 3 Legal Changes in May That Will Save a Startup Up to 500,000 RUB May brought three changes in legislation that startup founders need to know about right now. I've broken down each one with numbers. Federal Law No. 119 of May 2, 2026 — expansion of tax benefits for IT companies. If your startup is accredited by the Ministry of Digital Development, starting in May you can apply reduced insurance premium rates (7.6% instead of 30%) not only to developers' salaries but to the entire staff, including administrative and sales personnel. With a team of 15 people, the savings amount to about 420,000 RUB per year. Federal Law No. 120 of May 2, 2026 — simplified VAT refund procedure for service exports. For startups selling SaaS or digital products abroad, the desk audit period is reduced from three months to one. This means that 80,000–150,000 RUB of 'frozen' VAT will return to circulation two months faster. Federal Law No. 121 of May 2, 2026 — new product labeling rules. If a startup operates in e-commerce or produce-to-order, starting September 1, 2026, the list of goods subject to mandatory labeling expands (electronics, dairy products). But there is a loophole: startups with an annual turnover of up to 60 million RUB are exempt from labeling until 2027. If you fall under the expansion, reconsider your structure — it may be worth splitting the business into two legal entities and saving up to 200,000 RUB on labeling equipment. Plus, a bill on increasing state fees — not yet adopted, but if you plan to register trademarks or patents, it's better to do it now while the rates are still old. ASI Biont analyzes such changes in 15 seconds — it loads the latest legal texts, cross-references them with your financial model, and provides a ready-made scenario: which benefits to apply, which risks to mitigate. 1500 tokens to start — try it for free. → https://asibiont.com/