Interfax launches ASTRA service to enable Russian companies to meet transfer pricing requirements

The Interfax Group has launched a new service to enable Russian companies that are obliged to prove the market nature of intra-group transactions and prepare notifications and documentation for the Federal Tax Service.

The Automated System of Transfer Analysis (ASTRA) makes it possible for companies to complete procedures required by Russian tax law: describe the related-party transaction, perform a functional and economic analysis of the deal, and determine whether the transaction‘s cost is market-based. Based on this data, the system automatically compiles the paperwork needed for the Tax Service, including the notification about the related-party transaction.

The ASTRA system was developed in compliance with Russian legislation on transfer pricing, taking Russian and international practices and recommendations by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) into consideration.

"We‘ve come up with a comprehensive solution to analyze related-party transactions, drawing on the whole database we have built up in this area and the first-rate data provided by the SPARK system, and to obtain a fast result in the form of documentation for the tax authorities," said Sergei Yakovlev, Interfax Deputy General Director.

The service, which relies on the analytical opportunities and data provided by the SPARK-Interfax system, is unique in terms of its ease of use both by professionals and employees who are not accounting specialists.

More information on ASTRA is available in Russian at http://tp.interfax.ru.

A law on new transfer pricing regulations for tax came into effect in Russia on January 1, 2012. The law requires that tax payers notify the tax authorities on an annual basis about related-party transactions and submit proof of the market nature of the cost of those transactions.

In practice, substantiating the market-based price of these transactions is not an easy task for many taxpayers. Firstly, this is a cross-disciplinary procedure, with elements of book-keeping, financial and economic analysis. Secondly, it is necessary to look beyond the confines of your own company and analyze the market for similar transactions. Businesses also have difficulties documenting the results of their analysis.

About Interfax

Interfax is the recognized leader on the Russian information market in the B2B segment. Interfax was founded in 1989, when a group of journalists formed an information agency that became the first nongovernmental outlet for the latest political and economic news about the Soviet Union. Interfax is the most frequently cited source for information on Russia and the CIS in the foreign press and the most popular newswire service about the Russian stock market.

Interfax develops professional information solutions that help companies operate in the financial and commodity markets and reach investment decisions, manage risk, organize external communications and fulfill regulatory requirements. Interfax‘s best-known services include SPARK (risk management, marketing, assessment of businesses), EFiR (full information for financial market participants), E-DISСLOSURE.RU (stock market disclosure system), SCAN (media analysis and monitoring) and others).

Interfax, Sberbank and Experian have created the United Credit Bureau, the Russian market leader for credit information; Moody‘s Interfax Rating Agency, a partnership between Interfax and Moody‘s, assigns national-scale ratings to Russian issuers; and a joint venture with Dun & Bradstreet, another international information market leader, provides information about foreign companies.