The Federal Tax Service is interested in “fake” self-employed

Cunning methods of tax evasion began to be discovered and stopped

Professional income tax payers – self-employed – began to be suspected of fraud and summoned to the tax office for a conversation. Everyone is asked the same question: are you really an employee, just registered as self-employed? We are talking about a common phenomenon – the employer avoids taxes, replacing work under an employment contract with the self-employment of an employee. What was the violation, MK understood.

We are talking about the relationship between the customer and the contractor, in which the same services are regularly provided for the same cost. Today, many unscrupulous employers, taking advantage of the emergence of a new regime, began to offer employees registration as self-employed. At first glance, the employee’s benefit here is obvious – he will pay 6% tax on professional income instead of 13% personal income tax, i.e. on hand will receive a large amount. The benefit for the customer is also obvious – he is exempt from 30% of other taxes, for example, deductions to the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation. However, you should not consider yourself the smartest of all: there is a risk that the Federal Tax Service will become interested in a situation in which a person provides regular services, and payment for these services is very similar to a fixed salary. Such relationships should be transferred to work for hire, or to a GPC agreement with an individual.

The official website of the Federal Tax Service has published a list of “markers” that can be interpreted as tax evasion: these are situations where an enterprise enters into contracts with the same self-employed on an ongoing basis; if a self-employed person draws up checks (receives income) constantly from the same customer, and only from him, which may indicate full employment in this workplace; if self-employed checks with this customer are held monthly or bi-monthly for the same or close amounts, similar to receiving wages.

“Those who work as self-employed with only one customer and for a fixed fee are at risk,” lawyer Lyubov Shuryga explains to MK. – If you receive a “salary” on the first day of each month, then the Federal Tax Service has every reason to suspect fraud, i.e. that you are actually a full-time employee, just an employer avoiding taxes. Well, here the most serious risk is Article 198 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation: tax evasion. This is how you can interpret the desire to pay 6% tax on professional income instead of 13% personal income tax.

Shuryga recalled that a self-employed person is a freelancer, so it is much more natural for him to work with several customers at the same time (or alternately) and receive different fees each time. The lawyer also noted that at risk are the self-employed, whose income is approaching 2.4 million rubles (the threshold). As soon as the self-employed person exceeds this limit, the CAP regime for him is automatically canceled.

“In any case, I advise you to take your personal accounting seriously and be sure to keep all receipts. They will help you in solving difficult situations,” added the lawyer.

If the fact of fraud is revealed, the consequences will be unpleasant – you will need to pay the state all 13% of personal income tax that you evaded. In addition, a fine and other methods of bringing to responsibility in accordance with Article 198 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation are possible.

As of July 2023, 8.06 million self-employed people are registered in Russia.