Bill on return of fuel damper, compensation to budget returns to second reading, Russian State Duma to consider latest amendments - sources

MOSCOW. Nov 16 (Interfax) - The bill adopted in the second reading on the return of payments for the fuel damper and tax amendments, which should compensate Russia's federal budget for rising expenses, has returned to the State Duma for another second reading, namely for revision, a source familiar with the situation told Interfax.

Meantime, there are no plans to amend the damper indicators, as changes regarding transfer pricing are under discussion, according to several sources.

The State Duma budget committee is scheduled to meet on Thursday evening in order to consider the amendments.

Meanwhile, the sources note that the bill is planned for passage immediately in the second and third readings on Friday.

The Finance Ministry proposed the amendments tightening control over transfer pricing for external transactions, with the goal of preventing tax evasion and understatement of revenue, so that companies use market prices when selling goods, especially exchange traded products. The Finance Ministry's proposals include expanding the list of individuals recognized as interdependent; disclosing the resale chain outside Russia; increasing ten-fold fines for failure to provide information on a controlled transaction; and transitioning to using the median value of the market price interval, instead of the minimum, when identifying non-market prices in transactions when assessing additional taxes.