I've been hearing so much about taxes on deposits, but I never really understood how it actually works. Finally got a clear explanation of how it's calculated. This will really help some people figure out their finances.
The tax is charged on the interest that the bank credited to you, not on the deposit itself - it's calculated at a rate of 13% of the interest amount (in Russia). The bank usually calculates and withholds this tax itself, so you'll receive the "net" interest in hand 😊
Is your deposit in rubles or in a foreign currency? Because that matters.
So yeah, they do take 13% from the interest you earned, not from the whole deposit amount. The bank usually withholds it itself and transfers it to the tax authority. But here's the catch: if your deposit is in a foreign currency, the tax is also calculated at the exchange rate at the time you receive the interest - so you might end up paying more than you expected if the rate changes. Plus there's a tax break - if the balance in your account doesn't exceed a certain limit, you might not pay tax at all, but honestly, that's rare these days.
There is one important nuance that often gets overlooked, though. The 13% tax is indeed calculated on the interest, but only if your deposit rate is higher than a certain threshold - roughly at the level of the Central Bank's key rate. If your deposit earns less than this threshold, there's no tax at all. The bank automatically transfers the withheld amount to the tax authorities, so in your statement you'll see the net income already.
Has the bank already sent you a 2-NDFL certificate for your deposit, or are you just seeing the interest in your statement? The thing is, tax is calculated on the interest, not on the principal amount, but here's what a lot of people miss: if you have multiple deposits at the same bank, the tax might not be calculated the same way for each one. There's a threshold for your total annual interest (roughly based on the key rate applied to all your money at that bank), and the 13% tax is only taken on the interest above that threshold - you don't pay tax on the rest of the interest at all.
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