Financial authorities in Russia intend to tax the leasing of crypto mining equipment to foreign-based companies, according to a bill put forward by the finance ministry.
The legislation seeks to resolve outstanding issues pertaining to the taxation of Russian crypto miners who started filing tax returns after their industry was legalized and regulated a few months ago.
Russian state to impose VAT on miners leasing hardware to foreign clients
Crypto mining firms in Russia should expect to incur a higher tax burden when they rent out hardware or computing power to entities registered in other jurisdictions, local media unveiled, quoting the country’s Ministry of Finance (Minfin).
The department clarifies applicable tax rules in a draft law obliging Russian companies that lease mining equipment or provide mining infrastructure to clients based abroad to collect value-added tax (VAT) on these services and pay it to the state.
Existing legislation does not clearly indicate how such transactions should be taxed, causing confusion among Russian crypto miners, and the new bill is designed to eliminate the uncertainty, the business news portal RBC noted in a report.
In a statement, the ministry elaborated:
“It is proposed to establish that VAT will be calculated by the Russian taxpayer when leasing mining infrastructure and providing computing power for mining.”
Russia legalized crypto mining with a law signed by President Vladimir Putin in August 2024. To operate within the law, legal entities and individual entrepreneurs involved in the industry are required to register with the country’s tax authority.
The Federal Tax Service (FNS) has registered over 700 crypto miners since the law entered into force in November. The total includes 606 mining firms and 116 mining infrastructure operators, or companies that run data centers providing space, equipment, and everything else needed to mint digital coins.
Private individuals mining cryptocurrency are obliged to pay 13%- or 15%-income tax, depending on the amount earned, while business organizations owe 25% corporate tax on their profits. The standard rate of Russia’s VAT is 20%. Mining-related transactions within the country are not subject to VAT.
The FNS recently started publishing price information for various cryptocurrencies on its website to help miners calculate their taxes. The market data is sourced from a number of crypto exchanges, including Binance, the world’s leading trading platform for digital assets.
Russia expects over $600 million in tax revenues from crypto mining
Estimates vary, but according to one suggested by the head of Russia’s Industrial Mining Association (APM), Sergey Bezdelov, annual tax revenues from the sector could reach 50 billion rubles (over $600 million) when miners start paying taxes in Russia.
Right before mining was legalized, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov indicated that it’s not so much the tax revenue that Russia is interested in but rather the possibility of using the locally minted cryptocurrency for cross-border payments.
This year, the Central Bank of Russia proposed to establish an “experimental legal regime” that would allow Russian firms to employ cryptocurrencies in international settlements, thus circumventing financial restrictions imposed over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The crypto mining industry is only starting to pay its taxes, and this year will show how disciplined it can be, the deputy chairman of the parliamentary Committee on Information Policy, Information Technology, and Communications, Anton Tkachev, noted during the Blockchain Forum 2025 conference in Moscow this month.
The lawmaker stressed that the Russian state will have a chance to compare the tax payments of mining enterprises with their energy consumption and determine its future attitude toward the sector. April 25 was the last day miners could file their tax returns.
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