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VAT under Russia's simplified tax regime: what to fix in ERP and CRM

From 1 January 2025, companies on Russia's simplified tax system pay VAT. Where this hits prices, documents, cash registers and integrations.

Published: 2025-01-10

From 1 January 2025, every company and sole proprietor on Russia's simplified tax system (USN) became a VAT payer. Businesses with 2024 income up to RUB 60 million are exempt for now; everyone else is already charging VAT. The rate is chosen by the accountant and the owner, but price lists, the CRM, cash registers, the website and the exchange with accounting software have to live with that choice. Here is what to check in the first weeks of the year.

What changed on 1 January

The change comes from Federal Law 176-FZ of 12 July 2024. In October the Federal Tax Service (FNS) published guidance on applying it (letter No. SD-4-3/11815@ of 17 October 2024). The essentials:

Income for 2024VAT in 2025
up to RUB 60MAutomatic exemption, no notification needed. No VAT return
RUB 60–250MChoice: 5% with no input VAT deduction, or the standard 20% / 10% with deductions
RUB 250–450MChoice: 7% with no input VAT deduction, or the standard 20% / 10% with deductions

The income cap for staying on the simplified regime itself rose to RUB 450 million, and the cap on the residual value of fixed assets to RUB 200 million. The exemption does not cover cases where the business acts as a VAT tax agent or imports goods: VAT is due there regardless.

The reduced rates come with a lock-in. Once you choose 5% or 7%, you must stay on it for 12 consecutive quarters. You can leave early only if annual income goes above RUB 450 million or you qualify for the exemption from the start of a new year. Moving from the standard rates to a reduced one is allowed from the start of any quarter.

The FNS itself notes that 20% with deductions can be the better deal when your customers are VAT-paying businesses. A reduced rate usually works better when most costs carry no VAT (payroll, suppliers outside VAT) and customers are individuals.

The threshold is tracked during the year too

The exemption is not granted for the whole of 2025. If income for 2024 was under RUB 60 million but crosses that line during 2025, VAT applies from the first day of the following month. The FNS example: 2024 income of RUB 50 million, year-to-date income reaches RUB 65 million in May 2025, so VAT is charged on all transactions from 1 June.

The boundary between the reduced rates works the same way: cross RUB 250 million during the year, and 5% becomes 7% from the next month. Income is counted by the same rules as for the simplified tax. Agents and commission agents count only their fee, and a sole proprietor combining the simplified regime with a patent adds up income from both.

The practical takeaway: checking revenue once in December is not enough. You need regular, at least monthly, tracking of year-to-date income and a clear rule on who does what as you approach a threshold. The FNS also suggests that contracts allow the price to be increased by the VAT amount if you might cross a limit before delivery.

Where processes break

Prices and price lists

The first question is what happens to the price: do you add the tax on top, or does it eat into your margin. Whatever you decide has to show up consistently wherever the price lives: the price list, the website catalogue, the CRM, the cash register and the accounting system.

The chosen rate applies to all taxable transactions. You cannot set different rates depending on who the buyer is (Article 164(7) of the Tax Code). So a CRM rule like "VAT for companies, no VAT for consumers" will not work.

Invoices, transfer documents and contracts

If you pay VAT, the tax amount appears as a separate line on payment and primary documents, including universal transfer documents (UPD, the standard Russian combined invoice and delivery note), and on VAT invoices (Article 168(4) of the Tax Code). A VAT invoice is issued no later than five calendar days after delivery or receipt of an advance payment (Article 168(3)). For sales to individuals, VAT invoices are not issued; under the FNS guidance, a summary document for the period can be prepared and recorded in the sales book instead.

If you are exempt, documents are issued without VAT and marked "Without tax (VAT)" (Article 168(5)). The mistake is costly: if an exempt company issues a VAT invoice showing tax, it has to pay that amount to the budget (Article 173(5)) and cannot deduct input VAT. Templates generated by your CRM or website are the first thing to check.

Advances and deals spanning the new year

VAT on an advance is calculated at the inclusive rate: 5/105 or 7/107 for the reduced rates, 20/120 or 10/110 for the standard ones. On delivery, the VAT on the advance is deducted. If the advance and the delivery fall in the same quarter, VAT can be calculated at delivery only.

A separate risk is deals where money arrived in 2024 and delivery happens in 2025. No VAT is charged on such an advance, but it is charged on delivery. If the buyer refuses to pay extra, the tax has to be carved out of the agreed price at the inclusive rate. Find these deals in the CRM now, not on the day of delivery.

Cash registers and online sales

Businesses that chose 5% or 7% must show these rates on receipts from Russian online cash registers (KKT, which send every receipt to the tax service) from 1 January. If the register manufacturer has not yet released updated firmware, the FNS allows receipts to be issued under the old rules with "no VAT" fields for now, but the total must include VAT at the reduced rate. Once the update is out, install it and switch to the new rates.

Pay extra attention to sales without a cashier: on the website, in an app, or through online ticketing, as in one of our projects for an entertainment centre chain. The rate is pulled automatically from the product or service card, so a mistake in the catalogue repeats on every receipt.

Exchange between website, CRM and accounting

A "website — CRM — accounting system" chain usually passes the rate as a code or a reference field. If the CRM marks an item "no VAT" while the accounting system (in Russia, most often 1C) expects 5%, documents in the two systems start to diverge and get reconciled by hand. Rates of 5% and 7% are new to these reference lists, so existing integration mappings may simply not know them.

When accounting, sales and the cash register run in one system, there are fewer such seams. For service chains we built this combination into our own product, Aphorio: online booking, sales and checkout, inventory, finance and reporting work in a single system. A price or reference change does not have to travel through several exchanges. If you already have separate accounting and CRM systems, the task is solvable there too, but the integrations need to be checked step by step.

Revenue and margin reports

Reports now need two different "revenues". For threshold tracking, income by simplified-regime rules. For margin, revenue net of VAT. At 5% and 7%, input VAT is not deducted but added to the cost of purchases, so cost of sales in your reports goes up. If reports are assembled by hand or in a separate tool, revisit the formulas before the first quarterly close.

What this means for your business

  • 2024 income up to RUB 60 million. No VAT for now, but track the threshold every month. Document templates must not show VAT, and new contracts should include a price clause in case you cross the line.
  • Income of RUB 60–450 million. VAT documents are required from 1 January. The first VAT return covers Q1 and is due by 25 April, electronically only. The tax is paid in three equal instalments over the three months after the quarter, by the 28th.
  • The rate is the accountant's and the owner's decision. The systems' job is to support the chosen scenario without manual edits to every document and without discrepancies between programs.

Not everyone needs custom development. If all accounting runs in a single standard configuration and the cash register manufacturer has shipped its update, updates and settings are usually enough. If prices, deals and documents flow through a custom website, a CRM and integrations, those need separate checks: the accounting software vendor is not responsible for them. Our ERP and accounting and CRM teams work with exactly these setups.

January checklist

  1. Rate reference lists. Every product and service carries the same rate in the CRM, on the website, at the register and in accounting. Rate codes are mapped in every exchange, including the new 5% and 7%.
  2. Document templates. Invoice, VAT invoice, UPD, service acceptance certificate and contract show the rate and VAT amount as a separate line, or "No VAT", depending on your scenario. The contract template includes the price clause.
  3. End-to-end test. One test deal with an advance and a delivery goes through the whole chain: website, CRM, accounting, register. VAT amounts match to the kopeck.
  4. Deals spanning the year. Advances received in 2024 for delivery in 2025 are exported from the CRM, and each has a decision: the buyer pays the VAT on top, or it is carved out of the price.
  5. Threshold tracking. A monthly report shows year-to-date income against RUB 60, 250 and 450 million, an owner is assigned, and the steps to take near a threshold are written down.

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