The Russian Ministry of Finance has circulated a draft law aimed at clarifying how miners will be taxed, outlining specifics for their productive activities. The ministry disclosed this proposal on its Telegram channel, presenting a clear plan for how taxation will operate for individual entrepreneurs who engage in craft mining activities. In the proposed framework, a buyer who purchases precious metals sourced from a miner is treated as a tax agent and is responsible for calculating and remitting value-added tax to the budget. This approach aligns tax collection with the flow of precious metals from miner to market and establishes a concrete obligation for buyers handling such transactions.
According to the Ministry, income derived from the sale of gold by a miner will be exempt from personal income tax if the miner’s annual output remains at or below one kilogram. Should the annual yield exceed this threshold, taxation would follow the standard rules applicable to similar income, subject to the applicable tax rates and procedures. The proposal thereby creates a simple, scale-based incentive for smaller operations while ensuring that larger mining activities contribute through established tax channels.
The draft was prepared in the context of the broader regulatory changes connected with the enactment of the Federal Law on Mineral Exploration Activities. It received formal approval at the government meeting, signaling the government’s intent to formalize taxation for mineral extraction within the country’s evolving legal framework. The move reflects an effort to bring mining-related taxation into alignment with the modernization of tax administration and the governance of natural resources, providing a clear path for miners and other market participants to understand their obligations.
Earlier in the year, the Ministry announced changes to tax legislation intended to adapt to the realities in territories that joined Russia, including reforms affecting the LPR, DPR, Zaporozhye, and Kherson regions. The bill introduces a mining extraction tax for activities that can be licensed under Ukrainian law, reflecting the ongoing adjustments to the jurisdictional landscape. For individual entrepreneurs, the plan includes a transition period for adjusting to cash register usage and offers preferential rates when selecting certain tax regimes. These measures aim to smooth the transition for small businesses while maintaining revenue streams from resource extraction as the regulatory environment shifts.