Review: The subject of this research is the foreign experience of stimulating innovation activity of the companies via introduction of Patent Box Regime. The author underlines the importance of this mechanism as a measure for supporting the actors of the innovation economy on the stages of introducing innovations into production, and making profit from the efficient use of intellectual capital. The author analyzes the international statistics of acquisition of patents and key elements of preferential taxation of their income. Based on the collected material, the author examines the possibilities of implementation of such mechanism in the Russian practice. Special attention is given to the potential consequences of granting new incentives from the perspective of formation of the revenue part of the budgets of the budgetary system of the Russian Federation. The main result of this research consists in the development of a specific taxation regime for income from the use of intellectual property objects to be implemented in the Russian Federation. The author believes that the optimal mechanism is a deduction of up to 40% of qualified incomes from the corporate income tax base; at the same time, the incentive should not lead to the decrease of federal budget receipts. As sources of covering the shortfall in budget revenues of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, the author considers the abolition of reduced tax rates for certain categories of taxpayers, as well as the extension of the limit on the transfer of loss, The conclusion is made on feasibility of implementation of Patent Box Regime in Russia considering foreign experience and domestic specificity of the country.

Keywords: tax incentives, intellectual property, patent box, innovation, R&D, innovative development, corporate profit taxation, tax benefits, tax deduction, reduced tax rate

Review: The subject of this research is the development of the concept of taxation of permanent representations of foreign companies on the international level and its application in the Russian Federation. The object of this research is the permanent representations of foreign companies. The author examines such aspects of the topic, as the use of agreements on avoidance of double taxation, countering the tax base erosion, and the international approach towards taxation of the permanent representation of a foreign company as an independent participant of the market relations. Analysis is conducted on the need for amending the Model Agreement of the Russian Federation of 02.24.2010 No. 84 “On conclusion of intergovernmental agreements on avoidance of double taxation and on prevention of tax evasion on the income and property”. The author traces the transformation of attitude of international tax organizations towards the concept of permanent representation and substantiation of their choice of the concept of taxation of a permanent representation as an independent taxpayer. The scientific novelty is proven by the facts of application of this concept of taxation of permanent representation in the national legislation of multiple countries, international agreements on avoidance of double taxation, Russian national tax legislation and arbitration practice. The main conclusion consists in the response to the selected by the international tax organizations concept of taxation of a permanent representation. The author offers to amend the Model Agreement of the Russian Federation of 02.24.2010 No. 84 “On conclusion of intergovernmental agreements on avoidance of double taxation and on prevention of tax evasion on the income and property”.

Keywords: The principle of attraction, Independent taxpayer, Profit tax, Double tax treaty, OECD, Tax Code, Reduction of the tax base, Permanent establishment, The calculation of the tax base, Transfer of expenses

Review: The subject of this research is the experience of foreign administrations on implementation of the instruments of digital tax control and development of the service function of tax authorities. The experience of foreign administrations is viewed within the framework of the response of tax authorities to the manifestations of digitalization, which is also reflected in the emergence of new sources of income and new ways of interaction on the job market. The relevance of this research is defined by digital transformation of the economy, which entails the emergence of new types of relations between taxpayers that, which should be regulated by of tax administrations via expanding the capabilities and methods of tax control, as well as the trend towards customer-oriented tax authorities. A detailed overview is conducted on the experience of Western countries with regards to modernization of tax administration. The statistical data are analyzed for substantiating the conclusions on the positive nature of such experience. The author makes recommendations for the implementation of foreign experience in the Russian tax system. The goal of this work consists in the analysis of foreign experience of implementation of digital technologies in the sphere of taxation, outlining most successful examples of digitalization, as well as assessment of the possibility of implementation of foreign experience by the Russian tax authorities. The novelty lies in the author’s proposal of the new aspects of simplification of tax system, introduction of the new instruments of tax control, and expanding the circle of taxable transactions based on the experience of foreign tax administrations. The conclusion is formulated that the implementation of the practices considered in the article would lead to simplification of the tax system, implementation of the instrument of digital tax control, and expansion of the tax base in different economic sectors.

Keywords: accounting unitary standard, taxation measures, freelance marketplace, tax control, cryptocurency, tax legislation, foreign tax administrations, Digitalization, automated control systems, taxes

Review: One of the perpetual problems within the Russian and U.S. tax law is the establishment of criteria for taxability of income, under what conditions the income of a taxpayer should be taxable. The fact   the legislation nor the rulings of supreme courts contain a clear answer to this question, leads to the emergence of legal uncertainty on the tax consequences of receiving illegal income. The goal of this research lies in examination of problem of taxation of illegal income, including the questions of bringing to tax and criminal liability for tax evasion on illegal income, as well as in substantiation of a new solution to this problem. For achieving this goal, the author analyzes the Russian and U. S. case law on taxation of criminal and other illegal income. Although such practice is not always consistent, the merit of the court includes the development of classical theory of the object of income taxation. Namely, the Supreme Court of the United States formulated the well-known concept of taxable income and the rule on “right of claim”. The author believes that the grounds for distinguishing between taxable and non-taxable income is the criterion of economic benefit. The strict application of such criterion for the assessment of tax consequences from receiving illegal income led the author to a conclusion that contradicts the interpretations of the Russian and U. S. courts: only the economic benefit from the free use of the property, rather than the overall value of such property,  should be recognized as the object of taxation should be recognized. The concept proposed by the author can be used in the practice of tax and judicial authorities for ensuring subjective rights and legitimate interests of taxpayers.

Keywords: illegal entrepreneurial activity, responsibility for noncriminal tax offenses, personal income tax, corporate income tax, object of income taxation, taxation of criminal income, taxation of illegal income, practice of Russian courts, US tax law, US Supreme Court practice

Review: International trade is growing rapidly; a sizable amount of goods is shipped from one country to another on daily basis. Special attention is given to control of the customs value of goods, since the amount of collected customs charges depend on the customs value. The research aims to determine the problems of controlling the customs value of goods and seek the ways to solve them. For achieving this goal, the author set the following tasks: 1) analyze the legal framework of EAEU on assessment of the customs value of imported goods; 2) analyze the case law on application of the methods of determining customs value ; 3) examine the organizational structures for controlling the customs value of goods imported into EAEU; 4) leaning on the accumulated information, outline  the key problems of customs value control; 5) develop recommendations for improving the instruments of customs value control of imported goods. The object of this research is the activity of customs authorities within the framework of verification of customs value of imported goods. The subject of this research is the control of the customs value of goods on the example of Russia as EAEU member-state. The main results of this research consist in outlining the problems arising in implementation of customs value control, as well as the highlighting the areas for its improvement. The author offers to amend legislative acts that would consider commission to the freight forwarder, as well as establish a minimum list of documents to confirm transport deductions and commission to the freight forwarder. Recommendations are also made on promoting the development of a unified register of the object of intellectual property, cooperation between the Federal Customs Service of Russia and Federal Service of Intellectual Property (Rospatent) to create a “customs declarant profile” for accurate accounting of license duties. The transparency of pricing data of the customs database along with the information on categorization of the participants of foreign economic activity, were determined as the ways for improving customs control.

Keywords: transport deductions, license agreement, royalties, import, foreign economic agreement, customs territory, customs value, expedition agreement, categorization of foreign trade participants, price data

Review: The protection of the sovereign tax base and determination of the “fair share of profit” that should be attributed to a particular jurisdiction remains one of the topical issues in Russia and worldwide. The instruments for determining fair profit include the mechanism of transfer pricing designated for calculating company profit of (member of corporate group) based on an analysis of the actual economic circumstances of making a transaction, i.e. the assets, functions and risks of the parties to the controlled transaction (leaning on the modeling of market prices using the methods of transfer pricing). Analysis is conducted on the risk-oriented approach in tax administration of transfer pricing in the Russian Federation. The scientific novelty consists in systematization of the approaches towards tax administration of transfer pricing and formulation of recommendations for improving the efficiency of current processes. The analysis of the practice of tax administration of transfer pricing and the corresponding case law indicates that in assessing the adequacy of prices in controlled transactions to the market level, the tax authorities apply the so-called “risk-oriented” approach aimed at determination of the segments/market participants/transactions with the highest risk of transfer pricing. The implementation of risk-oriented approach requires the development of risk profiles of transfer pricing, which, depending on the analyzed segment or subject matter of transaction, represent a list of tax control measures and circumstances (risk factors) that allow concluding on the presence of transfer pricing risk in such transaction. The practical importance of this research consists in the possibility of using the results the acquired results by the government bodies that carry out the functions of administering transfer pricing, as well as by the organizations that use transfer prices as the tax planning instrument.

Keywords: cbc reporting, TP methods, related parties, controlled transactions, court practice, tax base, profit income tax, transfer pricing, tax risks, resources of information

Review: The relevance of this research is defined by the ongoing worldwide negative trends related to the spread of infectious diseases, which require the development and adoption of complex preventive measures, including tax policy. The subject of this research of the use of tax instruments within the framework of the policy of encouraging a healthy lifestyle of the population. The author explores the methods of indirect taxation of “harmful” food products, summarizes foreign and historical experience in implementation of disincentive tax measures: imposition of tax on high sugar carbonated beverages, the so-called “fat” tax and the salt tax. The author outlines the possible alternative scenarios of using indirect taxation for promoting healthy eating habits. Practical interest of the conducted research consist in recommendations on the use of the incentive mechanism for the value-added tax. Attention is given to the fact that along with the instruments of indirect taxation, the effective measure of healthy lifestyle policy may become the introduction of direct tax incentives aimed at enhancing physical activity of the population. The author determines the contradictions between the labor and tax legislation on the issues of accounting of business expenses allocated for the sport activity of the working citizens. The conclusion is made on feasibility of the broader use of tax incentives, as well as on the need for amending the legislation of the Russian Federation on taxes and fees.

Keywords: indirect taxes, tax deduction, salt tax, fat taxes, soda tax, excise taxes, tax policy, healthy lifestyle, incentives, tax benefit

Review: This article explores the experiment on the establishment of special tax regime – “tax on professional income” in the practice of administering individual entrepreneurial activity and unreported employment. The author determines the uncertainty of the legal status of the self-employed citizens as a new category of taxpayers; outlines the problem of unreported employment as one of the prerequisites for conducting the experiment; as well as characterizes the peculiarities of different categories of self-employed citizens. Special attention is given to the assessment of factors of a significant increase in taxpayers in the category of tax on professional over a short period of the conducing the experiment. The article reviews certain controversial issues of the practice of implementation of experimental tax regime and the main reasons for its attractiveness for the taxpayers. The research employs the methods of analysis and synthesis, description, comparison, analogy, statistical data analysis. The author examines the hypotheses on the factors of substantial increase in the number of taxpayers in the category of tax on professional income, which include the expansion of the territory for the experiment, mass scale transition of taxpayers from other special tax regimes, use of tax in professional income for tax optimization purposes. The statistical analysis of tax reporting and review of the expert opinions allowed the author to conclude on the relevance of the special tax regime – “professional income tax”, its potential application as a method for legalization of income of self-employed citizens, as well as the need for interim assessment of the results and the fiscal effect of the conducted experiment.

Keywords: ýêñïåðèìåíò ñàìîçàíÿòûå, tax administration, patent taxation, taxation of individual entrepreneurs, taxation of individuals, informally employed, self-employed, professional income, taxation of the self-employed, legalizing the self-employed

Review: The subject of this research is the norms of tax legislation of the Republic of Turkey aimed at incentivizing export activity, case law on their implementation, as well as doctrinal sources that affect the development of legal regulation of tax incentives in the country. The methodological framework is comprised in the formal legal method, which allow assessing the actual effect of the norms of the Turkish tax legislation. The method of content analysis was used for the analysis of the corresponding norms to determine the characteristic trends in the development of legal regulation of taxes, as well as for outlining various export support measures in the Republic of Turkey. Within the tax system of the Republic of Turkey, the author establishes the presence of the effective mechanisms for stimulating export activity. Such mechanisms are associated with the possibility of purchasing necessary products by the exporter without paying VAT, as well as a simplified procedure for its refund without conducting tax audit in rendering preferential guarantees or a positive decision of a certified auditor, which also reflects partial delegation of authority in the sphere tax control to special entities outside the structure of the government bodies. Turkish legislation also features the system of quick VAT refund within 5 days to a certified individual. Acquisition of such certificate suggest observing the criteria of good faith, which has a positive impact upon the so-called tax compliance. Tax incentives for export activity in the context of direct taxes in the Republic of Turkey consists in the practical application of the territorial concept of taxation to the income of Turkish companies carrying out certain types of activity abroad, which positively affects the export of labor, services and related commodities. Therefore, the obtained results can be valuable in the development of Russian tax legislation in the area of tax incentives for export activity.

Keywords: free zones, territorial tax system, tax control, tax compliance, VAT refund, tax deferral, export, tax incentives, tax exemptions, Republic of Turkey

Review: The subject of this research is the boundaries of tax optimization of the Russian tax system. The goal is to outline the reasons and method of for removing ambiguity of such boundaries. The consequences of ambiguity of boundaries of tax optimization not only limit the development of businesses, but also entail the disproportions of social development, contradictions between the government on the one hand and the middle class and disadvantaged population groups that participate in the financial and economic relations on the other hand, and thus, undermine confidence in the government. The reasons for such negative phenomenon are as follows: the absence of the unity of opinions on the concept of tax optimization; unregulated division of rights to establish the boundaries of tax optimization by the judicial, legislative and executive branches; vagueness of the terms and definitions characterizing these boundaries; no set rules for establishing the consequences of exceeding these criteria. It is revealed that the new doctrine in the form of a judicial-legal symbiosis of determining the boundaries of tax optimization did not resolve all issues associated with ambiguity of these boundaries. The author’s special contribution lies in substantiation of the shift in conceptual approaches towards the term “tax optimization”, which should exclude the use of this term circumventing the law. The article describes the advantages of legislative regulation of the criteria of tax optimization over judicial regulation. The author specifies the terms and definitions necessary for marking out boundaries of tax optimization on the legislative level. The novelty of this research consists in substantiation using the factor analysis of judicial tax disputes of legislative consolidation of the concept of tax reconstruction with regards to corporate income tax in accordance with the methodology recommended by the tax service, with extension of its application in case of cooperation of the evader with the auditor for preventing tax offences

Keywords: boundaries of abuse, limits of rights, tech company, tax benefit, commercial discretion, uncertainty of the law, tax avoidance, tax optimization, tax reconstruction, prevention of tax offenses