Tax changes have affected individuals earning money from video games. Valve’s service will operate under different taxation rules. Valve has increased the tax for Russian professional gamers and skin creators from 0% to 30% on earnings from CS2, Dota 2 skins, stickers, and more.
Russia has amended certain tax treaties, resulting in creators of virtual skins and stickers for Valve games such as Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, and Team Fortress 2 being subject to higher taxes. The changes in tax rates are also impacting professional gamers.
Cyber.sports attention has been drawn to information circulating online that skin creators have received notice from Valve stating that the tax on sales in the United States is being raised from 0% to 30%. This change will hardly be noticed for people with leading sales outside the United States. In August 2023, Russia suspended parts of its tax treaties with various countries, including the U.S. In response, the U.S. suspended several articles of the 1992 tax treaty with Russia, effective August 16, 2024, according to the U.S. Treasury Department press release linked above.
Please note that starting from this date, the withholding rates for Steam payments to Russian tax residents will automatically change to 30% (from the 0% agreement rate). This change will apply to future payments.
