The profile committee of the State Duma approved the draft law on taxation of digital currencies

MOSCOW, February 15. /TASS/. The State Duma Committee on Budget and Taxes recommended that the lower house of parliament adoptin the first reading a government bill on the introduction of taxation norms in the field of cryptocurrency circulation into the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

According to the document, digital currency is recognizedproperty, while income from transactions with digital currency will be subject to income tax or personal income tax (PIT). Digital currency will not be subject to depreciation, and transactions related to its circulation will not be recognized as subject to value added tax (VAT). In accordance with the project, the tax authorities will have the right, when identifying signs indicating a possible violation of tax legislation, to demand from banks statements of accounts of individuals that were used in connection with transactions with digital currency, but this will require the consent of the head or deputy head of the superior the tax authority or the Federal Tax Service of Russia.

The bill provides that citizens of the Russian Federation andforeign citizens and stateless persons permanently residing in the country on the basis of a residence permit, Russian organizations, their branches and representative offices, as well as international organizations established in the territory of the Russian Federation that have the right to dispose of digital currency recorded in electronic wallets, will be required to report to the tax authorities on such a right, turnover of funds and balance, if the amount of receipts or write-offs of digital currency for the year exceeds 600 thousand rubles.

In addition, the bill establishesliability for unlawful failure to submit (late submission) or submission of a report on transactions (civil transactions) with digital currency and its balances, which contains false information. In case of violation, the fine will be 10% of the higher of the two amounts — receipt of digital currency to a person or the amount of write-off of digital currency by a person who has the right to dispose, including through third parties, of this digital currency, information about which was not provided for the corresponding year.

Moreover, for unlawful failure to submit tothe deadline set for a notification to the tax authority on obtaining the right to dispose, including through third parties, of digital currency, a report on transactions (civil transactions) with digital currency and on the balance of digital currency, the bill establishes a fine of 50 thousand rubles. Also, a penalty is established for non-payment or incomplete payment by the taxpayer of the tax amounts as a result of non-inclusion in the tax base of profit (income) from operations, the calculations for which were carried out using digital currency. It will be 40% of the amount of unpaid tax, the document says.

«Given the ubiquitydigital technologies and expanding the scope of use of cryptocurrencies, including for illegal purposes, the State Duma Committee on the Financial Market supports the concept of the draft federal law «On Amendments to Parts One and Two of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation» and recommends that the State Duma adopt it in the first reading», — stated in the conclusion of the Financial Market Committee.

As the head of the Budget Committee emphasizedtaxes Andrey Makarov, for the second reading the committee intends to finalize the bill along with the basic law on digital currency and amendments to the Civil Code, so that “the norm that we are adopting does not hang in the air.” The Legislation Committee also agrees with this position, he indicated.

It is planned that the State Duma will consider the bill at a meeting on February 17.

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