Russia discussing hefty hike in 'exit tax' for foreign firms, RBC reports, 20 September 2024
Russian authorities are discussing raising the one-off contribution that foreign companies leaving the country must make to the state budget to as high as 40% from 15%, the RBC daily reported on Friday, citing four sources.

Russia has steadily tightened exit requirements for foreign companies since Western sanctions were imposed over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, demanding sharp discounts on any deal before giving approval, and taking a portion of the sale price to bolster state coffers, dubbed an "exit tax" by Washington.

Budget contributions from foreign company exit deals reached almost 140 billion roubles ($1.51 billion) by the end of August, budget data showed, already surpassing last year's total of 116.5 billion roubles...

The "exit tax" was initially set at 10%, but has crept up to 15%...

Two people RBC spoke to said the contribution could be raised to as high as 40%.

"We are constantly discussing the effectiveness of the sub-committee's work and approaches to reviewing deals," the finance ministry said in response to a request for comment. "At the moment, no new decisions have been made"...