Russia’s State Duma Passes First Reading of Cryptocurrency Tax Reform Bill 

• Russia’s State Duma approved a cryptocurrency tax reform bill in its first reading.
• Investors can offset crypto gains and losses within the same tax period, reducing gross tax liability.
• Licensed exchanges must withhold personal income tax directly when users buy and sell crypto.

Russia’s State Duma has passed a government-proposed cryptocurrency tax reform bill in its first reading, establishing the most comprehensive framework yet for taxing digital asset transactions in the country.

The legislation moves Russia toward a structured crypto tax system with clear rules for individual investors, corporate entities, brokers, and trading platforms.

How Crypto Gains Will Be Taxed

The bill calculates the taxable base for cryptocurrency transactions as the positive difference between income and costs. Investors can offset gains and losses from digital currencies and foreign digital rights within the same tax period, meaning profitable trades can be reduced by losses from the same cycle rather than being taxed on gross gains.

Key provisions for individual investors:

• Gains and losses netted within the same tax period
• Brokers and trustees are required to act as tax agents for personal income tax
• Transaction records must be retained for a minimum of five years
• Only documented expenses qualify for a deduction

Corporate and Exchange Rules

At the corporate level, income and expenses from foreign trade involving digital assets will be included in the general corporate income tax base. The exception is cryptocurrency mining, which is treated separately. Foreign digital rights will be classified as cryptocurrency for tax purposes.

Licensed cryptocurrency exchange platforms face the most significant new obligation. The State Duma Budget and Tax Committee has proposed that exchanges assume tax agency functions directly, withholding personal income tax at the point of transaction when users buy and sell cryptocurrencies. This would effectively make exchanges responsible for tax collection rather than leaving compliance to individual traders.

Additional Provisions

Several other elements were included in the draft:

• Sales of foreign digital rights without physical delivery are exempt from VAT where they confirm only monetary claims
• Digital depositories and exchange services are exempt from VAT
• Losses on digital debt assets traded on exchanges eligible to be carried forward to future periods
• Coupons on ruble-denominated digital financial debt assets traded on the Moscow Exchange are taxed at a preferential rate similar to Russian corporate bond interest

What Comes Next

The bill has passed its first reading and will return for a second reading, where the exchange tax agency requirement and other amendments will be incorporated. Final passage would establish Russia’s most complete digital asset taxation framework to date, closing the ambiguity that has characterized crypto tax treatment in the country since digital assets first entered mainstream use.

Related: Russia’s New Law Will Restrict Citizens to Only Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT Purchases