Analytics and brochures

In the past 10 years Russia has seen fundamental changes in both its tax system and tax administration. The tax legislation’s unified general provisions are described in Part One of the Tax Code; all of the taxes and tax regimes are described in Part Two. There are 12 taxes and five special tax regimes under the Tax Code. Social security contributions are not formally regarded as tax and, therefore, are regulated by special law. In 2013 there were 25 amendments to the Tax Code.

It is beyond doubt that merging the Russian Supreme Court and the Russian Supreme Commercial (‘Arbitration’) Court will affect the way all cases are considered, antimonopoly cases among them. This change can be attributed less to different approaches of the lawyers, i.e. the judges of one of the highest judicial institutions of the country, than to other factors which are responsible for the huge impact that the Russian Supreme Commercial (‘Arbitration’) Court has had over an extended period on how economic relations are regulated in Russia.

Class actions will become an attractive way for business entities to protect themselves from bad-faith competition only if gaps in the regulation of this type of dispute are filled in, and also only if certain substantive legal institutions are applied.