The kremlin Intends to Impose a 20% Windfall Tax on Businesses

Despite the russian oligarchs’ propose to voluntarily contribute to the budget to fund the war, the kremlin plans to impose an additional “windfall tax” on large companies. Based on the results of 2025, russian authorities are going to introduce a new tax on business excess profits amid a growing budget deficit and financial pressure related to the war against Ukraine.

The tax rate could reach as high as 20%, which is twice as much as during the previous campaign in 2023. This refers to the taxation of the portion of companies’ 2025 profits that exceeds the average level for 2018–2019. It was precisely this period that served as the baseline for collecting excess profits in 2021–2022.

The previous excess profits tax brought in approximately 318.8 billion rubles to russia’s budget. At the same time, oil, gas, and coal companies were exempt from paying it, and the main burden fell on enterprises engaged in the extraction of ores, rare metals, and phosphates, as well as the production of cast iron, rolled steel, pipes, and non-ferrous metals, and businesses operating in the trade sector.

The initiative to introduce a new tax emerged amid a deteriorating financial situation in russia. According to the ministry of finance of the rf, in the first quarter of 2026, the budget deficit exceeded the annual target by 20% and reached 4.576 trillion rubles, compared to the annual target of 3.786 trillion. An additional factor was the 45.4% drop in oil and gas revenues compared to the same period in 2025.

Economists point out that even potential additional revenues from exports of energy carriers will not be able to cover the budget deficit. Against this background, the government is forced to seek new sources of revenue, particularly from businesses that are still profitable.