The main objective of the Law was to ensure legal security of capital and property owned by individuals, protect property interests of Russian citizens, including property outside the territory of the Russian Federation, as well as, in compliance with the transition to the automatic exchange of information in tax matters at the international level (BEPS legislation).

According to the Law, individuals should declare their foreign property (real estate, vehicles, shares in companies, securities and etc.) and foreign bank accounts. In exchange, a declarant is not subject to criminal or administrative responsibility and is exempt from payment of historical taxes, committed before January 1, 2015. Information provided by a declarant will be recognized as confidential. The Law required those applying for amnesty to fully declare their offshore assets. Upon a declaration, that had to be filled before the end of 2015, there would be no penalty for unauthorised expatriation.

The Law did not cover assets acquired through illegal means, only assets expatriated for tax purposes. The Law was developed in close cooperation with the FATF. However, the latter has certain concerns about lack of disclosure and information sharing. This is a serious matter, since a failure to comply with FATF regulations can get Russia blacklisted. However, Russia’s role within the FATF has been actively positive in recent years.

C.Gurdgiev gives the following classification of Russia’s offshore assets. He presumes that the globally allocated Russian capital, held by private individuals, can be divided into 3 (unequal in volume) types:

– Type 1 – an unknown quantum of assets acquired by using illicit gains from activities in Russia and illegally shifted out of the country. This part is not covered by the Law, but the Russian Government plans to introduce a separate piece of legislation to cover these assets, and it has promised that it will fully comply with FATF.

– Type 2 – an unknown quantum of assets, probably similar to that covered by Part 1 and, together with Type 1 accounting for more than 2/3rds of all Russian-owned assets held abroad, was expatriated to minimize tax exposures. Some of them legally, some illegally. This part is covered by the Law.

– Type 3 – a smaller share of Russian assets abroad is perfectly legal and is not covered by the Law. To-date, FATF has no complaints with Russia on these assets78.

The deadline for returning capital to Russia was originally Dec. 31, 2015, but it was extended until July 1, 2016 by the Federal Law №401-FZ «On introducing amendments to article 5 of the Federal Law „On voluntary declaration of assets and bank accounts (deposits) by natural persons and on introducing amendments to certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation“»79.

Update

On 7 June 2017, over 70 countries, including the Russian Federation signed the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting («Multilateral Instrument» or «MLI»).

Офшорный финансовый центр (ОФЦ) – это, как правило, небольшая юрисдикция, с низким уровнем налогообложения, специализирующаяся на предоставлении корпоративных и коммерческих услуг офшорным компаниям-нерезидентам и инвестиционным фондам. ОФЦ начали оказывать влияние на международные финансовые рынки в начале 1970-х годов. Для их обозначения использовались различные термины, такие как, международный финансовый центр, международный банковский центр, международная банковская структура и офшорный банковский центр. Термин ОФЦ был впервые введен в научный оборот в 1980 году. В последующие годы он получил дальнейшее развитие в докладах международных организаций и научной литературе. При этом такие международные организации, как МВФ, ОЭСР и ЮНКТАД, разрабатывали терминологию в соответствии со своими нуждами. Так, МВФ наряду с выработкой рабочего определения ОФЦ исследует их воздействие на международную финансовую систему. ОЭСР рассматривает ОФЦ сквозь призму уклонения от налогов. ЮНКТАД изучает механизмы осуществления прямых иностранных инвестиций (ПИИ) с использованием ОФЦ.