Russia Proposes New Bill Which Sees Up To 30% Fines For Unreported Crypto

Russia’s once more ramping up the regulation against the cryptocurrency industry of the country. Recently, the Ministry of Finance had drafted a bill that will see even harsher penalties imposed on those that fail to disclose their crypto holdings, should they be above a certain level. These penalties could include everything from fines to jail time.

Required To Declare Crypto Holdings

A new draft bill was sent by the Russian Ministry of Finance, addressing key issues in regards to cryptocurrency to a number of government departments. Kommersant, a local Russian news outlet, detailed how the bill is planning to introduce changes to the Criminal Procedure Code, the Tax Code, the laws on money laundering, the Russian Criminal Code, as well as the Administrative Code.

This proposed bill will see crypto investors mandated to declare the content of their respective crypto operations, as well as crypto wallets. Furthermore, the bill will mandate exchanges as well as their users to inform the tax authority in regards to their respective crypto transactions.

Any Crypto Holdings Above $1,280 To Be Reported

This proposed bill will set a threshold in regards to the amount for reporting, setting a minimum value of 100,000 rubles (Around $1,280). Kommersant detailed that any person, either legal or natural, who had received or owns digital rights to more than 100,000 rubles’ worth of crypto holdings in a calendar year, is mandated to inform the tax authorities. Alongside this, these persons are mandated to submit an annual report in regard to transactions made on these types of assets. Furthermore, this report must hold the balances of these assets, as well.

Dmitri Kirillov stands as a Senior Tax Lawyer at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (Russia) LLP, and gave a statement about the matter at large. He explained that failure to report this, could lead to the seizure of a sizable portion of said investor’s crypto holdings. Kirillov highlighted, in particular, that the fine could be up to 30% of your total crypto holdings, but cannot be less than 50,000 rubles, in total.

Punishments For Dodging Tax

Roman Yankovsky stands as a member of the Russian Lawyers’ Association’s Moscow branch, and explained that foreign crypto businesses are mandated to submit quarterly reports to the tax authorities. These businesses, such as exchanges and depositors, will need to detail their operation within the country at large, said Yankovsky.

Yankovsky went further, stating that these liabilities aren’t limited to fines alone. Should the wallet be worth more than a million rubles ($12,796), that passed through it per year, the criminals could witness prison time of up to three years, Yankiovsky explained. He further highlighted how forced labor could be used as a punishment.