Moscow Arbitration Court Explains Decision in Favor of VimpelCom

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On September 3, the Federal Tax Service (FTS) will appeal the decision of the appellate court, which ruled in favor of Beeline in a dispute over the procedure for scheduling a tax audit.

"The case is noteworthy in that the taxpayer reached the Constitutional Court (Resolution No. 41-P of 14.07.23), whose position was used to justify the decision of the appellate court. But the Federal Tax Service now claims that the taxpayer is abusing his rights by challenging the very fact of the appointment of an audit, instead of arguing the merits of the additional tax assessments," a lawyer who studied the case materials told a ComNews correspondent.

The case materials, which were namibia whatsapp resourcereviewed by a ComNews correspondent, state that, in the opinion of the appellate court, this conclusion by the Federal Tax Service cannot be correct, since the very fact of the completion of the audit does not cancel the fact that the decision to appoint it outside the established two-year period, calculated from the date of submission of the initial notification of the controlled transaction, entailed, in violation of the requirements of current legislation, excessive application of tax control measures in relation to Beeline. "The Federal Tax Service imposed additional obligations on the operator as violations related to fulfilling the requirements of the tax authority during the audit, as well as violating the legitimate expectations of the taxpayer, who in this case reasonably expected the legal status to remain unchanged, whereas following the results of the audit by the tax authority, the Federal Tax Service found violations of the legislation on taxes and fees in the taxpayer's actions. At the same time, the appellate court is guided by the legal approach set out in the ruling of the Judicial Commission for Economic Disputes of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated 16.03.2018 No. 305-KG17-19973 on a similar dispute," the case materials say.

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The Ninth Arbitration Court of Appeal of Moscow has published the reasoning for the decision on the appeal of PJSC VimpelCom against the verdict of the previous instance in the case on the appointment of a tax audit by the Federal Tax Service of Russia against the telecom operator. The Federal Tax Service of Russia may appeal the verdict in the Arbitration Court of the Moscow District until July 27, 2024.

The Federal Tax Service did not respond to ComNews’ questions.

Key milestones in the process

On December 29, 2020, the Federal Tax Service ordered an audit of Beeline, as a result of which it assessed an additional RUB 179 million in income tax on the transaction with VWS, recording a deviation of prices from market prices, which served as a precedent for further legal proceedings.

The Ninth Arbitration Court of Appeal of the City of Moscow, after Beeline appealed the first instance decision in favor of the Federal Tax Service, sided with the operator. On April 23, a court hearing was held, as a result of which Beeline received satisfaction of the petition. Judge of the Ninth Arbitration Court of Appeal of the City of Moscow Sergei Zakharov overturned the latest decision of February 7, 2024, of the Moscow Arbitration Court to completely reject VimpelCom's filed claim, and recognized the decision of the Federal Tax Service of December 29, 2020 to appoint a tax audit along with its results in relation to VimpelCom as illegal.

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