INSTITUTE OF CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS IN ISRAEL – FINANCIAL INSTITUTE Jacques Messeca, Adv, Head of the Tax Department Eversheds Paris LLP Tel Aviv

INSTITUTE OF CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS IN ISRAEL – FINANCIAL

INSTITUTE

Jacques Messeca, Adv, Head of the Tax DepartmentEversheds Paris LLP

Tel Aviv – January 19, 2015

1130719

• Automatic Exchange of information

• Pan European Voluntary Disclosure Processes

SUMMARY

I. General legal background for the automatic exchange of information

II. Overview of the US automatic exchange of information: the FATCA Rule

III. The voluntary disclosure process in France

IV. Comparative overview of the voluntary disclosure processes in Europe:

– Italy– Germany– Russia

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I. GENERAL LEGAL BACKGROUND FOR THE AUTOMATIC EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION

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GENERAL LEGAL BACKGROUND FOR THE AUTOMATIC EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION

• “We are starting a New Era in the International taxation history” - Indonesia PM at the Worldwide Forum on Tax Transparency and Exchange of information (November 2013)

• Main objectives:

Challenge the international tax fraud Reduction of the tax havens/use of offshore structures Globalization of the exchange of information, first on a

request basis then on an automatic basis

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• The legal framework:

1. The Worldwide Forum on tax transparency and exchange of information

2. The Convention for mutual assistance

3. The EU legislation

4. The increasing development of the bilateral relationships (the OECD standard rule)


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1. The Worldwide Forum on tax transparency and exchange of information (1/2)

• Set up in 2001 and now covers 121 States and countries

• Independent from the OECD

• Objective: Regular review of the national tax rules of the members States to assess their level of compliance vis-à-vis the International standard rules of exchange of information

• Each country receives a standard classification: Compliant Mainly compliant Partially compliant Non compliant


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1. The Worldwide Forum on tax transparency and exchange of information (2/2)

• A general three-year process review of each country divided in two phases :

Phase 1: Review of the legislation and regulations for tax transparency and exchange of information in place in the country

Phase 2: Practical valuation: does it work in the country?

• So far, more than 124 countries tested in Phase 1 and 50 in Phase 2:

18 countries classified as "Compliant" (ex: France) 26 countries classified as "Mostly compliant" 2 countries classified as "Partially Compliant" 4 countries classified as "non compliant" (Cyprus, BVI’s, Luxembourg and

Seychelles islands)


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• The Worldwide Forum has helped modifying the legislations in the various countries leading to increasing tax transparency and processes of exchanges

• Development of informal black/grey/white lists of countries within the Worldwide Tax Forum

Examples :

a) Luxembourg was on the black list in 2009 and then successfully passed the Phase 1 test but failed in Phase 2

b) The French black list on non cooperative countries initially included the Bermuda Islands, the BVI’s and Jersey but Bermuda and Jersey have recently improved their legislation and were withdrawn from the French black list


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2. The Renewal of the Convention for Mutual Assistance (1/3)

• Initial signature of the Convention in 1988 by the OECD and the European Council

• Was never used in practice before a new version was enacted in June 2011

• The Convention for Mutual Assistance is now global and has been signed by 64 States and especially by countries which were initially quite reluctant with the exchange of information process

Ex: * Andorra, Austria, Lichtenstein, Luxembourg, St Marin, Singapore and Switzerland

* Israel has signed it in May 2014

• This Convention is aimed at becoming the most powerful tool for the various States to challenge the International tax fraud


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• Very broad scope:

Covers all types of taxes (including social contributions) Covers both the upon request exchange of information or the automatic

exchange of information process Provides for the possibility to run cross border and simultaneous tax

audits by two States Assistance for tax collection between States Practical processes, list of information and delays are covered in the

Mutual Convention May also cover anti-corruption and money laundering processes


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• It is anticipated that such convention may become even more used between the States in the future as it offers a pre-established and comprehensive framework to facilitate the future bilateral or multilateral exchange of information processes


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3. The Develoment of the exchange of information tools within the European Union (EU) (1/3)

A. Legal framework:

• Directive 77/799/CEE dated December 19, 1977 and,• Directive 2011/16/EU dated February 15, 2011

• Implemented as from January 1st, 2015 for the automatic exchange of information

• Broad scope:

Applies to any type of taxes except VAT, customs and excise duties Forbids any EU Member State to refuse not to transfer any tax data for

domestic tax policy reasons or for bank secrecy Fix processes and rules between EU Member States to cooperate for the

extensive exchange of information


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3. The Develoment of the exchange of information tools within the European Union (UE) (2/3)

• Broad scope:

Automatic exchange of information as from January 1st, 2015 for certain types of income and capital:

Professional income Directory fees Certain life insurance products Pensions Real estate ownership and related income


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3. The Develoment of the exchange of information tools within the European Union (UE) (3/3)

• To be extended in the near future to other types of income such as dividends, capital gains, other financial income and bank accounts balance

• Clear objective of the EU to get a powerful tool of exchange of information comparable to the US FATCA scheme

B. Directive 2003/48/CE dated June 23, 2013 on the savings income related to the interest payment made between EU Member States:

• Automatic exchange of information between EU Member States on interest payments derived from savings schemes

• Objective to check and control that the savings income are correctly declared and taxed in the residence country of the beneficiary of the Interest payment (Interest income are exempt from any withholding tax in the EU source country)


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4. The increasing development of the bilateral relationships (1/5)

• Old times:

Only bilateral relationships formalized through bilateral tax treaties signed between two States

• Now: The Article 26 of the OECD Standard Rule (last updated in 2010) on the exchange of

information is now included in most bilateral tax treaties: “1. The competent authorities of the Contracting States shall exchange such

information as is foreseeably relevant for carrying out the provisions of this Convention or to the administration or enforcement of the domestic laws concerning taxes of every kind and description imposed on behalf of the Contracting States, or of their political subdivisions or local authorities, insofar as the taxation thereunder is not contrary to the Convention.

The exchange of information is not restricted by Articles 1 and 2.


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2. Any information received under paragraph 1 by a Contracting State shall be treated as secret in the same manner as information obtained under the domestic laws of that State and shall be disclosed only to persons or authorities (including courts and administrative bodies) concerned with the assessment or collection of, the enforcement or prosecution in respect of, the determination of appeals in relation to the taxes referred to in paragraph 1, or the oversight of the above. Such persons or authorities shall use the information only for such purposes.

They may disclose the information in public court proceedings or in judicial decisions. Notwithstanding the foregoing, information received by a Contracting State may be used for other purposes when such information may be used for such other purposes under the laws of both States and the competent authority of the supplying State authorises such use.

3. In no case shall the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 be construed so as to impose on a Contracting State the obligation:

a. to carry out administrative measures at variance with the laws and administrative practice of that or of the other Contracting State;

b. to supply information which is not obtainable under the laws or in the normal course of the administration of

that or of the other Contracting State;

c. to supply information which would disclose any trade, business, industrial, commercial or professional secret or trade process, or information the disclosure of which would be contrary to public policy (ordre public).


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4. If information is requested by a Contracting State in accordance with this Article, the other Contracting State shall use its information gathering measures to obtain the requested information, even though that other State may not need such information for its own tax purposes. The obligation contained in the preceding sentence is subject to the limitations of paragraph 3 but in no case shall such limitations be construed to permit a Contracting State to decline to supply information solely because it has no domestic interest in such information.

5. In no case shall the provisions of paragraph 3 be construed to permit a Contracting State to decline to supply information solely because the information is held by a bank, other financial institution, nominee or person acting in an agency or a fiduciary capacity or because it relates to ownership interests in a person.”


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The scope of the current request of information between States is based on the data and information which are likely to support or assess a tax fraud

The request for exchange of information between States should be as precise as possible

"data fishing" is still prohibited.

More than 900 bilateral exchanges of information agreements have been concluded between 2009 and 2013 by referring to the Standard Article 26 of the OECD Tax Treaty Standard Model


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The new bilateral relationships resulting from the US/FATCA regulations:

The implementation of the US FATCA rule has generated the obligation for the US to sign numerous agreements with the other States ("Intergovernmental agreements“ or IGA’s) as the US laws would simply not be enforceable outside of the US

54 final FATCA agreements have already been signed in December 2014 by the US with the other countries / 58 other countries have reached an agreement in substance but not final yet

Similar intergovernmental types of agreements may be implemented within the EU in the near future: France, Germany, Spain, Italy and the UK have requested from the European Commission the implementation within the EU of a process similar to the FATCA


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The future trend:

G20 (September 2013): Automatic exchange of banking information by the end of 2015= new future standard for the international and multilateral tax cooperation

Scope:

Interest payment Dividends Outstanding amounts of bank accounts Insurance products Capital gains generated by financial products Bank accounts owned by individuals or through Trust or Foundations


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Such automatic exchange of banking information will require to implement a common platform and process

The legal instrument to be used will very likely be a derivative from the existing multilateral convention for mutual assistance

The Worldwide Tax Forum will likely be in charge of the implementation of this new platform on a worldwide basis


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II. THE US FATCA SCHEME

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What is FATCA?

• The “Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act” (FATCA) is a US law enacted in 2010 and designed to prevent tax evasion by US citizens using offshore banking facilities

• The FATCA rules went into effect on July 1st, 2014

• FATCA creates a new tax information and reporting and withholding regime, designed to gain information about US persons rather than to raise revenue

• FATCA is a controversial piece of legislation because it is wide-ranging and applies to non-US financial institutions and to non US tax residents

THE US FATCA SCHEME

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What is FATCA?

• FATCA also imposes a 30% withholding tax on payments of US source income made to non-US financial institutions/taxpayers and provides for an effective ban from the US market unless such financial Institutions enter into an agreement with the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and disclose information about their US citizens account holders

• FATCA also requires certain US taxpayers holding foreign financial assets with an aggregate value of USD 50,000 to report certain information on a specific US form (Form 8938)

Failure to file the specific form will result in a USD 10,000 fine (increased to USD 50,000 for continued failure after IRS notification)

THE US FATCA SCHEME

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• FATCA requires information to be provided in respect of certain accounts in existence on or after 30 June 2014

• FATCA compliance presents a number of problems for foreign financial institutions because the information disclosure requirements under FATCA are not necessarily permitted under data protection rules

• The burden of each foreign financial institution entering into an agreement with the IRS about its compliance with FATCA is significant

• Most governments in the world (France, Italy, Germany, UK, China, …) have entered into bilateral arrangements with the US to allow FATCA compliance to take place at national level

Eg: - FATCA US-France on November 14, 2013- FATCA US-Israel on June 30, 2014

THE US FATCA SCHEME

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What does FATCA do?

• FATCA requires all Foreign Financial Institutions (FFIs) to provide information about their US customers to the IRS in accordance with the terms of an agreement (FFI Agreement) entered into between the FFI and the IRS

• If it does enter into an FFI Agreement, the FFI is known as a “participating FFI” and if does not, it will be deemed to be a “non-participating FFI” and an automatic 30% withholding tax charge will be applied in the US to certain payments made to it

• The definition of FFI includes not only banks, insurance companies and broker-dealers but extends to clearing organizations, trust companies, hedge funds, private equity funds and pension funds. It will also include securitisation vehicles and other investment vehicles

THE US FATCA SCHEME

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• The information that must be provided by the FFI’s to the IRS includes:

the name, address and, US taxpayer identification number of each Specified US Person

that is an account holder, the year end account balance or value, the total gross amount of interest credited to the account and, the total gross amount paid or credited to the account holder in

the case of any other account.

THE US FATCA SCHEME

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• Two ways for the FFI’s to report the eligible information depending upon the type of IGA’s being signed by their countries with the US:

Model 1: The national FFI’s will report the information to their respective domestic tax authorities followed by a government to government transfer of information

Model 2: FFI’s would report directly to the US IRS

• If a FFI does not comply with the disclosure obligations imposed by FATCA, a 30% withholding tax is applied to payments, such as interest and dividends, made to the FFI by US-based entities and also to payments made to it from other FFIs that are FATCA compliant

It also includes gross proceeds of sale from assets that produce US source dividends and interest, for example, interest earned on a US Treasury bond

THE US FATCA SCHEME

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• There is an exemption from the withholding tax for payments made in the ordinary course of business for non-financial services, including payments for wages, lease payments, licence payments, etc.

THE US FATCA SCHEME

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III. VOLUNTARY DISCLOSURE PROCEDUREIN FRANCE

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• France has implemented over 2013 a new voluntary disclosure process

• So far, about 35,000 taxpayers entered into the voluntary disclosure process

• 7,000 files are now in a complete and final status

• 2,000 files have been closed through a formal and official settlement signed between the taxpayer and the French tax authorities

• It is expected to collect between 1.5 and 2 billions € of taxes and penalties through the voluntary disclosure procedure in France

VOLUNTARY DISCLOSURE IN FRANCE

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• Based on the official reports, the average global rate for the regularisation amounts to 27% of the funds held in a non declared foreign account

• The recent reinforcement of the investigation and penal powers of the French Tax Authorities as well as the increasing development of a Double Tax Treaty network in France in matters of exchange of tax information have led any French taxpayers owning undeclared funds abroad to seriously consider the opportunity to engage in a tax regularisation procedure with the French authorities


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• France has put in place a special regularisation unit (STDR) within the French tax authorities that allows taxpayers to reveal their foreign funds to the French Tax Authorities and benefit from a secured set of rules

• Specific regularisation conditions for French taxpayers owning undeclared funds abroad have been set up


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• The regularisation unit allows French taxpayers wishing to reveal their undeclared foreign funds to :

pay the related taxes according to a specific statute of limitation period, avoid criminal offense prosecution, and reduce the amount of penalties which would otherwise be imposed under

standard rules up to 40% (bad faith) or 80% (tax fraud)

• The regularisation procedure allows for the unrestricted use of initially undeclared funds after payment of the taxes being due and reduced penalties and fines

• The regularisation procedure is not allowed in case the French Tax Authorities have formally started a tax audit procedure against a French taxpayer


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• At that stage, no deadline has been published which may close the window for the regularisation process in France

• Specific delays however apply to file the voluntary disclosure package with the French tax authorities:

As from December 10, 2014: 6 months to complete the regularisation package with the French Tax Authorities after the initial documents have been filed

Before March 31, 2015 or May 30, 2015 if the initial documents have been filed before December 10, 2014


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• Content of the “regularisation package” to be filed by the taxpayers:

Filing of amended tax returns for each non statute barred tax year for individual income tax and French wealth tax, if applicable

Data justifying:

The income to be reported each year (bank accounts balance, reporting document issued by the foreign banks, …)

The origin of the undeclared funds held abroad (inheritance, own account, …)


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• The regularisation procedure is not anonymous

• The regularisation process covers:

The individual income tax (assessed on the income – interest, dividends, capital gains – generated by the foreign bank account over the non statute barred period) up to the 45% marginal tax rate

Specific social contributions (up to 15.5%) The French wealth tax If applicable, the inheritance taxes

• Payment dates:

Immediate payment upon filing of the regularisation package for the French wealth tax (Principal) and inheritance taxes (Principal)

Differed payment for additional individual income tax, social contributions and specific fines, penalties and interest for late payment at the time of the signature of the official settlement with the French Tax Authorities


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• A distinction is made between:

“passive taxpayers”: these are frauds that concern mainly taxpayers having inherited foreign funds who are subject to reduced penalties, fines and,

“active taxpayers”: subject to more onerous regularisation terms


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Examples :

• Taxpayers owning undeclared family funds abroad that they received by right of succession or financial assets earned by the taxpayer when he was not a French tax resident qualify as “passive frauds” and therefore benefit from a more favorable treatment

• French taxpayers having personally opened their foreign bank account and transferred regular amounts to it qualify as “active fraud”. Active taxpayers also cover taxpayers owning undeclared funds through trusts or foundations

• Hidden activities do NOT qualify for the regularisation process and are excluded from the voluntary disclosure regime

• Hidden or illegal activities which do NOT benefit from the voluntary disclosure program are subject to fines and penalties according to standard rules. Hidden activities cover limited cases ie. professional activities not registered with the French official bodies and illegal activities


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Specific set of rules for the application of the penalties as follows:

Origin of the Financial Assets

Payment of taxes due

Level of penalties

Bad Faith Penalty

(assessed on the annual additional taxes due)

Specific Fines(assessed on the

balance of the foreign bank account)

Interest for late payment

PASSIVE FRAUD:

Inheritance or donation

Financial assets earned/generated by the taxpayer when not French tax resident

• Individual Income tax• French Wealth tax• Social contributions• Inheritance taxes

15%

Rate: 1.5% (3.75% in case of Trust or Foundation)

Basis: Balance of the foreign bank account at December 31 of any given year

4.8% per year

30%

Rate: 3% (7.5% in case of Trust or Foundation)

Basis: Balance of the foreign bank account at December 31 of any given year

4.8% per yearACTIVE FRAUD:

Any other origin


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• STATUTE OF LIMITATION

A. Individual income tax and specific social contributions

• Income earned since 2009 in case of tax assistance clause in the bilateral tax treaty signed with France (eg: France-Israel)

• Income earned since 2006 in the absence of any tax assistance clause in the bilateral tax treaty signed with France (eg: Switzerland / Luxembourg)

B. French wealth tax: 2007 (in principle 10 years)

C. Inheritance taxes: 2007


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• STATUTE OF LIMITATION

D. Practical examples

For a bank account held in Switzerland:

• Individual Income Tax: 2006 2014

• French Wealth Tax: 2007 2014

• Inheritance Tax: 2007 2014

For a bank account held in Israel:

• Individual Income Tax: 2009 2014

• French Wealth Tax: 2007 2014

• Inheritance Tax: 2007 2014


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FRENCH INDIVIDUAL INCOME TAX RATES

Tax Rates in 2015

Net income Rates

Until 9,690 € 0%

From 9,691 € to 26,764 € 14%

From 26,764 € to 71,754 € 30%

From 71,754 € to 151,956 € 41%

Above 151,956 € 45%


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SPECIFIC TAX ON HIGH INCOME (CEHR)

Taxable income

Applicable Tax Rate

Single people Married people

Below 250,000 € 0%

0%Between 250,001 € and 500,000 € 3%

Between 500,001 € and 1,000,000 €

4%

3%

Above 1,000,001 € 4%


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FRENCH WEALTH TAX RATES

Portion of the net taxable value of assets Applicable rate

Not exceeding 800 K€ 0%

Higher than 800 K€ but lower than, or equal to, 1.3 M€ 0.5 %

Higher than 1.3 M€ but lower than, or equal to, 2.57 M€ 0.70 %

Higher than 2.57 M€ but lower than, or equal to, 5 M€ 1 %

Higher than 5 M€ but lower than, or equal to, 10 M€ 1.25 %

Higher than 10 M€ 1.5 %


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FRENCH INHERITANCE TAX RATES

Deduction of 100 000 € per parent and per child

Net Asset Value Rates

Below 8,072 € 5 %

Range 8,072 € and 12,109 € 10 %

12,109 € and 15,932 € 15 %

15,932 € and 552,324 € 20 %

552,324 € and 902,838 € 30 %

902,838 € and 1,805,677 € 40 %

Above 1,805,677 € 45 %


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PRACTICAL EXAMPLES

1. Mr. A owns an undeclared account in Switzerland up to 4.6M€. He has himself opened the account and made regular deposits on it and created a trust to run the account Mr. A qualifies as an “active taxpayer”

The taxes + fines amount to 1.5M€ as follows:

Individual income tax + social contributions + penalties and interest for late payment : 1M€

French wealth tax + penalties and interest for late payment: 0.2M€ Specific fines: 0.3 M€

resulting in a 33.33% global regularisation rate.

The remaining net in pocket is about 3M€.


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PRACTICAL EXAMPLES

2. Mr. and Mrs. B have inherited in 1995 of an undeclared bank account opened in a Swiss bank for a global amount of 1.3M€.

They qualify as “passive taxpayers”.

The global regularisation cost amounts to 125K€ and is divided as follows:

Individual income tax + social contributions + penalties and interest for late payment: 64K€

French wealth tax + penalties and interest for late payment: 22K€ Specific fines: 39K€ Inheritance taxes: statute barred

resulting in a 10% global regularisation cost and a remaining net in pocket of 1.2M€

IV. VOLUNTARY DISCLOSURE PROCEDUREIN ITALY

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• The Italian voluntary disclosure program is available for taxes on financial and non-financial assets (real estate, life insurance policy, …) held in Italy or abroad

• It applies to violation committed through 30 September 2014 and includes all the tax periods for which the statutes of limitation have yet to expire

• For assets of up to 2M€, it is possible to apply a flat tax rate of 27% on a taxable income calculated as 5% of the value of the financial assets

• For assets of more than 2M€, the taxes to be paid depend on the type of transaction performed, revenues obtained, etc.

VOLUNTARY DISCLOSURE IN ITALY

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• The administrative penalties are reduced and may vary and depend on both on the violations disclosed as well as the countries where the income was generated or invested

• The program grants immunity for certain tax crime, such as incorrect returns, fraudulent return including non-payment of withholding tax, non-payment of VAT, etc.

• The minimum threshold for a disclosure is 15K€

• The program is limited until 30 September 2015


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• There is no anonymity

• The program is not allowed in case the tax authorities have formally started a tax audit procedure against a taxpayer

• A new crime of “self-laundering” is introduced in criminal law system, but a specific immunity is granted for those who follow the voluntary disclosure program


V. VOLUNTARY DISCLOSURE PROCEDUREIN GERMANY

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Objectives

• The objective of the German voluntary disclosure of tax evasion is to encourage the return to tax compliance and honesty in tax matters

• The disclosure programme has become more restrictive in recent years

• The legal consequence of a successful and accepted voluntary disclosure of tax evasion is impunity

VOLUNTARY DISCLOSURE IN GERMANY

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• The impunity extends only to the person who makes the voluntary disclosure

• The voluntary disclosure itself can be made by the taxpayer himself or by a representative with a specific power of attorney

• The taxpayer or any other person who makes the voluntary disclosure has therefore to disclose his full identity

• The disclosure programme applies to all undeclared taxable items of the same kind of tax, e.g. income tax, VAT, inheritance and gift tax


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• It does not comprise impunity from all criminal prosecution, especially administrative offences and criminal acts committed in the course of tax evasion, e.g. forgery of documents, abuse of trust, money laundering etc.

• If the voluntary disclosure is not validly performed the tax authorities and criminal prosecution are entitled to and will prosecute the tax crime or tax offence taking into account any information voluntarily disclosed

• One practical example is the case of the former president of FC Bayern Munich, Mr. Uli Hoeness, who has been convicted for tax evasion in March 2014 after an unsufficient voluntary disclosure of tax evasion (the verdict was 3 ½ years imprisonment)


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• The full disclosure of all undeclared items has to comprise all not time-barred tax crimes and tax offences, but with legal effect since January 1st, 2015 at least the tax crimes and tax offences within the last ten calendar years

• Before 2015, a voluntary disclosure had to be made for the last ten calendar years only in particularly serious cases subject to a limitation period of ten years

• In addition to the full disclosure, the evaded taxes and interests at the rate of 6 % per annum have to be repaid within a reasonable period of time set by the tax authorities

• There is no threshold below which the taxpayer is authorized not to enter into the voluntary disclosure programme


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• If the evaded taxes exceed the amount of EUR 25.000 per tax crime since 2015 (before: EUR 50.000 per tax crime) or in particularly serious cases, e.g. if the taxpayer abuses his authority or position as a public official, solicits the assistance of a public official who abuses his authority or position or repeatedly understates taxes or derives unwarranted tax advantages by using falsified or forged documents, an extra fine under the disclosure programme has to be paid to obtain impunity

• The extra fines have been increased with legal effect since January 1st, 2015 and amount to:

10 % of the evaded tax if the amount of evaded tax does not exceed EUR 100.000;

15 % of the evaded tax if the amount of evaded tax does exceed EUR 100.000 but not EUR 1.000.000;

20 % of the evaded tax if the amount of evaded tax does exceed EUR 1.000.000.


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Example:

If taxes of EUR 1.500.000 are evaded the taxpayer has to fully disclose all undeclared taxable items, repay the taxes and interests at a rate of 6 % plus the extra fee at a rate of 20 % on the evaded taxes of EUR. 1.500.000 to obtain impunity

•Impunity will not be granted if any condition for exclusion exists. These conditions for exclusion are especially:

if the tax crime or the tax offence has already fully or partially been detected by the tax authorities and the taxpayer was aware of this or should have expected this upon due consideration of the facts of the case,


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If the taxpayer or his representative has been notified of the initiation of criminal proceedings or proceedings for the imposition of administrative fines resulting from the act, or

If a public official at the revenue authority has already appeared for the purpose of carrying out a tax audit or of investigating a tax crime or a tax offence


VI. VOLUNTARY DISCLOSURE PROCEDUREIN RUSSIA

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• On December 4, 2015 President of Russia Mr. Vladimir Putin announced that there should a full amnesty for offshore capital and assets

• The Russian Prime Minister Mr. Dmitry Medvedev made several comments on the proposed amnesty, ie. the goal of the amnesty is collection of taxes rather than return of the capital to Russia

• Sources of capital amnestied shall not be requested by the State authorities. Individuals and business transferring offshore capital to Russia shall be exempt from criminal proceeding or from the requests of State authorities related to offshore capital

• At this moment, several draft laws regarding amnesty of offshore capitals are proposed for consideration of the State Duma of the Russian Federation (the Russian law-making body)

VOLUNTARY DISCLOSURE IN RUSSIA

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• The State Duma is currently considering Draft Law No. 642129-6 “On procedures of the return of assets to the Russian Federation”. Pursuant to the draft law, the Russian citizens and companies may legalize their foreign assets within the period from January 1, 2015 to August 31, 2015 under the following conditions:

1. Exemption from taxes, penalties and fines in respect of the returning

assets;

2. No administrative and /or criminal liability for the violation of the Russian tax and currency legislation;

3. Submission of documents concerning the source of the assets is not required.


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• For the purposes of the tax amnesty, Russian citizens and companies should take the following steps:

i. file the application for the assets’ return with the tax authority till August

31, 2015;

ii. pay the declarative payment in the amount of 2,5% of the returning assets till August 31, 2015.

• Provisions of law after its consideration by the State Duma may however be substantively amended


Any questions?

Contact:

Jacques Messeca

Eversheds Paris LLP

8, Place d’Iéna

75116 Paris / France

Tel: +33 (0)1 55 73 41 62

Mail: [email protected]

© EVERSHEDS LLP 2015. Eversheds LLP is a limited liability partnership.67

Documents

INSTITUTE OF CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS IN ISRAEL – FINANCIAL INSTITUTE Jacques Messeca, Adv, Head of the Tax Department Eversheds Paris LLP Tel Aviv