Russia is draining money from businesses: The Russian Federation’s tax revenues have risen amid falling profits, according to intelligence reports

This was reported by the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine.

As noted, the Kremlin is increasing its revenue not through business profits, but by taking an ever-larger share of the market: following the increase in the corporate income tax rate from 20% to 25% effective January 1, 2025 (with the federal share rising from 3% to 8%, while the regional share remained at 17%), revenues to the budgets of the Russian Federation’s constituent entities fell by 12%—to $18.26 billion—which clearly illustrates the siphoning of resources from the periphery due to the war.

The press service explained that since the effect of the tax reform—which peaked at $14.35 billion in the third quarter of 2025—is now wearing off, the Russian authorities are resorting to aggressive fiscal administration.

In particular, in the first quarter of 2026, the number of on-site audits of the largest taxpayers rose from 13 to 42. The amount of additionally assessed liabilities jumped by 683%—from $15.65 million to $122.62 million— effectively turning into a forced extraction of money from companies whose financial condition continues to deteriorate rapidly.

See also: Russian regions are demanding that businesses provide personnel for the war against Ukraine. If companies are unwilling to do so, they are offered the option to pay a fee to “buy out” an employee from mobilization.