Repatriation is what? Who has the right to repatriation and how is it produced?

In the world of politics and business, the term "repatriation" is widely used. In what values and for what purpose does this occur most often?

The meaning of the word "repatriation"

In a general sense, "repatriation" is the return of someone or the return of something from another country to their homeland. It can be, for example, citizens who come to the state in which they were born and grew up, from abroad, where they for some reason lived for a long time. As a rule, this kind of repatriation is typical for people returning to their ethnic homeland. At the level of international law, this phenomenon was fixed at the Geneva Convention in 1949.

There they considered issues of repatriation in peacetime - as opposed to the practice of moving citizens between countries in the period of recent military operations. There are other interpretations of the term. These include, for example, the repatriation of capital: when the money earned by a person abroad is returned to his homeland. This term can also be related to the sphere of culture and art. In this case, those or other values that are located abroad, return to the country of historical origin.

Civil Repatriation: World Experience

People returning home after a long life abroad are called repatriates. In different countries, the practice of government interaction with these persons may have national peculiarities. In some countries, repatriates are in the status of settlers who have the right to temporary residence. In others, people returning from abroad soon become citizens. There are countries with a very large share of such persons. In Israel, for example, a fifth of the population is repatriated.

Among the states that pay attention to the return of people of the indigenous ethnos or former citizens to their homeland - Russia, Armenia, Greece, Germany, Hungary, the Baltic States. Repatriates in these countries are guaranteed a wide range of civil rights. According to some experts, the return of people to their historical homeland is an exceptionally positive phenomenon. In many respects because the demographic, labor resources of the country are replenished. Repatriation is a blessing for the country, based on this point of view.

When the capitals flow to their homeland

There are many interpretations that determine what is the repatriation of funds. This may be, as some experts believe, a conscious attempt by the state to return previously illegally exported capital. Thus, in this vein, the term in question is an element of national monetary and credit regulation. Management of repatriation of money helps the government and the Central Bank of the country to control inflation, the exchange rate of the national currency, and ensure the quality of financial settlements in the economy. Some states specialize in the export of capital, an integral part of the work with which will also be repatriation, which allows them to improve national indicators of the balance of payments and currency exchange processes. In the process of cross-border movement of money, as a rule, not only countries that are the birthplace of the owner of capital are involved, but also the state from which the money is exported. Currency flows may be subject to special types of taxes. There are many legal subtleties when conducting cross-border payments within the repatriation channels.

Goals persecuted by states when repatriating money

Any interstate finance movement, including such a phenomenon as the repatriation of foreign exchange earnings, is an instrument of the national economic development strategy. As mentioned above, there are countries that export their capital. There are also state-importing currencies. Their policies often depend on the real state of affairs in the economy: under normal, stable development, restrictions on import and export of capital are weakened, but when a crisis sets in, the turnover of cash flows can be strictly limited. Especially when it comes to the repatriation of money invested in the economy of such countries. Regulation of the movement of capital can be carried out in the interests of national monopolies, as well as with a view to adjusting economic macroeconomic indicators. The state can provide additional guarantees for the cross-border movement of finance on its behalf, provide insurance protection of foreign capital in the presence of political risks.

Stock exchange - capital repatriation accumulator

A special case of repatriation of capital is the return to the homeland of the profits received from investments abroad. In modern interstate economic partnership, this procedure is most often associated with the stock market. National funds, where the trade is conducted, as a rule, form the bulk of the capital at the expense of attracting money from foreign investors. As such, the repatriation of profits is carried out at the time of the sale of shares.

The investor changes them for money that can be cashed in his country, and leaves, therefore, from the market where the trade is conducted. Of course, due to the minimum restrictions on the international purchase and sale of shares, such cycles can be carried out several times a day - then the stock market is created. But from a formal point of view, the conclusion of the profits received in the course of trading on the RTS or the MICEX by foreigners is full repatriation. This allows us to talk about the interest in the positive dynamics of investment by the government.

Return to the homeland of cultural values

In states that have a rich national culture, there are remarkable examples of folk art, as well as art objects obtained in the course of international exchange. For various reasons, all these values can be provided abroad. Most often this is due to military actions or liberties in colonial politics in imperial times. Today, the states in which cultural values have been created that have found themselves in other countries are actively working to return the national heritage to their homeland.

Their goal is the repatriation of cultural property. The largest conferences are held on issues related to the practice of partnership between different countries on this issue. Particularly active are states with a history that goes back to antiquity: Egypt, Greece, Libya. Do not remain in the country of Africa and Latin America. The main difficulty of the talks is that states, where cultural values are now, do not always recognize the legitimacy of these or those requirements from the international community.

Home, to Russia

The Russian Federation historically belongs to the countries most actively participating in migration processes. Some citizens of the Russian Federation leave for various reasons, while others return no less actively. This phenomenon could not be left without attention of the authorities that issued the law "On repatriation to Russia". In accordance with this act, the Russians, Ukrainians, Byelorussians and representatives of other nationalities belonging to the indigenous peoples born in the country have the right to return to the Russian Federation and obtain citizenship.

People who come to Russia receive material support and other forms of assistance from the government. Assistance can be provided both on a grant basis and in the form of a loan. Work with people returning to their homeland is conducted at the level of federal authorities. Thus, repatriation to Russia is an element of state policy.

Why did the Russians leave their homeland?

Returnees seeking to return to the Russian Federation as a historical homeland, as a rule, are representatives of one of four groups of emigrants. The first belongs to the Russians who left the country after the Revolution of 1917, to the second - those who left their homeland after the end of World War II, to the third - citizens who expressed a desire to move to a permanent place of residence abroad in the middle of the 20th century (mainly in the 70s Years). Finally, a large-scale wave of emigration covered the Russian Federation after the collapse of the USSR.

Some historians believe that in each of the marked periods, the mass departure of citizens abroad is caused not so much by the personal will of people as by the realities of the socio-political life and the state of the country's economy. Some experts note that it is very good that the program of repatriation of people born in Russia exists at the level of federal legislation - this shows the state's willingness to give the once-left Russians the opportunity to feel themselves full citizens.

Business abroad: the subtleties of monetary settlements

Repatriation of capital directly relates to residents of the Russian Federation, leading foreign trade activities. In relation to them, there is a commitment in the laws: to ensure that foreign entities (non-residents) receive money for goods and services from accounts with authorized banks. Residents' money should also be returned to Russia if the foreign partner received an advance payment, but did not deliver its own goods or services to Russia. Under the exception (when there is no need to make any refunds to Russia, that is, to repatriate, it is not necessary), cases when relations with foreign partners are based on the performance of certain types of credit (debt) obligations.

Taxation of repatriated capital

In some countries, there is such a phenomenon as a tax on the repatriation of non-resident income. It is levied directly from the source at the actual withdrawal of money abroad. Payment of this tax is made by the entity, which transfers to the non-resident this or that type of income: interest, royalties, dividends. As a rule, this type of fees refers only to passive income.

The legislation of some countries provides for special tax deductions in the event of payment of repatriation fees. For example, if a citizen who conducts business abroad has paid these taxes to foreign coffers, then he is entitled to compensation in the process of calculating fees to the treasury of his state (or a decrease in the calculated amounts).

Income tax rate for repatriation of income

It should be noted that there are currently no universal international norms governing the procedure for paying income tax (or determining its amount). Moreover, within each individual country there can be a very complex system for calculating the amount of fees to the treasury for a given reason. In Ukraine, for example, the amount of the fee depends on the jurisdiction where the investor comes from. For example, for Cyprus this figure is zero. In turn, for some EU countries, the repatriation tax may be 10% or higher. Much depends on the percentage of ownership of the shares of a subsidiary, registered in Ukraine, from the terms of the investment.