OREANDA-NEWSThe Federal Tax Service will update the list of countries with which Russia automatically exchanges financial information under a multilateral agreement under the auspices of the OECD. Great Britain disappeared from the list, as well as its "separate administrative units" - the Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey.

The decision of the tax authorities means that Russia will not transmit to the UK information on the financial accounts of British nationals in Russian banks, management companies, brokers and depositories according to a single international standard (CRS). It's assumed that the relevant order of the department will enter into force in 2020. The draft document was published on Thursday.

This decision was made in response to the decision of the British side: in March 2019 it became known that the United Kingdom without explanation explained the Russian Federation from the list of countries for the automatic exchange of financial information in 2019 (for the 2018 reporting year).

Later, the UK tax office told the Russian media that it could not disclose the reasons for the termination of auto-exchange of information with Russia, as this would damage the international relations of the United Kingdom. Experts then suggested that the British decision could be related to competition for Russian capital - for those customers who, for various reasons, wouldn't want to disclose information about their accounts to Russian tax authorities, the UK’s refusal to exchange cars could increase the attractiveness of this jurisdiction in terms of storing funds there . According to experts, the UK is one of the three most popular jurisdictions where Russians hold accounts (by the number of open accounts).

After Britain refuses to exchange cars, the benefits won't affect Russians with accounts in this country. They will continue to be required to submit annual reports to the Russian tax authorities on the movement of funds in their accounts in the UK, regardless of their amount.