AD ALTA
JOURNAL OF INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH
developed countries in Europe - Germany. Considering the
taxation system of banks in Germany, it should be noted that
taxes paid by banks in this country include personal and
corporate taxes on income from financial assets. State banks,
which mainly contribute to the economic development and
participate in the implementation of state lotteries, are exempted
from paying income tax [5]. In Germany, since January 1, 2008,
the corporate income tax rate, both for unallocated and
distributed income, was 15%, but then it increased to 15.83%
[23]. In Germany, when forming the tax base, all expenses
incurred by the bank as a result of financial and economic
activities are deducted. An important feature of banks ‘taxation
is that interest on loans granted is not subject to corporate
income tax.
The taxation of credit institutions in the United States follows
the general rules of corporate taxation, where the basic corporate
tax rate is 35%. However, the final rate depends on the income
received for the year and is determined in the range from 15 to
39%. At the same time, the tax base is reduced by the amount of
expenses attributed to bad debts. In the case of a return of their
reserve for unpaid loans, banks are entitled to apply the method
of return or offset. Credit institutions that do not use the reserve
method can eliminate losses by identifying bad debts using
methods developed by the regulatory authorities for banks, after
which they independently determine the amount of bad debts. At
the same time, the United States has a sufficient number of
benefits that reduce the taxable base [24]. Among these benefits,
the tax exemption for income earned from activities abroad
stands out. In addition to the main federal tax in the United
States, there are local taxes on bank profits. The rates of these
taxes in all states of the United States differ and range from 3%
to 9.99%. In many states, local income tax replaces a license that
must be purchased, while others have either special taxes or
special rules for taxing banking activities.
The US experience demonstrates rather harsh penalties in cases
of deliberate non-payment of taxes. According to the current
legislation, if the bank has income, the minimum tax must be
paid. The system of penalties for violators of tax legislation is
created in such a way that it far exceeds the amount of tax
collection. In the United States, all documents are submitted to
the Data Processing Centre for registration and TIN assignment.
Since 2017 in case of non-payment of income tax, a fine is
imposed in the amount of 100% of income [9], while in Russia
for a similar violation, the amount of the fine is -20% in cases of
unintentional non-payment, and in cases of intentional non-
payment -40% of the unpaid amount of tax. In the process of
forming the tax base, banks exclude expenses incurred as a result
of financial and economic activities. As a result, the amount of
profit subject to taxation is calculated. The advantage for banks
is that interest on loans granted, unlike in Russia, is not taken
into account in the taxation of corporate income.
The tax burden in Japan is quite moderate. For example, the
share of taxes in Japan's national income is about 26%. In Japan,
banks pay almost 50% of their profits in the form of taxes. At the
same time, the high level of taxation of banks is compensated by
the stimulating industrial policy of the state, which provides
broad benefits and tax credits to the real sector of the economy.
Research and generalization of foreign experience in taxation of
credit organizations allows us to conclude that, despite the
peculiarities of each country, taxation acts as the most important
tool for the country's socio-economic development. If you do not
consider the details, very formally, the tax burden on banking
activities in Russia is relatively lower than in industrially
developed countries (the USA, Germany, Japan, etc.). However,
carefully studying the foreign experience of taxation, one can
notice a distinguished regulatory role of the taxation mechanism
of the banking sector. It is characterized by a combination of
high tax rates, with a system of incentives for lending to the real
sector of the economy, as well as harsh penalties for banks
deliberately evading taxes.
The relevant governing bodies of different countries are trying to
protect their rule of law in various ways, including court
decisions. At the same time, the most important reason for the
violation of rights and freedoms is the lack of control, which
results in many negative consequences [25]. Well-known
scientists note that control is an effective method for the proper
functioning of any system, including the proper functioning of
the tax system [2]. The mechanism of taxation and liability of
banks for tax offenses in this context is no exception.
On December 12, 2014 the Swiss Parliament adopted a federal
law on the use of the revised recommendations of the Financial
Action Group for Combating Money Laundering, which came
into force on January 1, 2016. One of the largest financial
“holdings in Switzerland, UBS, has begun checking its Russian
clients for compliance with Russian anti-offshore legislation.
Taking into account the possible risks, Swiss banks began to
work according to the following principle: no notification of
controlled foreign companies (CFC) - no account. Credit
institutions are asked to provide copies of CFC notices” [26]. If
the Russian client has not provided documents confirming the
absence of claims from the Federal Tax Service regarding
notifications of controlled foreign companies, then the
information on transactions on the bank's client's accounts
should be sent to the Swiss Legalization Supervision Service.
The use of the above-mentioned most progressive elements of
foreign experience in taxation of credit institutions in the
Russian legislation will allow, on the one hand, to strengthen the
incentive component of the taxation mechanism, and on the
other hand, to minimize the risks of banks if they can’t identify
suspicious transactions on customer accounts.
In the Russian Federation, the bank’s accounting policy is
developed annually for tax purposes, taking into account the
requirements of the tax legislation and regulatory legal
documents on the taxation issues of the Ministry of Finance of
the Russian Federation and the Federal Tax Service of Russia.
However, it should be noted that there are contradictions in these
regulations, for example, regarding the imposition of penalties
for violations by banks of the requirements of the Central Bank
of the Russian Federation. As a rule, Russian courts decide that
the measures of administrative responsibility for violations of
banking legislation cannot exceed the sanction established by
Articles 15.26 of the Code of Administrative and Legal
Violations of the Russian Federation, and change the instructions
of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation in terms of a fine
exceeding this amount. Thus, the size of the fines of the Code of
Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation is
incomparable with the fines imposed by the Federal Law of the
Russian Federation "On the Central Bank of the Russian
Federation (Bank of Russia)". In fact, they are not significant for
credit institutions and cannot be a sufficient incentive for them to
comply with the law. In this situation, it becomes necessary to
eliminate contradictions in legislative acts in order to increase
the effectiveness of tax sanctions and simplify their procedures.
Strict measures against violators of tax legislation should be
combined with measures aimed at maximizing the simplification
of the taxation mechanism. In this context, one should agree with
the recommendations of the well-known tax expert Ch. Maklur,
who immediately after the collapse of the USSR recommended
that new countries build exceptionally simple tax systems [27].
5 Conclusion
Thus, as it was shown by our research, the mechanism of
taxation of credit institutions in the Russian Federation needs
further improvement in order to fully realize the fiscal and
regulatory potential. In general, a set of systemic measures to
improve the mechanism of taxation of credit institutions in the
Russian Federation can be summarized as follows.
First, the creation of tax tactics and strategies in relation to
banks-investors, in order to stimulate investment in the real
sector of the country's economy from the bank capital.
Secondly, in order to achieve the strategic goal, it is necessary to
provide for a differentiated mechanism of taxation of profits of
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