Verification of the location of the foreigh tax payer

On 25.02.2016 the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation published a letter under the number OA-4-17/3030 on its website in which it was reported that the FTS had considered an appeal regarding the validity of conventions and other international agreements that had been certified by the Russian Federation or the USSR.

Further, it follows from the text of this letter that the force of treaties, the parties to which are different states, extends to those subjects/entities which permanent residence or location is one or even two of the above-mentioned states.

In order to verify the place of its permanent residence or location in a particular country, the subject must present a certificate of a tax resident, which is an official document that is issued by the relevant country service or legal representative.

There are no fixed provisions in the current legislation of the Russian Federation that indicate the criteria and requirements, referring to which you can obtain a certificate, which confirms the special status of the payer of taxes abroad. Also, these certificates are included in the list of documents that are used by the tax authorities and tax agents for the execution of international treaties.

But it should be noted that these certificates will be valid for the subjects of application only if the following criteria are met:

- presence of the name of the payer of taxes; the designated period within which it is possible to verify the tax status;

- full designation of the international treaty signed by the Russian Federation/USSR on the one part and the relevant foreign subject on the other to confirm the required tax status;

- Assurance of the certificate by the signature of the authorized representative of the country, which acts as the second party in the treaty.

The original of this certificate, which actually confirms the status of the tax payer and its translation into Russian language that is certified by the Russian consulate, is everything that is necessary for the entry into force of the norms of the international treaty.

It should be noted that the letter does not contain data on the period, according to which the status of the foreign entity or subject is confirmed, and there are no provisions that would limit the validity period of the norms that provide legal effect to the certificate.

It can be summarized that this letter of the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Feederation does not contain formal requirements for certification of the resident, but at the same time, judging from the text, there are other provisions that are necessary for the entry into force of the certificate.