According to the Central scientific research and computing lab of Russia’s Federal Tax Service, Russian companies have a chance to ask the tax officials for information on their potential business partners now.

‘Prior to going through a transaction, one is better off checking out the other party with the help of a tax officer and finding out things like when the company was actually set up, whether it produces all the accounting records and pays taxes regularly. Tax inspectorates could provide one with the information needed to make a decision,’ Deputy GD of the lab Yuri Volkov said to Novosti, the Russian Federation Agency for Information and Analytics.

Mr Volkov said that a tax inspectorate was not a fiscal but a controlling body whose duties consisted in checking if the taxes were paid in full. He noted that the Federal Tax Service was currently building up ties with the other state authorities. ‘We are already cooperating with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Rosnedvizhimost (the real estate regulating authority), the customs, Russian Pension Fund, RosEnergo, the agricultural and water resource watchdogs and a number of other entities, and we are prepared to communicate with other organizations as well. Their information is really helpful in our work,’ Mr Volkov observed.

‘In theory, one could create very strict controlling mechanisms using the data provided by several organizations and entities,’ Mr Volkov said.