The Russian Duma has adopted changes to the VAT Chapter of the Russian Tax Code. The amendments should come into force as from 1 January 2013.

This means that VAT exemptions will become significantly wider. Under the current legislation VAT exemptions are quite limited to the trade with securities and core banking and insurance services. Under the new legislation the exemption will also apply to a much wider range of services supplied on the stocks, commodities, and forex markets like:

• services provided by dealers and brokers
• services of registrars and depositories
• fund management services
• clearing and trade organization services 

The scope of the above services will be limited to the activities covered by the license. Additional services directly related to the above services will be also exempt. The government will issue a list of directly related services qualifying for the exemption. 

Check carefully what this means for your business.