Legislative changes, regulating electronic workflow standards

Among main legislative acts, regulating the use of electronic workflow in Russia, are:  

• Federal Law No. 149-FZ of July 27, 2006 "On Information, Information Technologies and the Protection of Information" (as amended of July 27, 2010; April 6, July 21, 2011; July 28, 2012; April 5, June 7, July 2, December 28, 2013; May 5, July 21, November 24, December 31, 2014; June 29, July 13 2015;
• The Federal Law No. 63-FZ of April 6, 2011 "On electronic signature" (last edition from 30.12.2015); 
• Civil Code of the Russian Federation, which sets the rules for data exchange between the enterprises and the use of electronic digital signature for authentication information;  
• Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation and Arbitral Procedural Code of the Russian Federation, which consider the possibility of digital documents provision as evidence in case of disputes between organizations.  

Electronic workflow legislation has significantly changed within 2015-2016.

Thus, since 1 January the list of companies, which are obligated to send the reports in electronic format to the tax authorities, has expanded. All companies with staff number more than 25 people are required to do it now. The sanctions for violations while submitting calculations for personal income tax are tightened. The sanctions are provided for late submission or inaccurate information. In case of the delay for more than 10 days, the bank account transactions and electronic funds transfer will be suspended.

According to the Federal Law No. 452-FZ of December 29, 2014 "On the amendments to Article 165 of Part 2 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation" and the order of the Federal Tax Service №ММВ-7-15/427 of September 30, 2015, from 1 October 2015 verification of zero VAT rate application during export was simplified. Instead of paper copies of transportation, shipping and other documents the exporters can provide the registers of these documents in electronic form. Data from the registers are compared with the data of the Federal customs service of Russia. In case of any differences tax authorities can request the original documents. If the originals haven’t been provided within 20 days the zero rate is considered unconfirmed.

Till April 1, 2016 the universal transfer format for electronic workflow with tax authorities will be approved by the Federal Tax Service. It will include the invoice and accounting source document. The type form of the universal transfer format is reflected in the letter of the Federal Tax Service of October 21, 2013 №ММВ-20-3/96 “On absence of tax risks when applying the primary document drawn up on the basis of the invoice”. In 2016 the Federal Tax Service is also planning to approve other electronic formats of original documents. 

According to the experts, the possibility of providing to the tax authorities of all primary documents in electronic format (including documents of other authorities or international organizations) can significantly cut the costs of taxpayers on accounting records maintenance and increase the workforce productivity in this area. On the other hand, it will allow the tax authorities to reduce the desk audit periods and increase the quality control of tax payment.

Besides, in accordance with Federal Law No. 391-FZ of December 29, 2015 "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation", since 1 January 2016 an article 44.2 "Electronic notarial act" "Bases of the legislation of the Russian Federation about the notariate" came into force.

According to the article, the notary can make a notarial act by making a notarial document in electronic form. Individuals and legal entities will be able to assess the significance of this innovation in the nearest future. To get the certified electronic document you need personal qualified electronic signature.

Electronic signatures for individuals and legal entities are issued by the certification authorities.  In 2016 the requirements to certification authorities are significantly tightened. Now certification authority must have 7 mln RUB of net assets (1.5 mln RUB earlier).  The sum of liability insurance increased from 1.5 mln to minimum 30 mln and maximum 100 mln RUB. According to the experts, this can be a serious problem for small regional certification authorities. As a result, the market of certification authority services can be reduced by half.

According to the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation, 402 enterprises are registered in the Register of accredited certification authorities at the moment. You can get acquainted with their activities by subscribing on the Information and Analytical system Globas-i.