The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Finance of Russia proposed to suspend agreements with the West in the tax sphere

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia and the Ministry of Finance of Russia come up with an initiative to Russian President Vladimir Putin to suspend double taxation agreements with unfriendly countries until the violated rights of the Russian Federation are restored. This is stated in a message posted today, March 15, on the website of the diplomatic mission.

As recalled in the ministry, unilateral economic restrictive measures are being introduced against Russia from 2022 by Western countries, including in February of this year Russia was included by the European Union in the list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions, the so-called “EU black list”.

“The introduction of restrictive measures unilaterally is a violation of international law. Accordingly, Russia has grounds for introducing retaliatory measures,” — noted in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.

In this regard, the Russian Foreign Ministry and the Russian Ministry of Finance made a proposal to the President of the Russian Federation to issue a decree on the suspension of agreements on the avoidance of double taxation with all countries that have introduced unilateral economic restrictive measures against Russia.

“The action of these agreements is proposed to be suspended until the restoration of the violated rights of Russia”, – explained in the diplomatic department.

“If the proposal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia and the Ministry of Finance of Russia is supported, the application of reduced withholding tax rates (tax exemptions) in respect of income covered by double taxation agreements will be suspended from the moment the relevant decree is issued,” — noted in the message.