Russia wants to ban migrants from registering as self-employed

In Russia, they want to ban migrants included in the register of controlled persons of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia from registering as self-employed. As Izvestia found out, such a bill is planned to be submitted to the State Duma on April 14 by deputies of the LDPR faction led by Leonid Slutsky.

According to the document that Izvestia has, we are talking about migrants who do not have legal grounds to stay in the country, therefore they should not have the right to apply a special tax regime "Tax on professional income."

According to the authors of the initiative, the measure will strengthen state control over migrants and their activities in the country, as well as protect the interests of Russian citizens.

"In June last year, the State Duma adopted a bill that made it impossible for foreigners included in the register of controlled entities to register as an individual entrepreneur, and this provision already entered into force in February. We supported this measure: migrants who grossly violate our legislation, while others are not included in the register of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, should be deprived of the right to earn here. We decided to go further and extend a similar ban to migrants who apply the special tax regime "Professional Income Tax", that is, who are self-employed. The opportunity to pay a reduced tax was developed primarily for Russian citizens, various craftsmen and specialists who work for themselves for the benefit of society and the country, and not for poorly educated visitors who also disregard the laws in our country," Leonid Slutsky explained.

Since February 5, 2025, there has been a ban in Russia on state registration as an individual entrepreneur for foreigners or stateless persons whose information is included by the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the register of controlled entities. However, there are no prohibitions or restrictions for self-employed migrants included in this register in the current legislation.

At the same time, as the authors of the bill explain, thousands of migrants working in Russia as couriers or drivers are willing to apply for self-employment in order to pay tax at a reduced rate.

Guest entrance: Russia will introduce a digital migrant profile

It will help to control the status of foreigners

The press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs told Izvestia on April 3 that the number of legal labor migrants has increased in Russia — in 2024, 138 thousand work permits were issued to people from countries with which the Russian Federation has a visa regime, as well as to stateless persons (+40% compared to the same period in 2023)..