Government to Tax Gains on Bank Deposits over $13,000

Russia’s Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said at a meeting on economic issues on Tuesday that the government will begin collecting a new tax on gains from bank deposits worth more than 1 million rubles ($13,000), if the deposit percentage amount exceeds 60,000 rubles ($770), Kommersant reports.

The new tax was announced by Vladimir Putin last week as part of a broad array of measures taken by the government to help businesses suffering amid the coronavirus outbreak.

“The tax will not apply to deposits as such, it concerns only interest income on them, and the first 60,000 rubles of interest income will not be taxed,” Mishustin said.

The new law will also have strict and clear rules on fighting money-laundering and any other illegal activities, where criminals can employ digital assets, the official added. It will also regulate but not interfere with cryptocurrency exchanges, as long as they “do not violate it,” Mishustin said.

The Federation Council approved amendments to the Tax Code, which somewhat softened the wording of the rules on the collection of tax on income on deposits expressed by President Putin last week.

Initially, it was about income tax (13%) on interest income on deposits, the total amount of which exceeds 1 million rubles. Now interest on ruble deposits is taxed only in relation to exceeding the key rate (currently 6%), increased by 5 percentage points. That is, this sort of income is taxed more than 11% per annum.