What legislative changes are
expected for large Russian
businesses in 2020?

Despite the fact that most of the upcoming changes in 2020 are more related to small and medium-sized businesses, it is expected that representatives of large businesses will also change.

First, a system of mandatory product labeling will be launched in 2020. On January 1, 2019, Federal law No. 488-FA of 25.12.2018 "on a unified information system for marking and tracking the movement of goods using identification marks” came into force. Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 791-R of 28.04.2018 approved a list of 11 groups of products subject to mandatory labeling. First of all, shoes and tobacco products will fall under the new rules.

Businesses should be concerned about the implementation of this marking system, re-equipment of production and Assembly lines, retraining of employees, restructuring of logistics, and, therefore, be ready for financial investments, the size of which directly depends on the level of automation of the enterprise. On the other hand, for large enterprises accounting in the context of unit of the commodity would help ensure that the automatic check on the production line. In addition, mandatory labeling is a necessary measure to protect the legitimate manufacturer, its trademark, trademark, and business reputation.

Second, the minimum wage (minimum wage) is expected to increase to 12,130 rubles in 2020. Accordingly, this will cause an increase in the financial burden for entrepreneurs who have employees who are registered under an employment contract. In addition, you should be prepared for the fact that the Federal tax service plans to check organizations for issuing salaries in "envelopes".

Third, in accordance with the changes made to Federal Law No. 127-FA of 26.10.2002 "on insolvency (bankruptcy)", it is now possible to bring not only the head of the organization, but also the accounting Department, beneficiaries and even members of his family to subsidiary liability in the framework of bankruptcy proceedings.

This practice is increasingly used by courts, and this trend will continue in 2020. So, on 16.12.2019, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation considered the case of bringing the wife and children of an unscrupulous Director to subsidiary liability. According to the results of the audit, the Russian armed forces brought the spouse to justice as the coordinator of the tax scheme, and in part of the episode with children who are accused of receiving free real estate and cars, the case was sent for a new trial.

Fourth, in 2020, business representatives are expected to make major changes in tax legislation, which are provided for by the draft resolution of the government of the Russian Federation No. 4707p-P13 of May 29, 2019.

What I would like to pay special attention to. The Tax code of the Russian Federation will have a section dedicated to improving the counteraction to the erosion of the tax base and the withdrawal of profits abroad in order to exclude the possibility of using value-added tax evasion schemes. In addition, in order to avoid illegal tax optimization, a special procedure for accounting for profits and losses during reorganization will be provided. We advise you to familiarize yourself with all planned innovations in advance.

Given the increasing pressure from the tax authorities, the only way to survive the business will be legal optimization, which will not only significantly save on paying taxes and insurance premiums, but also provide full legal security.

Author: Kristina Yakovleva - junior associate
GRATA International St. Petersburg