Supreme Arbitration Court decides that exemption is applicable to dividends distributed from profits of prior years

In the Decision N VAS-13840/12 issued on 29 November 2012, the Supreme Arbitration Court declared void the Decree N 03-03-10/34 issued by the Ministry of Finance on 4 April 2012 based on which the application of the exemption of dividends that were paid from the profits of prior years could not be applicable.

Based on the Tax Code, as of 2008, exemption of dividends received by Russian resident companies is available. To qualify for the exemption, the taxpayer has to meet the following r…