Tax on selling cryptocurrency: what counts as income, which expense reduces the base and who files the return

An individual's income from selling digital currency is subject to personal income tax: this was established by Federal Law No. 418-FZ of 29 November 2024. The tax is not charged on the entire proceeds: the base is reduced by the expenses of the purchase, but only those confirmed by documents. The rates are the general ones for a resident's investment income, and the person files the return themselves if the tax was not withheld for them by an intermediary acting as a tax agent.

Through whom a resident is allowed to make transactions, what remains prohibited and how the transition period is arranged is covered in the article on buying cryptocurrency legally in Russia. This text is narrower: only the tax on a sale — what it is calculated on, what is deducted from it and who is responsible for the calculation. There are no techniques for reducing the tax here; where the rule has to be read by yourself, the text says so.

Where the tax on selling digital currency comes from

Digital currency is recognised as property: this is how it is described by Federal Law No. 282-FZ of 4 August 2026 "On Digital Currencies and Digital Rights", in force since 1 September 2026. Paying with it in Russia for goods, work and services is prohibited, and the new law has kept this ban. Property can be sold, and a sale brings income; how that income is taxed for an individual was established by the earlier Law No. 418-FZ. What changed in the status of digital currency with the new law is described in the review of its legal status.

Under the same Law No. 418-FZ, transactions with digital currency are not subject to VAT. From here on, the text deals only with personal income tax.

Income arises on a sale, not when the price rises

The law speaks of income from a sale. While the coin stays with its owner, there is no income from a sale, however its price may change. The coins section of TradeAlmanac shows the price, the market capitalisation and the history, but it is for reference: no transactions are made through the site, and the tax base cannot be calculated from a market quote. It requires the owner's own figures — how much the coin was bought for and how much it was sold for.

What this text does not state: whether exchanging one digital currency for another is treated as a sale, how currency received as a gift or as a result of mining is taxed, on what date the income is considered received and at what exchange rate the proceeds are converted if the settlement was not in roubles. These questions are decided by the rule, and the answer is taken from its current wording.

The purchase expense: without a document it does not enter the calculation

The tax base is the amount on which the tax is charged. Under Law No. 418-FZ it is reduced by the expenses of buying the digital currency, on condition that they are documented; the general concept is described in the glossary entry "Acquisition expenses". The reverse side of the condition is simple: an expense that cannot be confirmed by anything does not reduce the base. Whether any other option is provided for such a case, this text does not state.

Which documents are accepted as confirmation is determined by the rule and by the procedure of the tax service — there is no list here. The requirement to make transactions only through licensed intermediaries takes effect for residents later than the basic provisions of Law No. 282-FZ: under the law, from 1 July 2027. Before that date a purchase could also have gone through without such an intermediary — how the law assesses such a transaction, this text does not state — and in that case gathering the confirmation is the owner's own concern.

A separate question is a coin bought in parts at different prices: which purchase relates to the part that was sold? In the accounting of securities this is answered by the rule described in the entry "FIFO in tax accounting". Whether it applies to digital currency is decided by the rule.

Rates: the general scale for investment income

Income from selling digital currency is taxed at the same rates as the investment income of a tax resident: 13% within RUB 2.4m of the annual base and 15% above that threshold. The higher rate applies only to the part that has exceeded the threshold, not to the whole amount.

How the threshold relates to the rest of the year's income — whether the base for digital currency is added to the base for securities and dividends or is calculated apart from them — this text does not state. How the scale works for securities is described in the article "Personal income tax for the investor".

Who calculates the tax and who files the return

A tax agent is the party that itself calculates the tax, withholds it and transfers it to the budget in place of the recipient of the income. The rule is this: if the intermediary acting as agent has not withheld the tax, the person files the return themselves.

Law No. 282-FZ introduces several categories of licensed intermediaries — digital currency exchanges, brokers, asset managers, depositories, exchange services; their register is kept by the Bank of Russia. Which of them acts as a tax agent, and for which operations, is decided by the rule, and this has to be checked: against the current wording and against the contract with the intermediary. A transaction in which there was no agent at all leaves the calculation and the tax return with the owner. The deadlines for filing it and for paying the tax are set by the Tax Code; they are not given here.

Losses and deductions: where this text has no answer

Netting is the offsetting of a loss on some operations against a profit on others. For securities the mechanism is described in the article on netting losses. Whether a loss from selling digital currency can be offset against a profit on shares and bonds, and whether it can be carried forward to the following years, is decided by the rule; no statement about this is made here.

For comparison: for digital financial assets the answer is known — they have a separate tax base under Article 214.11 of the Russian Tax Code, and a loss on them is not combined with a profit on securities. But digital financial assets and digital currency are different objects with different rules, and a conclusion about one does not carry over to the other. How they differ is shown in the comparison of cryptocurrency and digital financial assets.

The long-term holding relief and the deductions for individual investment accounts are described in the journal as they apply to securities; no statement that they extend to digital currency is made here.

What the calculator will work out and what it does not know

The arithmetic of the scale can be repeated in the tax calculator. Choosing a security from the list is not required: the purchase price, the sale price, the quantity and the commissions are entered by hand. The calculator is built for securities, so the "Apply the long-term holding relief" switch in it is turned on by default; for a calculation on digital currency it is turned off: no statement that the relief extends to it is made here. The result shows the profit or loss, the tax base, the tax, the effective rate and the line "Left after tax": the profit less the tax.

The calculator computes the profit as the difference in prices multiplied by the quantity, less the commissions, and treats the expense as confirmed. It sees a separate transaction, not the year as a whole, and knows neither the rest of your income nor whether the intermediary has withheld the tax.

When what is said here stops being true

• The wording has changed. Law No. 282-FZ is being introduced in stages: the requirement on transactions through licensed intermediaries begins to apply to residents from 1 July 2027. The tax rules have to be checked as of the date of the operation.
• You are not a tax resident. The rates named apply to a resident. How a non-resident's income from selling digital currency is taxed, this text does not state; the status itself is covered in the article on tax residency.
• The income did not come from a sale. Mining, gifts and other ways of obtaining digital currency are not considered here.
• The seller is not an individual. The text says nothing about the taxes of organisations and sole proprietors.

The tax is charged on income that may never materialise: the price of digital currency is not backed or guaranteed by anything, and there is no insurance scheme for it. This and other risks, including the tax trail of transactions, are gathered in the article on the risks of buying cryptocurrency. And a question that the law will not answer for the owner: on the day of the sale, will you be able to show with a document how much the coin was bought for?