Russia’s new Prime Minister, Mikhail Mishustin, is a former tax man. And he’s coming for Russia’s Bitcoins.
Mishustin was the director of the Russian version of the Internal Revenue Service. One of his most noted achievements was to stop fraud in VAT tax refunds, and reduce red tape so companies are not being audited all the time. He is known as being tough on tax fraud, which is not easy in Russia, considering its wealthiest have been hiding money in Cyprus, the Caymans, and elsewhere since the fall of the Soviet Union when they first took money out in droves.
Mishustin wants all operations with cryptocurrency to be taxed.
“I am convinced that it is necessary to tax such operations, and to correctly assess any economic consequences of using cryptocurrencies,” Mishustin told the RBC TV news network on January 16, 24 hours after Putin replaced his long-term partner, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, in a huge cabinet reshuffle.
Earlier in the week, Anatoly Aksakov, the chairman of the State Duma Committee on Financial Markets, said the Russian parliament is “99% likely” to adopt a new law on crypto this spring. This will allow all companies to reconsider selling any goods and services on the blockchain, including those that operate outside the country, Aksakov said.
