The Federation of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers of Russia asks the government to postpone the deadline for paying VAT for the first quarter until the end of 2026. Otherwise, market participants fear, significant damage will be caused to the restaurant business, which has already suffered from reduced demand. In January-March, restaurants and bars throughout Russia lost 3% of visitors, and in Moscow and St. Petersburg they lost 12% and 8%, respectively.
On April 15, the Federation of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers of Russia (FRiO) appealed to the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Mikhail Mishustin with a request to extend until the end of 2026 the deadline for paying value added tax (VAT) for the first quarter for catering enterprises operating on the simplified taxation system (STS) and becoming payers of this fee to the budget from this year. “Kommersant” has read the appeal. The government staff told Kommersant that the association’s letter has not yet been received.
From the beginning of 2026, companies whose revenue exceeds 20 million rubles are required to pay VAT. Until 2025, the bar was higher – 60 million rubles, but from 2026, all entrepreneurs on the simplified tax system whose income for 2025 exceeded 20 million rubles became VAT payers. However, restaurateurs managed to achieve benefits for the industry. From April 1 until the end of 2026, the same conditions for revenue levels remain the same, but for the first quarter of this year, catering operators are required to pay VAT until April 28.
The FRIO believes that paying VAT within the specified period will cause significant damage to the restaurant business and create preconditions for abandoning investments in the industry, closing cafes and going “into the shadows.”
The first quarter was “the hardest for the market,” recalls Nikita Rogozny, co-owner of the Wokker noodle chain and the Briquette Market gastromarket chain. According to the Check Index service, from January 1 to March 23, restaurants and bars throughout Russia lost 3% of visitors, in Moscow – 12%, in St. Petersburg – 8%. “Restaurateurs are still knocked down, including due to record low revenues in the first quarter,” says Alexey Nebolsin, vice-president for the turnover of alcoholic products at hospitality enterprises of FRiO. According to him, paying VAT in the amount of 5% of turnover “in the near future will be like death for catering operators.”
Falling demand, staff shortages and increased tax burden have already caused a wave of closures in public catering. In March, the number of restaurants in Russian cities with a population of over a million decreased by 5% year-on-year, to 7.2 thousand outlets. The number of fast food establishments decreased by 2%, to 25 thousand, canteens – by 3%, to 4.7 thousand, cafes – by 6%, to 12.5 thousand, bars – by 11%, to 5.9 thousand, calculated in 2GIS.
“Entrepreneurs have not accumulated reserves or room for maneuver in terms of covering the losses of the disastrous January-February, so the transfer of taxes would allow replenishing the working capital of companies,” believes Nikita Rogozny. Deferring the payment of the tax will make it possible not to raise prices even to the level of VAT costs, which means that restaurants will not experience an additional outflow of consumers, agrees RestCon CEO Elena Perepelitsa. This, according to the expert, will increase the survival rate of many enterprises that have near-zero profitability.
The new tax system not only hit existing catering enterprises, but also significantly reduced the number of investors planning to launch a new business, including a franchise, says Franshiza.ru expert Anna Rozhdestvenskaya.
According to her calculations, in January-March 2026, the demand of potential entrepreneurs for the purchase of franchises of small-format establishments fell by 48%. First of all, we are talking about bakeries, small coffee shops, shawarma points and fast food establishments in food courts, Mrs. Rozhdestvenskaya lists.
Sergei Chelyshkov, a partner at the law firm MEF Legal, believes that the recently adopted law exempts restaurateurs with revenues of up to 60 million rubles from VAT for three quarters. per year, the state has already laid down all the measures that it was ready to take. He considers further relaxations, at least in relation to 2026, unlikely. According to Rosstat, in 2025 the nominal volume of GDP amounted to 213.5 trillion rubles. The turnover of the public catering market during this period amounted to 4.3 trillion rubles, according to calculations by the statistical service.
The abolition of VAT before the end of this year will only give time to rebuild the business model and optimize costs, believes Anna Rozhdestvenskaya. However, in her opinion, such a relaxation will not lead to a significant effect for the entire industry, namely the revival of activity in the industry and the opening of new establishments. Nikita Rogozny names preferential lending and government protection from landlords who “parasitic on the inability to get out of lease agreements” among the most desirable and effective measures for the public catering industry. The latter measure was effective during the coronavirus pandemic, he recalls.
