Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a law on Tuesday making first time tax evasion a civil rather than a criminal offence.
The president signed another law amending the country's Tax Code to outlaw custody for suspects in tax evasion cases.
However, "amnesty" will be possible only if tax evaders pay their debts and fines under current tax legislation.
Both houses of Russia's parliament passed the bill, drafted by members of the ruling United Russia party, last week. Earlier in December, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office and the Interior Ministry protested against the law.
In a live interview with three national television channels last Thursday, Medvedev said pre-trial custody on tax-evasion and related charges was unnecessary since suspects in such cases were often released later anyway.
MOSCOW, December 29 (RIA Novosti)
