The Russian Duma adopts a measure to eliminate VAT and reduce income tax rates on sales of digital assets

Russia is using blockchain technology to combat the economic isolation caused by sanctions imposed in response to its invasion of Ukraine.

The lower house of the Russian legislature, the State Duma, has enacted a measure exempting the sale of digital assets from value-added tax (VAT) in the Russian Federation. According to the state-run news agency RIA Novosti, further services of digital asset exchanges will also be excluded.

In addition, the measure set income tax rates of 13 percent for Russian exchanges on the first 5 million rubles (now around $93,000) of the taxable base annually, 15 percent on sums over that level, and 15 percent for foreign exchange operators across the board. The current corporate tax rate is twenty percent.

According to RIA Novosti, the taxation of digital assets under the law is equivalent to securities taxes. The government said in the bill that a distinct tax process for digital assets is essential for the development of a competitive and productive digital economy.

Russia has moderated its scepticism towards virtual currencies as the nation has faced the burden of Western economic sanctions resulting from its invasion of Ukraine. The G7 nations have prohibited the acquisition of freshly mined or processed Russian gold as of this week, and major Russian institutions have been excluded from the SWIFT system. Along with a host of additional restrictions, these actions reportedly contributed to Russia’s default on the international debt service on Monday.

Russia’s Sber bank is prepared to create a stablecoin, and Olga Skorobogatova, the first deputy head of the Russian Central Bank, revealed in an interview published on Thursday that tests of a digital ruble would begin in April 2023 instead of 2024. In progress is a trial initiative comprising 12 Russian banks.

“I believe that within three years, every self-respecting country will have a national digital currency. […] We must be prepared as quickly as possible. In addition, this will resolve the problem of being barred from SWIFT, since this integration would render SWIFT superfluous, as stated by Skorobogatova.

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