OREANDA-NEWS The Ministry of Finance of Russia has prepared a draft decree to amend the rules for the accreditation of IT companies. The ministry said in a statement that the project plans to introduce a new criterion for checking foreign participation in companies.

This criterion will require that the share of foreign individuals in the capital of the company applying for accreditation not exceed 50%. The change is expected to come into effect on August 1st, 2025.

Furthermore, the Ministry of Finance also proposes to eliminate the requirement for checking the percentage of income from information technology activities for small technology companies that have been established for less than 3 years.

According to the proposal, a company that has received accreditation during the year in which it was established will be able to bypass the scheduled confirmation process this year.The project also ensures that IT companies from new regions can receive accreditation, regardless of the monthly average amount of payments for employees. This benefit is expected to remain valid until July 1, 2025.

According to the draft, applications for the annual accreditation process will only be accepted in electronic form via Public Services. Additionally, as part of this process, salary verifications will be conducted for two quarters, instead of five.The accreditation of Russian IT companies is administered by the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation. Companies that have been accredited can apply for government support measures (such as reduced insurance premiums, tax benefits, preferential loans, and exemption from inspections). Confirmation of a company's state accreditation as an IT company can be found in the list of accredited IT companies.

According to current regulations, companies with an IT-specific OKVED code as their primary activity can receive accreditation. The company's share of revenue derived from IT activities must exceed 30%. The average salary of its employees must also be at least equal to the average for that country or region in which the company is registered.
There is also a streamlined process for obtaining state accreditation, as well as a separate procedure for start-ups.