Public employees must disclose the number of digital assets that they own before June 2021. Cryptocurrency owners will face criminal penalties if they do not report their holdings.
Russia’s public officials must declare their holdings of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies by June 30th, 2021. President Vladimir Putin recently ordered the measure under the decree and posted it on the nation’s official website.
The document stipulates that any official or person who aspires to a public position must disclose the amount of his or her digital assets, as well as that of his or her spouse, and children. The decree will enter into force on January 1st, 2021.
Federal and regional government agencies, the Central Bank, government extra-budgetary funds, and state corporations should use the new decree as a guide for reporting their income, President Putin recommends.
The Legislative Assembly (or State Duma) approved a law on digital financial assets last July. The law introduces the concept of “cryptocurrencies”, but prohibits their use as a means of payment for goods and services throughout the country. The law will take effect next January.
The law defines digital assets as a set of electronic data contained in an information system, but not as a currency that is valid in Russia. It also does not consider them as a monetary unit of a foreign or international state, according to local media.
Russia Proposes Prison for Those Who Do Not Declare Their Bitcoin Holdings
In recent weeks, the Ministry of Finance proposed amendments to the Russian Penal Code. The agency proposed to force users to report to the tax authorities the numbert of cryptocurrencies that they receive, the transactions that they make with them, and the balances that they maintain in their digital asset wallets. The measure would be mandatory for all people who conduct transactions of more than RUB 600,000 (equivalent to USD 7,848) per year, according to local media RBC.
The Finance Ministry also proposed to imprison the owners of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies who do not inform the tax authorities about their transactions in digital assets. They would spend around three years in prison for not declaring their holdings at least twice every three years.
The Commission for Blockchain Technologies and Cryptoeconomics, which includes representatives from Russia’s digital asset industry, asked the Ministry of Finance to review the bills related to taxation on cryptocurrency holdings. They also asked for a reduction in fines and the elimination of criminal responsibility, adds the same local media.
Several exchanges operating in Russia, such as Binance, EXMO, CoinBene Russia, OKEx, and Bingbon, represent the Commission. Organizations of legal experts in the field of international regulation, as well as the Committee for Economic Policy, Industry, Innovative Development, and Entrepreneurship also constitute it.
Concerning the Central Bank of Russia, it is considering the issuance of a digital ruble, which would offer an additional form of money, on par with cash rubles. The financial institution published a report in which it argues that a digital currency would limit dependence on the US dollar and counteract the sanctions of the United States and the European Union against the Eurasian nation.
By Alexander Salazar
