The COVID-19 pandemic that began in the first months of 2020 dealt a blow to most sectors of the domestic economy. The leadership of the Russian Federation was forced to take measures to overcome the pandemic and reduce damage from it. In order to reduce the damage received by small, medium and large enterprises and to restore business activity, the Government of the Russian Federation and the supreme executive bodies of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation developed a set of measures to support the domestic economy. The list of support measures is very diverse and differentiated depending on the size of the organization and the sector of the economy in which it carries out business activities. TPG-Legal lawyers conducted an in-depth analysis of these measures the results of which are presented in our material. If you have any questions about measures to support business, lawyers of TPG-Legal are ready to provide a detailed answer.
| Meashures | All companies | Most affected sectors of the economy | Small and medium-sized companies (SMC) | SMC from the most affected sectors of the economy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A suspension of tax audits until June 30 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| new and repeated field tax audits are not conducted; | ||||
| assigned field and repeat field tax audits are suspended; | ||||
| verifications of payment of taxes on transactions between affiliated persons are suspended; | ||||
| compliance verifications of currency law are suspended – except cases when delinquency has already been identified and if a period of limitations expires no earlier than June 1, 2020; | ||||
| а period for appealing the result of field tax audit is suspended. | ||||
| (Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of 02.04.2020 No. 409 "On measures to ensure the use of economic development") | ||||
| An extension of tax reporting deadlines | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| VAT returns for the 1st quarter of 2020, logbooks of accounting of received and issued invoices – until May 15, 2020. | ||||
| Financial information provided by financial market organizations about customer-foreign taxpayers for the 2019 fiscal year and previous fiscal years – for 3 months. | ||||
| Applications of tax monitoring for 2021 for 3 months. | ||||
| All tax declarations and payments on advance payments (except VAT), calculations of the amount of personal income tax (form 6-personal income tax); tax calculations on the amounts paid to foreign organizations of income and taxes withheld; accounting (financial) statements for 3 months. | ||||
| (Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of April 2, 2020 No. 409 "On measures to ensure sustainable economic development") | ||||
| An automatic renewal of licenses | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Licenses and permits that expire between March 15 and December 31, 2020 are automatically renewed for 12 months. The list of relevant licenses and permits is determined by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of April 3, 2020 N 440 "On the extension of permits and other features in relation to licensing activities in 2020" | ||||
| Sanctions provided by tax law do not apply | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Debt collection will not be applied to organizations until July 1, 2020. It means that individual entrepreneurs and organizations will not receive a claim with accrued interest and penalties, their settlement accounts will not be blocked, etc. | ||||
| (Letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated May 26, 2020 No. ED-20-8 / 71 @ “On the Extension of the Suspension of the Application of Debt Collection Measures and Related Interim Measures”) | ||||
| Federal Tax Service of Russia suspended filing of applications for declaring companies bankrupt | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| (Letter of the Federal Tax Service of April 29, 2020 No. VD-17-1 / 127 @ “On Submission of Information on Business Support Proposals”) | ||||
| Deferment and remission of penalty payment of housing and communal services | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Penalties for late payments or incomplete payments for housing and communal services are not charged from April 6, 2020 to January 1, 2021. | ||||
| (Clause 5 of the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of 02.04.2020 N 424 “On the features of the provision of utilities to owners and users of premises in apartment buildings and residential buildings”) | ||||
| Grants to owners of real estate | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Grants can be obtained by owners of buildings, structures and premises for placement of objects of trade, public catering, domestic services, the activities of which were suspended due to COVID-19.Grant are provided for the period from March 1 to June 30, 2020. | ||||
| Grant sizes: | ||||
| 50% of the amount of property tax, land tax, land rent in respect of areas used directly by the owner; | ||||
| 100% of the amount of property tax, land tax, land rent in relation to rented area. | ||||
| However, an owner is obliged to reduce rentals to a tenant by the amount established by the Moscow government. | ||||
| (Decree of the Government of Moscow of 05.13.2020 No. 574-PP, Decree of the Government of Moscow of 13.05.2020 No. 553-PP) | ||||
| A credit at preferential rate 2% | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| A loan will be issued from June 1 to November 1, 2020 to cover any document-supported expenses, including salary payments. In the base period and the observation period, the interest rate will be no more than 2%, and the bank’s standard rate will be applied during the repayment period. | ||||
| If a borrower fulfills certain conditions, in particular, retains at least 90% of the employees, the loan debt will be written off. | ||||
| (Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of May 16, 2020 N 696) | ||||
| A credit at preferential rate for paying off staff salaries | No | No | No | Yes |
| A duration - no more than 12 months. A loan ceiling is calculated on the basis of the minimum monthly wage and depends on the number of employees. A percentage rate for the first 6 months is 0%, then 3.5-4%. The maximum loan term is 12 months. A loan agreement with a bank can be concluded from March 30 to October 1, 2020. | ||||
| (Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of 02.04.2020 N 422) | ||||
| A deferment of a rental payment for real estate | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| A deferment of a rental payment applies to state, municipal and private property (with the exception of residential premises). The deferment starts from the date when a high-alert mode is introduced on the territory of a subject of the Russian Federation and lasts until October 1, 2020. The deferral size during the high-alert mode is 100% of a rent payment. The deferral size after cancellation of the high-alert mode is 50 % of a rent payment. | ||||
| (Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of 03.04.2020 No. 439 "On the establishment of requirements for the conditions and terms of the calculation of rent under lease contracts for real estate") | ||||
| An unilateral repudiation of a tenant of obligations under a rent contract | No | No | No | Yes |
| A tenant under a rent agreement concluded before an introduction of a high-alert mode has a right to demand a reduction of a rent payment for a period of up to one year. If a landlord and a tenant do not agree to reduce a rental payments within 14 days, the tenant may withdraw unilaterally from the lease agreement until October 1, 2020. | ||||
| (Federal Law of June 8, 2020 No. 166-ФЗ “On Amending Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation with the Purpose of Taking Urgent Measures to Ensure Sustainable Development of the Economy and Prevent the Consequences of the Spread of a New Coronavirus Infection”) | ||||
| A moratorium on initiation of bankruptcy | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Courts also suspend proceedings on accepted cases in which bankruptcy proceedings have not yet begun. A debtor is not obligated to file a petition in bankruptcy. A duration – April 6 - October 6, 2020. | ||||
| (Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of 03.04.2020 No. 428 "On the introduction of a moratorium on the initiation of bankruptcy cases at the request of creditors in relation to individual debtors") | ||||
| A reduction in insurance contributions | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| An amount of insurance contributions for compulsory pension insurance, compulsory medical insurance is reduced from 30% to 15% since April 1, 2020. The amount of insurance premiums is reduced in part, that exceeds 12130 rubles. | ||||
| (Federal Law of April 1, 2020 No. 102-ФЗ "On Amendments to Parts One and Two of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation") | ||||
| An easy-term loan | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Small and medium-sized enterprises can get a loan at the reduced rate – 8,5%. A borrower should conforms to the next requirements: | ||||
| fit the criteria of small and medium-sized enterprises; | ||||
| its debts for tax should not be more than 50,000 rubles; | ||||
| it has no wage arrears to employees; | ||||
| no bankruptcy proceedings against it. | ||||
| Easy-term loans can be taken out for specific purposes. | ||||
| an investment objective – a loan amount - 500 thousand - 2 billion rubles, pay-back period – up to 10 years. | ||||
| a replenishment of working capital financing – a loan amount - 500 thousand - 500 million, pay-back period – up to 3 years. | ||||
| (Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of March 31, 2020 No. 372) | ||||
| A tax payment deferral or payment in installments | No | No | No | Yes |
| Small and medium-sized enterprises from the most affected sectors of the economy have a right of tax payment deferral or payment in installments. | ||||
| The maximum deferral period – 1 year, payment in installments - 5 years. | ||||
| (Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of 02.04.2020 No. 409 "On measures to ensure the sustainable development of the economy") | ||||
| A government subsidy | No | No | No | Yes |
| Small and medium-sized enterprises from the most affected sectors of the economy have a right to get a government subsidy for 12 130 rubles for each month (April and May). | ||||
| An organization must retain at least 90% of the total number of employees for March 2020 in order to receive the subsidy. | ||||
| (Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of May 12, 2020 No. 658) | ||||
| A repayment holidays | No | No | No | Yes |
| Banks are required to provide a deferral of payments for a period of up to 6 months. A borrower should submit an application to a bank by September 30 in order to receive a delay. An important point: all penalties for default in performance of obligations are also frozen on a period of the repayment holidays. Duration of the repayment holidays – April 1 – October 1, 2020. | ||||
| (Federal Law of 03.04.2020 No. 106-FZ) | ||||
| A temporary suspension of tax sanctions | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| The Federal Tax Service suspends an application of penalties to all taxpayers who have debts for tax. A ban is introduced on a suspension of operations on bank accounts to enforce a decision to recover taxes, fees, penalties. Duration – March 25 - July 1, 2020. | ||||
| (Letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated 05.26.2020 No. ED-20-8 / 71 @) | ||||
| Subsidies for SMEs are exempted from taxes | No | No | No | Yes |
| Government subsidies for SMEs from the most affected sectors of the economy are not subject to corporate income tax. | ||||
| (Federal Law of 04.22.2020 No. 121-ФЗ "On Amending Part Two of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation") | ||||
| An easy-term loan for “young” SMEs from Moscow | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| A number of banks in Moscow provide loans for working capital financing and investment for "young" SMEs. An organization should conforms to the next requirements: | ||||
| no more than 3 years have passed from the date of establishment of an organization to the date of entering into a loan agreement; | ||||
| a borrower conducts business in priority sectors. | ||||
| A loan amount – 500 hundred – 15 million rubles. | ||||
| A credit interest rate is equal to the Bank of Russia key rate (about 2-3%). | ||||
| (Decree of the Government of Moscow “On Amending the Decree of the Government of Moscow of March 24, 2020 No. 212-PP”) |
Artem Borodin
Associate TPG-Legal