Today, the Ministry of Finance, as part of the 'bill aimed at implementing certain areas of budget policy', proposed to increase personal income tax to 30% for Russians listed in the register of 'foreign agents'.
'A unified tax rate of 30% on personal income tax is established for foreign agents. They will also be unable to receive tax deductions for long-term investments, exemption from taxation on income from the sale of assets, income from gifts and inheritance', says the bill prepared by the department.
In addition, the authorities plan to limit tax preferences for organizations classified as 'foreign agents'. This group will include those legal entities that have direct or indirect shares of 'foreign agent' individuals from 10% in their authorized capital. They will be prohibited from applying reduced profit tax rates and using the right to exemption from taxation on income in the form of gratuitously received property
From 2025, Russia will have a progressive personal income tax scale with a minimum rate of 13% and a maximum of 22%.
At the same time, according to budget amendments submitted to the State Duma, Russia's budget deficit in 2025 will be 5.7 trillion rubles, or 2.6% of GDP. Previously, the deficit was planned at the level of 3.7 trillion, or 1.7% of GDP.
The volume of revenues will be reduced from 38.5 trillion rubles to 36.5 trillion rubles due to a reduction in non-oil and gas revenues from 30.1 trillion rubles to 27.9 trillion rubles. At the same time, expenses will remain unchanged. Thus, 12.6 trillion rubles are planned to be spent on national defense.
To compensate for the growing budget deficit, the Ministry of Finance proposed to increase VAT, introduce it for businesses that are exempt from it, sharply increase the tax on bookmakers, and also set the personal income tax rate for 'foreign agents' beyond the established values. In addition, the 2026 budget plans to increase borrowing.
Currently, there are almost 1100 entries in the register of foreign agents. 'Foreign agents' are prohibited from placing advertisements, and 'foreign agents' themselves are prohibited from participating in elections, teaching, and engaging in educational activities. Also, all income of 'foreign agents' in Russia, including the sale and rental of real estate, will be deposited into a special ruble account, which can only be accessed after the 'foreign agent' status is removed.