The FTS and the World Bank have discussed the vision for their cooperation

On March 04, 2020 the FTS of Russia Commissioner Egorov met with the new World Bank country director for the Russian Federation Mr Renaud Seligmann to discuss the ongoing cooperation in various areas.

In the recent years the FTS of Russia has implemented a number of projects that are taking advantages of such contemporary technologies as Big Data analysis, Internet of things, AI and mobile and platform based solutions.

Commissioner Egorov made a demonstrations of how the tax administration systems are addressing VAT tax gap and the online cash registers system is putting a cap on the retail sector as well as in what way the FTS of Russia is making use of data captured under these data flows. As Commissioner Egorov said “People don’t trust other people but they trust machines. That is why digital solutions are increasing trust to the tax system. The technologies onboard the tax administration are allowing to ensure the state revenues growth while reducing compliance burden on the taxpayers, providing tax certainty and better service delivery.”

“Digital solutions implemented by the FTS of Russia are truly reducing the administrative burden on business while improving doing business environment in the country. The World Bank is interested in cooperating with the FTS of Russia in raising awareness of other countries about the developments in Russia and sharing its experience with the world”, - Mr Seligman noted.

This was followed by a discussion dedicated to the Doing Business assessments of the Russian paying taxes and starting a business procedures. As the FTS deputy Commissioner Dmitry Volvach noted in his overview on the Paying Taxes and Starting a Business indicators “improving the FTS performance in the ranking is one of the FTS top priorities, however there is a concern about the accuracy of ranking capturing the reforms and treating the real life business practice”. For example most new companies in Russia are registered online and doesn’t require using the notary services, it is also no longer mandatory for businesses to have a seal.

The FTS and the World Bank shall continue to further enhance its cooperation and discuss the ease of doing business reforms.