Russia plans to impose value-added tax on companies that lease mining equipment or data centers to overseas companies and mining pools

The Ministry of Finance plans to impose value-added tax (VAT) on companies that rent mining equipment or data centres to overseas companies and mining pools, and the new rules will also apply to energy companies that provide electricity to foreign mining companies. The Ministry of Finance said the move is aimed at clarifying the taxation process for mining equipment leases and establishing tax rules for companies that provide "mining computing power" to non-Russian customers. VAT may apply to real-time, monthly or annual lease bills, and the lack of "clear explanation" of current regulations makes it difficult for companies to declare.
Russian law, which came into effect in January, requires all industrial-grade miners and "mining infrastructure operators (MIOs) " to register on a national directory. As of April 1, 116 MIOs and 606 industrial miners had been registered, but the FTS believes there are still a large number of companies that are not in compliance. The directory is managed by the FTS and is currently working on the taxation of mining companies and MIOs' annual profits.