Expensive gear: Luxury car tax charges set a record
Premium cars will bring a record 5 billion rubles to the budget system — this is how much the luxury tax was charged for 2024, FinExpertiza calculated according to the Federal Tax Service. The growth rate of fees accelerated for the first time since the pre-sanctions period by 27%. We are talking about fees from cars costing from 10 million rubles, such as Aston Martin, Ferrari, Rolls—Royce, etc. Despite external restrictions, the luxury car market has grown by a third over the year, to 33 thousand units. Among the reasons are the rising incomes of wealthy Russians, the expansion of supplies of Chinese premium models, and increased demand before the increase in recycling. Where expensive cars are most actively bought and what awaits the market next — in the Izvestia article.
How the number of luxury cars in Russia has grown
The tax inspectorate has accrued a record 5 billion rubles in fees for premium cars. Over the past five years, revenue from this tax has more than quadrupled. At the same time, the growth rate accelerated for the first time since the pre-sanctions period and amounted to 27%. The calculation was carried out by the FinExpertiza audit and consulting network based on the latest data from the Federal Tax Service (Izvestia has a study). The transport tax is paid before December (for individuals) or March of the following year (for legal entities). That is, people still pay fees.
We are talking about a levy on cars worth over 10 million rubles, the so-called luxury tax. It is an increasing triple coefficient applied to the transport tax. The calculation formula is as follows: tax = engine power (hp) × rate per 1 hp × boost factor. At the same time, the rate for 1 hp is set by the regional authorities and may vary depending on the region.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade annually updates the list of cars subject to the luxury tax. The current list includes several hundred models, including Aston Martin, Bentley, BMW, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche, Rolls-Royce cars. In addition, the list includes some models from Chinese manufacturers — HiPhi, Hongqi, LiXiang, Voyah and Zeekr.
The increase in revenue is attributed to increased sales of premium cars. In 2024, the fleet of luxury cars in Russia grew by a third and reached 33 thousand units. In five years, from the low—key 2019 to 2024, their number has almost quadrupled, FinExpertiza estimates.
Most of the increase was accounted for by individuals. The number of luxury cars registered for citizens has increased almost 1.5 times, to 23 thousand units. In turn, the organizations increased their premium fleet by only a quarter, to 10,000 vehicles. As a result, the share of luxury cars owned by private owners increased to 70%, while corporate cars decreased to 30% (a year earlier, the ratio was 68% and 32%).
Transport tax receipts to the consolidated budgets of the subjects by November 1, 2025 amount to 137.8 billion rubles (an increase of 0.1% by 2024), the press service of the Ministry of Finance told Izvestia. At the same time, it's not just about luxury cars.
Luxury tax is an unofficial name for taxes on expensive cars, real estate, and land. At the same time, the price of a car is fixed at 10 million rubles, and a house, apartment, cottage, commercial real estate (office, retail, residential) or land plot costs more than 300 million according to the cadastre.
Why is it more common to buy premium cars in Russia?
— The increase in the number of premium cars by a third in 2024 is due to several factors. Among them are an increase in the income level of potential buyers, an expansion of the list of available options and the emergence of new brands, including Chinese ones. The intensification of purchases in anticipation of increased recycling, as well as the growth of supply in the secondary market and the development of trade-in programs, could have a certain impact," explained Elena Trubnikova, President of FinExpertiza.
The increase in luxury tax revenues is associated not only with an increase in sales, but also with an increase in the price of premium cars themselves, explained Dmitry Evdokimov, a researcher at the IPEI Presidential Academy. According to him, the cost of luxury cars is increasing due to exchange rate fluctuations, duties, fees and the expansion of supplies in the upper segment. At the same time, the share of the Chinese premium is increasing — some configurations have already come close to the threshold of 10 million rubles, the expert noted.
In 2024, the Ministry of Industry and Trade expanded the list of models worth over 10 million rubles to 517 positions against 449 a year earlier, recalled Vladimir Chernov, analyst at Freedom Finance Global. This automatically increased the number of luxury tax payers. In addition, the rules were tightened: for cars costing from 10 to 15 million rubles and no older than 10 years, as well as for cars more expensive than 15 million rubles and no older than 20 years, a triple coefficient is applied to the transport tax, regardless of the actual transaction price. The very fact of the model's inclusion in the Ministry of Commerce's list is taken into account, which also supported revenue growth.
An additional contribution was made by the expansion of the most luxurious fleet. The accumulated demand and the general increase in the cost of cars drove a number of models over the price threshold of 10 million rubles, which automatically increased the tax base, the expert noted.
"At the same time, luxury cars are becoming an object of investment among the well—off segments of the population, especially against the background of unstable markets and declining profitability of traditional financial instruments," said the International Financial Adviser, Associate Professor of Finance for Sustainable Development at the Russian University of Economics. Plekhanova Maria Ermilova.
Which regions have more revenue from the luxury car tax
The tax goes to regional budgets — the more premium segment cars are registered in a region, the higher the amount of revenue from them.
Moscow traditionally remains the leader in accruals, where owners of expensive cars will transfer more than 2 billion rubles (over 40% of the national total). There are about 13 thousand such cars in the capital, the study showed.
St. Petersburg is in second place. There are almost 3 thousand luxury cars there. Residents of the city who own such vehicles must pay a tax of 453 million rubles. The Moscow region closes the top three with collections of about 387 million — there are over 2.7 thousand expensive cars in the region.
The Krasnodar Territory (237 million rubles and almost 1.5 thousand cars) and Tatarstan (almost 124 million rubles and 785 cars) also entered the top 5 major taxpayers.
At the other pole, there are mostly sparsely populated or remote territories from the center. For example, in 2024, only four luxury cars were registered in the Jewish Autonomous Region and Chukotka, with a total fleet of 45,000 and 10,000 vehicles, respectively. Slightly more luxury cars are registered in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug (five units), Tuva (seven), and the Altai Republic (14 units).
Last year, the luxury car fleet grew in almost all regions of the country. The largest increase was in those regions where there were relatively few expensive cars at first, in particular, in Kalmykia, Mordovia, Yakutia, Amur and Pskov regions. Their number has almost doubled there, although there are few of them in absolute numbers (40-100 units).
At the same time, the reduction occurred only in the Krasnoyarsk Territory and Kostroma region.
What changes are expected in the car market in 2026
In 2025, the situation on the car market has changed. In nine months, only 896,000 were sold. Demand for cars fell by 22%, said Alexey Ivanov, owner of the Alliance Trucks commercial vehicle dealership network.
As the expert explained, the reason lies in the high key rate — from October 2024 to June 2025, the Bank of Russia kept it at a record level of 21% and only then began to reduce it. At the last meeting, the regulator set a rate of 16.5%. Such a strict policy of the Central Bank has made car loans inaccessible to most buyers. By the beginning of the year, about 700 thousand had accumulated in dealers' warehouses. unsold cars, by October stocks had decreased to 400 thousand, but this is still a critical level, he stressed. In 2026, the market is expected to recover to 1.5 million cars sold, Alexey Ivanov said.
However, everything depends on the monetary policy of the Central Bank and the localization of production. According to the expert, with the easing of credit conditions and stabilization of the ruble, the market may return to growth in the second half of next year.
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