When a Russian company pays abroad to a service company, it acts as a tax agent for the Treasury: it must withhold VAT and pay it on the foreign company’s behalf.
Vladimir Putin has promised to create an open database of all court decisions and to introduce the practice of Internet broadcasting of court proceedings
The only significant outcome of this battle will be the label of a homophobic city sticking to St. Petersburg for a long time.
Russia will not introduce a luxury tax, at least in a traditional way. Instead, those running expensive cars will have to pay more.