Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Russia’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) has proposed introducing a mandatory 5% fee on money transfers by foreign citizens from Russia abroad. Party leader Leonid Slutsky sent the corresponding proposal to Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, TASS reported.
Under the initiative, banks and payment systems would automatically withhold 5% of each transfer made by a foreign citizen outside Russia and transfer the funds to the federal budget.
“If money is earned in Russia, part of it should remain here and work for our economy and our people,” Slutsky said.
The proposal notes that money transfers by foreign citizens and stateless persons abroad are currently not subject to a separate tax, fee or other mandatory payment.
The initiative cites data for 2025. According to the figures included in the proposal, transfers from Russia to Kyrgyzstan amounted to US$3.2 billion, while transfers to Uzbekistan totalled about US$18.9 billion. Experts estimate that migrants transfer around US$25 billion out of Russia annually.
According to Slutsky, introducing such a payment would increase federal budget revenues through additional proceeds from cross-border transfers.
The LDPR also believes that the fee could partially offset costs incurred by the budget system in connection with the presence of foreign citizens in Russia.
At present, the proposal remains an LDPR initiative. No decision has been made to introduce the mandatory payment.
