Russia
| Pros |
|---|
| Low personal income tax rates and competitive corporate tax structures in special economic zones |
| Advanced digital infrastructure and affordable high-speed internet connectivity across major urban centers |
| Abundance of highly skilled technical talent in software engineering and mathematics at competitive costs |
| Cons |
|---|
| Pervasive state interference in private enterprise and weak protection of individual property rights |
| Systemic corruption and lack of an independent judiciary for fair legal dispute resolution |
| Severe geopolitical risks and international sanctions against global financial mobility and trade |
Long story short: Since 2022, your money can get frozen overnight: foreign cards dead, local banks cut off from SWIFT. The real risk here isn't tax, it's geopolitics.
Domestically, things run smoothly: 20% corporate tax, a 6% flat regime for small setups, company registration in a single day through an online portal. Corruption has retreated to big public contracts, far from the daily grind of a neighborhood entrepreneur.
Other than that: Moscow's metro is spotless, business districts stay calm, Georgian food is superb, and living costs are dirt cheap, but conscription and suspicion toward foreigners lurk in the background.
Will your income be taxed?
Long story short: NO.
Russia doesn't tax personal income, and nobody comes sniffing around when you settle in. No withholding, no tax return, no centre-of-vital-interests trap waiting to snap shut.
Earn what you want: the taxman here simply doesn't know your name.
Will your wealth be taxed?
Long story short: NO.
Russia keeps its hands off what you hold. No capital gains tax, no annual wealth grab, no inheritance regime.
Your portfolio compounds in peace and leaves the way it came in; nobody's standing at the door with their palm out.
Easy to run a company there?
Long story short: YES.
Russia runs no corporate income tax and no criminal liability for misuse of corporate assets: fiscally and legally featherweight.
The catch: registries are public, so your name as shareholder is one search away for any curious stranger. They won't tax you, they won't prosecute you. They'll just put you in the shop window.
A good fit for a holding?
Long story short: NO.
Russia has no treaty network at all, which buries the holding question, full stop.
Every dividend in or out eats the statutory withholding at full rate, and no domestic regime can patch a hole that sits on the source side. Don't park a holding here.
| Country | Status | Dividends | Interest | Royalties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| ∅ // no treaties match | ||||
Easy to come and go?
Long story short: SOME.
Russia taxes your worldwide income while you're resident, but at least the exit is free: no exit tax on the way out.
Leaving costs you paperwork, not money; your unrealised gains walk out the door with you, untouched.
Is your money watched?
Long story short: PARTLY.
Russia has signed most of the standard exchange frameworks and runs a public corporate registry. Your accounts get reported to your home tax office, and your shareholdings sit in the shop window.
Watched on both axes: not wall-to-wall, but don't come here for discretion.
Is it blacklisted?
Long story short: YES.
Russia sits on an international embargo list (UN, US or EU sanctions). This is not blacklist friction, it's the financial death penalty: correspondent banking is gone, payment rails refuse the corridor, and simply transacting with the country can put you on a sanctions desk's radar.
Whatever the tax math says, the jurisdiction is radioactive. Walk away.
Do you feel free there?
Long story short: NO.
Press freedom in Russia is locked down (RSF rank #171). Independent media and civic space operate under pressure (when they operate at all), and that kind of grip usually spills over into economic life too.
Small mercy: crypto isn't formally banned.
| Program | Status | Cross-border | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Digital Ruble
The introduction of a digital ruble will help is expected to reduce costs for households and businesses, increase the speed of payments, and develop innovative products and services in the financial industry and the economy in general.
Bank of Russia
|
PILOT | — | announce → |
Connected to the world?
Long story short: COMPLETELY CUT OFF.
Russia is unplugged from the global money grid: 0/11 of the services we track work here. No Stripe, no Amazon, and almost nothing around them either.
Whatever your plan is, the payment layer gets built from scratch, with local banks and local rules. Come for other reasons; connectivity isn't one of them.
Other jurisdictions worth comparing
Picked by similarity of strategic profile to Russia. No editorial ranking — neighbours in the same scoring space.