The Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) has recommended to the Ministry of Finance and the Federal Tax Service to introduce a special tax regime for operations with digital financial assets (DFA). This, reports RBC.
RSPP proposes:
- exempt from 20% VAT operations related to the issuance, circulation, and redemption of DFA and digital rights;
- levy a 20% corporate income tax on the issuer of a DFA only if there is a positive financial result from the asset’s issuance;
- exempt from corporate income tax nonprofit organisations that receive donations for acquiring DFA and form “digital funds”;
- levy a 13% personal income tax on the sale or redemption of DFA on the difference between the purchase and sale price. The amount should be calculated cumulatively for all DFAs for the tax period.
The authors of the document argue that their initiative will remove legal barriers to the issuance, circulation and redemption of DFA, and also stimulate the cryptocurrency market.
The Finance Ministry said that the RSPP proposals are currently under review. Experts note that DFA taxation should take effect together with the sectoral law “On Digital Financial Assets” on 1 January 2021, so the corresponding bill should be considered during the autumn session of the State Duma of the Russian Federation.
Back in July, the law “On DFA” was enacted. DFAs include digital equivalents of promissory notes, shares, bonds and equity rights issued on the blockchain.
The document recognises cryptocurrencies as property and prohibits using them to pay for goods and services within the Russian Federation.
In amendments to the law, the Ministry of Finance proposed banning the circulation and issuance of cryptocurrencies, with the exception of transfers by inheritance and recoveries in bankruptcy and enforcement proceedings. Violators could face up to seven years in prison.
Despite the absence in the legislation of a tax mechanism for cryptocurrencies, as early as 2016 the Federal Tax Service of Russia recommended reporting on deals involving the purchase and sale of digital assets, deeming them to be currency operations.
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