A number of amendments to the Tax Code of the Russian Federation are proposed towards more convergence between bookkeeping and tax accounting regulation

According to draft Federal Law "On Introduction of Amendments to Chapters 25 and 26.1 of the second part of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation pertaining to simplification of bookkeeping", it is proposed to exclude provisions concerning the regulations for recognition of the amount difference in tax accounting from the Tax Code and to cancel the method of assessment of material and production supplies based on the cost of the latest purchases – "last in-first out" method - which does not exist in bookkeeping.

Besides, the draft law specifies the procedure of tax accounting of the loss from assignment of a right to demand paying a debt to a third person. It is proposed to account the amount of the loss as part of the overhead costs in the full amount as of the date of assignment of a right to demand (at present, 50 per cent of the total amount are included in the expenses following 45 calendar days from the date of the assignment).

Another amendment deals with the procedure of recognizing costs of food for the crew of sea and river vessels and airplanes in tax accounting (it is proposed to avoid recognizing such expenditures in tax accounting within the limits stipulated in the norms of the Government of the Russian Federation).

Source: http://www.consultant.ru/law/hotdocs/25666.html

According to the Head of the Legal and Tax Consulting Department of the ACIG Group of Companies Yuri Fedyukin, this draft Federal Law has been developed in compliance with the budget message of the President of the Russian Federation as of June 28, 2012,"On Budget Policy in 2013 – 2015". This draft law is aimed at simplifying the tax accounting procedure and bringing together the rules for tax base calculation of the corporate profit tax and the rules for calculating financial results in bookkeeping.

In particular, the draft law provides for:

• the specifying of the methods for writing off material and production inventories for the purposes of corporate profit taxation;
• the change in the procedure of accounting losses from  the assignment of a claim in tax accounting after the due date of payment;
• the change in the procedure of accounting amount differences of income and expenditures in foreign currency in tax accounting;
• a possibility to depreciate non-capitalized property in tax accounting depending on the accounting policy applied by a tax payer.

The implementation of these proposals is expected to reduce administrative burden on business, tax payers’ expenses connected with the execution of liabilities pertaining to the corporate profit tax and to increase effectiveness of the Russian tax system.

These amendments are entering into force on January 1, 2014.