CONTENTS

1. Russia Is Switching to Electronic Labor Books
2. There Will Be More Self-employed Workers
3. The list of goods subject to mandatory marking will be expanded
4. Personal income tax for non-residents will be decreased

Russia Is Switching to Electronic Labor Books

From January 1, 2020, any employee can write an application for the conversion of their labor book into electronic form or for preserving the document on paper.

Employees who choose electronic labor books will receive their paper labor books in hand. It is not necessary to transfer all old information from paper to electronic format.

If the employee does not decide, the employer will continue to fill out a paper copy of their labor book.

Also, starting next year, employers are required each month to send a new report on HR-related matters (hiring, transfer, dismissal) to the Pension Fund. Therefore, even if an employee chooses the paper version, all the data will be duplicated in the electronic version of the labor book.

For new employees who will start working for the first time after January 1, 2021, the labor book will be issued only in electronic form.

What organizations need to do:

• Make changes to local regulations and collective bargaining agreements, if necessary.
• By June 30, 2020, inform each employee in writing of their right to keep a paper version of the labor book or switch to the electronic version.
• Prepare technically.

There will be more self-employed workers

From January 1, 2020, the self-employed tax (professional income tax) will be available in 19 more regions:

• Saint Petersburg
• Leningrad region
• Voronezh region
• Volgograd region
• Nizhny Novgorod region
• Novosibirsk region
• Omsk region
• Rostov region
• Samara region
• Sakhalin region
• Sverdlovsk region
• Tyumen region
• Chelyabinsk region
• Krasnoyarsk territory
• Perm region
• Nenets Autonomous Okrug
• Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug
• Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug
• Republic of Bashkortostan

If the experiment goes well, then beginning July 1, 2020, any resident of Russia will be able to become self-employed.

The list of goods subject to mandatory marking will be expanded

In 2019, certain goods must be marked. They include:

• tobacco products
• shoes
• some drugs
• some goods of consumer goods industry (knitted blouses, coats and short coats, raincoats and jackets, etc.)
• tires and treads
• perfumes and scented water
• cameras and flash units

From January 1, 2020, marking will affect all drugs. The transition period for the introduction of mandatory drug marking will last until July 1, 2020.

By 2024, virtually all consumer products must be marked.

Personal income tax rate for non-residents will be decreased

By March 12, 2020, a bill should be ready to reduce the personal income tax rate for non-residents to 13% instead of 30. The criterion will also change: residents will be considered those who have been in Russia for 90 days, instead of 183, as now.