Similar rates will apply to manufacturers of such products and the component base.

Organizations that develop and produce their own electronic components and products are also given the right to apply reduced insurance premium rates (7.6%). Moreover, the condition for the number of employees is excluded for them, and the requirement for the share of income from the implementation of relevant services (works) in the total amount of income of such an organization is reduced to 70% from 90%. ^[16]

In the Chelyabinsk region adopted regional laws in support of the telecom industry

Chelyabinsk region Regional laws have been adopted in support of telecom-. industries This was announced on June 23, 2022 Ministry of Information Technologies, Communications and Digital Development of the Chelyabinsk Region.

At the initiative of the Governor of the Chelyabinsk Region Alexei Teksler, organizations operating in the field of telecommunications will be provided with an investment tax deduction for income tax, as well as benefits in the amount of 50% for property tax.

For us, the direction of information technologies is extremely important, and we support our specialists, - said Alexey Teksler. - For example, recently decided to reduce the interest rate on mortgages for IT specialists at the expense of the regional budget. We also support the companies themselves working in this area and welcome the arrival of new investors in the field of telecommunications in the region. Difficulties with the supply of foreign equipment should not cause a decrease in the quality or reliability of communication. Therefore, a decision was made at the regional level to provide telecommunications companies with additional support measures, in particular, tax incentives and an investment tax deduction. These measures should preserve the investment attractiveness and high dynamics of the IT industry, which should become one of the drivers of economic development in the Chelyabinsk region. "

The regional law providing for a 50% reduction in property tax was adopted in pursuance of the list of instructions of the Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Chernyshenko on the development at the level of the subjects of the country of specific measures to support organizations of the telecommunications industry.

The presence of this support measure will increase the investment attractiveness of our region for telecom operators who are faced with a shortage of equipment and components in connection with the cessation of foreign supplies, "added Igor Fetisov, Minister of Information Technologies, Communications and Digital Development of the Chelyabinsk Region.

These support measures can be used by organizations operating in the field of telecommunications (61 OKVED). The regional laws apply to legal relations that arose from January 1, 2022.

The government of the Novosibirsk region approved tax breaks for regional IT companies

In mid-June 2022, the government of the Novosibirsk region approved tax breaks for regional IT companies. We are talking about the following initiatives:

• reducing the rate under the simplified taxation system for IT companies that have chosen income reduced by the amount of expenses - from 15% to 5%;
• exemption of IT companies from the property tax of organizations used by them to carry out their statutory activities;
• expansion of types of economic activity entitled to the application of investment tax deduction for corporate income tax - supplementation with the type of activity "activity in the field of telecommunications." This will allow maintaining the investments of telecom operators for the operation and modernization of communication networks through the implementation of the investment tax deduction mechanism for corporate income tax.

In order to count on tax incentives, IT companies registered in the Novosibirsk region must meet the following conditions:

• availability of state accreditation in accordance with the procedure established by federal legislation;
• the share of income from the sale of goods (works, services) in the field of information technology in the total income of the organization is at least 70%.

A set of measures to support the IT sector, which is being actively introduced in the Novosibirsk region today, will contribute to the development of IT companies in the context of sanctions pressure, reduce the outflow of specialists, distribute investment in the development of facilities, as well as preserve and increase tax revenues to the regional budget, - said the Minister of Digital Development and Communications of the Novosibirsk Region Sergey Tsukar.

Many areas, on their own initiative, establish benefits and support measures for local IT companies. Among them - Rostov, Nizhny Novgorod, Tver, Chelyabinsk, Vologda regions, Tatarstan, Udmurtia, etc.^[17]

The Ministry of Digital Development is going to return part of the income tax to telecom operators

Ministry of Digital Development came up with a proposal to extend investment tax the deduction to operators. communications This became known on April 19, 2022. More. here

Tax breaks for IT companies introduced in St. Petersburg

In March 2022, deputies of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg approved tax breaks for IT companies registered in the city. In particular, amendments to the bill "On Amendments to the Law of St. Petersburg" On Tax Benefits "provide for a halving of the corporate income tax rate, which is used to determine the maximum amount of investment tax deduction from income tax for research and development.

In addition, it is proposed to reduce the requirements for enterprises to provide a "tax cashback" for the acquisition, modernization and reconstruction of fixed assets. This is necessary to expand the circle of recipients of tax benefits, including at the expense of small and medium-sized businesses.

In addition, the deputies approved a tax reduction for small and medium-sized businesses that are engaged in the production of goods or work in the IT sphere and apply a simplified taxation system, as well as maintaining the rate on property tax on organizations in relation to objects whose tax base is defined as cadastral value, for 2022 at the level of 2021 - 1.5%.

Our task is to create the most comfortable conditions for the development of St. Petersburg manufacturers. And first of all, for those who are determined to quickly solve the problems of import substitution, develop and introduce high technologies, launch new production lines. Today we need not only to save jobs, but to significantly increase their number. Moreover, due to the development of the most advanced sectors of the economy. Our city has every opportunity for this, "said ZakSa Speaker Alexander Belsky[18]

In the Rostov region adopted a law on tax incentives for IT companies

On March 23, 2022, deputies of the legislative assembly of the Rostov region adopted a law on tax breaks for IT companies, which was submitted for consideration by the governor of the region Vasily Golubev.

According to the press service of the Ministry of Digital Development, Information Technologies and Communications of the Rostov Region, the adopted document provides for a reduction in the rate on a simplified taxation system to 1% for the object of taxation "income" and to 5% for the object of taxation "income minus expenses." Support measures will be in effect for organizations and individual entrepreneurs engaged in the following types of activities:

• computer software development, consulting services in the field and other related services (OKVED code 62);
• data processing activities, provision of information posting services and related activities (OKVED code 63.11).

As noted in the Ministry of Digital Development of the Rostov Region, for those applying for regional support for IT companies, these types of activities should be the main ones, that is, the amount of funds received in these areas of business should be at least 70% of the total revenue.

According to the authors of the initiative, reducing the tax burden will support regional developers, ensure the performance of existing IT companies and save jobs. Reduced rates will be valid from January 1 to December 31, 2022. According to preliminary data, more than 3 thousand Don IT companies will be able to take advantage of the benefits.

The Don authorities are in constant dialogue with IT companies. We are ready to listen and hear specialists in the field of high technologies, to take additional support measures so that IT companies are comfortable to work and develop in our region, "said Artem Khokhlov, Deputy Governor of the Rostov Region.[19]

The head of Ministry of Digital Development Shadayev explained why it is important to exempt system integrators from income tax

Not only IT companies that are developing, but also integrators implementing domestic software will be exempted from income tax for three years. This was announced on March 22 at an expanded meeting of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Information Technology and Communications by the Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media Maksut Shadayev.

According to him, not even all developers fell under the previously developed package of support measures. Thus, companies that do not sell software, but provide it according to the subscription model, could not apply for preferential taxation. Moreover, integrators who are engaged in the implementation of domestic solutions, refinement and customization of software for customer requirements could not take advantage of the company's reduced rate. According to the minister, this must be corrected, since the success of the developers depends on the work of these companies.

Benefits should be received not only by developers, but also by companies integrators of domestic software, which implement this software, finalize it at the customer's site, and support it. Software is always a large amount of work related to implementation and refinement, - said Maksut Shadayev.

The minister proposed extending support measures to companies that earn on online advertising and providing access to subscription content. According to him, companies that provide distance education services based on Internet platforms should receive benefits. In addition, the "zero" income tax rate should be extended to e-commerce representatives who invest in IT development. According to Maksut Shadayev, online trade, the sphere of Internet services, booking tickets, etc. - a segment that is developing very quickly and it is important to support it.

The minister also proposed changing the articles of the tax code, which regulate the number of employees of companies that can take advantage of benefits.

The tax code now has a provision that benefits can be used by companies with more than 7 employees. We propose to remove this restriction, because it is very important for us that small businesses develop, and very small companies can take advantage of these benefits, "Maksut Shadayev suggested.

According to the minister, amendments to the tax codec must be agreed with the Ministry of Finance by March 25, 2022.

The Government of the Russian Federation introduced a bill to establish a zero rate on income tax for 2022-2024

The Russian government has submitted to the State Duma a second package of bills to support citizens and business. The measures relate to the support of the construction and transport industries, hotel business and tourism, IT companies, simplify the import of medicines into Russia, and also introduce a number of measures to protect the savings of citizens. The State Duma announced this on its website on March 10, 2022.

The bill for IT companies proposes to establish a zero rate on income tax for 2022-2024. Read more here.

Government initiative on tax breaks for tech companies

On February 10, 2022, Mikhail Mishustin announced the Government's initiative to revive benefits for technology companies. They will not be able to pay income tax for creating results of intellectual activity for three years (large business) or five years (small and medium-sized businesses). A similar measure was introduced back in 2018 and has been in effect for two years.

According to the head of government, not all technology companies will be able to count on preferences. They will apply only to those of them who regularly invest in scientific research, support startups, and also introduce innovations.

Mikhail Mishustin noted that companies satisfying the conditions will be able "not to pay income tax for creating the results of intellectual activity, provided that copyright on the property has been identified since January 1, 2022. He added that the relevant amendments to the Tax Code have already been prepared.

All this is being done so that all entrepreneurs have time to formalize their rights and thus increase the volume of intangible assets of Russian companies. This will make companies more attractive to investors, to enter foreign markets, Mikhail Mishustin emphasized.

IT is one of the most supported industries in Russia. Almost every month, the authorities offer more and more new ways to help IT companies. For example, in January 2022, IT startups had the opportunity to receive compensation for cloud services.

The initiative came from the Russian Ministry of Digital Development. The deputy head of the department, Maxim Parshin, stressed that this measure, firstly, will become another incentive for startups for development, and secondly, it will provide support for the domestic cloud technology and computing industry.

According to Maxim Parshin, this initiative may become part of the third package of measures to support the Russian IT industry from the state. Work on it is still underway, the timing^[20] adoption is unknown^[21].

2021

What are the risks for IT companies that apply tax incentives in the IT industry

The tax maneuver in the IT industry is a number of tax incentives introduced from January 1, 2021 by federal law of July 31, 2020 No. 265-FZ^[22]," including:

• Reduction of corporate income tax from 20% to 3% (to the federal budget - 3%, to the budget of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation - 0%);
• Reduction of insurance premiums from 14% to 7.6% (at the FIU - from 8.0% to 6.0%, at the FSS - from 2.0% to 1.5%, at the MHIF - from 4.0% to 0.1%);
• Exemption from VAT taxation of operations for the implementation of exclusive rights to programs included in the Unified Register of Programs for Computers and Databases.

To apply benefits in terms of corporate income tax and insurance premiums, the company must have:

• Document on state accreditation as an organization working in the field of IT;
• Average headcount for the reporting or tax period is at least 7 persons;
• The share of revenues from IT operations at the end of the reporting or tax period is at least 90% of the amount of all revenues.

The share of income for previously functioning companies is determined for 9 months of the previous year, i.e. for the application of benefits in 2021, the share of income of 90% must be confirmed for the first 9 months of 2020, for 2022 - 9 months of 2021.

For newly created companies, the share of revenues is tracked promptly - for the last quarter.

In practice, the most difficult condition for applying benefits within the framework of the tax maneuver in the IT industry was to comply with the proportion of revenues at the level of 90% of revenues from IT operations and 10% of other activities.

The application and lack of clarification on key definitions used in the characterization of IT operations, in particular the terms "development," "adaptation," "modification," "testing," "maintenance" of computer programs, etc. complicated the application.

In the first half of 2021, the industry was bombarded with FTS Russia Ministry of Finance questions about the qualifications of certain types of activities, not directly named in the wording approved by the tax code, but partially related to them.

The departments were in no hurry to give their assessment and often recommended seeking appropriate explanations from the relevant state body - the Ministry of Digital Development of Russia, which only in September 2021 issued explanations^[23] in terms of the interpretation of certain concepts in the IT sphere for their use by state bodies, local governments, legal entities and individuals.

In parallel with clarifications of the necessary terms, the Russian government approved the "roadmap" ^[24] to create additional conditions for the development of the information technology industry - the so-called second package of support measures. The document includes 62 events, of which:

• 20 events in system-wide status (aimed at leveling the conditions for doing business in Russia for foreign and Russian IT companies, stimulating import substitution and promoting Russian IT solutions in foreign markets);
• 42 events have an accurate focus on stimulating the development and implementation of Russian developments in certain segments, including "business solutions, electronic educational services, digital medical services, office software and operating systems, data processing and cloud services, solutions in the field of artificial intelligence, big data and the Internet of things, production of computer games and professional video content, solutions in the field of information security."

For individual segments of the IT market, the plan provides for measures to:

• removal of legislative restrictions and barriers to the use of modern digital solutions;
• introduction of industry digital standards that determine the required level of digitalization of relevant processes and establish the predominant use of Russian software products and equipment for them;
• financing the creation of Russian digital platforms and standard solutions for budgetary organizations;
• training of personnel for certain sectors of the economy necessary for the implementation of modern digital solutions.

The implementation of the roadmap will give an additional impetus to the development of the IT industry, a qualitative transformation of certain segments of the economy and social sphere.

Only after the entry into force of the "first package of measures," Russia recorded growth^[25] of the number of IT companies. Moreover, the Federal Tax Service of Russia noted the growth of IT divisions of large production companies, previously engaged in in addition to their main activities - the development of software for their own needs, created by "breaking up business."

Business fragmentation is the business process of reorganizing a company, as a result of which a number of new independent structures appear instead of one company.

Evidence of "business fragmentation" in aggregate and relationship with the facts of interdependence with the main (possibly the only) counterparty, allocation of the IT division shortly before the start of the period of benefits, transfer of all previously working staff to the newly created one - may be recognized as circumstances indicating that the taxpayer receives an unreasonable tax benefit, the amount of which can be determined using the methods established for controlled transactions - using Section V.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

In accordance with Clause 1 of Art. 105.17 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, control of compliance of prices in controlled transactions with market prices cannot be the subject of field and office tax audits. At the same time, the FTS letter on intra-group services confirms the position of the tax authorities that the price factor, mechanism and principles of its formation are integral characteristics of the service itself and thereby can be considered within the framework of field and office tax audits.

In this regard, it is necessary to pay special attention to the transparency and uniformity of the methodology for shaping the cost of services in both controlled and uncontrolled transactions.

For uncontrolled transactions, in cases of establishing the facts of tax evasion as a result of price manipulation in transactions, on the basis of Art. 54.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the territorial body will have to prove that the group of companies receives unreasonable tax benefits, including using the methods established for controlled transactions, i.e. using Section V.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

Non-payment or incomplete payment by the taxpayer of tax amounts as a result of the application of non-market prices in controlled transactions entails the recovery of a fine in the amount of 40% of the unpaid tax amount, but not less than 30,000 rubles. If non-payment or incomplete payment of tax amounts occurs in uncontrolled transactions, the amount of the fine will be 20% of the unpaid tax amount.

When checking the validity of crushing, the tax authority checks the following two points:

• availability of business purpose of crushing (there should be a clear management decision, why business is easier to manage during crushing);
• independence of organizations formed during business fragmentation.

If the existence of a business purpose of crushing can help the taxpayer in various types of activities, then the independence of organizations formed during business crushing is the key factor justifying crushing, even if organizations continue to engage in one type of activity, but within different legal entities.

The main reason for the cancellation of decisions of the tax authorities based on the results of inspections is the lack of evidence of the control and independence of doing business by participants in interconnected business operations. Thus, at the moment, not even a business goal, but the independence of organizations formed during the division of the business, is the cornerstone of the stumbling block in disputes about the unlawful division of the business.

In this regard, newly created IT companies may potentially have risks of challenging the legality of the use of benefits as part of a tax maneuver in the IT industry; and market-level intra-group pricing estimates.

To assess their qualification (low/medium/high risk), it is necessary to analyze the current situation and the existing documentary evidence of expenses. If necessary, finalize existing documents (including the contract and primary documentation), prepare a "protective" file in advance, which in the future can be used for inspections.

Author - Olga Tarakanova

The Ministry of Digital Development spoke about new tax breaks for IT companies, which will be included in the second package of support for the industry

On September 2, 2021, Ministry of Digital Development spoke about new tax breaks for IT companies. We are talking about three measures that will be included in the second package of support for the IT industry, said Deputy Minister of Digital Development Maxim Parshin. The initiatives are as follows:

• Investment tax deduction for the implementation of domestic solutions - both software and hardware;
• Accelerated depreciation of hardware and software systems;
• Increased coefficient of inclusion in the cost of costs for artificial intelligence.

According to Maxim Parshin, these tax incentives have been agreed with all interested departments, including the Ministry of Finance.

On August 30, 2021, the head of the Ministry of Digital Development Maksut Shadayev said that he expects the approval of the second package of measures to support the IT industry in the coming days.

In June 2021, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko said that the timing of the introduction of the second package of measures to support the IT industry was adjusted precisely because the Russian Federation had to decide on a digital tax model for foreign companies - it was either about the introduction of a domestic tax for digital companies, or the application of taxation by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Maxim Parshin on September 2, 2021 announced that a digital tax could be introduced in Russia for foreign IT companies according to the model being worked out by the OECD.

Russia is participating in the discussion of mechanisms that are being developed within the framework of the OECD - PILLAR1 and PILLAR2, he said.

According to Parshin, detailed mechanisms and taxation models are being worked out at the OECD site by early September 2021; a detailed description of the model is expected to be published in November 2021.^[26]

Manufacturers of smart agricultural machinery ask to connect them to the tax maneuver in IT

In early April 2021, it became known about the request of the Russian Association of Manufacturers of Specialized Equipment and Equipment (Rosspetsmash) to expand the actions of the tax maneuver in the field of IT to the technological divisions of domestic plants. The corresponding letter was sent to Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko.

The document reports that at Russian enterprises of specialized engineering there are divisions that are engaged in the development and implementation of IT solutions in the field of agriculture, industry, road construction, with a number of several hundred people. Tax benefits do not apply to such divisions, since they are not independent legal entities.

As they told To the businessman"" in Rosspetsmash, the IT divisions of the plants are developing software for the functioning of "smart" equipment: auto-driving, agricultural management, etc. Such solutions, among other things, allow you to remotely monitor the quality of agricultural machinery, assess the productivity of field areas and calculate the optimal volumes of fertilizers.

Rosspetsmash believes that the provision of tax benefits for IT divisions, they explain there, will preserve the financing of existing projects, as well as reduce the cost of IT products of factories so that farmers buy "smart" agricultural equipment at favorable prices.

It will be difficult to implement a tax IT maneuver for factories, since their IT divisions do not receive "independent" income, says Deloitte CIS Emil Baburov, director of the tax and law department. In addition, according to the head of the company "" P7 Office Natalia Agafonova, the "internal" software is not included in the domestic register, ON that is, there is no mechanism for independent examination of such a development and, as a result, confirmation of the legality of the application of the benefit.^[27]

Large Russian companies began to separate IT divisions for tax breaks

In early April 2021, it became known that large Russian companies began to create individual legal entities for their IT divisions in order to take advantage of the tax breaks introduced in January. In particular, "," VimpelCom MTSRussian Post"," "" and "" resorted to business restructuring.RosatomSber

According to Kommersant, the register of companies accredited under the Ministry of Digital Development includes VimpelCom-Information Technologies (established in January 2021), Digital Mail, MTS Artificial Intelligence Center, MTS-IT and MTS Lab controlled by it (established in December 2020), Sberbank-Service and RuSat - Digital Solutions (responsible for the implementation of Rosatom projects in the digital economy).

VimpelCom told Kommersant that the new company will develop software for its own needs and for other companies of the parent holding Veon. VimpelCom did not rule out that its products will be sold to other operators. "

Experts interviewed by the newspaper linked the withdrawal of IT divisions into independent companies with an interest in using tax incentives. According to them, the main part of the costs of IT enterprises is the remuneration of employees, and taxes on the wage fund will greatly reduce companies, transferring developers to a separate legal entity.

Companies that want to allocate IT divisions also need to have business reasons for this so that tax authorities cannot make claims to companies in obtaining unreasonable benefits, said PwC Natalya Vozianova, partner in Russia in the direction of Tax Services. Obtaining tax benefits should have a business goal, and operations should be real, confirms Ekaterina Koretnikova, an expert at Moscow Digital School.^[28]

The government intends to introduce a tax deduction for the purchase of Russian IT solutions

In mid-March 2021, it became known that the draft of the second package of measures to support the IT industry included the initiative of the Government of the Russian Federation to withdraw Russian IT solutions from income tax. It is assumed that buyers of domestic IT equipment and software will be able to count on receiving a tax deduction.

As they write Sheets"" with reference to the relevant document, Government of the Russian Federation it is proposed to amend the Tax Code to include the costs of introducing domestic software and computer equipment from the relevant registers in the investment tax deduction for income tax. The corresponding mechanism is planned to be fixed by federal law.

Details of the application will be finalized, including regarding the adoption of relevant regulations at the level of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, - the newspaper quotes the press service of the Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Dmitry Chernyshenko.

It also says that by March 17, 2021, the concept of this plan event does not indicate restrictions on potential participating companies, to which this tax deduction may apply.

According to experts interviewed by the publication, the introduction of a new benefit could theoretically lead to the fact that in certain cases companies will be exempted from paying income tax. This will happen if the costs of Russian software and computers exceed the amount of tax calculated.

This tax benefit, according to the head of the Basalt SPO Alexei Smirnov, will help stimulate not only state organizations and companies, but also the private sector to buy domestic equipment and software.

Stimulation through market development is much more effective than direct government subsidies, and this measure is aimed at expanding the market through tax incentives, including the commercial sector, for the purchase of domestic equipment and software, he told the newspaper.[29]

Reduction of contributions to compulsory pension insurance for IT companies from 8% to 6%

The amount of contributions to compulsory pension insurance for Russian IT companies in 2021 will be reduced from 8% to 6%. This was announced on February 12 by the Prime Minister of the RFMikhail Mishustin during a meeting of the minister's cabinet.

According to the Prime Minister, the same 6 percent deduction rate for compulsory pension insurance will be valid for developers of electronic and radio-electronic products, as well as components for it.

Mishustin noted that reducing the size of contributions for compulsory pension insurance will allow IT companies to save significant funds and direct them to priority needs and business development. The head of the Cabinet added that the government continues to support the IT industry: the president said this earlier. Russia Vladimir Putin

In 2021, organizations operating in the field of information technology have the right to pay insurance premiums at the following rates:

• for pension insurance - 6%;
• for health insurance - 0.1%;
• for social insurance in case of disability and in connection with motherhood - 1.5% (including payments to temporarily staying foreigners and persons without citizenship).

The period during which the listed tariffs are valid is not limited to any period. The requirements that IT companies must meet for the application of reduced contribution rates have been clarified by amendments. One of them is the share of income from IT activities in the total amount of income - it should be at least 90% for the reporting period. At the same time, income from IT activities includes income from:

• implementation of the software developed by the organization;
• provision of services for development, adaptation and modification; ON
• provision of services for installation, testing and maintenance of software.^[30]

2020

FTS and the Ministry of Finance explained work of tax maneuver in the IT industry

At the end of December 2020, the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation and the Federal Tax Service (FTS) gave explanations on the taxation of companies within the framework of the so-called tax maneuver in the IT industry (reducing the income tax rate to 3% and insurance premiums for software manufacturers to 7.6%).

The document with explanations on the procedure for law enforcement of federal law No. 265 "On Amendments to Part Two of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation," in particular, covers the procedure for applying income tax benefits, social contributions and VAT for companies developing programs for electronic document management, creating sites, customer relationship management (CRM), analysis and verification of counterparties.

It is noted that marketplaces do not have the right to benefits, even if they sell to customers or transfer software under license that allows you to place offers to buy and sell goods on this site, participate in trade and procurement procedures and conclude transactions based on their results.

If an organization has exclusive rights to the software that provides for the operation of the electronic document management system and it sells licenses to use this program, then the company may apply the right to a benefit, since its program is not related to the placement of sales ads, the search for potential buyers and the conclusion of trading transactions.

Director of the Department of Taxes and Law Deloitte Maxim Moseikov, having read the document, noted to Vedomosti that the benefits from the tax maneuver in the IT industry do not apply to operations to transfer rights to programs and databases, if such rights consist of the ability to distribute advertising information on the Internet or access such information, place offers to purchase and sell goods, search for information about potential buyers and sellers, and enter into transactions.^{[31][32][33][34][35][36]}

IT companies asked the Ministry of Finance to clarify the application of the tax maneuver

In December 2020, the Association of Computer and Information Technology Enterprises (APKIT) sent a letter to the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation with a request to clarify the application of the tax maneuver for IT companies.

According to Kommersant with reference to the executive director of APKIT Nikolai Komlev, the measures of the tax maneuver are not quite clearly spelled out, and some points can be interpreted in different ways. Amendments to the Tax Code, which reduce income tax rates for IT companies from 20% to 3%, and the rate on insurance premiums from 14% to 7.6%), will enter into force on January 1, 2021, but much remains incomprehensible, he noted.

Thus, the industry still does not understand what income is considered income from activities in IT, in particular, whether it is possible to apply a maneuver for companies that use subcontractors. APKIT participants are afraid of fines that may be imposed for tax evasion due to an incorrect interpretation of the new order.

Quite strict requirements are imposed on applicants for VAT benefits: inclusion of software in the register, accreditation of the developer, 90% of the company's revenue should be brought by the sale of software and services for its installation or maintenance, no more than 30% should be deducted to foreign companies, says the head of Avanpost Andrei Konusov. In fact, a very limited number of developers will be able to take advantage of these benefits, he believes.

The IT maneuver has a big drawback: the labor costs of companies to maintain compliance with the new legislation are seriously increasing, and there are also risks of penalties if some norms are inadvertently violated, said Softline Andrei Sholokhov, deputy general director for work with national projects. Probably, he believes, some companies will also have to divide the business to guarantee the receipt of benefits for its part.^[37]

AI specialists ask for personal income tax return

As it became known on October 16, 2020, the Artificial Intelligence working group at the Digital Economy ANO proposed returning personal income tax (NDFL) to specialists involved in the introduction of AI systems. The initiative is contained in the list of proposed measures to support the IT industry, which its representatives transferred to the Ministry of Finance.

The return of personal income tax will be a stimulating measure for IT specialists and will strengthen their personal interest in the introduction of artificial intelligence, the authors of the proposal note. They emphasize that this will require amendments to the Tax Code, and do not specify who exactly should be considered introducing the technology, Vedomosti writes.

According to Kristina Proskurina, head of Big Data at CROC, specialists working in the IT industry earn about 150-350 thousand rubles a month. The return of personal income tax paid from their income, if such a measure is taken, will allow employers to raise salaries for specialists, which can increase the competitiveness of domestic companies against the background of foreign ones, she said.

Alexei Smirnov, General Director of BASEALT, says that if IT specialists involved in the introduction of artificial intelligence will return personal income tax, then other classes of software can be retrained as using neural network algorithms and AI.

It is very difficult for the tax authorities to understand what exactly this or that employee of the company was doing, - he developed neural networks or some other type of software, - he explained.

The Ministry of Digital Development replied to the publication that the department continues to work out a package of measures to support the industry. According to the newspaper, on October 17, 2020, this issue will be discussed by Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko.^[38]

RAEK proposed to extend the tax maneuver for IT to Internet companies

As it became known on October 14, 2020, the Russian Association of Electronic Communications (RAEC; among its members - Mail.ru Group, Google, Avito, Rambler, Ozon, etc.) proposed extending the IT tax maneuver to Internet companies.

RAEK asks the government and relevant departments about the following:

• expand the number of companies that can use the tax maneuver to include search services, social networks, online stores, online cinemas, etc.;
• recognize Russian software created in Russia by companies with foreign shareholders;
• establish a single VAT rate for electronic services up to 10%;
• extend the zero VAT rate to mobile programs;
• delay the introduction of new digital systems until January 1, 2022;
• postpone the mandatory pre-installation of domestic software on computers, smartphones and other devices for the same period.

RAEK demands to extend these benefits to all companies of the "digital circuit" regardless of the type of services. Due to the conditions of the law, the developers of electronic document management systems ("Kontur"), banking and cash software ("Evotor"), the creators of CRM systems (amoCRM) will not be able to receive state support.

In the letter, RAEK indicated that the "tax maneuver" and other benefits should be extended not only to system-forming enterprises and small and medium-sized businesses, but also to all other IT companies.

Since domestic representatives of the IT industry allow Russia to be one of those countries where local players successfully compete with global foreign corporations, the loss of domestic participants in this market can seriously affect the independence of the local IT market, the association said.

In 2020, the RAEK explained, there was a decrease in effective demand in general for digital and development services, as consumers (B2C, B2B) switched to cost saving mode and reduce their costs, which led to a sharp decrease in the income of enterprises "digital circuit."^[39]

The Federation Council decided to extend tax breaks to manufacturers of telecom equipment

On August 17, 2020, it became known that the Council for the Development of the Digital Economy under the Federation Council wants to extend the tax maneuver in the IT industry and to manufacturers of telecommunications equipment. The Government of the Russian Federation is recommended to establish for such companies the rate of insurance premiums 7.6% instead of 30% and the rate of income tax 3% instead of 20%.

The measure should affect about 70 Russian manufacturers of telecommunications equipment. The market volume of such equipment in Russia is about $4 billion a year, domestic manufacturers account for about $750 million, Kommersant reports.

As Deputy General Director for Foreign Economic Activity and Relations with Government Agencies of T8 (produces equipment for optical communication networks) Alexei Ivanov explained to the newspaper, by August 17, 2020, the tax maneuver applies only to software companies and design centers in the field of microelectronics and radio electronics. At the same time, design centers account for a small volume of the market, and they work mainly on government orders.

According to market participants interviewed by the publication, the initiative of the Federation Council will have a positive effect on the state of companies engaged in the production of telecom equipment, the impact will be strong. The measures that are proposed are rather throwing from side to side, and not a comprehensive strategic decision, says Zelax President Sergei Sukhman.

Mikhail Alekseev, managing partner of AC&M Consulting, is also skeptical about the initiative:

From the fact that the tax maneuver will spread to manufacturers of telecom equipment, they will not become more competitive in the market. I admit that in some segment, for example, servers for data centers, routers or wireless modems, a niche will expand for Russian companies.[40]

Regions will miss 15 billion rubles a year due to tax maneuver in the IT industry

At the end of July 2020, it became known about the decision of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation not to compensate the regions for revenues due to the tax maneuver in the IT industry. As a result, Russian entities will miss about 15 billion rubles a year, Izvestia writes, citing sources that cited the amount based on data from the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications.

The Ministry of Finance told the newspaper that the agency "monitors the balance of regional budgets and provides financial support to the subjects as necessary." The maneuver will improve the business climate and lead to the creation of new jobs, the ministry stressed.

The press services of the governments of the Leningrad Region, the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug and the Republic of Mari El reported that the proceeds from potentially falling under the tax maneuver of IT companies are not large, so there is no serious need to compensate for them.

In the Krasnodar Territory, they added that the region in 2021 will receive less than 300 million rubles (approximately 0.1% of the budget), but in the medium term, the positive effect of the reform will outweigh the disadvantages.

At the same time, in some regions, budget losses were considered tangible. So, in the Perm Territory, they were estimated at 40-300 million rubles and reported that Governor Dmitry Makhonin sent a letter to Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin with a proposal to consider the possibility of compensation. In the Sverdlovsk region, 300 million rubles of potentially lost funds were counted, in the Republic of Karelia - 160 million. Both entities also plan to apply for a refund.

The budget of the Moscow region, as the press service of the regional government told the publication, will receive less than 1.5 billion rubles of income, the regional Ministry of Finance said. Information about the plans of the center to compensate for these funds is not available there.^[41]

The State Duma adopted a law on tax maneuver in the IT industry

On July 22, 2020, the State Duma adopted a law on tax maneuver in the IT industry. According to him, from 2021, the income tax of Russian technology companies will be reduced from 20% to 3%, and the rate of insurance premiums - from 14% to 7.6%.

 6%, 1.5% in social insurance and 0.1% in the OMS Campus Management budget will be deducted to the Pension Fund. The new benefit on insurance premiums will be unlimited. We are talking about tens of billions of rubles of released funds that IT companies will be able to direct to their development.

As a result of this decision, the tax conditions for IT-Business in Russia will become more profitable than in India and Ireland, where there are some of the lowest rates in the world, says State Duma Chairman  Vyacheslav Volodin. - This will create conditions for the sustainable development of Russian high-tech companies and additional incentives for investment in the industry.

According to Volodin, the tax maneuver will make Russia more attractive for the IT-Business, and will also contribute to the development of this high-tech industry.

Russia is known all over the world for its specialists in the field of information technology, and it is important for us to create comfortable and competitive conditions for them so that they do not go to work abroad  , but realize their potential in our country, "he said.

The tax exemption will be exclusively for software included in the unified register of Russian software. That is, in this way, there is a narrowing of those operations that are exempt from VAT, explained Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Sazanov.^[42]

At a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers, Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation Anton Siluanov noted that the law will create a favorable environment for the intensive development of the IT industry, as a result, new jobs will appear, business will be interested in working white, the cost of digital developments for consumers will decrease.

The Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications decided to compensate tax breaks to IT companies due to the abolition of zero VAT

To compensate for the lost budget revenues from the tax maneuver announced by Putin for the IT industry, the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications proposed to abolish from January 2021 zero VAT on the sale of exclusive rights to software and rights to use software under license agreements. On June 25, 2020, the Kommersant newspaper wrote about this with reference to the order of Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov.

According to the publication, the abolition of zero VAT can bring an additional 42.5 billion rubles to the budget in 2021. At the same time, companies whose software is included in the Register of Domestic Software 'Register of Domestic Software]] may be provided with subsidies of 11.4 billion rubles for 2021.

At the same time, the final load can fall on the shoulders of consumers, the check for purchases of which in application stores will increase significantly. According to experts, the introduction of VAT in the amount of 20% will increase the price of foreign software by almost 17%.

The VAT benefit is valid when buying software on the Internet and in application stores, since it is the license to use it that is sold, this applies to software of all companies, including foreign ones, Anatoly Semenov, deputy chairman of the committee of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, told Kommersant. At the same time, VAT compensation due to subsidies and benefits on fees from the wage fund applies only to Russian companies, which means that they will actually be subsidized at the expense of VAT, which users will pay for foreign licenses, he argues.

The publication of the newspaper says that in the process of preparing proposals, various options were worked out. The source of the publication claims that in one of the versions it was proposed to pay subsidies compensating for the abolition of VAT benefits to legal entities - buyers of programs from the^[43]IT

IT companies are overjoyed - Putin announced indefinite tax breaks

"Support plans prepared, decisions made"

On June 23, 2020, during a televised address to Russian citizens, President Vladimir Putin proposed reducing the rate of insurance premiums for IT companies from 14% to 7.6%, and the income tax rate from 20% to 3%. Moreover, these measures should not be temporary, but indefinite, the president noted.

Let me remind you that we have already halved to 15% the rate of insurance premiums for all small and medium-sized businesses. I believe that in the IT sphere we can and should go further, "Putin said.

He also noted that the proposed reduction in the income tax rate is not only comparable, but even better than "in jurisdictions as attractive to IT-Business today as Indian and Irish." In fact, it will be one of the lowest tax rates in the world, the president said.

Vladimir Putin recalled that on June 10 he met with representatives of the IT and telecommunications sector. During the epidemic, an effective, quick transfer of a significant part of business life, the work of the most important state, educational services online showed what powerful technological, personnel capabilities the Russian IT sector has, the president noted. He added that over the past 5 years, domestic software exports have doubled.

Here, in this industry, many basic, so-called end-to-end solutions and technologies are concentrated, important for the entire economy and social sphere. In general, for all spheres of life in Russia. Of course, for support, for the development of such a system-forming industry, we need not just effective, but non-trivial approaches and solutions, - said the president.

During the meeting, Putin instructed the government, together with the expert, professional community, to work out such steps, taking into account the fact that the IT sector is traditionally characterized by high mobility.

Entrepreneurs, employees prefer to live and conduct business where it is as convenient and comfortable as possible. Therefore, tax, financial, legal conditions for work in our country should be globally competitive, "Vladimir Putin emphasized.

The President added that plans to support the industry, which he said, have been prepared, decisions have been made.

Reaction of market players

Tagir Yapparov, chairman of the board of the Aplana Group of Companies, believes that the measures proposed by the president to reduce insurance premiums are a very important step. The IT industry has long sought such measures and repeatedly proposed them to the government.

Earlier, when insurance premiums were reduced to 14%, it was already a big victory, which led to an increase in the competitiveness of Russian players, Yapparov said in a conversation with TAdviser. And the new measures will make them even stronger, including from the point of view of the development of international business.

The industry thus receives great support from the state, - says the chairman of the board of the Applan Group of Companies.

Reducing corporate income tax is also important: it increases the ability of Russian companies to invest, increases the investment attractiveness of the entire industry. In addition to the fact that companies will be able to direct more funds for development, they will look more attractive to investors, says Tagir Yapparov. For development companies, access to capital is important, while they are often weakly capitalized. The new measure will improve this situation, he said.

Considering that IT companies have 80% of the costs - these are salaries, the reduction of social taxes is the main thing that can be dreamed of, noted in a conversation with TAdviser co-founder of the IT holding IBSergey Matsotsky. Therefore, the measures proposed by the government are "a very cool story," he said. Cutting the tax on premiums directly means the company is becoming a stronger, more competitive player.

Speaking about how much the tax maneuver could prevent the leakage of IT developers abroad, Matsotsky noted that this is unlikely to significantly affect the situation.

Those who want to leave are not leaving because taxes are lower somewhere. There is, for example, a topic related to the outflow of startups to California. This is about something else: about international projects, an attempt to be implemented there. There is also a family story when they want to move to another country. It seems to me that the reasons here are very complex. Tax cuts are unlikely to stop those who decided to leave, but maybe they will slow down those who would like, but do not know how, "the IBS co-founder shared his opinion.

Dmitry Komissarov, CEO of MyOffice (New Cloud Technologies LLC), also indicates that 80% of the costs of Russian IT developers fall on the wage fund, so reducing the insurance premium rate is a big step to support IT companies operating in Russia.

Together with a reduction in income tax, this reform also makes Russian jurisdiction more competitive for companies and employees who have moved abroad, says Komissarov.

The reduction in income tax for IT companies is "pleasant," but not as significant as the decrease in insurance premiums, believes BASEALT CEO Alexei Smirnov. The latter is very significant.

Usually, IT companies that have significant profits to one degree or another, and so invest it in their development and income tax is not very burdensome for them. Salary taxes are a significant burden for them. 80-90% of the costs of IT companies are employee remuneration. That is why already at one time, after reducing insurance premiums to 14% until 2023, they have practically disappeared gray wage payment schemes, and the amount of insurance contributions has increased significantly, - said Alexey Smirnov.

Alexander Egorov, general director of Reksoft, a member of the RUSSOFT board, notes that their company, as a software developer with 30 years of experience and a member of the RUSSOFT association, fully supports the measures announced by the president and the government.

Such state support measures are extremely relevant for the development of the most promising high-tech segment of the Russian economy. They reduce the tax burden at a time when IT companies need to grow rapidly, responding to tremendous demand for digital platforms and solutions from customers, he says.

The benefits are aimed at accelerating the long-term development of the most promising segment of the Russian economy, including in terms of exporting high-tech solutions and products. The selected criteria clearly indicate in the development of which companies the state is interested in: those who have 90% of income accounted for software development and related services. This is a signal to businesses close to IT to consider how to shift their production focus to the field of development.

Alexander Egorov is confident that the proposed measures will contribute to strengthening the positions of Russian players in the international market.

We believe that with systemic support from the state, the industry can really claim 10-11% of the world market, - said Egorov in a conversation with TAdviser. - I am sure that the saved funds by all IT companies will be used to develop their products, technological competencies in the interests of customers and expand sales markets, including international ones.

Renat Lashin, executive director of ARPP "Domestic Software," notes that the measures announced by the president are very important to support the IT industry. Reducing income tax in the long term will have a good effect and increase the sustainability of companies.

However, at the moment, the situation with financial revenues is depressing. According to surveys of association participants, in April-May 2020, profits fell by 45-47% compared to the same months last year, and there is confidence that this fall will intensify, says Lashin.

All this creates prerequisites for the reduction of personnel, their outflow abroad, despite all the efforts of employer companies, believes the executive director of ARPP "Domestic Software." The IT industry has not yet been recognized as affected by the pandemic and, accordingly, it is not subject to the benefits and subsidies provided for such organizations. And in the government decree No. 582 on the provision of subsidies to system-forming organizations there is no direction of activity related to the IT sphere, which does not allow the system-forming IT organizations included in the list to take advantage of the support measures already adopted by the resolution.

At the same time, the most expected measure for business is supported by a decrease in insurance premiums from 14% to 7.6%, Renat Lashin added. Its indefinite extension will ensure the competitiveness of our companies in the global market. In general, a tax maneuver with the proposed parameters will contribute to the return of IT-Business from abroad to Russia, the growth of Russian software exports, he said.

However, we also consider it necessary to provide for the possibility of financial support for developers of domestic solutions not only according to the factoring scheme, but also with preferential loans at rates of 1-5% per annum. The debt burden of the IT industry is one of the lowest and is approximately 6%. For comparison, in construction - about 60-70%, - added Renat Lashin.

Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin proposed to reduce IT companies insurance premiums and income tax

On June 22, 2020, it became known that Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin proposed to reduce insurance premiums and income tax for IT companies.

Vedomosti found out what the tax maneuver will be like in the IT industry. In the near future, its parameters will be announced, two federal officials said, according to the publication of the publication of June 22, 2020. According to the interlocutors of the newspaper, for Russian IT companies, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin plans to reduce insurance premiums from 14 to 7.6%, and income tax from 20 to 3%.

In addition, he proposes to abolish VAT on advertising developments and software on foreign digital platforms and give software developers the opportunity to receive special subsidies. The maneuver assumes that all changes will be indefinite, and all Russian IT companies will be able to apply for them, whose at least 90% of revenues are for the sale of software and services for its development, implementation and support, two federal officials say. How much the final version of the maneuver will cost the budget, officials do not say, but one of them clarifies that compensation for the budget has already been found.

The reform should stimulate the export of Russian software and support its developers in the face of falling demand in the domestic market, Vedomosti interlocutors explain. Low rates on insurance premiums will reduce the costs of companies and increase their competitiveness, and a reduced income tax will be an additional argument in favor of the return of IT companies.^[44]

The representative of the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications told the newspaper that the ministry sent proposals to the Cabinet of Ministers to support the IT industry and communications. An employee of the government apparatus pointed out that among the proposals of the Ministry of Communications were indefinite reductions in insurance premiums and income tax, as well as the abolition of VAT from advertising. The representative of the Cabinet did not respond to the newspaper's request.

Earlier, Vladimir Putin, following a meeting on the development of the communications industry and IT, instructed the Cabinet to prepare a comprehensive plan to support the industry and include these measures in the national economic recovery plan. Also, the government should prepare proposals in order to create a comfortable business environment for the IT sector.

But the logic of the Cabinet lies not so much in anti-crisis support for the sphere as in its long-term development, explained one of the sources of Vedomosti. For this reason, foreign IT companies that have registered and work in the Russian Federation should also fall under the maneuver - add their tax revenues to the budget.

This, the interlocutor of Vedomosti notes, is not so much anti-crisis support measures , but rather aimed at long-term development.

The media reported on the possible zeroing of VAT for domestic IT companies

The Russian government may nullify VAT for domestic IT companies, the Vedomosti newspaper reported in June 2020, citing two sources familiar with the discussion of the document in the government.

It is noted that such a measure of support for the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications can be introduced into the national plan for the development of the economy. It is added that the list of measures is still being discussed and can be changed.

According to the newspaper, the representative of the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications declined to comment, and the press service of the government said that "IT support measures have been sent for study."

{{quote|"Among other possible measures to support the IT industry is a reduction in the upper bar of income tax for high-tech companies from 20 to 12%, (for regions - up to 2%), Vedomosti interlocutors list. According to them, we are also talking about an indefinite extension of the preferential regime for paying insurance premiums (now for IT companies their rate is 14%), "the message says.

Developers of AI solutions in Russia will receive a tax deduction

In February 2020, it became known about the tax incentives that Russian developers of artificial intelligence technologies will receive. From December 1, such companies will be able to count on a tax deduction, this support mechanism will be valid for 10 years, RIA Novosti reports with reference to the draft roadmap for the development of artificial intelligence  in Russia.

The introduction of a mechanism of ten-year tax deductions for companies - developers of AI solutions and companies implementing AI - on December 1, 2020, the task plan says. The document was developed by Sberbank and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF).

The Ministry of Economic Development will develop appropriate changes to the Tax Code and prepare a register of companies developing AI solutions and companies introducing AI that will receive tax benefits.

The roadmap provides for the creation by June 2021 of a public-private partnership mechanism for developers of AI solutions. The Ministry of Economic Development and Sberbank were entrusted with this issue. The agency notes that Sberbank is the federal center of competence in artificial intelligence and is responsible for its development. The bank has a laboratory for artificial intelligence.

In a conversation with Vedomosti, KPMG partner in Russia and the CIS Nikolai Legkodimov called tax breaks a familiar tool for the state to support business, which does not always achieve the desired result. Obtaining benefits only on the basis of specialization in artificial intelligence makes it possible for manipulation, he said.

On July 1, 2020, an experiment will begin in Moscow to create conditions for the development and introduction of artificial intelligence. The initiative, in particular, assumes that a legal entity or an individual entrepreneur who is engaged in the development, creation, implementation, implementation or turnover of AI technologies, individual goods (works, services) based on them will be able to become a participant in the experimental regime.^[45]

2018

CNews named the regions of Russia where IT companies pay less taxes

Today in Russia there are a number of tax incentives for companies operating in the information technology market. At the federal level, there are relaxations in the payment of value added tax: VAT is not subject to the transfer of exclusive rights to programs for computers, databases, integrated circuit topology, as well as the transfer of rights to their use under a license agreement. In addition, for Russian IT companies, the amount of insurance premiums is only 14% (the rest are paid by 30%). However, in order to receive such a benefit, it is necessary to fulfill a number of conditions: the organization must be registered with the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications, have at least seven employees, and the share of its revenues from the sale of IT products should be at least 90% in the total amount of all revenues^[46].

In 2014, the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications proposed to implement a pilot project to introduce a preferential tax regime for IT companies to several constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The idea was to reduce the income tax rate. The project was supported by four regions: Chelyabinsk, Penza, Ulyanovsk and Novosibirsk regions. At the moment, benefits for IT companies in terms of income tax are valid in a number of regions of the Russian Federation, as well as in five special economic zones (SEZs). CNews, together with the law firm P&P Unity, collected information on preferential taxation of IT companies in the SEZ and regions of Russia.

The CNews rating includes regions and special and free economically zones (SEZ or FEZ) in which tax benefits apply to IT companies. Four regions have the status of a special economic zone: the Kaliningrad region, the Republic of Tatarstan, the Republic of Crimea (and the city of federal significance Sevastopol), as well as the city of St. Petersburg. SEZs in Tatarstan and St. Petersburg are innovative zones of technical and innovative type (SEZ TVT), the priority areas in which are science-intensive and information technologies, and, therefore, many of their residents are IT companies. The only condition for obtaining benefits in this case is to have the status of a resident of a specific economic zone. For these regions, maximum income tax benefits are provided, and sometimes other taxes, reaching full exemption from payment for a certain period. In Tatarstan, at the moment, benefits for IT companies are provided only for residents of the Innopolis SEZ. However, it is planned to establish benefits for IT companies in independence from residency in the SEZ - for this, a working commission has already been created under the chairmanship of Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Informatization and Communications of the Republic Roman Shaikhutdinov. In the Kaliningrad region, benefits are not specifically established for IT companies, but it is possible for them to apply a number of benefits if such companies become residents of the SEZ in the Kaliningrad region. A similar situation is in the Republic of Crimea - tax benefits are provided for all companies, and IT companies will be able to take advantage of a number of benefits indicated in the table, becoming a resident of the FEZ.

The Skolkovo Innovation Center, which took first place in the list, is not formally a region or SEZ, it is not regional in nature, in comparison, for example, with the SEZ and SEZ, which are created specifically for the development of the region. In economic zones, the region establishes benefits by its acts (in Russia there are very few special economic zones for which benefits are established by the Tax Code). In turn, the Skolkovo innovation center is rather an infrastructure for the development of the IT industry in Russia as a whole, that is, a state-owned project, not a regional one. As a result, tax benefits are established directly by a federal act - the Tax Code. For Skolkovo residents there are preferential VAT rates. Organizations that have received the status of a project participant for the implementation of research, development and commercialization of their results in accordance with the Federal Law "On the Innovation Center" are exempted from paying tax (with the exception of "import" VAT Skolkovo). The benefit is valid for 10 years from the date of obtaining the status of a project participant.

In the Russian Federation, the basic income tax rate is 20%, with 2% (3% from 2017 to 2020) of them deducted to the federal budget, and the remaining 18% (17%) to the regional budget. Regions have the right to reduce their share of tax, but no more than 13.5%. This is how a preferential rate is formed. The table shows only the regional share of income tax; in fact, the company will pay 3% (2% after 2020) more.

The regions in the table are sorted in ascending order of the preferential profit rate (regional share). In the case of the same values, a region with more flexible or more favorable conditions for providing benefits ranks higher. So, for example, at the same rate of 13.5%, the Ulyanovsk region turned out to be higher than the rest with an equal indicator, since, all other things being equal, only 70% of the share of the sale of IT services or IT products in income is allowed for IT companies during the corresponding reporting period. While the rest of the regions with the same value of the preferential rate admit a share of income from specialized activities at least 90%.

IT specialists want to be allowed to pay 13% of taxes in Russia instead of 30%

The working group under the ANO "Digital Economy" approved in July 2018 a bill according to which IT specialists who spend at least 90 days a year in Russia can receive tax resident status. The changes are being introduced in order to make the country more attractive to traveling IT specialists who, according to the new rules, will be able to pay income tax at a rate of 13%^[47]

Russian legislation is planned to be adjusted in such a way that the country becomes more attractive to IT specialists. In particular, those specialists who often change their geographical location will be given the opportunity to obtain the status of tax residents of Russia. To do this, the specialist must spend more than 90 calendar days a year in Russia.

The corresponding changes are contained in the bill approved by the experts of the working group on regulatory regulation at the ANO "Digital Economy," as follows from the message of the organization. The bill was prepared by the thematic group "Special Legal Regimes" of the competence center of the Digital Economy program. The next step will be to send the document to the government.

To obtain tax resident status, a specialist will only have to apply to the Federal Tax Service. The application can be written in free form and submitted, even while abroad.

The authors of the bill believe that specialists and IT managers who spend most of their time abroad, but periodically visit Russia, will want to take advantage of the new opportunity. The explanatory note notes that taxation of a company often depends more on where its management is geographically located, and not where it is registered.

St. Petersburg adopted tax breaks for IT companies

In St. Petersburg, a law was adopted "On Amendments to the Law of St. Petersburg" On Tax Incentives "" in terms of supporting the IT sphere. This was reported on June 22, 2018 by the Committee on Economic Policy and Strategic Planning of St. Petersburg (KEPiSP). The Governor of St. Petersburg put his signature on the document.

The law prepared by the CEPiSP introduces a reduced income tax rate for organizations investing in the creation or modernization of data processing and storage centers, as well as for companies exporting software.

St. Petersburg became the first city in Russia to provide benefits to companies investing in data centers, "said Ivan Filippov, Chairman of KEPiSP. - Such centers are a key element of the infrastructure of the digital technology market, and we consider it fundamentally important to support this industry due to its strategic importance. In addition, we have provided benefits to software exporters.

The adopted law establishes a regional income tax rate for these IT companies up to 12.5% for 2018-2020, further - 13.5%.

Companies that have invested in the creation and modernization of data centers from 500 million rubles, as well as companies exporting software, will be able to take advantage of the benefit, while the share of exports should be at least 70% of the revenue, and 90% of the company's revenue should be in the type of activity "Software development computer , consulting services in this area and other related services," emphasized in KEPiSP.

St. Petersburg government approves tax breaks for IT companies

At the end of March 2018, the St. Petersburg government approved a draft law on tax incentives for IT companies, prepared by the Committee on Economic Policy and Strategic Planning of the city. This was reported on the official website of the city government. Now the document is to be considered in the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg.

The bill is aimed at supporting IT companies and developing IT-Business in St. Petersburg. In particular, in order to stimulate the creation of commercial data centers in the city, the draft law proposes to reduce the income tax rate to 13.5% (12.5% in 2019-2020) for organizations engaged in economic activities in managing computer equipment, data processing, providing information placement services, as well as receiving income from activities in the amount of at least 70% of this activity.

The condition for receiving benefits will be the investment of funds for 3 years (in the period 2018-2027) for a total amount of at least 500 million rubles. Tax relief was proposed to provide no more than 10 tax periods.

Chairman of the Committee on Economic Policy and Strategic Planning of St. Petersburg Ivan Filippov during the meeting on March 27 noted that in 2017 the data center services market in Russia amounted to about 20 billion rubles, 20% more than 2016. However, out of 10 large Russian data centers, only one is located in St. Petersburg, while out of 40 data centers in the city, only 10 have the Tier III reliability level, ^[48]. At the same time, according to the official, most of the world data centers are located in the United States, and St. Petersburg companies mainly use their capacities.

As a result, the city's budget is losing money, not to mention the threat to national security, the St. Petersburg edition of Fontanka quotes Filippov.

The bill also proposes to establish a corporate income tax rate of 13.5% until 2023 (12.5% in 2018-2020) for IT companies in St. Petersburg exporting IT.

Governor Georgy Poltavchenko noted that IT, software development is one of the competitive advantages of St. Petersburg. The city has a system of measures to support IT companies: they receive preferences in the purchase of equipment for leasing, training and retraining of personnel.

2017

Kaliningrad reduces tax burden to lure IT companies

The government of the Kaliningrad region has achieved an extension for a significant part of its territory of the status of a special economic zone (SEZ). It was assigned to it in 2006 with an expiration date in 2017. Now the Kaliningrad SEZ will last until 2045, while offering IT companies a serious set of preferences^[49].

At the time of the formation of this SEZ in Russia, the classification adopted today did not yet exist, implying the division of zones into a number of external features (technical, industrial, industrial, etc.). The Kaliningrad zone has a special status defined by a separate federal law.

As Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of the Kaliningrad Region Alexander Shenderyuk-Zhidkov said in a conversation with CNews, at the time of creation, the Kaliningrad SEZ was more focused on industrial enterprises, therefore, benefits corresponding to this status were provided for its residents. In particular, it implied an exemption from income tax, property tax during the first six years and a 50% reduction in income and property tax over the next six years, as well as an exemption from payment of duties and value added tax for equipment imported into the Kaliningrad region.

Now an attempt has been made in the zone to bet on the so-called human capital. In this context, IT is one of the most promising industries. Therefore, legislative amendments suggest that from January 1, 2018, the minimum investment threshold for SEZ residents in the IT sector is reduced - up to 1 million rubles. over three years, instead of 160 million rubles. earlier, as for all ordinary companies.

The investment threshold in this case means the amount of invested funds that an enterprise needs to carry out in order to receive benefits from a SEZ resident. That is, we are talking about the amount of money that an investor must spend in order to be able to take advantage of benefits: income tax, property tax and benefit on social contributions. For the IT space, for example, you need to invest in servers and computers.

New legislative amendments imply that for residents of the Kaliningrad SEZ, the rate of deductions to funds will be reduced from 30% to 7.6%. "Reduced tariffs are set for new residents of the SEZ, who, firstly, will receive this status from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2022, and secondly, they will create new jobs," Shenderyuk-Zhidkov said.

Russia is preparing tax breaks for companies engaged in information security

The draft action plan of the "Information security program" section, Digital economy written on behalf of the President, Russia Vladimir Putin among other things, contains proposals for creating incentives for the emergence of the Russian region in this area. The document was prepared by the Center for Competence in the direction of "Information Security," created on the basis Sberbank^[50]

The draft action plan of the Information Infrastructure section of the Digital Economy program, written on behalf of Russian President Vladimir Putin, involves covering transport infrastructure with wireless networks with the ability to transmit data. This is necessary, in particular, for the development of "modern intelligent logistics and transport technologies."

First of all, it is planned to develop a procedure for assigning Russian products in the field of information security (information security) the status of goods of Russian origin and confirming such status. The relevant procedure must be approved by the government.

Further, it is planned to establish a requirement for the introduction of priority in the field of information security for goods of Russian origin, as well as for works and services performed by Russian persons in relation to goods and services of foreign origin. This priority should be related to the field of public procurement and be approved by the government.

Information Security Tax Incentives

In parallel, criteria should be established for classifying legal entities and individual entrepreneurs as Russian persons operating in the field of information security. The criteria should be enshrined in the decree of the President of Russia.

For organizations that meet the specified criteria, you must provide financial benefits. Including benefits will affect the calculation of depreciation on electronic computing equipment, rates of insurance premiums for compulsory social insurance and value added tax.

The authors of the document cite as an example state support to IT companies in India, China, Brazil, South Africa and in some Asian countries. The tax credit in India is a full exemption from income tax for the first five years, a 50% tax cut for the next five years and, if reinvested in core activity, a 50% tax cut for the third five-year period. IT companies are exempt from property tax for five years and sales tax for up to 10 years.

Technopark for information security

Another proposed support mechanism is the creation of a national technology park in the field of information security. The technopark will have to provide an investment climate by supporting startups aimed at developing domestic innovative products in the field of information security.

This project is planned to be entrusted to the Ministry of Communications, the Ministry of Economic Development, the Association for Information Protection (AZI), the Association of Computer and Information Technology Enterprises (AP KIT) and the Association of Regional Information Security Services (ARSIB).

A technopark in the field of information security can be made on the basis of existing technoparks and Special Economic Zones (SEZ), as well as by combining information security companies into an association. The creation of tools for the joint work of the state and domestic companies from the field of information security will create prerequisites for the availability of promising scientific resources, technologies and developments, the authors of the document believe.

It is proposed to involve leading universities training specialists in the field of information security in the process of interaction between the state and business. To do this, it is necessary to make a system of grants for the development of promising information security tools.

In Yakutia, proposed to reduce taxes for IT companies

IT companies in Yakutia can reduce the income tax rate from 6% to 3%. This was stated in May 2017 by the head of the republic Egor Borisov during a meeting with programmers, the press service[1] of the regional government said^[51] the^[52] company.

According to him, this issue will soon be considered by the government. At the same time, Borisov noted that the adoption of such decisions, "as a rule, is hindered by municipalities that do not want to lose funds from their already modest budgets."

Also, a special fund will be created to support the IT industry. According to the Minister of Communications and Information Technologies of Yakutia Alexander Borisov, IT startups do not have the means to implement their projects.

The State Duma approved pension benefits for IT companies

The State Duma adopted in the first reading a bill that will extend the preferential tariff of insurance contributions to the pension fund for IT companies until 2023. The tariff will be 8%. The bill is called "On Amending Article 33 of the Federal Law" On Compulsory Pension Insurance in the Russian Federation^[53].

Until 2023, IT companies will enjoy the following preferential tariffs. The contribution to compulsory pension insurance will be charged in the amount of 8%. The contribution to compulsory social insurance in case of temporary disability and in connection with motherhood will be 2%, and the contribution to compulsory health insurance - 4%. In total, the preferential rate is 14%, while the standard insurance premium in other industries is 30%.

These tariffs were introduced for Russian IT companies accredited by the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications in January 2010. The benefits were to be valid until the end of 2017, after which the Ministry of Finance intended to gradually raise the rate. In 2018, it was supposed to be 21%, in 2019 - 28%, and from the beginning of 2020, IT companies would begin to pay the standard 30%. However, the president's order and the law adopted in accordance with this order extended the benefits for 5 years.

IT companies enjoy benefits because for many of them, insurance payments make up the bulk of the cost. Companies from other industries are usually spent on the purchase of materials and the organization of the production process, and against the background of this, contributions to funds do not look impressive. But, for example, software developers do not have their own production. Therefore, insurance payments become a big enough loss for them to think about transferring business abroad.

2016

Putin extended insurance benefits for IT companies until 2023

On December 28, 2016, the president Russia Vladimir Putin signed a law that extends the effect of preferential rates of insurance premiums to state extra-budgetary funds for IT companies for 2017-2023. The document is published on the official portal of legal information.

Tariffs for IT companies will be:

• for compulsory pension insurance - 8% (for comparison, the total tariff - 22%)
• compulsory social insurance in case of temporary disability and in connection with maternity - 2% (total tariff - 2.9%)
• for compulsory health insurance - 4% (total tariff - 5.1%)

Thus, the tariff for IT companies will remain at 14%, while the total tariff provided for most taxpayers is 30%.

In addition, the document refers to controlled transactions, one of the parties to which is a research corporate center (ICC), specified in the law "On the Innovation Cent" and Skolkovo exempted from payment. VAT Such centers were exempted from VAT and property tax, and also applied a zero income tax rate on revenues of up to 300 million. Since rubles 2017, these benefits will remain with revenues of up to 1 billion rubles.

The President proposed to extend benefits on insurance premiums for IT companies until 2023

On December 1, 2016, during the annual address to the Federal Assembly, the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin announced that it was necessary to extend benefits on insurance premiums for IT companies until 2023.

He noted that in 2010, tax deductions from IT companies amounted to 28 billion, while two years later - already 54 billion rubles. At the same time, the shortfall in income from the use of benefits in the IT industry amounted to only 16 billion rubles.

To support such dynamics, I propose to extend these benefits until 2023. I am sure that in the next decade it will be possible to make the IT industry one of the key export industries in Russia, "said Vladimir Putin.

He recalled that the volume of exports of domestic IT companies has doubled in five years.

Tax breaks for IT companies could extend until 2023

The government is exploring the possibility of extending these benefits until the end of 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the Business Russia forum in October 2016. According to him, in the near future, appropriate changes may be made to the tax code.

As for extending the benefit to those companies that work in the general environment - they are engaged in services, product promotion, then, probably, you can think about it, the president noted. "But it needs the government to weigh up the pros and cons. I believe that this is also possible, "Putin said.

According to him, after the introduction of benefits, budget revenues increased from 28 billion rubles to 54 billion rubles. In general, the budget system received more than 10 billion rubles.

At the same time, the loss of income amounted to only 15 billion. It turns out that the budget system received more than 10 billion plus. This despite the fact that we gave this benefit of 14% to pay insurance premiums. Far from always benefits are justified and giving such a positive effect, as in this case, - said the President of Russia.

Government wants to extend tax breaks for IT companies forever

In the spring of 2016, the Ministry of Economic Development prepared a bill providing for the extension of the 14% rate on insurance premiums for IT companies for an indefinite period, as well as the extension of this rate to organizations providing engineering services. The document can gain force from January 1, 2017, that is, a year before the end of the^[54].

The bill was developed in pursuance of one of the points of the Government's order of March 1, 2016 with a deadline of execution in the second quarter of 2016. In addition to the Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Labor were appointed its executors.

It is noteworthy that, according to CNews, Minek has been in favor of extending benefits for a long time, while the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Labor have traditionally been categorically against.

Putin instructed to extend benefits for the payment of insurance premiums for IT companies until 2023

In May 2016, the President Russia Vladimir Putin signed an order to the Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to extend benefits for the payment of insurance premiums for Russian IT companies until 2023. This was reported by the publication "Expert Center for Electronic" states^[55]

Domestic companies accredited by the Ministry of Communications and engaged in the development of domestic software pay reduced insurance premiums: 14% of the wage bill instead of 30%.

Until now, the government's plans included the abolition of existing benefits: since 2018, insurance premiums for IT companies should have been 21%, in 2019 - 28%, and from 2020 - 30%.

Meanwhile, the amount of insurance premiums accrued on the payroll of enterprises is critical for IT companies - software developers, for whom the payroll is the main item of expenses.

The extension of benefits in this form alerted market participants. As Vladimir Rubanov, Managing Director of Rosplatforma, noted, now 62% of recipients of benefits for insurance premiums are not included in the Register of Russian Developers. These can be development centers of Western companies, service companies, outsourcers, as well as other companies that, for one reason or another, do not go to receive the status of domestic developers^[56].

The head of the Russoft association, Valentin Makarov, drew attention to the fact that if the number of recipients of benefits is reduced, insurance funds will additionally receive 13.2 billion rubles in five years. At the same time, the loss of benefits will lead to the closure of some IT companies, their transition to "gray schemes," transfer to other jurisdictions, and so on.

As a result, over the same five years, the volume of IT exports will decrease by $7.9 billion, and the volume of budget revenues in the form of tax for individuals will decrease by 71.7 billion rubles - that is, more than five times more than the size of additional income. Thus, the benefits for the budget will become much less than future losses, Makarov warned.

In addition, in the same five years, the industry will lose 30 thousand qualified programmers, of which 5 thousand will leave the country. And the closure of development centers in Russia will lead to the loss of the possibility of a free transfer of technologies.

Makarov sees another way to solve the problem of increasing budget revenues. He notes that in 2014, the total revenue of IT companies that took advantage of the benefit amounted to, according to the Federal Tax Service, 666 billion rubles. ($17.5 billion). However, according to Russoft, the total revenue of companies that took advantage of the benefit amounted to a smaller amount - $12 billion. Thus, there are abuses in the use of benefits that should be dealt with by strengthening control: Russoft is ready to help the state in this part.

The preferential rate on income tax for IT companies is already valid in four regions of Russia

The Chelyabinsk region became the fourth constituent entity of the Russian Federation to reduce the income tax rate for IT enterprises from 20% to 15.5%. The preferential tax regime was implemented at the suggestion of the Ministry of Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation. In addition to the Chelyabinsk region, this mechanism is already operating in the Novosibirsk, Penza and Ulyanovsk regions.

The reduction of the income tax rate for IT companies in the region is provided for by the law of the Chelyabinsk region dated May 12, 2016 No. 349-ЗО "On Amending the Law of the Chelyabinsk Region" On Reducing the Corporate Income Tax Rate for Certain Categories of Taxpayers^[57]. " The law applies to legal relations arising from January 1, 2016. The preferential rate is provided for a period of five years.

2015

Ministry of Communications of the Russian Federation proposes to extend benefits for insurance premiums for IT companies

The head Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications of the Nikolay Nikiforov sent in October 2015 to the Prime Minister a Dmitry Medvedev proposal to extend the validity of preferential insurance premiums for IT companies for five years, the newspaper "" reports Sheets with reference to a copy of the letter^[58]

As noted in the document, if in 2018 the fiscal burden on Russian IT companies increases, then they will begin to lose competition for workers to world companies. And the deterioration in the well-being of the IT industry will affect not only the technological development of the country, but also other sectors of the economy, Nikiforov points out.

The standard insurance premium for ordinary companies is 30%, and for IT companies that have passed special accreditation in the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications, it will be 14% until the end of 2017. It is planned that from 2018 the rate will increase to 21%, in 2019 - to 28%, and from January 1, 2020 - to the standard 30%. The Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications proposes to extend the 14% tariff until the end of 2023, 21% - until the end of 2024 and introduce 29% in 2025.

According to Vedomosti, the Ministry of Economic Development supports this proposal, but the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Labor oppose the extension of reduced tariffs due to the federal budget deficit, as well as the budgets of social insurance funds and compulsory medical insurance.

We add that the Ministry of Communications considers the reduced rates of insurance premiums to be an effective measure - it has spread to about 34.5% of all IT industry workers. The financial performance of such companies is growing faster, the department notes.

VAT bill for companies providing electronic services on the Internet

In early December 2015, it became known that Russian and foreign IT companies would be obliged to pay additional tax. We are talking about tens of billions of rubles a year, which can go to the state budget.

According to RBC, State Duma deputies Andrei Lugovoi (LDPR) and Vladimir Parakhin ("Fair Russia") presented a bill on the imposition of VAT on companies providing electronic services on the Internet. The project will be submitted to the State Duma and has a good chance of becoming law, said a source close to the leadership of the State Duma and familiar with this document.

The presented bill is primarily aimed at foreign companies selling  software, e-books, music, films, games, as well as advertising and hosting services in their online stores (App Store, Google Play, etc.). Such companies do not pay VAT, for example, for the sale of applications in Russia, unlike Russian firms. In the conditions of such inequality, the latter are forced to register abroad, that is, to evade taxes, Vladimir Parakhin explained.

According to the authors of the bill, the income of foreign companies from Russian consumers in the electronic services market is estimated at 240 billion rubles in 2014 and about 300 billion rubles in 2015.

However, the bill provides for an additional tax for domestic companies. So, the document says about the abolition of the exemption from VAT licenses for programs for computers and databases, which applies to Russian companies, said Evgeny Timofeev, partner of tax practice at Goltsblat BLP.

Some IT market participants interviewed by RBC are confident that the introduction of VAT can lead to higher prices, shifting additional costs to customers, which can amount to billions of rubles.^[59]

2014

Revenues of IT beneficiaries amounted to 311.6 billion rubles

Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media Russia analyzed information on the activities of 1560 payers of preferential insurance premiums for 2014, excluding organizations that began to apply the preferential tax rate at the end of 2014.

IT companies using the benefit are registered in 72 constituent entities of the Russian Federation, while 525 companies - in Moscow, 215 - in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region, 52 - in the Novosibirsk region, 42 - in the Sverdlovsk region, 41 each - in the Moscow and Samara regions, 39 - in the Republic of Tatarstan, 37 - in Nizhny Novgorod.

According to Rosstat, the average number of employees of these IT companies in 2014 is 136 thousand people - 34.5% of all employees of the IT industry. At the same time, the average monthly salary of employees reached 83,970 rubles, which is 1.6 times more than the average salary in the information technology industry and 2.6 times more than the average monthly salary in the economy as a whole.

The amount of income of these organizations in 2014 amounted to 311.6 billion rubles, including 305.2 billion rubles - from the sale of software, the provision of services for its development, testing, installation, adaptation, modification, maintenance.

In addition, the assessment showed that IT companies that apply reduced insurance premium rates in 2011-2014 demonstrated a steady increase in revenue and contributions to the Russian budget at a rate higher than the average for the economy as a whole. The total amount of personal income tax calculated by these organizations in 2014 exceeded 17.8 billion rubles, excluding tax deductions.

Since the beginning of 2014, 1,560 payers have used the benefit, and by the end of the year their number has increased to 2,172, that is, it has almost doubled compared to 2013, when 1,123 payers used the benefits. During the period 2012-2014, the number of such organizations increased almost fivefold.

For 2014, the following benefits are provided for accredited IT companies: reduced insurance premium rates - up to 14% of payments in favor of individuals; the possibility to attract highly qualified foreign specialists to work in a simplified manner; the right to include expenses for the purchase of electronic computer equipment in material expenses in the amount of the full value of such property upon its commissioning; preferential rate on income tax of organizations in the Novosibirsk and Penza regions.

Rating of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation by the amount of income of IT companies that applied reduced insurance premium rates for 2014 (according to a sample of 1560 insurance premium payers)

<tbody> </tbody>

No. in the ranking	Subjects of the Russian Federation	Revenue of IT companies applying preferences in 2014 (thousand rubles)
1	Moscow and Moscow Region *	166 074 824,6
2	Saint Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast *	41 369 708,7
3	Nizhny Novgorod region	10 937 224,9
4	Novosibirsk region	10 380 595,0
5	Sverdlovsk region	8 572 947,9
6	Perm Territory	7 172 293,6
7	Republic of Tatarstan	5 178 115,4
8	Omsk region	5 132 617,9
9	Yaroslavl region	4 463 749,8
10	Chuvash Republic	4 502 686,5
11	Krasnodar Territory	4 287 634,6
12	Saratov region	3 471 369,4
13	Samara region	3 419 537,4
14	Tula region	2 575 826,0
15	Belgorod region	2 257 865,6
16	Tomsk region	2 217 248,5
17	Komi Republic	1 796 744,1
18	Orenburg region	1 649 050,4
19	Republic of Karelia	1 617 814,7
20	Rostov region	1 552 073,5
21	Khabarovsk Territory	1 558 355,3
22	Kemerovo region	1 535 997,6
23	Republic of Bashkortostan	1 447 864,4
24	Penza region	1 418 167,2
25	Lipetsk region	1 304 985,3
26	Chelyabinsk region	1 182 049,9
27	Krasnoyarsk Territory	1 088 035,8
28	Kaluga region	955 056,0
29	Tver region	900 951,2
30	Udmurt Republic	793 540,9
31	Kaliningrad region	730 087,6
32	Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug - Ugra	603 926,8
33	Republic of Mari El	582 760,8
34	Ulyanovsk region	567 635,6
35	Voronezh region	529 924,6
36	Volgograd region	489 440,0
37	Altai Territory	465 960,2
38	Oryol region	440 785,6
39	Tyumen region	350 481,0
40	Ryazan region	343 549,5
41	Murmansk region	338 358,9
42	Vladimir region	327 590,5
43	Stavropol Territory	320 098,2
44	Kirov region	313 690,0
45	Vologda Oblast	304 358,7
46	Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)	300 829,4
47	Bryansk region	285 534,5
48	Ivanovo region	273 050,9
49	Republic of Buryatia	268 731,9
50	Primorsky Territory	263 699,5
51	Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug	219 788,9
52	Sakhalin Oblast	224 830,6
53	Amur Region	214 248,5
54	Republic of Mordovia	209 057,1
55	Republic of Khakassia	206 732,3
56	Smolensk region	200 923,6
57	Novgorod region	188 362,8
58	Astrakhan region	187 504,7
59	Kursk region	123 555,5
60	Kostroma region	122 243,1
61	Tambov region	117 752,0
62	Irkutsk region	112 305,4
63	Pskov region	110 327,1
64	Magadan region	106 038,7
65	Kamchatka Territory	79 059,9
66	Kabardino-Balkar Republic	72 540,1
67	Nenets Autonomous Okrug	67 743,4
68	Trans-Baikal Territory	31 737,9
69	Kurgan region	24 931,3
70	Republic of Kalmykia	22 312,8

* Information on IT companies located in Moscow and the Moscow region, as well as St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region, was grouped due to the calculation methodology, which takes into account, among other things, the peculiarities of the organization's offices location.

Novosibirsk region introduced a preferential tax regime for IT companies

On December 4, 2014, the Ministry of Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation announced a decrease in the income tax rate for IT companies in the Novosibirsk Region from 20% to 15.5% from January 1, 2015. The ministry proposed to implement a pilot project to introduce a preferential tax regime for IT companies to several constituent entities of the Russian Federation, the first of which was used by the Novosibirsk region.

The reduction in the income tax rate is enshrined in the Law of the Novosibirsk Region of November 24, 2014 No. 482-OZ "On Amendments to the Law of the Novosibirsk Region" On Taxes and Taxation Features of Certain Categories of Taxpayers in the Novosibirsk Region. "

Now the reduced corporate income tax rate (15.5%) is as close as possible to the tax rate paid when applying the simplified income taxation system (STS), reduced by the amount of expenses (15%). The preferential regime will allow small IT companies to overcome the "fear of growth" in the event that their income reaches a threshold after which it is impossible to further apply the USN.

In addition, the preference will contribute to the development of IT-Business and the emergence of more medium and large IT companies in the region.

Recall that in the Novosibirsk region there is one of the most successful technoparks created with the support of the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications of Russia as part of the comprehensive program "Creation of technoparks in the field of high technologies in the Russian Federation" - Novosibirsk "Akadempark." The adopted law improves the working conditions of its residents.

Our task as a regulator is to create conditions for the further growth of the information technology industry, which is developing dynamically today. To systematize this work, at the end of 2013, a strategy for the development of the IT industry and a roadmap for its implementation were adopted. This year, the ministry continues to work to improve the institutional conditions for conducting IT-Business in Russia, reduce the personnel deficit in the industry, and create an infrastructure for high-performance jobs, "said Nikolai Nikiforov, head of the Ministry of Communications of Russia.

Thus, admission to universities in IT specialties from September 1, 2015 is planned to increase by 34% compared to 2014. In addition, within the framework of the comprehensive program "Creation of technology parks in the Russian Federation in the field of high technologies," six technology parks will open by the end of the year: in Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Saransk, Penza, Sverdlovsk region and Togliatti, they say in the Ministry of Communications.

In 2014, two new mechanisms for supporting IT companies began to operate: reduced rates of insurance premiums for organizations numbering from 7 to 29 employees and the ability to attract highly qualified foreign specialists to work in a simplified manner.

For the first time in 11 years, participants in the sociological survey of the non-profit partnership (NP) Russoft (Russoft) noted an improvement in the conditions for doing business in the information technology (IT) industry in 2014. The study involved more than 130 Russian software exporters.

If in previous years, progress was usually noted only by certain categories of respondents, depending on the volume of their turnover and the location of the head office, then in 2014 estimates improved for all groups of companies.

The proportion of respondents who positively assessed changes in state support for the IT industry over the past two years increased by 5% compared to the 2013 survey and reached 30%. According to the "state of infrastructure" criterion, the share of estimates "good" and the average score reached an all-time high for the entire time of the polls - 32% and 3.17, respectively. The share of those who saw a deterioration in the situation with state support did not increase and remained at the level of last year, amounting to 9%.

The fundamental difference between the results of 2014 and the assessments of the last 3-4 years is that they reflect not the expectations of the surveyed companies, but real improvements that are manifested in specific decisions of the government and the State Duma, as part of actions to implement state projects and programs aimed at supporting IT companies, - noted in the message of NP RUSSOFT.

2013

In the first reading, the State Duma adopted a law on benefits for small IT companies

On December 13, 2013, the Ministry of Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation announced that the draft law prepared by the department on amending Article 57 of the Federal Law "On insurance contributions to the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation, the Social Insurance Fund of the Russian Federation, the Federal Compulsory Health Insurance Fund" was adopted today in the first reading by the State Duma. The law reduces the threshold for the number of employees of IT companies applying for benefits from 30 to 7 people, and also adjusts the condition for their receipt associated with fluctuations in foreign exchange rates.

The bill was prepared by the Ministry of Communications of Russia as part of ensuring favorable business conditions for Russian IT companies and meets the provisions of the "Strategy for the development of the information technology industry in the Russian Federation for 2014-2020 and for the future until 2025."

The bill concerns existing benefits. Currently, IT companies with at least 30 employees can be accredited by the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications of Russia and then pay insurance contributions at a reduced rate of 14%. These benefits are fully valid until 2017.

For the vast majority of Russian regions, an IT company with 30 or more employees is already quite large. At the same time, there were not enough incentives for the development of small IT-Business, which create a large share of innovations, "says Deputy Minister Mark Shmulevich.

In addition, it is proposed to adjust another existing condition for obtaining benefits, according to which 90% of an organization's income should come from specialized activities, that is, from the sale of IT products or the provision of IT services. The ministry proposes to exclude from the volume of income of the organization, from which the share of "specialized" income is calculated, income in the form of exchange rate difference resulting from the deviation of the foreign currency exchange rate from the official exchange rate, as well as the revaluation of foreign currency values, requirements in foreign currency.

Government approves benefits for IT companies with up to 7 staff

In October 2013, the Government of the Russian Federation approved a bill by the Ministry of Communications on expanding benefits on insurance premiums for IT companies. The project reduces the threshold for the number of employees of companies that are entitled to benefits from 30 to 7 people. The preferential regime will allow paying insurance premiums at a reduced rate (14% instead of the basic 30%). "We consider it extremely important that the benefits on payroll accruals are precisely for small IT startups - this will create 25,000 high-tech jobs," said Communications Minister Nikolai Nikiforov.

However, not all startups will be able to count on these benefits. For example, they will not be received by companies that develop technology services, but earn not from selling software, but from advertising. Since according to the law on insurance premiums, those who receive at least 90% of the income from the sale of software can count on the benefit.

Nevertheless, in the text of the strategy, the ministry noted that in Russia there is "another important growing segment related to the Russian IT industry - these are Internet companies." The main source of their revenue is online advertising (its sales in 2012 exceeded 56 billion rubles) and user payments.

The Ministry of Communications does not really understand the specifics of the IT industry and think that this is only outsourcing or what Kaspersky Lab (Kaspersky) is doing, "says venture investor Igor Matsanyuk. - Due to artificial restrictions, companies are forced to create schemes for obtaining benefits, in which some subsidiaries are used as development centers, produce software and then sell it to other subsidiaries.

According to Matsanyuk, it is necessary to make the mechanism for providing benefits transparent and predictable - now the tax inspectorate can deprive the IT company of benefits at any time.

Problems with the use of benefits may arise for companies that earn on the support of free software, and for sellers of cloud software (Soft as a Service), says Dmitry Komissarov, member of the board of directors of Pingwin Software. According to him, the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications promised to issue instructions in which such types of activities will be equated to the sale of software.

Deputy Minister of Communications Mark Shmulevich does not exclude that with the development of the Internet economy, the topic of individual benefits for Internet companies can be supported. "But this is just another topic," summed up Shmulevich^[60] for^[60].

The Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications proposed to introduce benefits on insurance premiums for companies from 7 people

On March 13, 2013, the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications announced its proposal to extend the validity of benefits on insurance premiums for IT companies and extend them to small commercial structures of the industry.

In accordance with the 212-FZ "On Insurance Premiums" adopted in 2009, IT companies can undergo the necessary accreditation at the Ministry of Communications and then pay insurance premiums at a reduced rate of 14%. This relaxation is fully valid until 2017. The Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications proposes to postpone this period until 2022.

This economic measure is especially important in the IT industry: today, benefits on insurance premiums for many IT companies are the main factor in government support and deciding how and where to do business, since in IT for some companies more than 80% of expenses, and for most - more than 60% of expenses fall on the wage fund, - says Deputy Minister of Communications Mark Shmulevich.

It is worth noting that in accordance with the 212-FZ, IT companies include only those organizations that develop and implement programs for computers, databases on material media or in electronic form, or provide services for the development, adaptation, modification of programs for computers and databases, as well as for their installation, testing and maintenance.

In addition to extending the period for paying contributions at a reduced rate, the Ministry of Communications also proposes to reduce the threshold for the number of employees of the company entitled to the benefit. According to the 212-FZ, so far only companies with a staff of at least 30 people can use it. The Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications believes that it should apply to companies with a staff of 7 or more.

According to Shmulevich, this idea of ​ ​ the Ministry of Communications has already "found support" from a number of federal ministries, including Ministry of Economic Development and. Ministry of Industry and Trade

In January 2013 , Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev instructed the head of the Ministry of Communications Nikolai Nikiforov and his colleagues from the Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry of Labor to work out the issue of extending the terms of payment to state extra-budgetary funds at reduced tariffs and reducing the threshold for the number of employees of IT companies who can take advantage of such benefits .

2011: Introduction of the first tax incentives for companies accredited under the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications

About 1.5 thousand IT firms accredited by the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications will receive tax breaks. This was announced on May 11, 2011 at a meeting of the board of the Ministry of Communications of the Russian Federation, the head of the department Igor Shchegolev.

The minister recalled that accreditation in the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications for IT companies is mandatory in order to get the right to use tax benefits. Now, according to him, the ministry "accredited about 1.5 thousand such firms."

If the company has at least 50 people and if 90% of revenues are revenues from software development, then such companies can now be paid contributions/to state social funds/at a total rate of 14%, - explained Shchegolev. - Previously, the rate was 34%. The difference is significant.

According to the minister, we are talking about the right to deduct contributions at a reduced rate to the Pension Fund, the Social Insurance Fund, the Federal and Territorial Compulsory Health Insurance Funds.

Notes