On February 12, 2025, Julia Talagaeva and Robert Gurdyumov, Senior Associates at Forte Tax & Law, participated in the annual Tax Conference hosted by the German-Russian Chamber of Commerce (AHK Russland). The event was held on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Chamber in Russia and brought together leading tax experts, including Russian tax authorities, law firms, and businesses.

The conference discussed key changes in tax legislation, tax administration issues, and relevant aspects of currency control in cross-border transactions. Robert Gurdyumov, Senior Associate at Forte Tax & Law, spoke about one of the topical issues—VAT taxation for entities using the simplified tax system and the principles of building relationships with such counterparties. Robert offered practical recommendations on how to mitigate tax risks when working with counterparties that use the simplified tax system in 2025.

The participation of our specialists in such an important event demonstrates the high level of expertise of Forte Tax & Law in the field of tax law and the firm’s desire to keep abreast of the latest changes in legislation. We would be pleased to share our experience and help our clients understand all the intricacies of tax regulation.

If you would like to receive recommendations from Julia Talagaeva and Robert Gurdyumov in person, please contact them for advice.

On September 20, 2024, at Hotel Kostas, the Russian-German Chamber of Commerce held one of the key events of the fall—CFO Conference 2024. It brought together leading financial management experts, enabling participants to discuss current trends, innovative approaches, and development strategies in a modern environment.

Key industry speakers spoke at the conference, including CFOs of large Russian and German companies, representatives of consulting firms and government agencies. The topics discussed included digital transformation in the financial sector, risk management, tax reform, and effective budget planning in the face of uncertainty.

Julia Talagaeva, Senior Associate at Forte Tax & Law, took part in the second panel discussion. She covered the topic ‘Current Practice of Customs Inspections: Dividends, Royalties, VAT, and Customs Value’.

“In 2024, customs audits have shown a considerable growth in efficiency, especially when it comes to the understatement of customs value by importers and inaccurate data on the classification code of goods. Among the risk factors are the payment of dividends and license fees and payment for agents’ services to make payments under foreign economic transactions,” Julia pointed out.

During the event, representatives of Forte Tax & Law shared their experience with their colleagues from other organizations, took part in the discussions, and even received some valuable recommendations that they can later use to implement their clients’ financial strategies.

The pravo.ru portal has conducted a study on corporate law, evaluating the projects run by Russian law firms in terms of the value and number of projects.

For this study, regional law firms submitted 273 projects worth a total of over RUB 1 trillion. Four companies from Saint Petersburg have made it to the top five. These are Kachkin & Partners, Nordic Star Law Offices, Forte Tax & Law, and Legal to Business.

According to the study, since January 2022, Forte Tax & Law has provided support for 31 corporate law projects worth about RUB 40 billion, with the average project value being RUB 1,290 billion. Transactions account for 84% of the number of our projects.

To read the study, click here.

On April 23, 2024, a solemn award ceremony honoring the leaders of the Legal Top 2024 Ranking compiled by the Delovoy Petersburg Publishing House was held at the Palkin restaurant in Saint Petersburg.

Recent decrees of the Russian President are imposing more and more restrictions on payments, settlements, and transactions involving foreign persons. Leading Forte Tax & Law lawyers will host a free webinar to talk about the key restrictions imposed on transactions with a foreign element and share their current experience.

On April 10, 2024, Kommersant released the results of its annual survey—a ranking of Russia’s best law firms. One of the features of this survey is that it assesses not only the best industry practices and ranks individual lawyers. Researchers recognized the expertise of Forte Tax & Law in each of these areas.

On March 19, 2024, the Pravo.ru portal published its annual individual lawyers ranking by area of law. This research is a continuation of the Pravo.ru-300 Law Firm Ranking that was released last December.

We are pleased to announce that two representatives of Forte Tax & Law— Anton Kabakov and Julia Talagaeva—have been elected to co-chair sectoral committees of the Saint Petersburg International Business Association (SPIBA). Julia Talagaeva has become a co-chair of the Legal Committee for the first time, and Anton Kabakov has been re-elected as a co-chair of the Finance Committee.

The November issue of the Zakon magazine has published an article by Anton Kabakov, Partner at Forte Tax & Law, on a most topical issue—the inclusion of dividends in the customs value.

On December 7, 2023, an annual awards ceremony for the leaders of the Pravo.Ru-300 Legal Ranking—the Oscar of the legal world—was held in Moscow. This research is the most authoritative among Russian rankings of law firms.