Russia: FTS clarifies tax treatment of dividends received by a foreign company

The Federal Tax Service (FTS) has issued a letter no. SD-4-3/2765 on 19^th February 2016 for clarifying the tax treatment of dividends received by a foreign company which voluntarily chooses to be considered as a Russian tax resident. According to article 246.2 (8) of the Tax Code, a foreign company carrying out its activities through a separate subdivision in Russia may voluntarily choose to be qualified as a Russian tax resident under certain conditions. FTS describes that in accordance with article 246 (5) of the Tax Code, a foreign company should be treated equally as a Russian company. So, dividends received by such foreign company should be taxed at the tax rates provided for Russian companies in sections 1 and 2 of article 284 (3) of the Tax Code. Again, on the basis of section 1 of article 284 (3) of the Tax Code, dividends received by resident companies from other resident companies are exempt from corporate income tax and withholding tax (participation exemption) if certain conditions are fulfilled. According to section 2 of article 271 (4) of the Tax Code, the received date of dividend income should be deemed to be the date when dividends are received in the bank account of the taxpayer.