Russian Tax Legislation

Author: Dimitry Paranyushkin (on 14 Oct 2019)

If you are working or running a company in Russia you are subject to several different taxes, which you should be aware of in order to make sure you don't break the law. While the punishments are not too severe, you might face fines and extra costs when in fact if you know how the Russian tax system works you might end up paying much less taxes than you expect.

To give you the most basic idea: if you are a company with a turnover of less than 150 Mln rubles (that's €2 Mln) a year, you can apply for a special low-maintenance tax status called Simplified Tax System (УСН - упрощенная система налогообложения - USN in Russian), which means you pay either 6% on your revenue or 15% on your profit (as you choose). This makes Russia effectively into a tax-heaven that not so many people know about. You can also apply for the same status as an individual and in that case you pay the same taxes without founding an official Limited company, which means less paperwork and lower costs. This will be your best bet also if you are working for several companies or if your income is not regular: register as an individual entrepreneur, apply for the USN and pay only 6 or 15%. If you'd like to learn more, read our article on the  personal income tax liability in Russia.

In other cases you are liable to those taxes:

 
Value Added Tax (VAT) in Russia

According to the Tax Code of the Russian Federation VAT is to be paid by Russian legal entities, including those with foreign investments, foreign legal entities and legal entities involved in import-export transactions.
Russian VAT legislation provides that turnovers from the sale of goods, works and services in Russia, and goods imported to Russia are to be included in the tax base for VAT purposes.

Rates of VAT in Russia are the following - 0%, 10% and 20%.
The general tax rate is 20% (since 2019). Tax rate of 10% applies to a wide range of food products, goods for children, periodical press and some medical goods.
Tax rate of 0% is a kind of a tax benefit, and the right to its application has to be proved by certain documents. The tax rate of 0% applies, for example, for exported goods, technological equipment imported.
There are certain kinds of activity that are exempt from VAT, e.g. insurance, banking operations.
There are also some tax exemptions and tax benefits concerning activity of foreign organizations and  their representative offices on the territory of the Russian Federation.
Lease of premises by foreign citizens and foreign organizations that have accreditation on the territory of the Russian Federation is exempt from VAT on the reciprocity base, provided that all necessary requirements of the tax legislation are met.
Foreign organizations and their representative offices may also have abatement of VAT assessment even conducting commercial activity but keeping in mind certain legislative conditions and practical issues.
As for foreign legal entities that are not registered with Tax Authorities, VAT payments for sale of goods, works and services by these organizations shall be withheld by tax agents.
Generally speaking, VAT returns are required to be filed and remittances (payments of VAT) paid no later than the 20th day of the month which is the tax period for VAT.
Responsibility for the timely submission of VAT returns and remittances (payments of VAT) lies entirely on the taxpayer.
Small businesses (Russian companies, not foreign representative offices) can apply for a "simplied tax system" at the local tax office and, thus, become exempt from paying VAT if their turnover does not exceed a certain amount per annum (150 Mln R = €2 Mln). Such companies can also have foreign companies as share owners but not more than 25% (so you could do 75% personal ownership and 25% foreign company ownership).

 

Profit Tax in Russia

According to the current Russian legislation the taxpayers of profits tax are Russian organizations and foreign organizations that conduct their activity through so-called "permanent establishment" and receive profits on the territory of the Russian Federation.
It is very important to know that a Representative Office in its usual meaning is not the same as "permanent establishment" in the meaning of the Tax Code.
For the purposes of profits tax "permanent establishment" is defined as a branch, a Representative Office, a division, a bureau, an office, an agency or another separate subdivision or place of regular activity of a foreign organization on the territory of the Russian Federation. This activity may be connected with rendering of services and performance of other kinds of activity involved in the receipt of income on the territory of the Russian Federation. However, preparatory and ancillary (subsidiary) activity of a foreign legal entity doesn't establish "permanent establishment" on the territory of the Russian Federation.

Rates for profits tax in Russia are fixed in the following range:
24% is a general tax rate, 20% tax rate applies for income from foreign organizations' activity that does not establish "permanent establishment" on the territory of the Russian Federation,
15% tax rate applies if a foreign organization has profits in the form of dividends if it takes participation in a Russian legal entity, 10% tax rate applies for the income from use, maintenance and lease of ship, craft, planes and other means of transport in international carriage.

For taking advantageous and legally acceptable decision of profits tax payment for a foreign organization (or its Representative office), the following criteria should be taken into account: the kind of activity of a foreign legal entity, its duration, application of double tax treaties.

Foreign legal entities that conduct their activity on the territory of the Russian Federation should distinguish two meanings that may apply to them in accordance with the Tax Code: "source of incomes" and "source of payment". If a foreign legal entity is not registered with Tax Authorities, but has the "source of payment" on the territory of the Russian Federation, its tax agent has the duty to pay tax from the "source of payment".

If the state where a foreign legal entity is incorporated has a double tax treaty with the Russian Federation, its provisions may apply in two ways:
1. A foreign legal entity that is not registered with Tax Authorities may obtain (seek for) preliminary exemption from taxation upon condition that this legal entity submits the document confirming its permanent place of business and payment of taxes on the territory of the state where it is incorporated.
2. The second way is "tax refund". In this regard a foreign legal entity should submit to Tax Authorities the following documents:
• a claim (application) to Tax Authorities for tax refund
• a document confirming a permanent place of business of a foreign legal entity in the state of its incorporation that has double tax treaty with the Russian Federation
• a copy of a contract (or other document) according to which a foreign legal entity received income
• copy of payment documents confirming payment of taxes to the budget of the Russian Federation
According to the Tax Code refund of a tax sum is to be made in one month from the day of submission of all necessary documents to tax authorities.


This free independent travel guide to Russia exists thanks to the commission we get when you order these hand-picked trusted third-party services or when you buy our book. Please, support us!

 


 

Assets Tax in Russia

Assets tax is one of the most important among the regional taxes. If a Representative Office, or a foreign organization, or its branch, or subdivision has the assets on the territory of the Russian Federation, it should pay assets tax.
The legislative body of each region of the Russian Federation determines (fixes) the final size of assets tax rate, but the latter can't exceed 2% of the tax base (which equals the annual average value of the assets).

From January, 1, 2004 a new chapter to Tax Code that governs assets tax came into force. The following main provisions of this chapter should be mentioned:
1. The maximum size of assets tax rate will not exceed 2.2%
2. Representative Offices that don’t conduct commercial activity, i.e. not create “permanent establishment” on the territory of the Russian Federation, will not pay assets tax on the assets/property other than real estate that it owns.

 

Unified Social Tax

Unified Social Tax (UST) represents a social tax package that every employer has to pay to state funds. UST consists of contributions to the Pension Fund, Social Security Fund and Obligatory Medical Insurance Fund. The total rate of UST is 35.6%.
The somewhat high rate of 35.6 % can be reduced quite considerably. The Tax Code of the Russian Federation provides for the so called regression scale, enabling a reduction of the 35.6% rate depending on employee's total earnings. The "the-higher-the-wage - the-less-is-the-rate" rule is applied.

Until January, 1, 2003 remuneration and benefits paid to foreign citizens did not generate a UST liability, provided that the foreigner concerned was unable to benefit from the funds either by law or contract. Starting from January 1, 2003 employers of foreign citizens are subject to UST on all remunerations and benefits paid to such foreign citizens. These changes have risen the issues of double taxation with respect to UST. Double taxation is generally avoided by the conclusion of social security agreements (so called “totalization agreements”). However, Russia doesn't have any of such agreements signed. The only consolation at this time is that the rate of UST in Russia is insignificant in comparison with the rates applicable in many other countries.

There are different ways of avoiding UST liability, one of the most popular one being the outsourcing of services (so called "secondment") agreements. However, in this regard other issues may arise: on the one hand, VAT should be taken into account, but on the other hand, the Tax Code allows the deduction of expenses on services for profit-tax purposes.

There may be many peculiarities in every situation, thus the professional advice taking into consideration all advantages and disadvantages is recommended.
 

Personal Income Tax

The taxpayers of personal income tax are individuals - residents of the Russian Federation and individuals - non-residents of the Russian Federation who receive income from the sources on the territory of the Russian Federation.
 
A foreign citizen is a tax resident of the Russian Federation if he/she resides on the territory of the Russian Federation not less than 183 days of the calendar year.
The tax rates for personal income tax are the following: 13% - on income received by tax residents, 30% - on income received by tax non-residents on the territory of the Russian Federation, 35% - on certain kinds of income, and 6% - on income in the form of dividends.

 
An individual who is a non-resident of the Russian Federation may be exempt from taxation by Russian tax authorities, provided that he/she introduces (forwards) to Russian tax authorities an official confirmation that he/she is a resident of the state that has double taxation treaty with the Russian Federation.

 
It is also important to note that if the organization pays for the lease of apartments for its foreign employee, the latter shall pay personal income tax of 13% or 30% tax rate depending on the period of time he/she resides on the territory of the Russian Federation.

You can find more on this subject in our article on the personal income tax in Russia.
 

 




 

Comments, Questions, Feedback?

If you have a question, please, post it in Way to Russia forum or tweet @waytorussia.

For comments and feedback about this article, use the form below.

 

 

 


Most Recent Articles:

Teaching English in Russia - An Easy Way to Settle for a Long-Term

Unless you're an executive for an oil, gas or construction company, or a professional at a large legal or accounting firm, getting a chance to work in Russia can be near impossible.

Personal legalization of foreign employees in Russia.

Most of the information below has been provided by the Russian law firm VISTA Foreign Business Support (www.

Establishing a business in Russia: How to set up and register a company in Russia, company formations

Most of the information below has been provided by the Russian law firm VISTA Foreign Business Support (www.