The Government of the Russian Federation has issued a Resolution approving new conditions for obtaining accreditation of IT companies.
Starting from October 10, 2022, the Ministry for Digital Development Communications and Mass Media (Mintsyfra) has resumed accepting applications for accreditation of IT companies. To do this, it has to comply with the new requirements, namely, meet the following criteria:
- Implementation of the main type of activity under the Russian Classification of Economic Activities code (Russian acronym “OKVED” code), which is included in the list from Appendix 1 of the Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 1729 dated September 30, 2022, for example:
- 0 – development of computer software, consultancy services in this field;
- 02 – consultancy activities and works in the field of computer technology;
- 02.1 – computer system planning and design activities;
- 03.1 – computer systems management activities;
- 03.13 – computer system maintenance activities;
- 1 – data processing activities, provision of hosting services, activity of portals in the information and communication network, etc.
- The average monthly amount of salary and other payments to employees for 3 months (reporting periods) is not lower than the average monthly amount for the country or territorial entity of the Russian Federation, and the penultimate quarter before submitting the application.
Thus, when submitting an application in October of this year, the salaries of employees have to be compared with the data for the second quarter of the same year. The condition is applied to organizations that were established at least a quarter before the application for accreditation was submitted.
- The share of income from IT activities is more than 30% of the total share of income for the previous year.
- The presence of the official website of the IT company, which contains information about the company’s activities in the field of IT and the inclusion of products created or used by the organization in the Register of Russian computer programs and databases (Register).
- Consent sent to the Federal Tax Service to disclose tax secrets (before submitting an application for accreditation).
If the company meets all the above criteria (except for the requirement of the average monthly salary amount), and its income for 2021 exceeds 1 million rubles, then two additional conditions have to be met in order to obtain state accreditation:
- the company is the rights holder of the computer program included in the Register;
- the organization received income from the exercise of rights to the national program during the year preceding the date of submission of the application for accreditation.
If an IT company is a start-up that does not meet the criterion of income share, then in order to obtain accreditation it is necessary to:
- be registered not earlier than 3 years before submitting an application for accreditation;
- have an income of less than 1 million rubles from the moment of registration with the tax authorities;
- comply with the general conditions for obtaining accreditation (except for the share of income).
It is possible to submit an application through the company’s personal account on the State services portal. Both the head of the organization and an authorized person acting on behalf of the head on the basis of a power of attorney can fill in the document. The application is signed with an enhanced qualified electronic signature. It is required to attach to the document:
- a police clearance certificate of the head of the company;
- a certificate of income received by the company from IT activities;
- a signed statement confirming the excess of the share of income from IT activities by more than 30% of the total amount of income, indicating the total amount of income and the percentage ratio between two such figures.
The Mintsyfra may also request additional information, the deadline for providing which should not exceed 5 working days from the date of receipt of such a request.
The deadline for making a decision on state accreditation is 15 working days from the date of submission of the application. Confirmation of the accreditation is an entry in the relevant register. An extract from the register will appear in the organization’s personal account on the State services portal within one working day from the date of entering information about the organization into the register.
Please note that already accredited companies have to make sure that the above criteria are met. In addition, they are required to send consent to the Federal Tax Service to disclose tax secrets by November 1 of this year. Otherwise, their accreditation may be cancelled.
The form of consent and the procedure for filling it in are determined in the Letter No. AB-4-19/11332 of the Federal Tax Service dated August 29, 2022. The document has to be signed with an enhanced qualified electronic signature and sent via the telecommunications link, through other services of the Federal Tax Service or using a personal account on the website of the Federal Tax Service. The fact of sending the document is confirmed by the receipt of acceptance or confirmation of acceptance received from the tax authorities.
The new amendments determine the cases in accordance with which the company is deprived of state accreditation. Such cases are:
- non-compliance with the criteria for maintaining/obtaining accreditation;
- participation of the Russian Federation in a company with a share of such participation of at least 50%;
- presence of arrears on taxes, fees, insurance premiums, debts on penalties, fines in the amount exceeding 3,000 rubles;
- presence of an unexpunged or outstanding conviction of a person holding the position of a sole executive body;
- absence of consent that provides the possibility of disclosure of information representing a tax secret;
- carrying out activities as banks, insurance organizations, etc.
Please be reminded that the availability of a document on state accreditation will allow IT companies to:
- obtain a number of tax benefits, namely the right to calculate profits tax and insurance premiums at reduced rates of 0% and 7.6%, respectively;
- employ foreign employees in a simplified procedure;
- issue a number of documents that give a deferral to IT specialists from draft exemption within the framework of partial mobilization;
In the matters of accreditation of IT companies and the procedure for obtaining state preferences, please contact Acsour specialists.
