Russia’s Federal Tax Service has begun requiring companies that use the simplified taxation system, known as USN, to submit documents detailing expenses made with corporate cards, tax consultants and lawyers told the Russian business news outlet RBC.
If a company cannot confirm its expenses, tax authorities may classify them as employee salary and assess personal income tax of 13–22% and insurance contributions of 30% on top of the amount.
Because these expenses do not affect the amount of tax a company owes, the Federal Tax Service had rarely scrutinized this kind of spending. Previously, tax authorities detected suspicious transactions only during targeted field audits. Now the service analyzes arrays of taxpayers’ banking transactions using big data methods, experts say.
In 2026, companies operating under the simplified taxation system began receiving requests from the tax service for reports on their spending. “The reason is pretty simple: it’s an additional source of budget revenue that doesn’t require significant labor or time,” said Alexandrina Gin, a partner at the law firm Gin and Partners, whose clients have faced such requests from the Federal Tax Service.
Lawyers say the tax service’s requirements are entirely justified, since employees are not permitted to use a corporate card for personal expenses. To avoid additional tax assessments, experts advise companies to document expenses and, if money was spent for personal needs, return it to the company.
The Federal Tax Service is actively looking for ways to boost budget revenue through taxes. It has started checking canceled receipts from self-employed individuals, suspecting the cancellations are used to conceal income. Since the start of the year, tax authorities have found violations among 3,000 taxpayers and fined them a total of 300 million rubles.
Frequent transactions during working hours and regular interregional payments could also serve as a “red flag” for the tax service, potentially leading authorities to suspect Russians of illegal entrepreneurship.
Russians’ real estate deals in Dubai have also attracted the tax service’s attention. Entrepreneurs have started receiving requests to explain income from such transactions in the UAE for 2023–2024.
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