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A regular meeting of the Working Group on International Cooperation and Information Exchange was held in St. Petersburg.

Julia Shepeleva, Deputy Commissioner of the FTS of Russia, noted that effective cooperation among the tax authorities of the CIS Member States remains an important condition for ensuring a transparent tax environment and combating tax violations. “Modern challenges require continuous improvement of information exchange mechanisms, the implementation of digital solutions, and building trust among the tax authorities of our countries. Updating the current regulatory framework will allow us to take our cooperation to a fundamentally new level,” she emphasized.

Alexander Gnedykh, Head of the Regional Office of the FTS of Russia in St. Petersburg, emphasized that developing international cooperation is of particular practical importance for regional tax authorities. “Information exchange among CIS tax authorities helps resolve tax administration issues more efficiently, improve the quality of control, and create a more comfortable environment for compliant taxpayers,” he stated.

The central topic of discussion was the update to the Agreement on Cooperation and Mutual Assistance in Tax Compliance and Combating Tax Violations of June 4, 1999. Participants proposed aligning the core principles of tax cooperation among the CIS Member States with modern standards in key areas such as digitalization, data protection, and adopting current international information exchange practices.

Updating the 1999 Agreement and enhancing automatic information exchange mechanisms aim to improve the efficiency of interaction among tax authorities, strengthen the transparency of economic processes, and create modern tools to counter tax offenses across the CIS.

The updated Agreement will be submitted to the commissioners of tax authorities for approval at the XXXIII meeting of the CIS Tax Commissioners Coordination Council, which will take place in Dushanbe in October 2026.

In addition, the meeting participants discussed the results of a pilot information exchange using new formats and reviewed the final draft of amendments to the Protocol on the Exchange of Information in Electronic Form between the CIS Member States of November 2, 2018. In particular, the tax authorities plan to establish the exchange of data on the equity participation of individuals and legal entities of one member state in the authorized capital of legal entities in another.

The event was attended by representatives of the tax authorities of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, as well as the CIS Executive Committee.