The subject of the research is the tax burden of organizations engaged in new types of activities using digital information and communication technologies. The purpose of the research was to determine the specific features of the crypto economy to be taken into account in the development of measures for the tax regulation of organizations in the digital economy. It was established that the transformation of approaches to information exchange allowing economic agents to make transactions on the basis of digital platforms not linked to the geographical borders of states makes legal entities and individuals more reluctant to delegate some of the powers to the state as an institution of power. The paper classifies foreign practices of direct taxation of incomes from purchase and sale of crypto-currency, which made it possible to identify prospects for the development of tax regulation in Russia. The conceptual scenarios of taxation of cryptoproducts are analyzed and it is concluded that in creating a cryptocurrency the deferred recognition of the object of taxation is advisable in order to reduce the tax risks of users.
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Legal and Policy Issues
Economic and Technological Developments in Russia
Digitalization and Economic Development in Agriculture
The paper focuses on the definition of the legal status of the cryptocurrency in the framework of the current Russian legislation. The subject of the research is the principal scientific and practical approaches to determining the object of civil rights and the object of acquisitive crimes in terms of their adaptability to cryptocurrencies. The purposes of the work were the search for a universal algorithm for resolving civil disputes related to the turnover of the crypto currency, and the qualification of the virtual currency theft (fraud). By using historical, comparative legal and dialectical methods as well as the content analysis method parallels between cryptocurrencies and individual objects of civil rights (a thing, property rights, other property) were drawn, and a number of options for qualifying the actions related to the non-repayable withdrawal of the cryptocurrency were proposed. Finally, the paper analyzes the draft laws prepared by the RF Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of the Russian Federation and presents the author’s vision of the prospects for legalizing the cryptocurrency as an object of civil rights.
The article considers the Swiss model of fiscal municipalization from the ideological and methodological positions of the anthroposociocultural approach. Such components of this approach as historical and genetic methods together with the method of system-structural analysis were applied especially thoroughly and consistently. By means of them it was found that the Swiss model of fiscal decentralization is an attributive part of the construction of public power in Switzerland – municipalization from bottom to top. Special attention is drawn to defining the basic legal features of the Swiss model of fiscal municipalization. It is argued that subsidiarity does not paradigmatically coincide with decentralization: the principle of subsidiarity postulates the sovereignty of the basic territorial collectives and considers the possible conditions for its limitation for general social needs and values. On the contrary, the principle of decentralization has the national level of governance as the starting point and considers the conditions of delegation of certain tasks and competences by the state to the lower levels of public power hierarchy in the principal frames of state sovereignty. Specificity of the principle of subsidiarity in Switzerland is that cantons play dual role from the standpoint of administrative federalism. On the one hand, they are the bearers of sovereignty of public power, including taxation. On the other hand, they are the sole bearers of administrative authority and are obliged to serve national interests, that is, the needs of the entire Swiss Confederation. Paradox is that this service function of the cantons gives them considerable benefits in the inevitable opposition to the Union state, when it comes to provision of services of the entire fiscal system and the entire system of public finance.
In the current article the legal nature and properties of the cryptocurrency phenomenon are disclosed through the analysis and comparison of the results of «judicial finding» of law that are recorded in the judicial acts. The author reveals, that judicial law of the different jurisdictions goes on the path of recognition of the bitcoin’s (and other cryptocurrencies) nature as the phenomenon that possesses the basic legal properties of money. It is established, that judges in the predominant majority use the following definitions for the characteristic of cryptocurrency: a decentralized currency; an asset that serves as a means of exchange and/or a measure of value; an anonymous digital currency; a virtual currency; an asset that serves as a means of payment; a digital production; an anonymized settlement system; a non–traditional money, etc. The author shows, that cryptocurrencies (in that sense in which they are interpreted in judicial law) have attributive properties that are inherent for the anthroposociocultural phenomena: cryptocurrencies are existentially rooted, they have a spontaneous and at the same time procedural character, they dynamically transformed into the universal phenomenon from the local phenomena, cryptocurrencies act as a natural way of self–regulation, distribution, redistribution and exchange of goods in society between its representatives, primarily in the private sector. The author substantiates the fundamental sense of the «judicial finding» of the legal nature and properties of cryptocurrency, which consists in the synthesis of the pluralistic nature of both crucial phenomena of social life – law and money: cryptocurrencies, as the phenomena that possess the qualities of money, act as the objects (subjects) of the factual life relations in which the question about the law raises. Thereby in the article it is once and again confirmed the full reliability and validity of one of the main Eugen Ehrlich’s theoretical and methodological conclusions, which he made more than a century ago – the conclusion about the poly–ontological nature of law, which is under no circumstances limited to the positive law and therefore cannot be narrowed to the positive legal norms.. Keywords: method of the judicial finding of law; nature of law; legal nature of cryptocurrency (bitcoin); legal properties of cryptocurrency (bitcoin). Received: 22.02.2018 Accepted: 23.03.2018 https://doi.org/10.31861/ehrlichsjournal2018.02.024
The paper analyzes the specific nature of high-tech systems in IT area in terms of the transition to the digital economy (Digital Economy of the Russian Federation program). The research identifies the characteristics of legal regulation of databases, distributed ledgers, and blockchain technology. The author determines that the legal regime of databases is admissible with regard to the above-mentioned systems. The study reveals the aspects of special sectoral laws and regulations applied to databases in order to introduce distributed ledgers and blockchain technology. The research considers the dual nature of database laws governing blockchain technology in different ways. The author concludes that laws and regulations concerning databases can be implemented to introduce distributed ledgers and blockchain technology considering their specific legal nature for particular legal relations.
A. Goriacheva, N. Jakubenko, O. Pogodina, Dmitry S. Silnov
This article is devoted to the exploration of services of anonymizing transactions, based on the Mixer, CoinJoin and CoinSuffle technologies, as well as to the description of the core principles of operation of these technologies and technical details. It analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of different realizations of this service. It formulates the problem of cryptocurrency laundering through anonymization services and offers solutions to this problem.Keywords: cryptocurrency, blockchain, bitcoin, mixing service, mining, money laundering.
D A Zakoldaev, Rodion V. Yamshchikov, Nadezhda V. YAmshchikova
The article analyzes the development and use of the blockchain technology in Russia. The authors assess the implemented solutions of the “distributed register” technology, the national blockchain platform Masterchain and the “Digital economy” program in particular. The process of developing solutions for the digitalization of different sectors of the economy is considered. Support of the “digital” trend of the country development by the first persons of the state is also scrutinized. Having analyzed the political practice and legal framework, the authors come to the conclusion about the need for joint work of all branches of the government on the construction of a digital society in modern Russia.
The research is connected with tackling the issue of the expediency \nof giving the legal status to cryptocurrency as an alternative monetary \nsystem. Thorough research has been given to foreign experience and legal \nprecedents with use ofcomparative-legal and sociological methodology.As \na conclusion, using an alternative monetary system requires a balanced \napproach. When blockchain technology has become widely spread all over \nthe world, the participants of the virtual money turnover should deal with \neach other on the legal basis. It calls for the working outof basic concepts \nand categories with regard to the use of virtual monetary units
The article analyzes the current state of digital economy and crypto currency. It also attempts to outline the main development directions of the Russian legislation on legal regulation of digital currency usage on the basis of current national legislation and foreign experience. Significant attention is given to digital economic concept, its main paths, development of legal framework for digitalization of economic processes. The article includes a review of modern scientific publications on questions under investigation and highlights the necessity of the complex approach both to the analysis of phenomena under study and to their legal regulation. It is also shown that crypto currency circulation is ambiguous and multifaceted and it has both financial advantages and criminological threat. Special consideration is given to the provisions of the draft law on “Digital Financial Assets”, the first project dedicated to the regulation of relations arising in the creation, release, storage and circulation of digital financial assets, which contains key definitions for the legal regulation of cryptocurrencies and transactions with them in the Russian Federation.
The article is devoted to the theoretical justification of the need to introduce criminal law prohibitions on criminal encroachments in the sphere of cryptocurrency turnover in Russia. The author analyzes the principles and grounds for the criminalization of such acts in connection with their increased public danger. The article examines the prerequisites, grounds and justification for criminalizing criminal offenses in the field of cryptocurrency turnover, problems of applying current criminal law provisions to acts committed using cryptocurrency, examines the opinions of law enforcement officials, prosecutors and the court, relating to the category of cases considered. The author's position on problematic issues is presented.
The article is devoted to the study of legal resources, within the framework of information objects, the provision of Russian legislation. There are several approaches to the designation of the legal nature of detachments. The conclusion is that bloksn should not be considered as a separate information object. From the position of information law, offered primarily as a kind of information technology, on the basis of which there is a collection, processing, storage and transmission of information. From a legal point of view, the notebook can also be viewed as a decentralized distributed database ("ledger") of all confirmed transactions made with respect to certain assets, within the scope of which cryptographic algorithms lie. In the majority of cases, the block system should be considered as an information system, which is a register of information, as well as information processing technologies, including the formation and storage of accurate, specific data, confirming the totality of property and other rights and obligations of their holders, and allowing for electronic payments and other legally significant actions.
the development of digital economics has taken on vital importance nowadays. Entrepreneurs in their business actively use digital technologies by which they enter into civil law relationships of different nature. Cryptocurrency usage in commerce is one of the most topical issues discussed in a legal community. The article analyzes an issue of legal regulation of cryptocurrency which logically follows digital technologies and digital economics development. Presently there are no legislative mechanisms of cryptocurrency turnover and usage regulation. The main aim of the article is to develop legal suggestions for cryptocurrency effective regulation. With this aim the author has analyzed cryptocurrency development trend in the Russian Federation, studied experience of foreign countries (USA, Germany, France, China and Japan). In his article the author offers for the legal community a single matrix of the cryptocurrency legal regulation which comprises three levels: international, regional and national.
The article is devoted to the study of legal nature of smart contracts. Smart contracts definitions are analyzed, the data in the project of the Federal law «About digital financial assets» № 419059-7 (passed by the Gosudarstvennaya Duma in the first reading 20.05.2018), and in the technical, legal and economic literature, and outlines the main approaches to defining the legal nature thereof. The author comes to the conclusion that nowadays smart contracts should be qualified as technical means of contract performance, and that the statutory rules applicable to electronic contracts cannot apply to smart contracts.
The current article deals with a performance of obligations arising from a smart contract. Author considers the possibility of legal definition of such a performance and application of a previously expressed consent in these circumstances. It is proved that the performance of obligations from a smart contract has its own legal characteristics that differ from what is described in the Civil Code of the Russian Federation as for performance of obligations, and is automated. Using the category «automated performance» the author refers to Russian bills and foreign acts on smart contracts. The author is to offer the following definition for practical use of smart contracts: «performance of obligations as well as using, modifying and ending of rights can be done automatically on the basis of electronic algorithm confirmed by parties by previously expressed consent with the provisions of a contract». The author also analyses the newest Russian and foreign practice as for performance of obligations from a smart contract, and courts positions if there is an omission in a smart contract.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution and the accelerated development of cyber-physical technologies lead to essential changes in national tax systems and international taxation. The main areas in which taxation meets cyber-physical technologies are digitalization, robotization, M2M and blockchain technologies. Each of these areas has its own opportunities and problems. Three main approaches towards possible solutions for these new problems are identified. The first is to try to apply taxation to new cyber-physical technologies and products of their application. This approach includes the OECD's Action 1 Plan on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting. It also includes the spread of traditional taxes on new objects -personal data, cryptocurrencies, imputed income of robots. The second is to replace digital transactions and shortfalls in revenues by traditional objects of taxation in the form of tangible assets and people and / or increase tax pressure (including by improving tax administration with use of Big Data) and the degree of progressiveness of taxes already levied on such objects. The third approach is to set a course on building a new tax space with smart taxes based on real-time principles, smart contracts and Big Data. This implies a transition to automatic taxation using blockchain technologies, which focus on the functions of applying distributed ledgers of business transactions in realtime. At present, the general trends are such that the first and second are prevalent, which is manifested in an increase in the relative importance of property, sales and employment taxes. Concerning the third approach, any movement in this direction is still facing a number of technical and other problems and is thus being discussed mainly at the conceptual level