Accreditation of a Representative Office or Branch of a Foreign Company in the Russia

One of the legal forms of foreign presence in Russia is a subsidiary of a foreign company in Russia. A subsidiary could be registered in the form of a Representative office (Rep-office) of a foreign company or the Branch of a foreign company in Russia. From a Civil law perspective, the main difference between a Rep-office and a Branch is that the Rep-office has limited powers compared to a Branch office. In addition, a Rep-office generally can’t conduct commercial activity, but a Branch office can. A Rep-office is suitable for foreign companies which are not planning to conduct commercial activity in Russia but instead plan to conduct marketing research, advertising and have supporting functions for Headquarters.

Important notice — in terms of tax legislation, tax status is taken into account as opposed to a legal form of foreign presence. The tax status obtained by a foreign company as a result of regular business activities in Russia is a Permanent establishment (PE).

A Branch office or Rep-office for a foreign company in Russian is obligated to obtain accreditation in Russia.

The procedure for accrediting foreign company branches in Russia is mandatory per Russian law. The right to conduct accreditation belongs to the Interdistrict Inspectorate of the Federal Tax Service No. 47 for Moscow. The accreditation will be ready within 30 working days after all documents were submitted.

During the accreditation, it is also necessary to confirm the number of foreign employees in the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation.

After accreditation, the Rep-office or Branch office of a foreign company in Russian will receive a certificate of accreditation, Tax ID certificate and an extract from the list of accredited foreign companies in Russia.

Then, it is necessary to make a company seal, if needed, to obtain an information letter from the Statistical Register of Economic Entities of the Federal State Statistics Service, develop a registration with non-budgetary funds -Social Insurance Fund and Pension Fund of Russia and to open a bank account.

The list of required documents

• A written application to the IIFTS No. 47 for Moscow, made out under the prescribed form. The application should be signed by the Head of the Branch or any other person authorized by the foreign company. We develop the application.
• Extract from the register of foreign legal entities of the country of origin, or another equivalent legal document confirming the legal status of the foreign legal entity.
• Constituent documents of a foreign legal entity (the Charter) (the document is valid for one year from the date of its legalization).
• A document issued by a competent authority in the country of origin of the foreign company, confirming its registration as a taxpayer in this country with an indication of taxpayer code (or equivalent thereof).
• The decision of the foreign legal entity to open a branch in the Russian Federation. We draft the decision.
• Regulations on the branch of a foreign legal entity in the Russian Federation. The text of the decision is drafted by us. It may be signed in Russia by the Head of the Branch or any other person authorized by the foreign company. We can prepare a bilingual draft of Regulation.
• A notarized power of attorney delegating the necessary powers of the head of the branch of the foreign legal entity in the Russian Federation. We draft this power of attorney.
• A notarized power of attorney to an authorized person for business at the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and IIFTS No. 47 for Moscow (is filed, if the authorized person is not the head of the branch). We draft this power of attorney.
• A copy of the passport and certificate of tax registration (TIN) (if available) of the Head of the Branch of a foreign company
• Information card on the branch of a foreign legal entity.

• Documents are accepted only with authentic marks of consular legalization or apostilled, unless the exemption from these procedures is provided by international treaties of the Russian Federation.
• Documents should be translated into Russian (translation must be notarized or by the consular foreign office).
• Documents are valid for 12 months from the date of issue.
• Power of Attorney and decisions are made with the notary-certified signatures and authorities.

Information to be contained in the documents and to be submitted as additional information:

• Type of activity of a foreign company;
• Location of a foreign company;
• Telephone, e-mail address, website of a foreign company;
• Information on the manager of a foreign company, founder of a foreign company and Head of the branch (passport data, residence address, TIN, date of birth, place of birth);
• If a foreign company founder is a legal entity, information about it should be submitted: name, address, taxpayer’s code, participation share;
• Foreign company registration data (date of registration, registration authority, its location, registration number, taxpayer code);
• Name of the servicing bank of a foreign company, SWIFT code, the number of an account of a foreign company;
• Size of the authorized capital of a foreign company;
• Number of employees of a foreign company;
• Foreign company’s revenue for the preceding financial year;
• Telephone, e-mail address, website of the branch;
• Registration address of the Branch in Russia;
• The objectives and types of activities of the Branch;
• Russianbusinesspartners;
• The number of foreign employees, which the Branch plans to hire.