Only half a year after introduction of the ban on agency labour the Ministry of Economic Development presented a bill according to which “employee leasing” (co-employment) will be allowed not only to the accredited employment agencies, but also between affiliated companies.

The officials assure that only affiliated companies will be granted the right to use agency labour, and the new rules will first of all increase the protection level of citizens. In particular, the bill provides for liability of the employer and the hirer towards the employee.

The bill of the Ministry of Economic Development is already coordinated with the Ministry of Labour and the Ministry of Finance, and is also supported by the business community. Its introduction to the Government is planned straight after its coordination with the Ministry of Justice and with the Institute of Legislation and Comparative Law.

The Federal Tax Service (FTS) updated its list of the offshore zones that do not support exchange of tax information relating to individuals and legal entities with the Russian Federation. The new list contains 109 states and 19 territories, including Brazil and Liechtenstein.

Be reminded that since April 1, 2016 the income tax of controlled foreign companies (CFC) needs to be paid not only in the country of residence, but also in Russia. By updating the offshore list the FTS hopes to make it more difficult for CFS to conceal income taxes.

The offshore list is to be revised annually until October 1.

According to Federal law N 348-FZ dated 03.06.2016 microenterprises are no longer obliged to adopt internal regulations containing employment law rules, such as employment policies and procedures, provisions on compensation etc., which were previously mandatory for almost all employers. However, to regulate such issues the employer will still be obliged to include the necessary provisions directly in the employment contract and such contracts should be based on the standard form approved by the Government of the Russian Federation.

According to Federal law N 209-FZ dated 24.07.2007 microenterprises are small businesses with the number of employees not exceeding 15 people and the gained income for the previous calendar year no more than 120 million rubles.

The adopted bill also explains that in case a microenterprise ceases to meet legislative requirements, the general requirements (obligation to adopt employment law regulations) are to be applied upon four months from entering the relevant changes into the register of small and medium enterprises.

New Federal law N 237-FZ dated 03.07.2016 establishes the procedure and conditions for cadastral assessment and cadastral cost evaluation of real estate objects, specifically regarding future introduction of the Unified State Register of Real Estate (USRRE).

According to the Governmental Decree N 316 dated 08.04.2016 the state cadastral assessment is carried out at least once in 5 years for all land categories. The new law establishes additional timeframe: no more than once in 3 years in general and no more than once in 2 years for the federal cities. Assessment results approved by the authorized body will come into force on January 1 following the assessment year, but not earlier than one month from the date of the official publication of the assessment results. Results of the assessment should be consequently transferred to the registering body for entering into USRRE. For newly created real estate object results of the assessment come into force from the moment of entering the data into USRRE.

Results of the cadastral assessment can be challenged in the specially created regional commissions, or through judicial proceedings. It is possible to appeal to court without preliminary appeal to the commission.

According to the website of the Presidential Executive Office, issuance of the certificates of the state registration of real estate property rights is to be cancelled from July 15, 2016. From then on, to establish the property owner, anyone can request such information from the Federal Service of State Registration, Cadastre and Cartography of the Russian Federation in paper form or through the common government services portal of Russian Federation.

The amendments are aimed to decrease fraudulent deals with individuals and do not change the procedures relating to real estate transactions.