Self-employed: use for cashing and tax optimization.
More than 10 million self-employed are registered in the Russian Federation. Since 2019, their total income has amounted to 3.6 trillion rubles. Some legal entities engage them for illegal cash-out. To do this, money is transferred to their cards for the fictitious provision of services. They receive a percentage of remuneration for each transaction. The benefit of such cooperation with the self-employed is unambiguous, because they pay only the professional income tax (PIT) of 6%.
Another method is the use of cash platforms on the Internet. Through the accounts of individuals, including the self-employed, customers’ funds are passed and withdrawn. They draw up a fictitious contract for the provision of services with individuals or other contractors. Then an act of work performed is drawn up – of course, sham. The money travels to various accounts of the performer and is cashed in. Often former employees of companies become self-employed. But they conclude a civil law agreement with another company, usually a “one-day” company. According to the law, the self-employed have the right to conclude contracts with former employers only after two years from the date of dismissal.
Of course, in addition to cashing out, legal entities and private entrepreneurs use the self-employed for the purpose of tax optimization, to save on personal income tax 13%, insurance contributions – 30%. There is no need to provide social guarantees and vacations. The Federal Tax Service originally created the NAP regime in order to replenish the Russian budget at the expense of entrepreneurs who do not want to formalize a sole proprietorship. The experiment was successful, and the self-employed began to register. However, due to the fact that they are not subject to income tax and insurance contributions, firms and entrepreneurs began to actively use them in order not to pay payroll taxes. In other words, the reverse effect of the decrease in budget revenues was partially realized.
The Federal Tax Service regularly searches for schemes to evade payroll taxes in cooperation with the self-employed. The analytical system “MARM NPD” is used to identify violations. It tracks the frequency and amounts of checks issued by the self-employed through the “My Tax” application, the duration of work with one customer, their number and average salary. Some firms make the mistake of paying self-employed people twice a month – just like their full-time employees. The Federal Tax Service assigns risk points for sole proprietorships and LLCs. It checks whether a self-employed person has previously worked for an organization as a full-time employee. If there are suspicions of tax optimization, documents and explanations are requested, interrogations are conducted, and the contract is analyzed. Therefore, it is important to conclude the contract correctly and to record all work performed on a monthly basis with acts. The company may be fined up to 100 thousand rubles for improper execution of the contract. It is also analyzed whether the self-employed works with other companies or whether he receives money only from one company, his income is checked.
Since March 2024, the Federal Tax Service has begun to transfer to district inspectorates the data of legal entities and IEs for summoning to the commission on illegal employment. To do this, one must meet at least one of the criteria. These include the substitution of labor contracts for contracts of state employment, employment of more than 10 employees with wages below the minimum wage, deviation of wages by 35 percent or more from the average for the industry in the region, cooperation with more than 10 self-employed and the presence of their salaries above 20 thousand rubles per month. If the contracts are recognized as fictitious, the company will be accused of evading personal income tax and insurance contributions. The sanctions include additional charges, fines and penalties.
Source: https://antifinrazvedka.club/samozanyatye-ispolzovanie-dlya-obnalichki-i-nalogovoj-optimizaczii/