Acsour
The Russian Federal Tax Service (the “Federal Tax Service”) has explained as follows: in order to confirm air travel expenses it is recommended that a boarding ticket should be printed out even if it was issued electronically.
Rules for air transportation have changed since 25 February 2019: during a preflight inspection, a passenger may now use his/her boarding pass that has been issued electronically. It is sufficient to show the boarding pass to pass through the departure zone, or use a special turnstile with a special scanner which reads information from a document. Some Russian airports (Moscow, Ufa, or Kazan) are already equipped with such an information system.
To confirm the fact of the flight a boarding pass must contain the necessary details, for example, an inspection stamp. According to the explanations of the Finance Ministry, if there is no such stamp, the corresponding travel expenses can be confirmed using another method, namely by ordering a certificate from the airline. Ordering such a certificate may prove to be a less advantageous option owing to the additional expenses involved.
Therefore, according to the Federal Tax Service, the most prudent option in such a situation is to show a printed boarding pass on which airport officers will put a stamp during the preflight inspection. To gather other evidence that a flight has been made will be more time-consuming.
Otherwise, if the boarding pass does not contain the necessary details, it will prove impossible to confirm travel expenses for tax purposes.
Please contact Acsour’s specialists with respect to issues of how tax legislation should be applied.
