How to legally receive money from outside of Russia

    Given : a customer abroad who wants to work with you and pay you euros or dollars.
    Find: the best way to organize work with him, to pay taxes and sleep peacefully.

    I must say right away that getting money on a plastic card without paying taxes can result in serious problems (about responsibility is written at the end of the topic). Explanations that money “from grandmother to granddaughter for ice cream” with amounts of more than 10K $ per year is no longer rolled, especially if the details of “grandmother” will be something like “GMBH Star Development” The probability that they will take for the ass is quite high and therefore, it’s better not to take risks and do everything according to the Law, especially since there is nothing complicated about it

    Option 1. You are an individual. Annual tax 13%


    1. Open a foreign currency account of an individual at any bank, conclude a civil contract with the customer.
    2. It is important that the contract is either in Russian or in two columns with a translation
    3. After the first receipt of the money, take a copy of the contract to the bank. So that the financial monitoring of the bank does not worry and does not block your account due to different suspicions.
    4. Once a year until April 30, submit a 3-NDFL declaration, in which you fill out sheet B “Income from sources outside the Russian Federation”. Attach a copy of the contract and a bank statement to the declaration
    5. You kill a toad in yourself and by July 15, pay 13% of all income.
    6. If thoughts come to mind - “why did I do this ???”, “I gave my hard-earned money to asshole officials !!!”. And such thoughts are sure to visit, then read the end of the article - FAQ section - the question about liability for non-payment - immediately feel better

    All. You can sleep peacefully.

    Important notice. Some especially gifted tax may begin to demand to pay more insurance premiums or "solve the problem on the spot" - this is a simple extortion of a bribe. Do not pay attention - you have to pay only 13% and nothing more.

    The second very important point. Namely sheet B “Income from sources outside the Russian Federation”. In no case is "Entrepreneurship."

    Option 2. You are an individual entrepreneur. 6% annual tax


    There is less tax, but in return we get a portion of hemorrhoids. In terms of currency control, IP is equal to LLC. And any step to the side is punishable by rather large fines. Nevertheless, if you figure it out once and go through the entire procedure from how the money came from the customer to the time of a pleasant rustling in your wallet, then everything will be simple.

    The first thing you need is a currency account in any bank

    Before opening a foreign currency account, it is very important to speak with a representative of the currency control group — not by telephone, but in person. If it is prohibited by the rules of the bank - look for another bank.

    I will give an example from practice. VTB24 Bank. Communication with the currency control takes place only in official letters of the form - “THE REQUIREMENTS OF CHAPTER 4 OF THE INSTRUCTIONS 117-I OF June 15, 2004” were not complied with.

    Now we are cooperating with Nordea Bank. The exact same phrase in their version reads as follows: “Registration address is not specified in the application.” And she says by phone or by email.

    Agree two different things. Therefore, I emphasize again. Adequate currency controller - the key to success. Do not spare time on choosing a bank, talk personally with currency controllers - this is extremely important.

    So you have chosen a bank and wrote an application for opening a foreign currency account.

    Two accounts will be opened for you - current and transit.

    Transit account - serves for the receipt of money. After the money is received in the transit account, you must transfer it within seven days to either the current foreign currency account or sell the currency to the ruble settlement account.

    Next, you need to make an agreement with your customer and open a transaction passport.

    It is important to indicate the following points in the contract
    • A clear description of what needs to be done - either a development phrase in accordance with those. task.
    • Currency in which settlements will be made
    • If payment is planned periodically, and there is no desire to do acts of work performed each time, then you need to add a phrase.
      The Customer transfers to the Contractor under this Agreement a monthly advance payment to the Contractor’s current account on the basis of the invoice, in the amount determined by the Parties on the basis of the Contractor’s progress report. The final settlement for each Terms of Reference by the Customer is made to the Contractor's settlement account, on the basis of the invoices issued by the Contractor, no later than 5 (five) calendar days from the date of signing by the Parties of the Acceptance and Transfer Act for this Terms of Reference.
      In this case, it will be possible to do one act for the entire amount received for the year, for example.
    • Full details of the payer.
    • Your details should include your transit account.

    The contract must be drawn up in Russian, or there must be a translation in two columns. If the contract is signed in a foreign language, then the translation of the contract will have to be notarized.

    If you plan to receive in total more than $ 5,000 from your partners or euros, it doesn’t matter for which period, in one payment or several, then for each contract you need to issue a transaction passport .

    The transaction passport must be issued before the first receipt of money from the client.

    In good banks, employees of the currency control group help newcomers with filling it out. Depending on the bank, this can be either a paid or a free service. We advise her to use it.

    So, the transaction passport is issued and now you can receive money.

    After the funds have been received to your transit account, the bank will send you a notification of the receipt of funds. Within seven days after this, you must make a certificate of foreign exchange transactions and either sell the currency to the ruble account or transfer it to the current currency account in order to make the sale later.

    In good banks, the first certificate of foreign exchange operations will help to issue the specialists of the currency control, and then everything can be done according to the model.

    After the funds from the sale of foreign currency have arrived in your ruble bank account, you can dispose of them in the usual manner.

    When you close a certain stage of work, you need to do an act

    The certificate of completion is also done either in Russian or in two languages. After that, a copy of it is handed over to the Currency Control Department along with a certificate of supporting documents.

    Thus, the sequence of actions for the IP turned out to be

    Agreement -> Transaction passport ---> Currency receipt ---> VO certificate ---> Currency transfer to the ruble account -> Act -> Certificate of confirming operations.


    The contract and passport can be one for several receipts.

    General FAQ on this topic


    How to count taxes?

    At the Central Bank rate on the day of crediting to the transit account. But there is a slight nuance. If you sold the currency at a price higher than the official rate at the time of receipt, then the exchange difference is subject to an additional tax. If sold at a lower rate, then the tax is paid at the Central Bank rate at the time of transfer.

    What will happen to me if I just get money on the card and not pay any taxes?

    If caught, then you will have to pay 13% + fines 5% of the amount of unpaid tax per month for the first 180 days, then 10% monthly of the amount of tax, and then criminal prosecution with the prospect of becoming Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s neighbor.

    What is the statute of limitations for liability for not paying taxes

    If you have not been caught for three years, you can breathe easy, be sure to do a good deed, or even better a few, and you can forget about the fact that you did not pay taxes.

    How does the tax office know that I receive money and do not pay taxes?

    1. You need to understand that if someone is caught on tax evasion, then the bank in which the account was opened may lose its license. Therefore, now financial monitoring of the bank checks all operations and conducts an investigation for each suspicion. Banking secrecy is only on paper . No bank will risk its license.
    2. Enemy / Abandoned girl (boy) wrote a letter to the Federal Tax Service Inspectorate “such a comrade does not pay taxes. He has an account with such and such a bank ”- an almost 100% verification guarantee.
    3. The bank went bankrupt and is saved by the state structure. All payments are verified including incoming.
    4. So the stars got up and just out of luck.


    The topic of currency control is very large and we talked about a small piece, which will be enough for many cases. If you have a “special case” write to cons@moedelo.org - we will be happy to help.

    Good luck!

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