Analytics and brochures

Since October 2010, the manufacturers and importers of copying equipment (computers, cell phones, etc) and media (CDs, memory sticks, etc) have been required to pay 1% of their sales (of the customs value of goods sold) for the purposes of financing compensation to be paid to authors. This levy is in essence a new tax.

It has been a year since the first conference on Islamic finance in December 2009. Over the year there have been quite a number of significant events taking place, all of which will influence the development of Islamic finance in Russia.

The establishment of the Customs Union between Russia, Belorussia and Kazakhstan has complicated substantially the system of customs valuation.

This year the number of employment disputes that have ended up in court kept increasing. Traditionally litigation is most common in cases on termination, disciplinary fines, unpaid wages and bonuses.

On 1 February 2010, Federal Law No. 381-FZ, dated 28 December 2009, titled “On the Fundamentals of State Regulation of Trading Activities in the Russian Federation” came into force.  It took several years to develop this regulation.

On Oct. 7, a protocol to the tax treaty between Russia and Cyprus was signed. The protocol, which significantly altered the contents of the treaty, is expected to become effective in 2011 or 2012, after its ratification by Russia and Cyprus and the exchange of ratification instruments.