Russia Demands Imprisonment For Undeclared BTC Transactions

Russia demands imprisonment for undeclared BTC transactions with its “package of bills” on digital currency as we are reading more in today’s crypto news.

In the latest turn of events, the Russian Ministry of Finance took a harsh stance towards crypto regulations. The crypto holders on not disclosing their digital assets that are worth more than 45 million rubles, at least twice in a period of three years, stand to face jail time of up to three years. This, however, is an amendment from the previous version. According to the latest update on BTC and crypto regulations, Russia’s Ministry of Finance looks ready to tighten the control on the people that deal with crypto assets, as Russia demands prison time for owning crypto.

Crypto owners will face imprisonment for not reporting crypto transactions amounting to 45 million rubles or above while the proposed sentence for the same is up to three years. An earlier version of the proposed bill mentioned about 5  million rubles as the threshold for unaccountable money. Speaking of the “package of bills” developed by Kremlin bureaucrats, the jail term of a minimum of 6 months is mandatory for non-declaration of BTC/crypto transactions that are worth 15 million rubles in one year. The Ministry of Finance said that the decision was in line with the FATF recommendations and that compliance with these recommendations will reduce the number of transactions related to money laundering that is obtained by criminal means.

Earlier this year, the Russian government of Vladimir Putin, outlawed cryptocurrency means of payments. This will become effective starting in 2021. Crypto owners will have to report their holdings by April 30, 2022, and all users will have to calculate the value of their digital currency stash that is based on the transaction’s date. The country’s Federal Tax Service will put together a method for determining the market price of a crypto asset. Digital currency exchanges and miners will have to share the details of their bitcoin and other crypto transactions with the government. Failing to do so, will attract a fine of 50,000 rubles. Incomplete or complete non-payment of tax will attract a penalty of 40% for the entire tax amount on all crypto transactions.

As mentioned above, the Russian Ministry of Finance seeks to award a 6-month prison sentence for non-disclosure of crypto assets that are worth 15 million rubles. Apart from the jail-term, defaulters will be in a position to pay fines from 100 thousand to 300 thousand rubles. Also, the punishment could include forced labor of up to two years of deprivation of certain rights for about three years. For not reporting transactions worth 45 million rubles or more, the prison time hits 3 years. The defaulter could also be made to engage in forced labor for up to five years as well as deprivation of rights for three years.