Changes in the Accreditation Procedure for Representative Offices and Branches

The Federal Tax Service has published on its website information on forthcoming changes in the procedure for foreign representations and branches to receive accreditation in Russia. The specified changes were introduced on February 24, 2021 and will come into force in August this year. The innovations provide for shortening the accreditation period from 25 to 15 working days upon submission of all required documents.

The specified provision will be applied to all foreign branches and representative offices, except for those that operate in the field of civil aviation.

The list of grounds for denial of accreditation by the accreditation body has been clarified. Accreditation may be denied if the head of a foreign branch or representative office is a disqualified person or if the branch/representative office is opened by a foreign company with outstanding penalties or interest.

In addition, a procedure for suspending accreditation to eliminate technical errors in the submitted documents is introduced. This will reduce the number of accreditation denials and their subsequent appeals, and therefore contributes to making Russia more attractive and involving foreign investors into development of the country..

Sources:

http://publication.pravo.gov.ru/Document/View/0001202102240008

https://www.nalog.ru/rn50/news/activities_fts/10603472/