(Tax News Reporter - Week Ended 14 January 1997)
The constitutional court has confirmed that, based on art. 57 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, tax laws which worsen the situation of taxpayers cannot be applied retroactively. The decision was issued in response to the Amendments to the Law on Excise Duties (Law of 7 March 1996) which introduced retroactively new rates of excise duties for goods originating from other CIS countries. In its letter, the Supreme Arbitrage Court states explicitly that the principle should apply to similar cases, which means lower courts could rule in favour of taxpayers who challenge the retroactive levying of taxes.
Letter of the Supreme Arbitrage Court of 2 December 1996 No. S5-7/OZ-710
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No Retroactive Taxes/ Court Rulings
