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Essay on Taxation On E-Commerce In Russia
Russia is keen to develop an e-commerce infrastructure but the present level of its technological development makes this difficult. A great deal of capital investment and foreign knowledge will be needed before such an infrastructure can be successfully developed. The number of Internet users in Russia is growing 150% annually, and in 2002 more than nine million people have access to the Internet. Various sources estimate that about USD 250 million will be spent in 2002 in commerce on the Internet in Russia. (Frank Ellis, January 1999, p.85)
Russian tax law with respect to E-Commerce is virtually undeveloped, and for Russian tax purposes E-Commerce transactions have traditionally been regarded under the analogous application of the domestic tax norms and double taxation treaties developed in the context of traditional old economy industries and designed to tax the attributes of usual commercial transactions. (Richard Westin, October 2000, p.98)
I have provided a general overview of the direct tax that would most likely be applicable to the sale of goods, and the provision of work and services to Russian Buyers via the Internet. Specifically, the direct taxes are the profits tax (the Russian equivalent of corporate income tax), the road users tax and property tax. (Paul Timmers, December 27, 1999, p.105)....
