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Russia's 22% VAT from 2026: what to change in ERP, POS and accounting

Russia's Federation Council approved a VAT rise to 22% and a lower VAT threshold for simplified-regime businesses. What to check before 1 January.

Published: 2025-11-26

Today, 26 November, Russia's Federation Council (the upper house of parliament) approved a law that raises the standard VAT rate from 20% to 22% from 2026 and cuts the VAT exemption threshold for businesses on the simplified tax system (USN) from RUB 60 million to RUB 20 million. The President still has to sign it, but there are only five weeks left until 1 January, and the change touches product catalogues, prices, cash registers and integrations. Here is what to check and which transactions will cause the most questions.

What was passed

The State Duma passed bill No. 1026190-8 in its third reading on 20 November, and the Federation Council approved it today. It is a large package of amendments to the Tax Code; four changes matter for accounting and sales.

What changesNew rule
Standard VAT rate22% instead of 20% (Art. 164(3) of the Tax Code), for supplies made from 1 January 2026
Reduced 10% rateKept. Dairy-containing products with milk-fat substitutes are removed from the list
VAT exemption threshold under USNRUB 20M of income for 2025, RUB 15M for 2026, RUB 10M for 2027 onwards (instead of RUB 60M)
Income cap for the patent regime (PSN)RUB 20M for 2026, RUB 15M for 2027, then RUB 10M

The new rate applies to goods, work and services supplied (delivered, performed, rendered) from 1 January 2026 (Art. 25(13) of the law). What counts is the date of supply, not the date of the contract. The rate used for prepayments is derived from the standard rate under Art. 164(4) of the Tax Code, so 20/120 becomes 22/122.

What changes for simplified-regime businesses

Since 2025, every company and sole proprietor on USN has been a VAT payer, with an exemption as long as income stays under the threshold. We covered how this works in VAT under Russia's simplified tax regime. The mechanics stay the same; the numbers change.

  • 2025 income above RUB 20M. VAT is due from 1 January 2026: either a reduced 5% or 7% rate with no input VAT deduction, or the standard rates, now 22% and 10%, with deductions. The reduced rates remain in the law.
  • 2025 income up to RUB 20M. The exemption continues in 2026, but if year-to-date income goes above RUB 20M, VAT is due from the 1st of the following month (Art. 145(5) of the Tax Code).
  • The threshold keeps falling. To stay exempt in 2027, income for 2026 must not exceed RUB 15M; from 2028 the threshold is RUB 10M. A business with RUB 18M of income a year is still exempt in 2026 but pays VAT from 2027.

Two provisions soften the transition. A business that chooses 5% or 7% for the first time may drop it before the usual 12-quarter lock-in ends, provided it does so within four consecutive quarters starting with the first quarter it filed a return at that rate (new paragraph in Art. 164(9)). And a USN business will not be fined under Art. 119(1) for a late VAT return for the 2026 quarter in which it first became liable for VAT (Art. 23 of the law).

Sole proprietors on the patent regime do not pay VAT on their patent activity, with some exceptions (Art. 346.43(11) of the Tax Code), but the law lowers their income cap: the right to the patent regime is lost if patent income for 2025 or during 2026 exceeds RUB 20M; for 2027 the cap is RUB 15M.

Product catalogues and prices

Accounting systems usually store the rate in the product catalogue or in tax groups. Check where else it is set separately: the website catalogue, the CRM, the POS software, marketplace feeds, document templates. Each of these is a risk that on 1 January one system keeps charging 20%.

The second question is pricing. To keep the same revenue net of VAT, the VAT-inclusive price has to rise by about 1.67%: a service priced at RUB 1,200 including 20% VAT becomes RUB 1,220 at 22%. Service businesses often use round prices, so they will either round up or keep the old price and accept a lower margin. That is the owner's call; the system's job is to recalculate price lists across all branches in one operation and update prices on the website and in online booking at the same moment.

Prepayments, memberships and gift cards

The hardest transactions are those paid in 2025 and delivered in 2026. VAT on a prepayment received in 2025 is calculated at 20/120. If the service is delivered in 2026, VAT on the supply is 22%, and the VAT charged on the prepayment is deducted (Art. 171(8) and Art. 172(6) of the Tax Code). Who absorbs the two-point difference, the customer or the business, is a pricing question to settle with your accountant and lawyer before December sales.

For service chains these are not one-off deals but mass sales: memberships, gift cards, customer deposits. How each of them is treated for VAT is the accountant's decision. The system's job is to know, for every item sold, the payment date, the amount and the date of service, and to export the balance of unredeemed services as of 31 December. In our platform for a salon chain with franchisees, POS sales, gift cards, bonuses, deposits and memberships all live in one system. With that architecture, a report on unredeemed services comes from a single database instead of being stitched together from several programs.

Cash registers and integrations

For a cash register to print receipts at 22% and 22/122, the fiscal device firmware and the POS software need updates. In Russia every receipt goes through a certified online cash register, so ask the manufacturer and your software vendor when the updates will ship, and plan time to install them at every location before 1 January. Also watch for guidance from the Federal Tax Service (FNS) on issuing receipts during the transition.

Then come the data exchanges: the website and online payments, marketplaces, delivery services, the CRM-to-accounting sync. The rate is often passed as a code, and if code mapping was configured by hand, the system may simply not recognise the new 22% value. If you accept card payments, check your bank's terms for 2026: the law removes the VAT exemption for operations related to servicing bank cards (Art. 149(3)(3) of the Tax Code).

The fewer exchanges between programs, the fewer places where a rate can get lost or distorted. We tackled the single-system approach in our own product, Aphorio: online booking, sales and POS, finance, reporting and branch management run in one system. It is not the only option: an accounting system, POS and CRM working together can handle this too, but the integrations need step-by-step checks.

The threshold in chain reporting

Lowering the threshold to RUB 20M affects simplified-regime businesses with income between RUB 20M and 60M that did not pay VAT in 2025. Income therefore needs to be tracked every month, not once a year. The report should show year-to-date income calculated under USN rules, with markers at RUB 20M for 2026 and RUB 15M as the reference for 2027.

This matters most for chains with franchisees: the law sets the threshold per taxpayer, meaning each company and each sole proprietor. Consolidated chain revenue will not show that one location is close to its limit. The report needs a per-entity breakdown, and it is easier to build automatically through BI and reporting than by hand in a spreadsheet.

What this means for business

  • VAT payers on the standard rate switch from 20% to 22% in every system and settle pricing and prepayments before December sales.
  • USN businesses with 2025 income above RUB 20M become VAT payers on 1 January and choose a rate. For their systems this is the 2025 transition again, on a tighter schedule.
  • USN businesses under RUB 20M do not pay VAT yet, but they need monthly threshold tracking and documents ready for the switch.

If all accounting runs in one standard configuration and the POS vendor ships the update, updates and settings are usually enough. If prices, sales and documents pass through a website, a CRM and custom integrations, those have to be checked separately. That is what our ERP and accounting practice works on.

December checklist

  1. The rate in every system. Find every place where 20% is set: product catalogues, tax groups, the website catalogue, the CRM, POS software, feeds. Prepare the switch to 22% for 1 January.
  2. Prices. Decide whether to raise prices and how to round them. Prepare new price lists for all branches, the website and online booking.
  3. Carried-over prepayments. Export memberships, gift cards, deposits and advances for services to be delivered in 2026. Agree on their accounting treatment with your accountant.
  4. POS and integrations. Update cash registers and POS software, check rate mapping in integrations, and run a test receipt in the first days of January.
  5. The threshold. If you are on USN, set up a monthly year-to-date income report per legal entity and assign someone to watch the threshold.

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