Russians may face penalties for failing to report foreign cryptocurrency wallets., 2026/04/10 15:35:42

In Russia, penalties will be introduced for individuals who fail to notify the tax authorities about foreign cryptocurrency wallets. The potential amounts of these fines were suggested in a conversation with Bits.media by Mikhail Uspensky, the head of the consulting agency Parallax and a member of the expert council on cryptocurrency legislative regulation in the State Duma of the Russian Federation.

Amendments to the Administrative Code are expected to be implemented before the Federal Tax Service issues its order regarding the submission of cryptocurrency reports, according to Uspensky. He believes that the requirements from the Federal Tax Service will be similar to the existing obligations to report the opening and modification of accounts in foreign banks. Consequently, the fines will be at least comparable to those currently applicable to currency residents. The presence of cryptocurrency in the wallets and the execution of transactions will not be relevant for imposing penalties, the lawyer added. 

“At present, none of the bills submitted to the State Duma specifies a concrete fine amount for failing to notify. In the eyes of the legislator, both foreign entities—a cryptocurrency account and a fiat bank account—are similar, and the logic of their regulation should align,” explained the source to Bits.media.

If an individual does not inform the tax authorities about the existence of a foreign account:

• a Russian individual faces a fine of up to 5,000 rubles, with a penalty of up to 20,000 rubles for repeated violations;

• an individual entrepreneur may incur a fine of up to 50,000 rubles; 

• organizations could be fined up to 1 million rubles. 

In cases of late notification or submission of documents not in the prescribed state format, the fines are lower: 

• up to 1,500 rubles for individuals; 

• up to 10,000 rubles for individual entrepreneurs; 

• up to 100,000 rubles for legal entities. 

The ease with which the government can detect undeclared cryptocurrency belonging to a specific Russian citizen depends on various factors, Uspensky clarified. It is easiest for authorities to identify wallets registered on centralized platforms in friendly countries, particularly within the CIS. However, tracking cryptocurrency wallets in other jurisdictions will prove to be challenging, according to the expert. 

Previously, Deputy Chairman of the Bank of Russia, Vladimir Chistyukhin, stated that transferring crypto assets from a Russian custodial wallet to a non-custodial wallet abroad will be prohibited. Russians will be allowed to store cryptocurrency at foreign addresses, but the assets in these wallets must be declared, the official asserted.