Digital currency is property now — taxed on disposal, on the same 183-day rule as everything else.
Russia classified digital currency as property in late 2024, which settled how it is taxed: you owe NDFL when you dispose of it — sell, exchange, or receive it from mining — at the rate your residency sets. Reporting has been self-declaration, but from July 2026 licensed Russian exchanges become tax agents. We calculate the gain, keep the records the FTS will expect, and get the position right before the reporting regime tightens.
Russia legalised owning, trading and mining cryptocurrency while banning its use to pay for things, and in late 2024 it settled the tax question by classifying digital currency as property. That classification is the key to everything else: you owe NDFL when you dispose of crypto — sell it, exchange it, or receive it from mining — not while you simply hold it. The rate is the same 183-day residency rule that governs the rest of your Russian tax.
Holding crypto is not a taxable event; unrealised gains are not taxed. Tax arises on disposal, and "disposal" is broader than people expect.
Selling for rubles or foreign currency; and crypto-to-crypto exchange, treated as disposing of the asset given up.
Receiving mined coins, at the point you can dispose of them; and acquiring below market value from a related party (the difference is a material benefit).
Gifts to anyone other than a close relative. Inheritance of crypto, and simply holding it, are not taxable. Crypto operations are not subject to VAT.
The gain — disposal proceeds less documented acquisition cost — is taxed at the investment rates for residents (13% up to RUB 2.4m, 15% above) and at 30% for non-residents, on the same 183-day test that applies to your salary and everything else. Which makes documented acquisition cost the whole game: without it, the FTS can treat the full disposal value as gain.
Until now, reporting has rested on self-declaration through the 3-NDFL — foreign exchanges do not report to the FTS. From 1 July 2026, licensed Russian intermediaries become tax agents under Article 226, calculating and withholding on transactions within their perimeter. Foreign-exchange activity stays on self-declaration. The direction is clear, and getting the historic position clean and documented before the regime tightens is far easier than explaining it afterwards.
We establish which of your transactions are taxable, calculate the gain on a documented-cost basis, handle mining registration and its specific timing rule where it applies, and file the 3-NDFL. Because the whole thing turns on records that foreign exchanges will not provide in Russian format, we help build the transaction log the FTS will expect before it is needed.
Which of your transactions actually trigger NDFL — sales, crypto-to-crypto exchanges, mining receipts, below-market acquisitions — and which (holding, inheritance) do not.
The gain computed as proceeds less documented acquisition cost — and the transaction log built to support it, because without records the FTS can tax the full disposal value.
Mining income handled with its specific timing rule and the FTS registry requirement — including why the common simplified regimes do not work for it.
The 3-NDFL prepared at the residency rate that applies — 13/15% resident or 30% non-resident — with the position documented ahead of the 2026 tax-agent shift.
You have been trading crypto and are not sure crypto-to-crypto swaps were taxable.
You mine and have just learned it needs FTS registration and has its own timing rule.
You are worried the exchange tax-agent change in July 2026 will surface an undocumented history.
You cannot get Russian-format cost records from a foreign exchange and need a defensible log.
Recognise your situation? From July 2026 exchanges start reporting as tax agents — getting the historic position documented before then is far cheaper than after.
30 minutes with a senior adviser — or send a note instead, if you would rather write.
The client had traded across several foreign exchanges for three years, assuming only cash-outs to rubles were taxable, and had never recorded crypto-to-crypto swaps — each of which was a disposal. With the July 2026 tax-agent regime approaching, they wanted the position clean. We reconstructed acquisition cost from exchange exports, built a ruble-denominated transaction log to the standard the FTS expects, quantified the actual gain at the resident rate, and filed corrected declarations. What could have been the full disposal value taxed as gain became tax on the real, much smaller, profit.
Which transactions are taxable disposals and which are not.
Acquisition cost established and the transaction log built to support the gain.
Gain computed and taxed at the residency rate the 183-day rule sets.
3-NDFL filed, mining registered where relevant, position clean before mid-2026.
No. Digital currency is classified as property, and simply holding it — including unrealised gains — is not a taxable event. NDFL arises on disposal: selling for fiat, exchanging one crypto for another, receiving mined coins, or acquiring below market value from a related party. Inheritance of crypto is also not taxable.
The same 183-day residency rule as the rest of your tax. Residents pay the investment rates — 13% up to RUB 2.4 million, 15% above — and non-residents pay 30%. The gain is proceeds less documented acquisition cost, which makes keeping cost records essential: without them, the full disposal value can be treated as gain.
Yes. Mining is legal for individuals and companies but requires registration with the FTS mining registry introduced in 2024, and it has a specific timing rule — income is recognised when you obtain the right to dispose of the mined coins. The simplified regimes small operators often assume they can use generally do not apply to mining income.
From 1 July 2026, licensed Russian intermediaries — exchanges and brokers within the new regulatory perimeter — become tax agents under Article 226, calculating and withholding on transactions they handle. Activity on foreign exchanges outside that perimeter stays on 3-NDFL self-declaration. Getting your historic position documented before the reporting tightens is much easier than reconstructing it after.
No — the rules are developing quickly, so we monitor changes and update your position as needed.
Contact us immediately. The FTS has been increasingly active in crypto enforcement through data from Russian exchanges, international information exchange and blockchain analytics. A proactive voluntary disclosure before any FTS assessment is significantly better than responding to an assessment — both in penalty terms and in the ability to negotiate.
By email, WhatsApp, Telegram or WeChat. Describe your situation briefly — we don’t need everything upfront.
A named adviser replies — not a generic inbox. We confirm whether we can help and propose a call if needed.
We ask about your situation, Russian entity structure and what you need. No charge. In English, Russian or Chinese.
Clear scope, fee and timeline. We start on receipt of the signed letter. No retainer lock-in on project work.
Practical support for international business in Russia.