Overview

The Russian Supreme Arbitration Court published its resolution on the issue of payment of interest on a late refund of VAT in cases in which a taxpayer who has submitted a tax return declaring an amount of VAT to be refunded has not applied to the tax authority for the tax in question to be refunded. The courts held that interest on an amount of VAT which had not been returned to a taxpayer but was liable to be refunded following a desk tax audit should be assessed disregarding the date on which the taxpayer applied for a refund of the tax in question.

Submitting the case to the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court for examination under the supervisory procedure for court decisions, the panel of judges noted that the tax authority has no obligation to pay back tax which should be refunded until it receives a written application from a taxpayer for a VAT refund.