Global Trade Alert

On September 19, 2012, the State Duma, the Lower House of the Russian Parliament, adopted amendments to the Federal Tax Code, which have the aim to support farmers in light of Russia's accession to the WTO. The amendments were approved on September 26, 2012, by the Federation Council, the Upper House of the Russian Parliament. Finally, on October 2, 2012, the President of the Russian Federation signed the amendments to the Federal Law FZ 161 "On amendments to Part Two of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and on the cancellation of some provisions of the Russian legislation". The law enters into force on January 1, 2013, but not earlier than one month after its official publication, and not earlier than the beginning of the tax period (in the case of certain taxes).
The beneficial amendments of the farmer taxation comprise:

• To exempt private farmers and the heads of farmer enterprises from the payment of individual income taxes (payable by physical persons in the Russian Federation) on regional/federal budget grants.
• To prolong for an indefinite time period the zero income (profit) tax for agricultural producers. This tax benefit was originally planned to end in 2013. This benefit concerns only farmers, who have not switched to the regime of a unified taxes.
• To extend the list of agricultural products, which are subject to a preferential VAT rate of 10 per cent. The following new pedigree products are added to the list: cattle, pigs, sheep and goats, horses; hatching eggs; semen of bulls, pigs, sheep, goats, and stallion; embryos of cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, and horses. Currently, the standard VAT rate on these products is set at 18 per cent.