Why Russian companies struggle to pay for foreign AI tools

The short version

A freelancer can pay for an AI tool with a card and move on. A company cannot, because its money, expenses and client data follow separate rules. Here are the six problems Russian companies and sole proprietors usually face with foreign image and video generation services.

• Payment · Russian bank cards do not work in foreign online stores
• Documents · without them the expense does not reduce tax
• VAT · the buyer of an electronic service becomes a tax agent
• Personal data · photos of people leave the country
• Account bans · access to the account and balance is not guaranteed
• Currency control · the bank may request documents for the payment

Payment

Since March 2022, Visa and Mastercard cards issued by Russian banks do not work abroad or in foreign online stores. Foreign AI tools mostly take cards and rarely offer a contract and invoice to a Russian company.

In practice companies use workarounds: resellers who resell subscriptions, or an employee who pays with a foreign card and gets reimbursed. Both leave the company without documents in its own name and dependent on a third party.

Documents and deductions

Under Article 252 of the Russian Tax Code, an expense reduces profit tax only if it is justified and supported by documents. The simplified tax on income minus expenses applies the same test plus a closed list of allowed expenses in Article 346.16.

Foreign documents prepared under the business customs of another country are allowed. But when a reseller or employee buys the subscription, the company usually has neither a contract nor a seller document in its name, and the expense tends to be disputed in an audit.

Tax agent VAT

Online image and video generation usually counts as an electronically supplied service, meaning remote access to software and databases. When a Russian company or sole proprietor buys such services from a foreign company, it generally has to calculate and pay VAT on the seller’s behalf as a tax agent (Tax Code, Articles 161 and 174.2).

This applies even to businesses that do not pay VAT themselves, such as those on the simplified system. The standard VAT rate is 22% from 1 January 2026. When payment went through a reseller or a personal card, meeting the agent duty correctly gets harder.

Personal data

Photos and videos that identify a person are usually personal data. Uploading photos of clients, staff or models to a foreign service is a cross-border transfer, and under Article 12 of Law 152-FZ the operator must notify Roskomnadzor before it starts.

Article 18 adds a localization rule: recording, storing and updating personal data of Russian citizens must happen in databases located in Russia. A service that keeps everything abroad does not help a company meet it. Using a person’s image also generally requires their consent under the Civil Code.

Account bans and prepaid balances

Terms of foreign services usually allow them to suspend or close an account for rule violations, including export control and payment rules. For a company this means prepaid credits, generation history and files can become unavailable at any time.

Disputes then usually run under foreign law in a foreign jurisdiction, and if a reseller or employee paid, the company has no direct relationship with the service at all. The larger the prepaid balance, the higher the risk.

Currency control

If a company does pay a foreign supplier from its own account, it is a foreign currency transaction. The bank, acting as a currency control agent under Law 173-FZ, may request documents such as a contract and proof of service. For a card subscription under a public offer, that package is hard to assemble.

Transfers to foreign recipients also depend on sanctions and bank policies, so a payment may be declined or delayed.

Common workarounds

The options companies use most often and where they fall short.

How Solistra solves it

Solistra gives companies the same models and tools as foreign platforms within Russian jurisdiction. The company pays by invoice from its bank account, receives a contract and completion certificate, and the team works in a shared space with a shared credit balance on the Constellation plan.

The database, files and backups stay in Russia. A foreign model receives only EXIF free media and prompt text, and only after consent to cross-border transfer. To get started, email partners@solistra.ru.