Tax consulting in the Russian Federation: the state and trends

Introduction: the article is devoted to the problems associated with the development of the tax consulting market in the Russian Federation, since the institution of tax consulting and tax consultants have a significant impact on the state of entrepreneurial activity of the citizens, the formation of the state budget and the overall economic development of the state. For this purpose, the author examines the structure, state and trends of the tax consulting market. Using the methods of scientific cognition, first of all, the method of system analysis, it is established that, in fact, the formation and development of tax consulting in Russia have occurred since the formation of tax service. The analysis and evaluation of the activities of tax consultants and the largest consulting groups and companies in the field of taxation in Russia are conducted. Results: it is pointed out that, despite the established practice of functioning tax consulting, today there is still no normative regulation of consulting activities and legislative consolidation of the term “tax consulting”. The analysis of the number of employees of the Federal Tax Service and the number of tax consultants for the period from 2014 till 2016, as well as the determination of the adequacy of the number of tax consultants as a balance of tax inspector - tax consultant in respect of approximately 10/11, leads to the conclusion that in Russia there should be about 140,000 - 145,000 tax consultants. It is noted that the demand for the sphere of tax consulting is confirmed by a fairly stable demand for services in this sphere. The causes of the ambiguous dynamics of the net profit of the largest consulting groups and companies of Russia in the field of taxation for the period from 2014 till 2016 are identified. Conclusions: the adoption of Federal law on Tax Consulting will make it possible to regulate common mechanisms, standards and rules for establishing liability, regulating and developing the activities of tax consultants in Russia. It is proposed to consider as a promising direction the joint organization of work of tax consultants and the state bodies in order to discussthe topical issues of tax consulting, which will reduce the level of tax conflicts.