"Hello, good old cash": The government plans to monitor Russians' bank transfers even more actively.

The Ministry of Finance has prepared a bill that expands the data exchange capabilities between the Federal Tax Service and the Bank of Russia. This allows the authorities to identify Russians' tax-free income.

The explanatory note states that transfers between individuals, which are generally considered gratuitous receipts, may be payments for transactions—for example, for services or rent. However, such income is not declared and is not subject to personal income tax.

Data exchange will allow tax authorities to quickly obtain information on citizens' cash flows and detect regular receipts. Currently, the Federal Tax Service can request bank data only for reasons specified by the Tax Code.

"Hello, good old cash," "Maybe they'll start watching themselves," "If you sell some kid's clothes on Avito, is that still income?" "They'll wait until everyone converts to cash—and then a banking crisis will be added to everything else," Russians comment on social media.

It was previously reported that the Central Bank will require banks to link Russian citizens' accounts to their Taxpayer Identification Numbers (TINs). This will allow the tax authorities and the Central Bank to compare accounts, transactions, and income of the same individual across different banks much more quickly and accurately.

The State Duma also passed a bill that will allow Rosfinmonitoring access to data on Russian citizens' transfers through the Fast Payment System (FPS). The amendment was justified by the need to strengthen the security of the financial system and protect citizens from "criminal attacks," as well as to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.