A Russian e-commerce industry group has urged Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin to phase in a new VAT on cross-border trade rather than impose it all at once, Forbes Russia reported.

The Association of E-Commerce Representatives, known as APET, sent the letter as officials weigh two competing proposals. The Industry and Trade Ministry has called for a flat 22 percent VAT on all foreign goods starting immediately; the Finance Ministry favors a phased approach.

An overnight tax increase would push prices up 15–25 percent, APET warned, setting off a price shock, a drop in marketplace traffic, and a migration of buyers toward unregulated channels. Russian sellers on those platforms would be the first to absorb the revenue hit. Consumers would feel the squeeze most sharply in electronics, clothing, footwear, cosmetics, and household goods.

Russian sellers currently hold one concrete advantage over Chinese competitors: delivery times, the entrepreneurs said. “If VAT is introduced in full, the economics of the cross-border model will be destroyed, and sellers from China will switch to a local model — they will open legal entities in Russia and work from warehouses inside the country,” APET said.

The group asked that a “smooth transition period for introducing the 22 percent VAT rate until 2029” be guaranteed in the interests of buyers — a step that, it argued, would protect the competitive position of Russian sellers and keep consumer demand within legal channels.

In October 2025, the Finance Ministry proposed introducing VAT on imported goods in stages, with rates rising gradually: 5 percent in 2027, 10 percent in 2028, 15 percent in 2029, and 20 percent in 2030. In February 2026, the Industry and Trade Ministry put forward a rival plan calling for the full 22 percent VAT on foreign goods to take effect on January 1, 2027. The State Duma’s committee on industry and trade backed that proposal. The Finance Ministry has since revised its own position: it still favors a phased rollout, but at steeper rates — 7 percent in 2027, 14 percent in 2028, and up to 22 percent in 2029.