// wiki · reference · September 2026

The tax regime of an IT company: 2026 rates

Draft article. The rates are as of September 2026; they are verified against the current editions of the Tax Code and regional laws before publication.

The short answer

An IT company may use reduced tax rates if the statutory conditions are met. Company accreditation and a product’s software-register entry serve different purposes. In 2026 the contribution rate within the cap rose from 7.6% to 15%, and the general VAT rate to 22%; this does not mean payroll doubled or that every development service attracts 22% VAT. Check the tax regime, transaction type and exemptions separately.

Two keys: accreditation and the register

• Mintsifry accreditation opens the regime for the company itself: 5% profit tax, reduced social contributions. The condition is a main activity from the IT list (development, adaptation, promotion and support of software) and IT revenue of at least 70%. For AI companies this is usually achievable, but the share is monitored by year-end results.
• The unified register of Russian software matters for each product separately: it gives the VAT benefit on sales and enhanced coefficients on purchases. The register admits programs and databases with sufficient Russian depth of development — this is exactly where AI products often stumble: a model built entirely on someone else's architecture or API may not pass. See “Who owns an AI generation” and “Training a model on someone else's works” — the legal cleanliness of the chain of rights and data is a tax prerequisite here as well.

The 2026 rates: what changed

The limits of the benefits

• VAT relief for software rights requires checking the register entry and the relevant provision’s conditions. For development, support, training and related services, consider the tax regime and available exemptions; the general rate from 2026 is 22%. Assess licences and services separately in mixed contracts.
• Accreditation can be lost. If the IT revenue share falls below the threshold or the main activity changes, the company drops out of the regime retroactively — with additional assessments at the general rates.
• A register entry is tied to rights. If the legal chain to the code is weak (contractors without assignments, generations without a contractual basis), what is at risk is not only a rights dispute but also the register with all its tax consequences — see “Due diligence of an AI asset”.

What a company should check

• whether the company is accredited and what the actual IT revenue share is by year-end;
• which products are in the register and whether what is sold under contracts matches the register entry (a licence, not “access services”);
• how contracts are split: the licence separately, works and services separately — so as not to extend the benefit to what does not qualify;
• recalculate the budget using the applicable contribution rates, tax regime and VAT exemptions;

Reconciling contracts and the revenue structure with the tax regime is joint work of a lawyer and an accountant; ongoing legal support covers it as routine, a one-off check — after an enquiry.