Russia Approves Tax Proposal for Cryptocurrency Transactions

The Russian government has approved a proposal from the Ministry of Finance to tax income from cryptocurrency transactions, according to PANews. The legislation mandates that transactions, including cryptocurrency exchanges, are subject to personal income tax, with cost accounting using the first-in, first-out method. The bill prohibits carrying forward losses from cryptocurrency transactions to future tax periods. Additionally, services provided by digital custodians and crypto exchanges, as well as certain foreign digital rights transactions without actual delivery, will be exempt from value-added tax. The legislation also outlines a special tax calculation method for debt-related digital financial assets, such as tokenized bonds, and allows for loss carryforward. Previously, the Russian Duma passed the first reading of the government-submitted bill on digital currency and digital rights. This bill grants the Russian Central Bank the authority to approve exchanges and market access, and sets limits on citizens' cryptocurrency purchases.