The Ministry of Finance determined tax rates for highly qualified specialists

The Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation determined the way foreign highly qualified specialists are taxed. In this way, regardless of whether the employee is a tax resident of the Russian Federation or not, his/her income will be taxed at 13%.

In this case, the usual tax rate established by Article 224 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation is 30% for foreigners who are not tax residents of the Russian Federation and are not highly qualified specialists.

However, it is also emphasized that the restriction of the tax rate of 13% is valid only regarding the income of a foreign worker which is the result of his/her direct labor activity. This means that all other income such as tuition fees for foreigners or their children or travel expenses to the place of residence and back are taxed at 30%.

As highly qualified foreign specialist is recognized foreign citizen who has certain skills and achievements in a determined field. The main criterion for determining such a specialist is the size of his/her salary: it must be not less than one million rubles per year for professionals who are scientists or teachers and at least two million rubles per year for other foreign workers. Such restrictions are not applied for foreign citizens taking part in Skolkovo project.