Taxpayers may request tax authority to provide information on tax compliance by potential contractors

Pursuant to the requirements of tax and levies laws related to due circumspection and care in choosing contractors, prior to entering into economic contracts in order to reveal bad faith of contractors, to assess and mitigate tax risk and for the avoidance of unjustified tax benefit the taxpayers may refer to the tax authorities at the contracts' location requesting provision of information on their tax compliance.

Substantiating this approach financial agency states that according to article 102 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and Federal Law No. 149-FZ "On information, information technologies and protection of information" of 27 July 2006 information on the taxpayers' performance of their obligation to pay taxes does not constitute a tax secret (Ruling of the Supreme Arbitrazh Court of the Russian Federation No. 16124/10 of 1 December 2010).