Individual entrepreneur will receive the patent together with the registration

The Government does not oppose the idea of reforming the tax legislation, thus allowing the entrepreneurs to breathe a little easier. Upon the President’s instruction, the White House has studied several suggestions regarding the accountability procedure and registration of legal entities and reported back in a letter (“Izvestia” has a copy). Experts note, however, that should such suggestions be implemented, their execution will likely be formal.

Legal address may become optional

The Government approved a number of suggestions, among those –elimination of the requirement of a document confirming the existence of premises that define legal address as a part of the legal entity registration procedure. The press service of the Federal Tax Service (FTS) provided “Izvestia” with no explanation as to why the inspectors commonly use such requirement, even though the law on state registration of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs contains no such provision.

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Registration of an individual entrepreneur and business patent – two in one

Another suggestion approved by the Government concerns the merger of procedures of state registration of individual entrepreneurs and of receipt of patents to their activity by them. The start of the new special regime of the patent taxation system is scheduled for 2013. Its main goal is simplification of the existing procedure: all taxes will be already “included” in the price of the patent. The letter, signed by the First Deputy Chairman of the Government Igor Shuvalov, says that the Cabinet supports the initiative of the merger and is drawing up the respective legal act. The act should stipulate that the regime will only be valid for those entrepreneurs, who intend to conduct their business activity in their location of residence.

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Negative net assets – to be or not to be?

The current edition of the law on joint stock companies stipulates the possibility for the tax authorities to resort to courts for dissolution of a company, if such company’s charter capital is larger than its net assets – this happens, when the company’s debt exceeds the total value of its property.

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Alexander Bolomatov, Associated Partner of the Law Firm "YUST", comments on the Presidential initiative:

- The attempt to eliminate this provision is a part of the general reform of the legislation on joint stock companies. Another procedure will be suggested, which will have to give real ways of protection of the creditors’ rights to receive information on their contractors.

But the Government did not support the idea: “Since the charter capital defines the minimal amount of the joint stock company’s property, which guarantees the interests of its creditors, said right of the registration authority is not formal, and its exclusion is unreasonable”.

The Ministry of Economic Development and the FTS have not yet commented on the letter, alleging that the thesis contained therein are mere drafts of the respective normative acts.

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