State Duma deputy Anatoly Wasserman introduced a bill that would compel citizens to notify the tax office if they hold more than 1 million rubles in cash at home, according to Interfax.
According to the draft, possessing cash in rubles or foreign currency equal to or exceeding 1 million rubles without informing the tax authority and indicating the funds’ origin would incur a surcharge equal to twice the value of the unlawfully held money, along with confiscation of the entire amount. The explanatory note frames the proposal as a response to the common presence of large cash sums in households, often linked to activities in the shadow or black sectors of the economy. It notes that cash storage at home remains unregulated within the legal framework and therefore warrants heightened oversight.
Tax residents would be required to report to the tax authorities at their registered location within a week after receiving a large influx of cash, as described in the Federal Tax Service guidance.
Reports on the method of notification suggest multiple options: direct submission at the tax office; postal delivery with receipt acknowledgment and attached documentation; online submission with an electronic signature; or through the taxpayer’s personal account, the explanatory note explains.
The proposal envisages amendments to the Criminal Code, including the creation of a new article titled Illegal Circulation of Funds (187.1).
Wasserman argued that prohibiting the careless storage of more than 1 million rubles in cash would help curb corruption and the financing of extremist activities. He told SHOT that the case involving journalist Ksenia Sobchak spurred the development of the bill.
According to Wasserman, during a period of unrest, Sobchak was reported to have held substantial sums in envelopes totaling around 1.5 million euros. He contends that this money was withdrawn and contributed to the social upheaval subsiding, suggesting cash-based financing of protests. He noted having personally kept at home far smaller sums, generally no more than 50,000 to 100,000 rubles.
The events surrounding Ksenia Sobchak in June 2012 followed protests at Moscow’s Bolotnaya Square, where a criminal case was opened in connection with the Bolotnaya riot. Searches were conducted at Sobchak’s apartment on Tverskaya-Yamskaya Street, and investigators later recovered 1.5 million euros in a safe. Media reports indicated that the euros were placed in envelopes, some of which bore event-related inscriptions. Sobchak later stated that the funds were her personal money and they were eventually returned to her.
Under current Russian law, there are no general restrictions on storing cash at home or elsewhere, whether in rubles or foreign currency. In other words, individuals may retain large sums privately, so long as the funds are not tied to a criminal case or a tax or supervisory investigation, in which case disclosure of their source would be required.
Oleg Savchenko, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Financial Market Committee, stated that he does not support Wasserman’s idea. He argued that citizens should have the right to decide how their tax-funded funds are used and that there is no justification to restrict that right.
Deputy Nikolai Arefiev expressed the view that it is nearly impossible to monitor precisely how individuals accumulate savings, and insisted that people should be free to hold money in any form without coercive limits. He questioned the premise of the proposal, noting that in the past year people withdrew about three trillion rubles from the country, with exports not being curtailed, and even the foreign exchange export limit recently raised to one million dollars per month. He asked why the government would impose limits on private wealth just to control liquidity.