Russian foreign account notification in 2026: deadline, form, fines

A month to notify and a fine for every account - yet those who spend most of the year abroad do not need to file at all. Who must notify, how to fill in the form, how to file online and what mistakes cost.

In detail

An account in a Georgian bank, a broker in Kazakhstan, a card in Armenia - for a Russian citizen each of them starts not at the bank but at the tax office. The currency control law allows exactly one month for the notification, and the penalty for missing it applies to each account separately. The good news: if you spend most of the year abroad, you most likely do not need to notify at all. Here is who must file, how to fill in the form, where to submit it and what mistakes cost.

Who must notify the tax office about a foreign account

The duty falls on Russian currency residents: all Russian citizens wherever they live, and foreigners with a Russian residence permit. Article 12 of Federal Law No. 173-FZ on currency regulation requires them to inform the tax office about opening and closing an account with a foreign bank or another financial market organisation, and about any change to its details.

There is one important exemption: people who spent more than 183 days outside Russia in a calendar year, in effect tax non-residents, file neither notifications nor reports. It is the calendar year that counts, not any 12 consecutive months. If you are unsure of your status, count your days with our tax residency calculator.

An account in a Eurasian Economic Union country or a country that exchanges tax information with Russia does not exempt you from the notification. The relief for such countries applies only to the report: it is not filed if no more than 600,000 roubles, about $7,100, was credited during the year or remained at year end.

The deadline: one month from the event

The notification is filed no later than one month after the account is opened, closed or its details change. The clock runs from the date stated by the bank in the contract or statement, not from the day the card arrives. If the account was opened on 15 March, the last day is 15 April.

The cash flow report is a separate duty with a different deadline: it is filed once a year, by 1 June, for the previous calendar year. The notification, by contrast, is filed for every event, however many accounts are opened in a year.

Which accounts count: bank, broker, e-wallet

• An account or deposit with a foreign bank. Current, card, savings or deposit - each account counts separately, even if all were opened at one bank on the same day.
• A brokerage account. For the law a foreign broker is another financial market organisation, and the account is notified just like a bank account.
• An e-wallet. The tax service treats an account in a foreign e-money system as an account: both the notification and the annual report apply.
• A crypto wallet. On 1 April 2026 the government submitted bill No. 1194929-8 to the State Duma: it extends the same rules to wallets in foreign blockchain systems, with notification within a month of opening or closing.

A multi-currency account with several numbers for different currencies is a common trap. If the bank assigns each currency its own account number, the tax office treats them as separate accounts, and several notifications are needed. Ask the bank when opening and check the statement right away.

How to fill in the foreign account notification

The form was approved by Federal Tax Service Order No. SD-7-14/349@ of 26 April 2024. One form covers three events: opening, closing and a change of details, marked at the start. It includes:

• Owner details - full name, taxpayer number and address in Russia; in the online account they are pre-filled.
• The bank or financial organisation - full name, country and address, and for banks the international bank code.
• The account - the number exactly as in the contract or statement, the account type and the date of opening, closing or change.
• For a change of details - the old and new data.

A wrong account number or date is a common reason for refiling. A notification with incorrect data may be treated as filed in breach of the procedure, which is also fined.

How to file through the taxpayer's online account

1. Log in to the online account on the tax service website with your public services login or tax service credentials.
2. Open the foreign accounts section and choose the notification of opening, closing or changing details.
3. Enter the bank and account details from the contract or statement.
4. Sign with an electronic signature: a non-qualified signature can be issued free of charge in the online account itself.
5. Keep the receipt - it proves the notification was filed on time.

Other methods are also lawful: in person at any tax office, by registered post with a list of contents, or through telecom channels with an electronic signature. For those already abroad the online account is the most reliable route: a paper letter from another country travels slowly, and the posting date must fall within the month.

Step by step: from opening the account to the first report

1. Opening day. Keep the contract or statement with the account number, opening date and full bank name.
2. First week. Check how many account numbers the bank assigned: a multi-currency account may have several.
3. Before the month ends. File a notification for each number through the online account and keep the receipts.
4. During the year. Keep statements: you will need them for the report and, if there was income, for the tax return.
5. By 30 April. File a tax return on income from the account if you are a Russian tax resident and received interest or gains.
6. By 1 June. Submit the cash flow report for the previous year unless you are exempt.
7. On closing. Another notification within a month and a final report for the year.

If the account was opened long ago without a notification

This is common: the account was opened on a trip and forgotten. The best course is to file the notification now. A late notification under part 2 of Article 15.25 costs several times less than an unfiled one under part 2.1, and it settles the matter before the tax office receives data about the account on its own.

If cash flow reports for past years were not filed either, they are filed too, starting with the earliest. Report penalties depend on the length of the delay, so sooner is cheaper. We check the filing order over several years and the content of the reports against statements so that figures in different documents match.

If you have left Russia

For those who have moved the rule is simpler: if you spent more than 183 days outside Russia in a calendar year, you do not need to notify about accounts or file reports. What matters is days outside the country in the calendar year, not a residence permit or registration.

In practice the catch is the year of the move. Someone who left in September spent most of the year in Russia, so the duties remain for that year. Someone who left in March will exceed 183 days abroad by year end. If you are unsure how to count your year, ask an expert. Where people go and open accounts is covered in the overview where to move from Russia in 2026.

How the tax office learns about foreign accounts

• Automatic exchange. Banks in countries that exchange tax information with Russia report accounts of Russian tax residents.
• Transfers. Transfers from Russian accounts to foreign ones are visible to Russian banks.
• Your own documents. A tax return with income from a foreign account but no notification of the account itself immediately shows a mismatch.

So counting on the account going unnoticed is a poor strategy. A notification takes half an hour, while an undeclared account can trigger questions about the money that went into it.

Example: three accounts in Georgia

Example calculation. A Russian citizen living in Moscow opened a multi-currency account with three numbers - in lari, dollars and euros - at a Georgian bank during a trip and filed no notifications. That is three offences under part 2.1: a fine of about $50-60 for each number, up to $180 in total. If the three notifications are filed late, the part 2 fine is about $15-20 each, up to $60. And if the owner lives in Tbilisi and spent more than 183 days outside Russia in the year, no notification is needed at all.

Special cases

• The bank closed the account itself. Since 2022 this happens often. Closure by the bank is the same event as closure on request: the notification is filed within a month of the closing date stated in the bank's letter or statement.
• A child's account. For a minor the notification is filed by the legal representative, a parent, on the child's behalf and with the child's taxpayer number.
• Transfer to another broker. If securities move to a new broker, the old account closes and a new one opens: two notifications are needed.
• An account opened before getting a Russian residence permit. A foreigner becomes a currency resident on receiving a Russian residence permit, and from then on the notification rules apply.
• A deposit opened within an already notified account. If the bank gives the deposit its own number, it is a separate account and a separate notification.

In any doubtful case it is better to file than not to: the law does not penalise an extra notification, while a missed one is fined for each account.

Penalty for not notifying about a foreign account

Penalties are set by Article 15.25 of the Code of Administrative Offences and apply to each account. Three accounts without notification mean three separate fines. The law states amounts in roubles; below they are converted to dollars at the Bank of Russia rate of 6 October 2026 and rounded up.

The practical conclusion is clear: being late is cheaper than staying silent. If the month has passed, file the notification as soon as possible anyway - the fine for lateness is several times smaller than for not filing. The bigger risk is not the fine but the tax office's questions about money in an undeclared account.

The cash flow report: the second duty

After the notification the account holder has an annual duty: by 1 June, file a report on movements of money and other financial assets for the previous year. It shows the balance at the start and end of the year, total credits and debits, and for a brokerage account also securities movements. In the online account the report is partly pre-filled with the owner and account details.

• Deadline - by 1 June for the previous calendar year.
• Not filed by those who spent more than 183 days abroad in the year.
• Not filed for accounts in Eurasian Economic Union countries and automatic exchange countries if credits for the year or the year-end balance do not exceed 600,000 roubles, about $7,100.
• Brokerage accounts are always included if the holder is a currency resident without an exemption.

What changed in 2025-2026

• A new notification form applies under Federal Tax Service Order No. SD-7-14/349@ of 26 April 2024; old forms are not accepted.
• The exemption for those living abroad is tied to 183 days in a calendar year: people who left for long file neither notifications nor reports.
• Crypto wallets - bill No. 1194929-8, submitted on 1 April 2026, introduces notification within a month for them, as for bank accounts.
• Data exchange - banks in countries that exchange tax information with Russia report accounts of Russian tax residents, so the tax office often learns of an account without a notification.

Countries and banks that do not report are covered in the article an account outside automatic exchange, and opening an account as a Russian in the overview a bank account abroad in 2026.

Common mistakes

• One notification for a multi-currency account with several numbers. Each number is a separate account.
• Counting the month from receiving the card. The clock runs from the opening date in the contract.
• A forgotten closing notification. Closing is an event just like opening, with the same one-month deadline.
• The bank changed its name or details. That is a change of details, which is also notified.
• Miscounting the 183 days. It is the calendar year, not 12 months from departure; the mistake costs a fine per account.
• Notification filed, report forgotten. These are two separate duties with different deadlines.

Tax on money in a foreign account

The notification does not replace a tax return. A Russian tax resident declares interest on a foreign deposit, dividends and gains on trades with a foreign broker: the return is filed by 30 April of the following year and the tax paid by 15 July. The rate on investment income is 13% or 15% depending on the annual amount. If you hold a stake in a foreign company, also check the controlled foreign company rules on the page controlled foreign companies.

Tax residence changes the whole picture: someone who left for more than 183 days a year does not notify about accounts and pays tax on foreign income in the new country. How different countries count days is covered in tax residency and the 183-day rule, and rates by country in taxes by country.

Where Russians open accounts in 2026

Most often in countries where Russian citizens have visa-free entry or a clear status: Georgia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Serbia, Turkey and the UAE. For travel a foreign card for Russians also helps. In each of these countries the rule is the same: open an account, and you have a month to notify.

How we help

We open accounts abroad and set up reporting in Russia straight away: notifications for each account, the report by 1 June and a check of your tax status.

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