- The Russian parliament has proposed a new bill to grant tax breaks to licensed crypto exchanges.
- Under the new law, the tax would be 13% for Russian companies and 15% for foreign ones.
- The Russian Federation has long expressed mistrust of cryptocurrencies and other digital assets.
As unprecedented western sanctions hit the heart of Russia’s financial system over events in Ukraine, lawmakers in Russia are sponsoring new legislation to soften the blow. On June 28, 2022, the Russian parliament approved a draft law to potentially excuse issuers of digital assets and cryptocurrencies from value-added tax (VAT).
This development came via a report from Reuters in the late hours of June 28. The draft law endorsed by State Duma members in Tuesday’s second and third readings foresees immunities on value-added tax for issuers of digital assets and information systems operators. It also specifies tax rates on income earned from the sale of digital assets.
The current transaction rate is 20%, the same as standard assets. Under the new law, the tax would be 13% for Russian companies and 15% for foreign ones. However, the draft law must still be reviewed by the upper house of the Federal Assembly of Russia and signed by President Vladimir Putin to become law.
The Russian Federation has long expressed mistrust of cryptocurrencies and other digital assets, with its central bank citing concerns over financial stability. However, on February 3, the Bank of Russia granted the first license to exchange digital assets to Atomyze. This firm sells tokenized metal from Russian mining and smelting giant Nornickel’s inventory. After that, in March, the dominant lender Sberbank also secured a permit to issue and trade digital financial assets.