Led by Anatoly Serdyukov, on the photo, the Federal Tax Service has amassed experience in challenging claims of taxpayers.
Photo: Ilya Pitalev
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No Way to Overwhelm Tax Service in Courts
For taxpayers, it is getting more and more difficult to stand for their rights in courts. In 2000, the courts upheld taxpayers for 64 percent of all sums claimed from tax authorities. But the amount shed to 17 percent in the first half of this year. The change in attitude happened after the YUKOS case, lawyers explained.
Today is the 15th anniversary of tax bodies’ creation in Russia. To mark this holiday, perhaps, the Federal Tax Service (FTS) promulgated statistics showing its success in standing for the budget against citizens of the country.
Indeed, led by Anatoly Serdyukov, the Federal Tax Service has apparently amassed solid experience in challenging claims of taxpayers. The latter managed to win back 64 percent of disputed sums in 2000, but the amount was just 17 percent in the first half of this year.
The statistics for cases with fiscal bodies acting as claimants are even more awesome for business. In terms of the claimed amount, tax officials won 95 percent of initiated cases in the first half of this year vs. 65 percent in 2005 and 43 percent in 2004.
FTS has been clearly pressurizing the courts in the last two years, said Mikhail Orlov, chief of State Duma’s Expert Board on Tax Laws. “The judges have become more amenable after the YUKOS case. Besides, new leaders of Supreme Arbitration Court explicitly declared that, as state bodies, the arbitration courts should first of all stand for the state interests. Judges have been incorporated into the system of relatively honest withdrawal of citizens’ money to budget.”
Of interest is that the state-run companies can count on fair justice. The tax claims to Yuganskneftegaz exceeded 140 billion rubles when the company was under YUKOS control. But the courts trimmed the amount by roughly 120 billion rubles once Yuganskneftegaz passed to Rosneft.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Nov. 21, 2006
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