Russian upper house extends offshore asset amnesty until Jul 1

MOSCOW, Dec 25 (PRIME) -- The Federation Council, the Russian parliament’s upper house, on Friday adopted a bill to prolong an offshore asset amnesty by six months until July 1, 2016 from December 31, 2015.

Under the law that was to be in force until December 31, Russians were allowed to declare assets, banking accounts, securities and stakes in companies registered in offshore countries and start paying taxes in Russia without criminal persecution if tax avoidance took place before 2015.

But President Vladimir Putin said on December 3 that the procedure was too difficult and held too little guarantees, scaring off the business, so he ordered to extend the amnesty for six months and improve the mechanism.

End