The government’s initiative on 30% of personal income tax for those who left

On April 24, a draft of various amendments to tax legislation was submitted to the State Duma. Of these, there are those that relate to Russian performers of works that are located abroad.

It was proposed to amend Article 208 of the Tax Code, which defines which income is income from sources in the Russian Federation, and which is income from sources outside of it. When the income was received from Russian sources, the taxpayer pays personal income tax: remaining a tax resident — 13% (or 15% of the part of the income exceeding 5 million rubles during the year), and when it passes to the status of a non—resident – 30%. If the income formally comes from a source outside Russia, then 13% of personal income tax will be paid until the person becomes a non-resident. To do this, you need to live abroad for 183 days.

The list of income from sources in Russia will be supplemented by remuneration for work performed on the Internet, if such work is performed abroad. At the same time, using Russian domain names and network addresses or technical means, they are located in Russia. Only at least one of three conditions must be met:

– the taxpayer is a tax resident of Russia;

– income is transferred to an account in a Russian bank;

– the source of the payment is Russian organizations or separate divisions of foreign organizations in Russia.

Compared to the version of the draft law, which was presented by the Ministry of Finance in July 2022, there was a strong change: the paragraph was removed, which increased up to 30% of personal income tax for employees of Russian companies based abroad and who lost the status of a tax resident of Russia.

It cannot be ruled out that employees under employment contracts will still be at risk, given that the draft will be finalized for the second reading.