The Law Was Adopted. Starting from 2021, Reporting Will Be Conducted Electronically

Rosstat informs that amendments to the Federal Law “On Official Statistical Accounting and the State System in the Russian Federation” have come into power.

Starting December 30, 2020, all legal entities and citizens carrying out entrepreneurial activities without forming a legal entity (individual entrepreneurs) are to use primary statistical data on the forms of federal statistical observation exclusively in an electronic document signed with an electronic signature. For small businesses, this rule begins to operate on January 1, 2022.

The move to collecting information electronically is an important step towards making it easier to work with respondents and improving data quality. Earlier, from January 1, 2020, under the Federal Law "On Accounting", the obligation was introduced to provide a mandatory copy of accounting (financial) statements in electronic form, which assumes that all entrepreneurs and organizations have a strengthened qualified signature that can be used when submitting primary statistical data.

In turn, Rosstat provided the conditions for respondents to receive primary data in electronic form through the Web collection or special communication operators.

As a result, the majority of respondents have experience in reporting in XML format. Also, at the end of 2020, the share of large and medium-sized enterprises and non-profit organizations that submit statistical reports to state authorities in electronic form amounted to 90%.

If questions arise about the practical implementation of the requirements for the mandatory submission of statistical reports in electronic form, the territorial bodies of Rosstat are always ready to advise and help respondents.

We are confident that the provision of statistical reporting exclusively in electronic form allows us to shorten the time frame for statistical reporting, ensure its completeness and reliability, and improve the quality of official statistical information.