With the decision made to accept crypto as a legitimate means of payment, Russian authorities are now deciding on taxation. According to a leaked document, Russian authorities think that they can collect $13 billion or more in payments. Bloomberg’s sources said that according to government estimates, over $16.5 trillion rubles ($215 billion) in crypto are owned by Russian investors.
The policy brief in which the ownership number was quoted, was used by the Bell News network as a source. According to the authors of this brief, even if Moscow choose a simplified tax method, the total in tax revenues could potentially reach a trillion rubles or $13 billion in USD. Analysis included in the brief also offers a few assessments on the size of the Russian crypto market. Russia’s contribution to the global market is 12% or higher.
Crypto taxes could be collected in two ways – taxes on legal exchanges and service providers as well as taxing investments. According to their calculations, the state could get between 90 to 180 billion rubles annually just from trading platforms. An additional 606 billion rubles will reach the exchequer from income taxes.
Though Russia has already adopted laws related to digital financial assets, the country has yet to start regulating its crypto space. The lower house of parliament is working on proposals to fill in the remaining gaps in regulations. In the meantime, the Finance Ministry has fashioned its very own alternate approach which favors regulation instead of outright prohibition. It remains to be seen if Russia will say yes to regulation instead of banning crypto altogether.
