Russian officials have considered a number of amendments to the draft law “On Digital Financial Assets” during a meeting of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation that took place Feb. 27.
The major modifications proposed by the officials include a digital currency assets income tax break and a tenfold increase of the limit on individual Initial Coin Offering (ICO) investments - from the initially suggested 50,000 rubles, or about $900, to 500,000 rubles, equivalent to about $9,000.
The working group also suggested that Russian investors in digital assets should be allowed to open accounts on foreign cryptocurrency exchanges, as well as to buy ICO tokens from abroad. Similarly, non-residents should be allowed to invest in Russian ICO projects, the officials have argued.
The meeting included representatives from Russia’s Ministry of Communications and Mass Media (Minkomsvyaz) that earlier published a document establishing the rules for ICO projects.
Also attending were the Russian Ministry of Justice, the Central Bank, the Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia (FAS), and others. Their proposals will be further reviewed by the dedicated Government Commission.
The Ministry of Finance (Minfin), which actually issued the draft law “On Digital Financial Assets” on Jan. 25, 2018, did not take part in the meeting.
Recently, the Moscow Arbitration Court has ruled to exclude digital currencies from assets that can be seized for debt payment citing as reason the fact that cryptocurrencies remain legally undefined in Russia.
As reported by Cointelegraph auf Deutschland on Thursday, Mar. 1, German authorities have made a similar decision to exempt cryptocurrency transactions from taxes when they are used as a means of payment.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/russian-officials-propose-lighter-ico-regulations-cryptocurrency-income-tax-breaks