The court ruled Yandex to pay 1.67 billion rubles in taxes during the construction of a new headquarters

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2024: Court rules Yandex to pay 1.67 billion rubles in taxes during construction of new headquarters

In September 2024, the city's Arbitration Court Moscow ruled that the company Yandex would pay ₽1,67 billion in taxes in connection with the costs of building a new headquarters in the capital. The court decision is due to the fact that the cost of purchasing a hotel "Corston" located at the construction site of a new office should be taken into account in the original cost of the facility, and not written off at a time.

According to Право.ru, the conflict between Yandex and the Federal Tax Service (FTS) arose after the company filed a revised tax return for 2021 in November 2022, reducing income tax by ₽1,6 billion. The basis for this was the inclusion in the expenses of the residual value of the liquidated buildings of the Corston hotel complex, which the company considered non-operating costs for the liquidation of facilities. According to article 265 of the Internal Revenue Code, such expenses can be written off if they are related to the liquidation of fixed assets, which is what the company did.

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Bloomberg

The interdistrict inspectorate of the Federal Tax Service for the largest taxpayers No. 7, however, considered that such costs should be attributed to the cost of the facility being built, since the demolition of the hotel is directly related to the construction of a new headquarters. As a result, the Arbitration Court upheld the position of the tax authorities, rejecting Yandex's application for recalculating income tax. The court pointed out that the costs of liquidation of objects cannot be associated with the creation of new assets, therefore they are subject to depreciation as part of the value of the new object.

The project of the new headquarters of Yandex, located on the site of the former Corston Hotel, was launched several years ago. In 2018, the company completed the acquisition of land for $145 million. The construction of a new office complex is estimated at $275 million to $330 million, excluding the cost of the site. The project is scheduled to be completed in 2024.

Representatives of Yandex, in a comment to Interfax, said that the company intends to appeal the court's decision on appeal.^[1]

2023: What Yandex's new headquarters looks like 1.5 years before opening. Photo

By November 2023, the construction of a new headquarters Yandex"" To Moscow in - on Kosygin Street in the place where the building of the Corston Hotel (formerly Eaglet) was located continues. Concrete work on the site has been completed and the company has invited journalists to show what the building looks like 1.5 years before commissioning.

As a representative of Yandex told RBC, the pouring of all concrete floors was carried out back in August 2023, and completely concrete work on the object was completed in early October 2023. By the end of November 2023, the elements of the facade of the building and the structures of the roof are being installed, and in November the installation of its coatings will begin. It is planned to completely close the contour of the building in the spring of 2024.

The area of ​ ​ the new building is 260 thousand square meters. m is like a whole microdistrict. All this fits into three wings with a height of 12 to 15 floors, united by a central atrium. Restaurants, cafes and a recreation area will operate there for guests. After the improvement, the chestnut park will be restored and expanded, as a result, a kind of city in the city will be obtained, which not only Yandex employees will be able to use. The first two floors will become publicly available, they will house conference rooms, souvenir shops, pharmacies, beauty salons and other services. In the central hub in the atrium there will be a "green wall" for the entire height of the building, and an open terrace will be located on the roof of the building.

On the underground floors, in addition to parking for 1630 seats, a sports complex with a basketball court and a swimming pool will be equipped. From the 3rd to the 15th floors there will be offices, employees of the company will work in them.

According to RBC, Yevgeny Aleshin, who, according to him, came to him at the stage of finding a site for construction and closing the deal to buy Korston, is in charge of the project from Yandex^[2]

2020

Moscow authorities agreed on the project of the new headquarters of Yandex

On November 16, 2020, it became known that the Committee on Architecture and Urban Planning of the city of Moscow agreed to Yandex on the project of a new headquarters in the Gagarinsky district of Moscow.

The Yandex headquarters project will be another example of the implementation of complex, technological, modern architecture in Moscow, - said the chief architect of Moscow Sergei Kuznetsov, commenting on the issuance by Moskomarchitecture of an architectural and urban planning decision regarding the architectural concept of the office of the Internet company.

Kuznetsov noted that the facades of the future building are faced with titanium panels of a light shade, part of the walls and the atrium will close the stained glass glazing. The roof will have a complex contour with operational terraces along the facade and on the roof. The unusual silhouette and finishing materials are designed to highlight the company's commitment to improvement and development, he said.

Moscow authorities agree on the project of the new headquarters of Yandex

Visually, the complex will be three "wings" combined by a central atrium with a transparent roof and public space. The height of the wings will be different: the closer to residential buildings, the lower. Also, cafes, restaurants, pharmacies, etc. will be opened in it. In addition, a multi-level underground parking will be located on the territory.

The territory of the new headquarters will not be fenced, and everyone will be able to visit it. So, near the office it is planned to equip a public space where you can play sports or walk with children. In addition, the company will improve the area of ​ ​ about 2 hectares between the streets of Academician Zelinsky and Academician Zeldovich.

By mid-November 2020, Yandex's headquarters are located on Leo Tolstoy Street in Moscow, which is the company's largest office in terms of size and size. In addition to him, Yandex still has an office on Sadovnicheskaya Street in the Russian capital.^[3]

Headquarters project

On June 19, 2020, Yandex presented a project for a new headquarters, which will be located in the Gagarinsky district of Moscow on the site of the former Korston Hotel on Kosygin Street.

The architects promise to fit the headquarters into the architectural appearance of the Gagarinsky district - its dimensions will be comparable to Korston. The height of the wings of the building will be different: the closer to residential buildings, the lower, the project description says.

According to Yandex, the new headquarters will be a technological and comfortable building for work. It is designed to make it convenient for people to work together regardless of where they are. For example, in the office there will be many small negotiations for meetings with colleagues who work remotely. Staff are provided with dining rooms, coffee shops, gyms and a swimming pool, as well as a spacious roof terrace.

The first two floors of the building will be given under cafes, pharmacies, beauty salons. A public space will appear on the territory of the office, where you can relax, have a snack and play sports. Near the headquarters, between the streets of Academician Zelinsky and Academician Zeldovich , the park will be broken.

The place for the new Yandex office was not chosen by chance: it was in the Gagarinsky district that the history of the company once began. The internet giant's first office was also located nearby ‒ in the building of the Computing Center RAS on Vavilov Street.

The hotel building, on the site of which a new office will appear, will begin to be dismantled by the end of 2020. The headquarters project was developed by the London bureau PLP Architecture, the chief architect was the president of the company Lee Polisano. Also , the Russian bureaus APEX and RTDA took part in the development. Arteza will be responsible for landscape design (it was engaged in the creation of the Zaryadye park and the Luzhniki landscaping. ^[4]

MR Group - developer of the new headquarters of Yandex

On May 27, 2020, it became known that MR Group would build Yandex headquarters on the site of the Korston Hotel (formerly Eaglet) near Vorobyovy Gory. Sources close to the deal told Vedomosti about this. The representative of the companies confirmed the information, but did not disclose the details of the contract, including financial ones.

Alexey Novikov, managing partner of Knight Frank, who is referred to by the publication, estimates investments in the construction of the complex at 30-40 billion rubles. Sayan Tsyrenov, director of real estate transaction support practice at PwC, believes that taking into account the decoration and equipment of the headquarters with technical equipment, the total costs will be more - $750-850 million (53-60 billion rubles).

MR Group will build Yandex headquarters at Vorobyovy Gory for tens of billions

As a representative of Yandex told the newspaper, MR Group was chosen as a developer, as the company has extensive experience in building office centers, as well as in creating multi-format real estate.

MR Group Marketing Director Evgenia Starkova noted that Yandex headquarters will be one of the most modern and technological buildings in the Russian Federation.

Yandex will build up to 170 thousand square meters of real estate on the site of Korston. The maximum height of the new head office will be 75 meters, which corresponds to the height of the hotel standing on the site. They will also create an open public space available not only for office employees, but also for all citizens. In addition, it is planned to build an underground parking lot, test laboratories, an educational center, a sports complex with a swimming pool and a Yandex museum.

According to Francois Nonnenmasher, director of the department for representing the interests of tenants at Colliers International, the construction of the office of the declared area involves the placement of about 10 thousand employees. At the same time, the expert noted that this section is located 1 km from the metro station, and nearby highways are not designed for such road traffic.^[5]

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