Paying abroad and duties in Russia

How a payment for a foreign deal works, what the receiving bank checks and what a Russian citizen must report to the state: the account, the status, the deadlines.

Checked on: 4 October 2026

In a foreign deal the question of payment is settled before the question of the asset. The limits on sending money from Russia have been lifted, so the main question is a different one: whether a bank in the country of the deal will accept the transfer. A separate matter is the duties to Russian authorities that arise after a foreign account is opened and a status is obtained.

Sending from Russia

From 8 December 2025 the Bank of Russia lifted the limits on foreign currency transfers abroad for Russian citizens. The restrictions extended until 7 December 2026 concern non-residents from unfriendly states and do not affect Russian citizens.

Acceptance of the payment in the country of the deal

The decision whether to accept a transfer rests with the receiving bank. It acts under its own client checks and may ask for documents on the origin of the money. In some programmes the route of the payment is set by the rules themselves.

Country	What the rules require
Türkiye	Before the transaction the currency is sold to a bank in Türkiye, which sells it to the Central Bank
Panama	The funds belong to the applicant, originate abroad and have a documented trail; gifted amounts are not counted
UAE	The invested capital is fully owned by the investor and does not come from a loan
Cyprus	Where residential property is bought, income from EUR 50,000 a year is evidenced by a tax return from the country where the applicant is tax resident

EU banks

Article 5b of EU Regulation 833/2014 prohibits banks in the European Union from accepting deposits from Russian citizens and persons residing in Russia if the client's total deposits at one bank exceed EUR 100,000. The prohibition does not apply to citizens of EU, EEA countries and Switzerland, or to holders of a temporary or permanent residence permit in those countries. Statuses of other countries do not lift this restriction.

Source-of-funds documents

The documents are prepared before the transfer: the contract for the sale of an asset, income certificates, tax returns, bank statements.
The payer and the applicant under the programme must, as a rule, be the same person.
The chain must be unbroken: from the source of the money to the account the payment leaves from.
The list of documents is requested from the receiving bank in advance and in writing.

A foreign account: notification and report

Under Federal Law No. 173-FZ on currency regulation, a Russian resident must notify the tax authority of the opening or closing of an account with a foreign bank, or of a change in its details, within one month. A report on the movement of funds on such an account is filed every year by 1 June of the year following the reporting year.

Those who spent more than 183 days outside Russia in the calendar year are exempt from both duties.
No report is needed if the account is in an EAEU country or in a state that automatically exchanges financial information with Russia, and the movement of funds for the year did not exceed RUB 600,000.

Second citizenship and residence

A Russian citizen who obtains the citizenship of another state or a document giving the right of permanent residence abroad must notify the Ministry of Internal Affairs within 60 days (Article 11 of Federal Law No. 138-FZ). If the person was abroad during that period, the 60 days run from the day of entry into Russia. Failure to notify carries liability.

Order of steps

Obtain written confirmation that the programme accepts the application.
Obtain from the receiving bank the list of documents and confirmation that the transfer will be accepted.
Collect the source-of-funds documents.
Make the transfer and keep all payment documents.
Notify the tax authority of the foreign account within one month, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the status within 60 days.

We describe only the lawful way of making payments and do not help to get around restrictions. The tax consequences of a deal and of a change of status are assessed separately with a tax adviser.

Sources

This material is for reference only and is not legal, tax or investment advice. Programme terms change: verify them against the primary source before deciding.

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