Russia's lower house of parliament has approved legislation to exempt Russians who are under Western sanctions from paying tax in Russia if they are registered as taxpayers in foreign countries.
The bill, passed in its third and final reading in the State Duma on March 22, also exempts such individuals from declaring their incomes.
It will become law if approved in the upper house and signed by President Vladimir Putin.
The legislation, initiated by ruling United Russia party lawmaker Andrei Makarov, also grants Russians under sanctions the right to receive a refund on taxes paid to the Russian treasury since 2014 if they prove their status as a foreign tax resident.
In 2014, Western countries imposed asset freezes and travel bans on dozens of Russians -- some of them close to Putin -- after Moscow seized the Crimean Peninsula and backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.
A 2013 law bans Russian officials and lawmakers from having bank accounts, valuable papers, or companies abroad, but allows them to have property in foreign countries that are taxed by local authorities.
