The Reformation Era: how businesses survived the first wave of tax changes
The tax reform in Russia, which started this year, has become one of the most ambitious fiscal changes in recent times. It was aimed at increasing budget revenues and increasing economic transparency, but almost immediately serious contradictions emerged between the goals of the state and business opportunities. What effects the innovations have already had and how companies adapt to the changes are described in the "Izvestia" material.
The Wind of Change
The first half of 2026 was marked by adaptation to changes in fiscal policy for Russian businesses. The tax reform came into force in Russia on January 1, 2026. The authorities explained its necessity by the need to achieve sustainable development of the country in the current geopolitical and economic conditions. The goals were to reduce the federal budget deficit, finance government priorities, and combat business fragmentation, tax evasion, and the "shadow" economy in general.
""Due to the VAT increase, we need nothing to go "into the shadows", so that everything works legally, and the corresponding revenues go to the budget," Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized, commenting on the reform.
Among the key changes introduced to the Tax Code are an increase in the basic value—added tax rate to 22%, changes in the conditions for VAT exemption under the simplified taxation system (STS), and stricter controls over business fragmentation and the "shadow" sector.
The main innovations in the case of the simplified and patent taxation systems (PTS) concerned income limits for VAT exemption. They decided to gradually lower the threshold. It was planned that by 2028 it would amount to 10 million rubles.
Insurance premiums were also affected by the changes — preferential tariffs of 15% for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) were retained only for priority economic development activities. The fixed amount of insurance premiums of individual entrepreneurs (IE) "for themselves" in 2026 was set at 57,390 rubles, with an additional 1% payment on income over 300 thousand rubles. The tariff for IT companies has also increased - 15% within the base and 7.6% above it.
Among other innovations are the expansion of the list of tax—free incomes, simplification of benefits for the sale of real estate, and new support measures for families with children, including the opportunity to receive a property tax deduction for citizens with three or more children under the age of 23 who study full-time.
A profitable business
The Ministry of Finance assesses the progress of the tax reform positively. The head of the department, Anton Siluanov, said in June that the authorities "did not overdo it" in the case of tax changes. In his opinion, this is clearly confirmed by the budget performance indicators.
The reform has indeed had a certain effect. Federal budget revenues in the first half of 2026, according to a study by the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, amounted to 18.5 trillion rubles, an increase of 5.9% in real terms compared to the same period last year. The main source of growth was non-oil and gas revenues (more than 12 trillion rubles). And a significant part of them were VAT receipts from domestic sales (+36.5%).
Corporate income tax receipts also increased — they increased by 10%, reaching 4.92 trillion rubles. However, it is worth noting that macroeconomic indicators have deteriorated at the same time: the net profit of large and medium-sized companies decreased by 13.3% (to 11.7 trillion rubles).
The revenues of the consolidated budgets of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation due to tax revenues, by the way, have also increased. They exceeded last year's figures by 8.3%.
However, the changes have created difficulties for the business itself — innovations in fiscal policy have forced companies to massively review financial strategies. And not everyone has managed to adapt painlessly to the changes.
— The first stage of the reform turned out to be too difficult or economically sensitive for some businesses, so the government is already introducing certain exemptions. At the same time, entrepreneurs still do not have a full understanding of the consequences of the reform," Alexander Khaminsky, a tax lawyer and head of the Center for Law Enforcement in Moscow and the Moscow Region, points out to "Izvestia".
Fiscal Stress Test
Businesses began to feel the additional tax burden in the first months after the new rules were introduced. And SMEs and sole proprietors had the hardest time. There were several reasons for this. First of all, difficulties arose due to the lowering of the VAT threshold for "simplified tax". Many small businesses had to switch to a common taxation system.
"Lowering the income threshold for VAT exemption for businesses on the ONS, combined with a simultaneous increase in the basic value—added tax rate to 22% for small companies, trade, catering and services, may mean a significant increase in the tax burden and the need to review prices, contracts and financial model," warns Alexander Khaminsky.
At the same time, unlike large companies, SMEs and sole proprietors may not always be able to quickly increase prices to compensate for the increased tax burden. And this can lead to liquidity problems: losses can lead to a shortage of working capital, which is especially dangerous for small businesses where many operations depend on daily cash flow.
— The problem is compounded by the difficulty of choosing between different modes and bets, as well as the risk of errors when switching to new rules. Therefore, tax audit services have become more in demand, when businesses check contracts, settlements, accounting and readiness for new requirements, trying to identify the claims of the Federal Tax Service in advance, the tax lawyer adds.
However, the cost of consulting external specialists is sometimes prohibitively high. And, in addition, there were difficulties with the integration of the necessary IT systems: the introduction and support of new digital platforms or software required technical knowledge and additional funds.
Against this background, a negative trend quickly emerged — small and medium-sized businesses in Russia began to actively close. At the beginning of 2026, as calculated by analysts "Contour.Focus", 209 thousand SMEs stopped working, which is 9% more than the same period of the previous year.
According to some reports, 12-15 thousand companies are shutting down every month this year, which is about three times higher than in the previous nine years. For the first time in almost a decade, the number of closed organizations exceeded the number of open ones. However, it should be noted that it is impossible to determine exactly what proportion of companies ceased to exist in 2026 precisely because of the increased tax burden.
Vadim Tkachenko, founder and CEO of the vvCube consulting group and public Commissioner for Information Security and Digitalization at the Moscow Business Ombudsman, says that bona fide players are experiencing serious problems today related to the growing financial and tax burden. Liquidations and closures of companies, staff reductions and the transfer of employees to other structures are increasingly observed.
According to the expert, the business in the field of information technology has suffered the most. In particular, startups that use STS have faced difficulties.
— This is especially true for attracting funds, the so-called initial investment. In addition to such problems, it is also worth adding difficulties with personnel and with the payment of fees for directors, which were mandatory from January 1, 2026," he explains.
However, it is not only the IT industry that is suffering, the editorial source admits. A large number of economic sectors are affected, and it is quite difficult to identify areas that have not been affected by the tax reform.
Companies operating in priority sectors of the economy are in a more comfortable position. The conditions for them are milder, so the dynamics in their case is rather positive. Such enterprises, as indicated in the "SME Corporation", have become a driver of the growth of new registrations of small businesses in general. In January 2026, in particular, 23.1 thousand companies opened in priority industries, and in February — 28.7 thousand.
It is also important to note that it is not only the tax reform that has a negative impact on SMEs and sole proprietors. The current key rate is still not comfortable enough for small businesses. And loans taken at higher interest rates need to be continued to be serviced, which can become a serious problem, especially in conditions of decreasing consumer demand.
The current situation has become a clear signal to the state about the need to adjust new tax regulations. Without a revision of the rules, the pace of liquidation will only increase, predicts Vadim Tkachenko.
— And the country needs to support business in order to maintain the stability of the investment climate and attractiveness for the "golden" staff, — the expert is convinced.
Shadow on the fence
It is worth adding that changes in fiscal policy have affected ordinary customers as well. Small stores, having switched to the general taxation system, usually include increased tax expenses in prices in order to avoid reducing margins. Therefore, they warned about the likely cost increase even before the reform came into force. Specialists of "Dom.The Russian Federation" expected that goods and services would rise in price by 1.5-2% at the beginning of the year due to the tax reform. And the growing tax burden has indeed become the main driver of inflation in the non-food sector.
Consumer activity naturally decreases in such conditions, which affects the retail sector, creating a vicious circle: tax increases indirectly provoke a drop in business revenue, and in the long run this leads to a decrease in the income tax base.
There are certain risks for the state itself. The tax reform is designed to whitewash the economy, but in fact, there is a possibility of an increase in cases of mass fragmentation of businesses in order to preserve the right to tax relief without VAT. The more complicated and expensive legal turnover and tax administration become, the stronger the incentive for some entrepreneurs to go into cash payments, warns Alexander Khaminsky.
— It is fundamentally important that the government can control non-cash turnover through the banking system, online sales registers and tax reporting, while it is impossible to fully control cash turnover. ""As a result, certain elements of the reform, designed to whitewash the economy, are able to return some operations "into the shadows," the Izvestia interlocutor emphasizes.
Therefore, according to the tax lawyer, the criterion for the success of the reform should be not only an increase in tax revenues, but also the preservation of business economic motivation to work completely legally.
"If the white model turns out to be too expensive and unpredictable, the government risks getting the opposite result, that is, not further whitewashing of business, but an increase in unaccounted—for cash turnover," the expert says.
Healthy compromises
Against the background of the current situation, the authorities thought about the relaxation of the new rules quite quickly. Vladimir Putin instructed the government on February 26 to develop measures to help businesses adapt to the tax reform. A week later, the Ministry of Finance prepared a list of several measures. In April, the bill containing them appeared in the electronic database of the State Duma, and the next day the parliamentarians reviewed it, adopting it in the second and third readings.
As a result, entrepreneurs were given a delay in switching to the USN. They were allowed to submit a notification of the transition to "simplified" until June 1, 2026. This step was supposed to help companies that did not have time to figure out the tax changes in time.
At the same time, the authorities allowed to reduce the base for the USN by the amount of VAT if the prepayment was received before the introduction of innovations, and the goods or services had to be shipped at the same price, but with value added tax. The measure was also fixed as an adaptation measure with the prospect of further cancellation.
In addition, entrepreneurs who worked for the NTC were allowed to deduct VAT on expenses incurred while working in this mode. "However," he said, "we are talking about situations where expenses have already occurred, but have not actually been "worked out" on the patent due to the transition to a "simplified tax system" or a general taxation regime.
At the same time, catering establishments (one of the most affected industries) have relaxed the conditions for receiving tax benefits, temporarily removing salary requirements for the past year. The relief, however, affected only businesses, whose revenue for 2025 ranged from 20 million to 60 million rubles.
At the same time, the adjustment of the reform did not end with the measures introduced in April. The authorities have prepared new amendments aimed at helping businesses adapt to changes in tax legislation.
In particular, the VAT threshold of 20 million rubles was frozen for 2027-2029. And this became an important relaxation, since it was initially assumed that every year more and more SMEs and sole proprietors would be subject to tax. Now, in accordance with the rules adopted in the summer, a reduction to 15 million rubles is scheduled for 2030.
However, they want to reduce the limit to 20 million rubles on the automatic simplified taxation system as early as 2026. In 2027, it may amount to 15 million rubles. At the same time, they want to postpone the deadline for paying taxes from the 28th to the 25th of each month.
The authorities are now continuing to assess the effects of the tax reform and improve it. And the survival of Russian business depends on how much the government can simplify procedures, taking into account the difficulties that have emerged at the current stage.
"Izvestia" editorial board sent inquiries to the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation and the Federal Tax Service. No responses had been received at the time of publication.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
