In 2021, changes were made to the legislation of the Russian Federation regarding the state regulation of cryptocurrencies. According to the latest adopted law, digital currencies, which include cryptocurrency, can be used as a means for investment and capital accumulation, but there is a ban on the purchase of goods and payment for services using such assets. It is forbidden to even advertise the possibility of paying with cryptocurrency. The law came into force at the beginning of 2021 and made adjustments to the tax system and other areas of legal regulation.
According to the law on digital financial assets, cryptocurrency in Russia is legal, but with some restrictions. The state now controls the owners of the cryptocurrency: if a person has cryptocurrency and makes transactions with it, this should be reflected in the tax return. Thus, trading is regulated at the highest level and the concealment of income from cryptocurrency transactions threatens with penalties. However, the current restrictions on the circulation of cryptocurrencies may change in the future, as work on the draft law continues.
As for mining, as a cryptocurrency issue, it is also planned to be regulated from above, but at the time of the adoption of the above-mentioned law, officials did not come to a consensus on how exactly this should happen. Therefore, the question is still in limbo. The fact is that in general, the issue of cryptocurrency is in limbo due to the lack of competence of specialists in Russia.
Interestingly, the law on cryptocurrencies does not prohibit different brands issuing their own cryptocurrency. For example, the Atomyze blockchain technology platform has long been approved by the Central Bank, and the Global Palladium Fund tokens were issued on it at the end of 2020. These tokens can be freely distributed and are not subject to serious taxes. The only condition is the declaration of the total income from cryptocurrencies upon reaching a certain level of profit. What will happen if you hide your income from cryptocurrency turnover from the state? The law provides for strict measures of influence, including imprisonment for up to 3 years. But such measures apply more to companies that can work with cryptocurrency in large volumes. In particular, the amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation state that every owner of digital currencies who has not reported at least 2 out of 3 years to the tax service on conducting cryptocurrency transactions in the amount of 45 million rubles or more will be imprisoned. Such restrictions can scare away the owners of cryptocurrencies, as a result of which a large part of the crypto market can go into the shadows. For citizens who cannot boast of such amounts of transactions, there are also rules. For example, the latest amendments to the law provide for the submission of a report to the fiscal authorities for every 600 thousand rubles a year received with the help of cryptocurrencies. If they find that you are hiding such income and have not paid the appropriate tax, for a start, it threatens with a fine. And with systematic evasion – the opening of a criminal case. However, the government is still developing amendments, fearing that with such tough measures, there may be an outflow of finance from the country to other states, where the legislation is softer in relation to cryptocurrencies. This is likely because in most countries, the ownership and use of cryptocurrency is encouraged by a low percentage of taxation. Therefore, these states are considered promising in terms of cryptocurrency turnover.