Illegal VAT Refund for Timber Exports

Elena Yu. Mitusova – Senior State Tax Inspector (Interregional Inspectorate of the Federal Tax Service of Russia No. 9) (Moscow, Russia). Е-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The sphere of timber export is often used by unscrupulous taxpayers for the purpose of illegal VAT refund from the budget. Currently, due to the complication of financial and economic relations, time and labor costs during the control measures carried out by the tax authorities, the negative trend of increasing cases of illegal VAT refunds in the export of timber remains. The solution to this issue is to improve the tax legislation in terms of the procedure for carrying out export operations.

Key words: timber industry complex, timber export, illegal turnover of timber and timber, value added tax, VAT refund.

JEL-codes: E62, H26, H30.