Chapter 14. Tax Control

Article 82. Forms of Exercising Tax Control

1. Tax control shall be exercised by tax officials within their scope of competence by conducting tax audits, getting explanations from taxpayers, tax agents and payers of the due, verifying accounting and reporting data, examining premises and territories used for generating income (profit), as well as in other forms provided for in this Code.

2. The customs agencies and the agencies of the governmental extra-budgetary funds shall exercise tax control within their jurisdiction over the observance of the legislation on taxes and dues in the order prescribed by this Chapter. The customs agencies and the agencies of the governmental extra-budgetary funds shall enjoy the rights and bear the duties stipulated by this Chapter for tax bodies.

3. The tax bodies, the customs agencies, the agencies the governmental extra-budgetary funds and the tax police agencies shall inform one another in the order, defined by the agreement between them, about the available materials on breaches of the legislation on taxes and dues and tax offences, about measures taken to thwart them, about the tax checks carried out by them, and also exchange with other necessary information with the aim of fulfilling their tasks.

4. In the exercise of tax control no allowance shall be made for the collection, storage, use and spread of information about a taxpayer (payer of dues or tax agent), received in violation of the provisions of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the present Code, the federal laws, and also in contravention of the principle of preserving information that makes up a professional secret of other persons, in particular a legal secret or an audit secret.

Article 83. Registration of Taxpayers

1. For purposes of tax control, taxpayers shall be subject to registration with the tax authorities in accordance with the location of the organisation, location of its separate units, place of residence, if the taxpayer is a natural person, or at the location of taxable immovable and movable property thereof.

An organisation which has separate units located in the territory of the Russian Federation, and which has taxable real estate property shall be registered as a taxpayer not only at the place of its location, but also at the location of each of its separate units, and location of the immovable property and vehicles that are owned thereby.

The Ministry of Taxation of the Russian Federation shall have the right to determine the specific aspects of the registration of major taxpayers.

The specific features of the record-keeping of foreign organisations shall be fixed by the Ministry of Taxes and Fees of the Russian Federation.

2. Registration of taxpayers shall be performed regardless of the availability of circumstances, with which the present Code associates the emergence of an obligation to pay a tax.

3. Application for registration of an organisation or the natural person engaged in activity without the status of a legal entity shall be filed with the tax authority at the place of location or place of residence, respectively, within ten days from the date of registration with the State Registry.

4. When the activity is carried in the Russian Federation through a separate unit, an application for registration of an organisation in the place of location of a separate unit shall be filed during one month after the creation of the separate unit.

5. Application for registration of an organisation at the place where its taxable immovable or movable is located shall be filed with the tax authority at the location of such property within 30 days after the day when such property becomes taxable under corporate property tax.

Registration of natural persons with the tax authorities at the location of their taxable immovable property shall be performed on the basis of information provided by the bodies specified in Article 85 of this Code.

The following places shall be recognized as the location of property:

1) for naval, river and air means of transportation used for international haulage - the location (residence) of the owner;

2) for means of transportation not listed in subitem 1) of this item - the point (port) of assignment or place of state registration, or, in the absence of such, the location (residence) of the owner.

3) for other real estate - the place of the actual location of this estate.

6. Application for registration of private notaries, private detectives, private security guards shall be filed with the tax authority at their place of residence within 10 days of the issuance of a license, certificate or other document providing the legal basis for their activity.

7. Registration with tax authorities of natural persons other than private entrepreneurs shall be performed by the tax office at the place of residence of the natural person on the basis of information provided by bodies listed in Article 85 of this Code.

8. In cases stated in paragraph 2 of Item 5 and Item 7 of the present Article, the tax authority shall immediately notify the natural person in question of the registration of the said person.

9. Should a taxpayer experience any difficulties with determining the place of registration, the decision shall be made by the tax authority.

10. It shall be the duty of tax authorities to take measures to register organisations as taxpayers on their own (before the taxpayer files an application) on the basis of information and data reported to them by authorities that perform state registration of legal entities, natural persons as individual entrepreneurs, the issue to natural persons of licenses for the engagement in private practice, accounting and registration of immovable property and transactions with it.

Article 84. Procedure for Registration, Re-Registration and Termination of Registration. Taxpayer's Identification Number

1. The application form for registration shall be established by the Ministry of Taxation of the Russian Federation. When filing an application for registration, together with the application for registration organisations shall present one duly certified copy of each of the following documents: certificate of registration, founding and other documents required for state registration, as well as other documents confirming the establishment of an organisation in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.

When filing an application, together with the application for registration private entrepreneurs are required to submit a certificate of state registration of a private entrepreneur, or a copy of the license to engage in private practice, as well as personal identification documents and documents confirming registration at the place of residence.

Information required for the registration of natural persons as taxpayers shall also include the following personal data:

full name;

date and place of birth;

sex;

address of residence;

data from passport or other personal ID document;

citizenship.

New forms of applications for registration shall be approved before the beginning of the year in which they become effective.

Specific aspects of the registration of foreign organisations depending on the types of the received income shall be determined by the Ministry of Taxation of the Russian Federation.

2. It shall be the duty of tax authorities to register taxpayers within five days from the date that all the required documents have been filed and to issue, within the same time limit, the appropriate certificate, the form of which shall be established by the Ministry of Taxation of the Russian Federation.

3. Organizations shall be required to notify the tax authority with which they are registered of any changes in their charter or other founding documents that have to do with setting up new affiliates or offices, changes of location, as well as of permits to engage in activities subject to licensing, within 10 days from the registration of the change in the founding documents. Individual entrepreneurs shall be obliged to inform the tax body in which they are registered about the change of their places of residence within 10 days since the time of such change.

4. If a registered taxpayer has changed his place of location or place of residence, he shall be struck off the register by the tax body in which he was registered during five days after the filing of his application about the change of this place of location or place of residence. The taxpayer shall be obliged to inform the respective tax body about the change of the place of location or place of residence within 10 days since the time of such change.

5. In cases when an organisation is liquidated or re-organized, or a decision is made by an organisation to close an affiliate or other isolated division, or terminate its operations through a permanent office, if a private entrepreneur terminates operation, or a limited partnership is terminated, the termination of registration shall be performed by the tax authority upon the request of the taxpayer during 14 days since the day of filing such application.

6. Registration, termination of registration with tax service bodies shall be free of charge.

7. Each taxpayer shall be assigned an taxpayer identification number which will be applicable throughout the entire territory of the Russian Federation and with respect to all taxes and charge, including those payable in connection with the movement of goods across the customs border of the Russian Federation.

The tax authority shall indicate the TIN in all notifications forwarded to such taxpayer.

Taxpayers shall indicate their TIN on documents submitted to tax authorities, such as tax returns, reports, applications or other documents, as well as in other cases stipulated by law.

The procedures and conditions for assigning, using and changing the TIN shall be determined by the Ministry of Taxation of the Russian Federation.

8. Based on registration data, the Ministry of Taxation of the Russian Federation shall maintain a State Register of Taxpayers in accordance with the procedures established by the Government of the Russian Federation.

9. From the moment of taxpayer's registration information about the taxpayer becomes confidential unless otherwise provided for in this Code.

10. Organizations that are tax agents and have not been registered as taxpayers shall register with the tax authorities at the address of their location using the procedure for organisations-taxpayers set forth in this Chapter.

11. The registration of taxpayers in the agencies of the governmental extra-budgetary funds shall be carried out in the order prescribed by this Article. The form of applications for registration shall be worked out by the agencies of the governmental extra-budgetary funds by agreement with the Ministry of Taxation of the Russian Federation.

Article 85. Duties of Authorities in Charge of Registration of Organizations and Private Entrepreneurs, Place of Residence of Natural Persons, Civil Status, Registration and Record-Keeping of Property And Transactions with Him

1. Bodies in charge of state registration of organisations shall notify the tax authority of their jurisdiction of any organisations that were registered (re-registered) or liquidated (re-organized), within 10 days from the date of state registration (re-registration) or liquidation (re-organisation) of the organisation.

2. Bodies in charge of state registration of natural persons as private entrepreneurs shall notify the tax authority of their jurisdiction of any natural persons who registered or terminated their operation in the capacity of private entrepreneurs within 10 days after the issuance, withdrawal or expiration of the registration certificate.

In a similar way, authorities that issue licenses, certificates or other similar documents to private notaries, private detectives and private guardsmen, shall notify tax authorities of the natural persons to whom the said documents were issued, from whom they were withdrawn or whose documents have expired.

3. Bodies in charge of registration of natural persons at the place of residence, or registration of certificates of civil status of natural persons shall notify the tax authority of their jurisdiction of the registration, birth or death of natural persons within 10 days after the registration of such persons or events.

4. Bodies in charge of record-keeping and/or registration of taxable immovable property shall notify the tax authorities of their jurisdiction of the registered immovable properties, means of transportation and owners within 10 days after the date of property registration.

5. Bodies of trusteeship and wardship, educational institutions and institutions of medical treatment, institutions of social security and other similar institutions which, in accordance with the federal legislation, exercise trusteeship, wardship or management of property of a ward shall notify tax authorities of their jurisdiction of any wardship, trusteeship, of property management responsibilities assumed by them with respect to infants, other minors, persons recognized as incapable by court, capable persons under wardship in the form of patronage, natural persons recognized missing by court, as well as of any subsequent changes in connection with the said trusteeship, wardship or property management arrangements within 5 days from the date of the respective decision.

6. Bodies (institutions) authorized to perform notary actions and private notaries shall report instances of notarization of an inheritance right, deeds of gift, transactions with immovable property and means of transportation to tax authorities of their jurisdiction within 5 days after the date of the corresponding notarization unless otherwise provided for in this Code.

7. The bodies engaged in the accounting and/or registration of users of natural resources, and also in the licensing the activity for the use of these resources, shall be obliged to provide information about the granting in rights to such use, which are objects of taxation, to the tax bodies in the place of their location during 1o days after the registration (issue of a relevant licence or permit) of the user of natural resources.

Article 86. Duties of Banks With Regard to Taxpayer Registration

1. Banks shall open accounts to organisations, private entrepreneurs, only upon presentation of a certificate of registration with a tax authority.

With respect to organisations, private taxpayers the bank shall notify the tax authority of the jurisdiction of the taxpayer of any event of an opening or closing of such an account.

2. The banks shall be obliged to issue to tax bodies references on the transactions and accounts of organisations and individual entrepreneurs without the status of a legal entity in the order prescribed by the legislation of the Russian Federation during five days after the tax body's motivated inquiry.

Article 86.1. Tax Control over the Expenses of a Natural Person

1. Tax control shall be exercised over the expenses of a natural person, a tax resident of the Russian Federation, who acquires the property indicated in this Article (hereinafter referred to as tax control over the expenses of a natural person). The purpose of tax control over the expenses of a natural person is to ascertain the compliance of big expenses of this person with his incomes.

2. The property, the acquisition of which is controlled by tax bodies, include the following objects of ownership:

1) real estate, except for perennial plantations;

2) motor transport vehicles unrelated to immovable property;

3) shares of public joint-stock companies, government and municipal securities, and also savings certificates;

4) cultural values;

5) gold bars.

3. Tax control over the expenses of a natural person shall be exercised by tax officials by means of receiving information from organisations or authorized persons who carry out the registration of the property indicated in this Article, the registration of transactions in this property, and also the registration of right to this property.

Article 86.2. The Duty of the Organizations or Authorized Persons Associated with Tax Control Over the Expenses of Natural Persons

1. The body that carries out the state registration of rights to real estate and of transactions in it shall be obliged to send information about the registered transactions not later than 15 days after the registration of transactions of purchase and sale of real estate to the tax body in the place of its location.

2. The body that registers motor transport vehicles shall be obliged to send information about the registered transport vehicles unrelated to real estate not later than 15 days after registration to the tax body in the place of its location.

3. Persons registering transactions in securities shall be obliged to send to the tax body in the place of their location information about the registered transactions in the purchase and sale of securities not later than 15 days after the registration of transactions of purchase and sale of securities, indicated in Article 2 of this Code.

4. Not later than 15 days after the registration of a transaction of purchase and sale of cultural values the notary shall be obliged to send information about this transaction.

5. The authorized persons and organisations registering transactions in gold bars shall be obliged to send to the tax body in the place of their location information about the registered transaction not later than 15 days after the registration of the transaction of purchase and sale of gold bars.

6. The form of the notice by which the organisations or the authorized persons indicated in Items 1-5 of this Article inform the tax bodies about completed transactions, and also the list of documents appended to such notice, shall be approved by the Ministry of Taxation of the Russian Federation.

7. A non-submission by an organisation or an authorized person of information indicated in this Article shall be regarded as a tax offences and shall involve the responsibility stipulated by Article 126 of this Code.