The government wanted to take personal income tax from Russians after they lost their tax residence 30% instead of 13% from January 1, 2024, the corresponding bill was submitted to the State Duma.
The amendments will apply to employees who are outside the Russian Federation, but are no longer tax residents, but use the Russian segment of the Internet as part of their work or place technical, software and hardware tools in the country. According to the amendments, in this case, Russian companies-employers and customers will charge 30% personal income tax on remuneration of "employees or performers" after the loss of residence.
It is noted that the bill will also affect freelancers who receive remuneration from Russia for work and services, or granted rights to use the results of intellectual activity, and use “domain names and network addresses in the Russian national domain zone, software and hardware complexes located in Russia and information systems”. To do this, at least one of the conditions must be met: the recipient is a tax resident of Russia, or the person receives remuneration to an account in a Russian bank, or the payment comes from Russian organizations, individual entrepreneurs, separate divisions of foreign structures in Russia.
Russian companies will determine on a case-by-case basis which personal income tax rate to apply, evaluating whether an employee or contractor is operating in Russia or not, Interfax notes. The bill does not contain rules on changing tax rates for freelancers working as self-employed or individual entrepreneurs (IP).
Earlier it became known that the Federal Tax Service set an absolute record for additionally assessed taxes at the end of 2022: the amount of additionally assessed payments (taxes and fees) amounted to a record 685.7 billion rubles. This is 81% higher than in the whole of 2021 (RUB 378.6 billion). The increase in tax penalties against Russians and businesses occurred against the backdrop of a record budget deficit caused by record government spending on the war with Ukraine. At the same time, the Federal Tax Service attributes this growth to the abolition of tax breaks during the coronavirus pandemic, as well as a change in the paradigm of on-site inspections.
