In the spring, the Ministry of Finance considered a transitional scale: 7% in 2027, 14% in 2028 and 22% from 2029. This scale is not mentioned in the September budget package — instead, a single rate of 22% is proposed immediately from 2027. The burden on cross-border purchases in the first year is higher than expected in April.
The duty to calculate and pay taxes is planned to be assigned to electronic trading platforms. The buyer will not calculate VAT on their own — the tax will be included in the price of the order at the checkout stage. For marketplaces, this means additional tax administration: accounting for transactions, transferring data to the tax service, and monitoring the correctness of calculations.
The Ministry of Finance justifies the initiative by equalizing conditions in the domestic market. Russian sellers include VAT in the cost of taxable sales, while some cross-border e-commerce operates under different rules. The new regime is designed to eliminate this discrepancy.
Cross-border online trading is already partially covered by Russian VAT. Starting from July 1, 2024, separate rules apply for online sales of goods from the EAEU countries to individuals in Russia: in cases stipulated by the Tax Code, the tax is calculated by foreign sellers or marketplaces. The Ministry of Finance's September proposal extends the agency model more broadly to cross—border e-commerce in general.
The 22% rate is not valid yet. The document is at the stage of the budget package submitted to the Government. The final range of products, terms of use and effective date will be determined after the amendments are adopted. Sellers working through marketplaces with foreign supplies should already clarify the procedure for transmitting tax data from the sites and check how agency transactions are reflected in current accounting.
