Stepashin urges Customs Union to harmonize tax rules
MOSCOW. March 1 (Interfax) - The members of the Customs Union - Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan - must continue efforts to harmonize legislation and should think about harmonizing a number of tax rules, the chairman of Russia's Audit Chamber, Sergei Stepashin believes.
"The results of our joint inspection show that the member countries of the Customs Union certainly need to continue efforts to further improve our regulatory and legal framework," Stepashin said Thursday at a joint meeting of the three countries' top fiscal watchdogs. This will be rather difficult to do because all the countries are sovereign, he added.
"With the Customs Union gradually growing into a common economic space, it is also necessary to step up efforts on the matter of harmonizing tax legislation," Stepashin said, adding that here it is very important to take into account positive experience and the particulars of the tax systems of all Customs Union members.
Belarus, for example, has experience identifying ultimate beneficiaries. Belarus has already taken steps to "deoffshorize" the economy, to return capital from foreign tax havens, he said.
"Now the Finance Ministry of Russia is coming out with an active position, preparing corresponding proposals for the Civil Code. [President Vladimir Putin] has supported this initiative," Stepashin said.
He said thought could be given to introducing a tax on transactions, a measure that a number of European countries are now discussing.
"It makes sense to think about the possibility of adjusting tax legislation taking into account the experience of our partners in the Customs Union. Here we are interested in the position of the Finance Ministry," Stepashin said, recalling that the watchdog expressed such proposals in a letter to the Russian president at the end of 2012.
The board of the three countries' fiscal watchdogs on Thursday discussed the results of a joint assessment of whether the authorized bodies Customs Union members complied with agreements on the establishment and implementation of the procedure for crediting and distributing import customs duties in 2010-2011.
"Our joint inspection showed that the authorized agencies of our countries on the whole assure the efficacy of one of the main regulatory mechanisms of the Customs Union - the procedure for crediting and distribution of import customs duties," Stepashin said. However, a number of flaws were identified, particularly concerning the need to ensure a more responsive exchange of accounting data between union members, he added.
In addition, particular attention should be devoted to harmonizing rules and reducing the number of references to national legislation within the context of customs regulation in the three countries, Stepashin said.
The creation of the Customs Union and in future the common economic space is an important stimulus for increasing global competitiveness. "Three countries - Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus - with their economic, human, resource, scientific and creative potential - are a serious competitor for the European Union in the good sense of the world," Stepashin said.
He said cooperation between the three countries should be attractive for all neighbors, not only for former Soviet republics.
"The European Union recently threatened the president of independent Ukraine: a step forward toward the Customs Union and we don't need you in Europe. The question must be put differently. We're also Europe and a competitive part of it," Stepashin said.
He added that Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization sets the stage for more active integration of Customs Union members into the global economy, but at the same time it carries risks in terms of the development of import substitution and production of high-tech goods.
Stepashin proposed that next time the fiscal watchdogs of the three countries should assess other agreements on which the Customs Union is based and put them on the agenda of meetings of their joint board.