Russian Authorities Propose Penalty For Tax-Evading Crypto Miners

• Authorities decided to revise it to include more stringent penalties for non-compliant miners.
• Punishments might go into the millions of rubles and might involve imprisonment.

Russian cryptocurrency miners who want to escape prosecution by the state will be required to file tax returns detailing their earnings and providing authorities with information about their digital assets, including wallet addresses. That’s what the Moscow government is considering doing, at least in terms of a proposed law.

In the first place, in November, a measure was introduced to parliament in Russia to control the expanding crypto-mining sector. The bill’s passage was originally scheduled for this year, but legislators have since decided to revise it to include more stringent penalties for non-compliant miners.

Several Harsh Penalties

The Russian Ministry of Finance, which is drafting the new regulations, plans to establish harsh penalties for people who fail to report their crypto holdings. Baza, an online news source, said that punishments might go into the millions of rubles and perhaps involve imprisonment.

If miners fail to disclose their income twice within a three-year period and the sum is above 15 million rubles (close to $200,000), they risk up to two years in jail, a fine of up to 300,000 rubles, and even forced labor for up to two years, according to revisions to the Criminal Code submitted by the department.

According to the report, the penalties increase if the value of the undeclared assets is more than 45 million rubles (nearly $600,000): up to four years in jail, a fine of up to 2 million rubles, and forced work for up to four years.

Moreover, crypto mining firms will have two alternatives to sell the mined cryptocurrency — on a foreign exchange or on a Russian trading platform formed.