Should a self-employed person file tax returns in 2021?

Since mid-October 2021, a preferential tax regime for the self-employed, better known as the professional income tax, has been in effect throughout the country (Federal Law No. 422-FZ of November 27, 2018). On October 19, the last region, the Republic of Ingushetia, joined the experiment. Now anyone can take part in it.

Professional income to the income of individuals from activities in which they do not have an employer and do not attract employees under employment contracts, as well as income from the use of property.

In this article we will consider the following questions:

Who can switch to a special tax regime
What restrictions apply to the use of the special regime?
What is recognized as the place of business of a self-employed person?
What taxes are self-employed people exempt from?
Registering a self-employed person
Deregistration of a self-employed person
Object of taxation for the self-employed
The procedure for recognizing income for the self-employed
Tax base and tax period
Tax rate for self-employed
Penalty for self-employed
How to switch to professional income tax from other special regimes
Official clarifications on the application of tax for self-employed people
Tax deduction for self-employed
Self-employed 2021: what will change

Who can switch to a special tax regime

This can be done by individuals and individual entrepreneurs who operate in Russia. Also, some foreign citizens have the right to become self-employed, namely citizens of Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. They can apply the tax regime under the same conditions as Russian citizens.

By choosing a special regime for the self-employed, you can engage in those types of activities, income from which is subject to professional income tax, but without the need to register as an individual entrepreneur.

These activities include:

provision of cosmetic services at home;
photo and video shooting to order;
sales of own-produced products;
holding events and holidays;
legal advice and accounting;
remote work through electronic platforms;
renting out an apartment daily or long term;
passenger and cargo transportation services;
construction work and renovation of premises.

What restrictions apply to the use of the special regime?

Self-employed people should not have an employer or employees. This category includes citizens who receive income from their personal work activities.

The maximum income should not exceed 2.4 million rubles. per year, that is, 200,000 rubles. per month, if you distribute this limit by month (although the amount of income per month can vary up or down, the main thing is that the total amount for the year does not exceed 2.4 million rubles).

Those who sell excisable goods, such as alcohol or gasoline, cannot take advantage of the special regime. It also cannot be used:

to persons engaged in the resale of goods, property rights, with the exception of the sale of property used by them for personal, household and (or) other similar needs;
persons engaged in the extraction and (or) sale of mineral resources;
persons who have employees with whom they have an employment relationship;
persons carrying out business activities in the interests of another person on the basis of agency agreements, commission agreements or agency agreements, with the exception of persons providing services for the delivery of goods and acceptance (transfer) of payments for the specified goods (works, services) in the interests of other persons;
persons applying other taxation regimes provided for in Part 1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, or carrying out business activities, income from which is subject to personal income tax, with the exception of cases of application of other taxation regimes and calculation of personal income tax on income from business activities before the transition to the specified special tax regime.

Who are the self-employed and what do they do?

Last year, a new tax regime was tested in 4 regions - the professional income tax (PIT). Citizens who use it are called self-employed, despite the fact that this concept does not even appear in Federal Law No. 422-FZ of November 27, 2018, which introduced the regime.

In the summer and early September 2021, laws allowing Russians and some categories of foreigners to use NAP appeared in almost all regions. And now many are deciding whether to abandon the status of individual entrepreneurs completely or partially, given that taxes on professional activities are lower, and reporting for self-employment is completely absent.

Read more: What is the difference between individual entrepreneurs and self-employed citizens

To start working, a citizen, even if he is an employee and works under an employment contract, must register as a tax payer. During the month, he sells goods or services, and then from the income received he pays 4 or 6 percent of the income to the budget, depending on who bought his product or service. No additional paper or electronic reporting of self-employed persons to the tax office is provided for in 2021, although they will still have to report on transactions carried out and money received. A citizen is required to record this information either in his personal account or in the “My Tax” mobile application so that the Federal Tax Service Inspectorate receives all the necessary information about the payer and his income.

Despite the many benefits, certain restrictions have been introduced for the self-employed. Thus, they are prohibited from selling goods or services that are not produced by them personally. The second limitation is that annual income from NAP should not exceed 2.4 million rubles. And one more thing - no hired workers.

As for the activities that are allowed to be carried out, there are few prohibitions, given that only products of one’s own production are allowed to be sold. If you want, create computer software, if you want, sew, if you want, do tutoring. Regardless of the type of occupation, reporting documents for the self-employed are receipts that are generated in a mobile application or personal account when making entries about the sale of a product or service.

Read more: Types of activities for self-employed citizens

IMPORTANT!

The law prohibits persons who combine NAP and work under an employment contract from selling goods (services) to their employer not only during the period of employment, but also for 2 years after dismissal.

What is recognized as the place of business of a self-employed person?

This is the location of the taxpayer when carrying out activities. An individual notifies the tax office of the place of business when switching to the use of a special regime.

What rules apply in this case:

if a self-employed person operates in the territories of several constituent entities of the Russian Federation, then he has the right to independently choose the subject in whose territory he conducts activities;
the place of business can be changed only once per calendar year;
if a self-employed person ceases to operate on the territory of the selected entity, then for the purposes of applying the special regime, he selects another entity included in the experiment, on the territory of which he operates, no later than the end of the month following the month of such termination;
when changing the place of business, an individual is considered to be operating in the territory of another entity starting from the month in which he chose this entity.

What taxes are self-employed people exempt from?

Individual: from personal income tax, in relation to income that is subject to taxation on professional income tax;
Individual entrepreneurs applying a special tax regime: from personal income tax on income that is subject to tax on professional income, from VAT (exception: VAT payable when importing goods into the territory of the Russian Federation and other territories under its jurisdiction), from fixed insurance premiums (however in other special regimes, insurance premiums are paid even in the absence of income).

If there is no income during the tax period, then there are no mandatory or fixed payments. At the same time, self-employed people participate in the compulsory health insurance system, so they can count on free medical care.

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Differences between individual entrepreneurs and self-employed people

Self-employment has a number of significant differences from working with individual entrepreneur registration. Entrepreneurs working officially are forced to pay insurance premiums annually in the established amount, even if for some reason they have not worked for some time. A self-employed person, whether or not receiving income, does not pay contributions. His payments are limited to the purchase of the patent.

Important! For each type of activity, the tax is calculated separately.

According to the provisions of the law, in the future, the legalization of a self-employed person will provide for the payment of tax on professional income. Taking into account the work format, the NDP will be 4% or 6%. In terms of reducing costs and simplifying accounting, self-employment still looks like a more attractive option. The authorities also promise to develop an application for mobile gadgets that will allow you to pay taxes using a card.

But there are also differences in the nuances of work between individual entrepreneurs and the self-employed:

Individual entrepreneurs have no limits on permissible types of activities.
Self-employed people are allowed to provide services solely for the personal and household needs of people.
The self-employed are not accrued seniority, but they have the right to make voluntary contributions to accumulate pension points.
Individual entrepreneurs must go through the registration procedure in full, and for the self-employed it is enough to notify the tax authorities about the start of work.

Entrepreneurs must submit reports to government agencies according to the established template. There is no such obligation for the self-employed. However, self-employed citizens trying to take out a bank loan will find themselves in a difficult situation, since financial structures will equate them with the unemployed.

Registering a self-employed person

Those who wish to take advantage of the special tax regime will need to register as an occupational income tax payer.

This can be done in a matter of minutes using several tools: a special mobile application “My Tax”; taxpayer’s account “Professional Income Tax” on the Federal Tax Service website; on the State Services portal.

However, the easiest way is to use the “My Tax” mobile application.

How the My Tax app works for self-employed people

The registration algorithm includes the following steps:

1. Sending a set of necessary documents to the tax office:

applications for registration;
copies of the passport and photograph of the individual (not required if a citizen of the Russian Federation has access to the taxpayer’s personal account on the Federal Tax Service website or the State Services portal).

An application, a copy of a passport, and a photograph of an individual are generated using the “My Tax” mobile application (can be downloaded from Google Play and the App Store), and this does not require an enhanced qualified electronic signature.

2. Notification from the tax authority is received through the “My Tax” mobile application - no later than the day following the day the application is sent.

The tax office has the right to refuse registration if contradictions or inconsistencies are identified between the submitted documents and the information available to the tax authority (in this case, the tax office indicates the contradictions and offers to resubmit the documents).

The date of registration of an individual as a taxpayer is the date of sending the corresponding application to the tax authority.

Foreigners can also register through the “My Tax” mobile application, but only using a TIN. Registration using a passport will not be available.

Deregistration of a self-employed person

Deregistration is possible for two reasons:

if an individual refuses to apply the special regime;
if an individual ceases to meet the requirements of Part 2 of Art. 4 of Federal Law No. 422-FZ of November 27, 2018, that is, it falls into the list of those who are not entitled to apply a special tax regime. In this case, the tax office removes the taxpayer from the register on its own initiative, without an application, and notifies him about this through the “My Tax” application.

In the event that an individual refuses to apply the special regime, a statement is required from him. The date of deregistration is the date the application for deregistration is sent to the tax authority. The tax office also warns about deregistration through the “My Tax” application - no later than the day following the day the taxpayer sends the corresponding application.

After deregistration with the tax office, an individual has the right to re-register in the absence of tax arrears, arrears of penalties and tax fines.

Registration of self-employed people and its advantages

Those wishing to engage in some activity on a self-employment basis should choose one of the options:

Visit the Federal Tax Service, taking your passport and photo with you.
Send the application along with copies of papers by mail (you need to send registered mail).
Form an application on the Internet resource of the Federal Tax Service through the user account (authorization required).
In the future, it will be possible to register in the “My Tax” application from a mobile device.

Those who do not want to record income from their own work will have to pay fines. For the first detected violation of this type, sanctions are limited to a fifth of the income received. If the violation is repeated within six months, it will be 100% of the income.

Important! Tax authorities do not issue notifications when registering a self-employed person, so you need to put a mark on the second copy of the paper. This can be done by the inspector.

Registering as self-employed provides some benefits:

Protection of rights at the legislative level. If disagreements arise when providing services to individuals, the recipient of the services will have to prove their case.
Social guarantees. A registered self-employed person assumes obligations to make payments to social funds, so he can use medical services and benefits from the state without restrictions.
Calm. Such activities are legal.

Self-employed people also have the right to a tax deduction. This preference should be distinguished from tax refunds when purchasing housing or social deductions. In this case, the state provides a kind of advance in order to reduce the tax burden and encourage people to come out of the “shadow”. This advance is equal to 10,000 rubles.

The deduction is provided once and is calculated on an accrual basis. Even after deregistration and registration again, calculations will not start from zero. In fact, during the period the deduction is valid, the self-employed person pays 3% tax. When the limit is reached, the tax increases to 4%. The tax office monitors this independently.

Important! The deduction is provided to all self-employed people, regardless of the presence of an individual entrepreneur, the amount of income, or the type of activity. There is no need to write special applications or submit reports to receive it.

The state needs to develop an effective mechanism that will simultaneously encourage citizens to legalize their activities and control their income. The first steps in this direction have already been taken, including through the introduction of a patent system. At the moment, there is nothing complicated in the procedure for registering a self-employed person, but there are certain advantages. However, the question: “What types of self-employed people exist who are allowed to engage in individual entrepreneurship” remains open.

Object of taxation for the self-employed

The object of taxation means income from the sale of goods (work, services, property rights).

At the same time, there is a whole list of income that is not recognized as an object of taxation:

received within the framework of labor relations;
from the sale of real estate, vehicles;
from the transfer of property rights to real estate (with the exception of rental (hiring) of residential premises);
state and municipal employees, with the exception of income from leasing (renting) residential premises;
from the sale of property used by taxpayers for personal, household and (or) other similar needs;
from the sale of shares in the authorized (share) capital of organizations, shares in mutual funds of cooperatives and mutual investment funds, securities and derivative financial instruments;
from conducting activities within the framework of a simple partnership agreement (joint activity agreement) or a property trust management agreement;
from the provision (performance) of services (work) by individuals under civil contracts, provided that the customers of the services (work) are the employers of these individuals or persons who were their employers less than two years ago;
from the activities specified in paragraph 70 of Art. 217 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, received by persons registered with the tax authority in accordance with clause 7 of Art. 83 Tax Code of the Russian Federation;
from the assignment (assignment) of rights of claim;
in kind;
from arbitration management, from the activities of a mediator, appraisal activities, the activities of a notary engaged in private practice, and advocacy.

Tax regime for self-employed in the Moscow region: transition conditions and advance payment for beginners

The Moscow region was among the pilot regions where a special “Professional Income Tax” regime was introduced on January 1, 2021. It applies to people who work for themselves and do not contribute part of their income to the state budget. In order for self-employed residents of the Moscow region to more actively switch to the new tax, they were freed from bureaucratic delays, promised unburdensome rates for ten years, and in the first year of the experiment - maximum tolerance towards violators. Read about how freelancers can come out of the shadows, what conditions are established by the special tax regime and what threatens undisciplined payers in the material of the mosreg.ru portal.

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Who will pay

Source: Photobank of the Moscow region, Boris Chubatyuk

A special tax regime applies to people who do not have employers or employees. However, there are no restrictions on attracting assistants under civil law contracts. Individuals do not need to register as entrepreneurs (unless this is required by the rules for conducting a certain type of business activity).

The special regime can be combined with work under an employment contract (it will be subject to personal income tax).

Self-employed people whose annual income does not exceed 2.4 million rubles (200 thousand rubles per month) can use the special regime.

The special regime is not suitable for those who:

— received income of more than 2.4 million rubles in a calendar year (legislators cannot change this limit for 10 years while the experiment is ongoing);

— sells excisable and marked goods;

— resells goods (except personal belongings) and property rights;

— extracts or sells minerals;

- conducts mediation activities;

— delivers goods with acceptance of payments in favor of other persons (except for delivery using cash register equipment registered to the seller of goods);

— applies other taxation regimes;

- conducts business activities subject to personal income tax.

The special regime does not apply to income:

— from the sale of real estate and transport;

— from the transfer of property rights to real estate (except for rent or rental housing);

— from the sale of shares in the authorized capital, shares in mutual funds of cooperatives and mutual investment funds, securities and derivative financial instruments;

- from performing services and work under civil contracts in which the customer is a current or former employer (a former employer is considered to be an employer from whom the self-employed left less than two years ago).

A self-employed person who regularly conducts such types of activities will not be able to apply the special regime. If this is a one-time transaction, then it will be subject to personal income tax.

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Tax rates

Source: , pixabay.com

If a self-employed person provides services to citizens, the tax rate for him is 4%; if for individual entrepreneurs and legal entities - 6%.

During the experiment, which will last until the end of 2028, the state does not have the right to change rates.

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Transition to a special regime and tax advance

Source: RIAMO, Nikolay Koreshkov

To switch to a special regime, you need to download the “My Tax” mobile application and register. Those who do not have a personal account on the Federal Tax Service website will have to create one.

All payments to clients must be carried out using the service. The program generates checks for delivery to customers and sends payment information to the inspectorate.

Newcomers are provided with an advance payment of taxes in the amount of 10 thousand rubles.

When you first launch the application, the “Revenue” column is zero. After each trading transaction, a fiscal receipt is generated, on which the taxpayer’s TIN and the amount of the transaction are recorded.

Payments must be made monthly no later than the 25th. The tax office calculates the amount of tax and sends a notice with payment details. You can transfer funds through the application. If the tax for a month is less than 100 rubles, it will be transferred to the next month.

Using the “My Tax” service, you can also remove yourself from tax registration.

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What does the special regime give to the self-employed?

Source: RIAMO

Self-employed people paying professional income tax are exempt from the following obligations:

— personal income tax payment;

— payment of VAT (except for “import”);

— payment of insurance premiums (1.5% of the tax amount will go to the Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund; contributions to compulsory pension insurance are paid at will);

— use of an online cash register (for entrepreneurs it is not required only for income that is subject to professional income tax);

- submission of declarations.

Self-employed people are not exempt from paying property tax on individuals, and entrepreneurs are also not exempt from the duties of a tax agent.

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How will they be fined for violations?

Source: Photobank of the Moscow region, Alexander Kozhokhin

A special tax regime allows you to legally run a business and receive income from part-time jobs without the risk of receiving a fine for business activities without registration.

Failure to register with the tax inspectorate will result in a fine of 10% of the income received, but not less than 40 thousand rubles.

The sanction for violating the procedure or deadlines for transmitting information about settlements to the tax office is 20% of the check amount (but not less than 1 thousand rubles). If the rules are violated again within six months, the fine is 100% of the settlement amount (but not less than 5 thousand rubles).

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The procedure for recognizing income for the self-employed

The date of receipt of income from the sale of goods or services is the date of receipt of the corresponding funds or the date of receipt of funds into the taxpayer’s bank accounts or, on his behalf, into the accounts of third parties.

When a taxpayer sells goods or services on the basis of agency agreements, commission agreements or agency agreements with the participation of an intermediary in the calculations, income is considered received by the taxpayer on the last day of the month the intermediary receives funds.

Individual entrepreneurs who previously applied other special regimes do not recognize as income when calculating tax income from the sale of goods or services, payment (partial payment) for which was made after the transition to a special tax regime for the self-employed, if the specified income is subject to accounting for taxation in in accordance with other special tax regimes in the period before the transition to tax payment.

Permitted types of activities in 2021 for self-employed citizens of the Moscow region

The provisions of Law No. 422-FZ of November 27, 2021 do not provide a list of permitted activities. Everything that is not prohibited is permitted.

Self-employed people who sell goods of their own production or offer services in the Moscow region have the right to become participants in the experiment. The mode is optional. The transition to the new taxation system is carried out voluntarily.

Citizens and individual entrepreneurs do not have the right to apply a special tax regime for the following types of activities:

trade in excisable goods or those subject to mandatory special marking with state marks;
resale of goods, as well as property rights;
extraction or sale of minerals;
delivery of goods with simultaneous receipt of payment in the interests of third parties.

Tax base and tax period

The tax base is the monetary expression of income received from the sale of goods or services, which is subject to taxation. It is determined separately by type of income, for which different tax rates are established.

In order to determine the tax base, income is taken into account on an accrual basis from the beginning of the tax period.

If the taxpayer returns amounts previously received as payment (advance payment) for goods or services, the income of the tax period in which the income was received is reduced by the amount of the refund.

A taxpayer may correct previously submitted information about the amount of settlements that lead to an overstatement of tax amounts in the following cases:

if a refund is made of funds received as payment (advance payment) for goods or services;
if the information is entered incorrectly.

The amount of overpaid tax is subject to offset against the taxpayer's upcoming payments, repayment of arrears, arrears of penalties and fines for tax offenses only for professional income tax or is subject to refund in the manner prescribed by Art. 78 Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

The tax period is a calendar month.

How are tax contributions calculated?

The amount of tax paid by the self-employed is calculated automatically by the My Tax application.

The application counts all registered checks on the fly and calculates a tax of 4% on income received from individuals and 6% on income from legal entities. At the end of the month, all the resulting indicators are summed up, and the Federal Tax Service issues a tax notice marked “Payable” for the past month.

This amount of tax must be paid by the self-employed.

Another useful article: What benefits are available to the self-employed and how to get them

For example, in October, a self-employed person sold 5 self-made cakes to individuals, receiving 1,500 rubles for each, and another 10 cakes to an organization under one contract for a total amount of 20,000 rubles. Let's calculate the tax amount:

4% * 5 * 1500 = 300 rubles - this is the total tax on cakes for individuals;
6% * 20,000 = 1,200 rubles - this is the order tax for a legal entity.

In total, a self-employed person must pay 1,500 rubles in tax for October.

Oh, this is not an easy job... Counting checks from my income...

Tax rate for self-employed

A self-employed person pays 4% in respect of income received from the sale of goods or services to individuals, and 6% in respect of income received from the sale of goods or services to individual entrepreneurs (for use in conducting business activities) and legal entities.

Officials guaranteed that conditions would not worsen for 10 years. “No changes can be made that worsen the payer’s situation, either from the point of view of the rate or from the point of view of the level of income,” said Chairman of the Committee on Budget and Taxes Andrei Makarov, co-author of the law on the self-employed.

Algorithm for calculating and paying tax on professional income

No later than the 12th day of the month following the expired tax period, the tax office sends a notification to the self-employed person through the “My Tax” application about the amount of tax that needs to be paid. The notice already contains the details necessary for payment.

Tax payment is made:

no later than the 25th day of the month following the expired tax period;
at the place of business.

There is no need to submit a tax return.

If a self-employed person does not meet the deadline, the tax office, no later than 10 calendar days from the date of expiration of the tax payment deadline, sends him demands for tax payment, as well as information about measures to collect the tax.

The tax amount is calculated as a percentage share of the tax base corresponding to the tax rate, and when different rates are applied - as the amount obtained by adding the amounts of taxes calculated separately as percentage shares of the corresponding tax bases corresponding to the tax rates, taking into account the reduction of the corresponding tax amount by the amount of the tax deduction .

If the amount of tax that must be paid at the end of the tax period does not reach 100 rubles, then this amount is added to the amount of tax payable at the end of the next tax period.

The taxpayer can set up the tax payment process so that the required amount is debited from the bank account. To do this, in the mobile application you need to provide the tax authority with the right to send relevant instructions to the bank.

Penalty for self-employed

With all the privileges and benefits, the self-employed need to prepare for fines in case of failure to pay tax on professional income. It is assumed that the amount of the fine will be the amount of income that the self-employed person receives.

The fine is provided only for those who registered as self-employed, but violated the conditions for issuing a check.

As part of the pilot project, for violation of the procedure or deadlines for the generation of fiscal checks during settlements, a fine of 20% of the amount for which the check was not issued will be charged. Repeated violation within 6 months involves a fine in the amount of the entire settlement amount for which a check has not been generated.

In 2021, the Federal Tax Service expressed its readiness not to apply sanctions against the self-employed in the first year of the experiment.

How to switch to professional income tax from other special regimes

Explanations on this issue are given in the Letter of the Federal Tax Service dated December 26, 2018 No. SD-4-3/ [email protected]

Individual entrepreneurs using the simplified tax system, unified agricultural tax, and UTII can switch to paying tax for the self-employed by notifying the tax office within a month from the date of registration as a payer of this tax.

You can switch to the above special regimes if you lose the right to apply tax on professional income. To do this, you need to notify the tax office within 20 calendar days from the date of deregistration as a payer of this tax.

Official clarifications on the application of tax for self-employed people

State Duma deputy Andrei Makarov emphasizes that “the law provides a right, but does not impose obligations.” It “does not establish any additional tax audits or the possibility of catching anyone for tax evasion.” The existence of this law provides people with a convenient opportunity to fulfill their constitutional obligation to pay taxes and fees.

On the official website of the State Duma, Andrei Makarov gave explanations on numerous questions that come from citizens.

Are those who provide one-time assistance considered self-employed?

Do not apply. The fact of regular provision of services is fundamental: for example, you help people dig up their gardens and make money from it. However, if you once helped a neighbor dig up a garden, this will not be considered the provision of services.

Can an individual entrepreneur re-register as self-employed?

Maybe if he considers that this mode is more profitable for him. But the main goal of the law on self-employed people is to allow people who are not yet registered to leave the “gray zone”.

Will self-employed people be able to obtain income certificates to purchase government guarantees and benefits?

They can, like any citizen.

Where will the tax money go?

They will go to the regional budget at the location of the activity. Regions will be able to distribute them and send part of the income to municipalities.

“And this is very important for the regions. Because today the regions make payments to the Compulsory Health Insurance Fund for the non-working population. As soon as a person leaves the “gray” zone, 1.5% of the tax he paid will be credited to the Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund, and the region will no longer pay for it to the Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund,” notes Andrei Makarov.

Where should a self-employed person register if he operates in several regions?

He can choose the region most convenient for him to register. You do not need to register in all regions.

Explanations on this issue are also given in the Letter of the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation dated February 21, 2019 No. SD-4-3/ [email protected]

The designer works with foreign stock platforms. Does he fall under the self-employed law?

This type of business activity will also be subject to the new tax regime. The fact of performing work or providing services in favor of a foreign person does not matter for the purposes of calculating and paying income taxes, since the object of taxation is income from sales.
Depending on the characteristics of the final buyer of goods (works, services), taxpayers of the professional tax will be required to apply one or another tax rate (4% for sales to individuals and 6% for sales by organizations or individual entrepreneurs).
It should be noted that taxpayers of professional income tax when selling goods (works, services) using intermediary mechanisms should pay special attention to identifying the final buyer.
Hayk Safaryan Partner, Tax Practice, CMS, Russia

A benefit is provided for companies purchasing goods from self-employed people. How will it work?

The law provides that payments by organizations or individual entrepreneurs to individuals who are taxpayers of professional income tax for goods, works, and services sold, taken into account in the tax base, are not recognized as subject to insurance contributions.

Thus, corporate taxpayers will have the opportunity to reduce the base for taxation of insurance premiums when purchasing goods (works, services) from self-employed people.
Hayk Safaryan Partner, Tax Practice, CMS, Russia

Tax deduction for self-employed

Payers of professional income tax have the right to reduce the amount of tax by the amount of tax deduction in the amount of no more than 10,000 rubles, calculated on an accrual basis.

The amount of tax deduction by which the tax amount can be reduced is determined:

in relation to the tax calculated at the tax rate specified in paragraph 1 of Art. 10 of the Law on Self-Employed Persons, the amount of tax deduction is determined as corresponding to a tax rate of 1% of income;
in relation to the tax calculated at the tax rate specified in paragraph 2 of Art. 10 of the Law on Self-Employed Persons, the amount of tax deduction is determined as corresponding to a tax rate of 2% of income.

Reducing the amount of tax by the amount of the tax deduction is carried out by the tax authority independently.

How self-employed people calculate and pay taxes and contributions

Citizens using the professional income tax do not have to independently calculate how much to pay to the budget. When they enter information about the income received, the system will automatically calculate the amount due. The NAP rate is 4% if the client is another individual, and 6% if a legal entity. Since the self-employed person's only report to the tax authorities is a regular record of sales and contains all the data about the buyer and the proceeds, the amount is calculated instantly.

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But this is not the final calculation yet. The law provides citizens with a tax deduction of 1% for transactions with individuals and 2% for the sale of goods or services to organizations. The maximum deduction amount is 10,000 rubles. And again, no reporting will be required for NPD to prove that the deduction was used lawfully, since all calculations are made automatically.

The only exception: if the annual income exceeds 2.4 million rubles, the self-employed person should prepare reports at the end of the year in Form 3-NDFL and indicate the amount of the excess.

Self-employed 2021: what will change

In addition to the fact that now all regions are participating in the experiment, from July 1, 2021, it has become possible to obtain self-employed status from the age of 16.

Tax capital for self-employed people under 18 years of age

For young self-employed people, the issue of an additional tax deduction in the amount of 12,130 rubles is being considered. The relevant amendments have already been considered by the legal commission on legislative activities.

It is assumed that citizens under 18 years of age who register as self-employed for the first time after January 1, 2021 will be able to take advantage of the right to an additional tax deduction.

In fact, we are talking about a starting capital of 22,130 rubles, of which 12,130 rubles. - this is additional support for a young age, and 10,000 rubles. - standard deduction for self-employed. This money can be used to pay future taxes.

Opportunities at the small business level

The pandemic period has shown that the government is ready to equalize the rights of the self-employed with small businesses. The question of the possibility of their privileged participation in procurement was repeatedly raised. Starting in April 2020, self-employed people received this right.

Participation of self-employed people in procurement: features and conditions

Responsibility and checks

In 2021, inspections of entrepreneurs who use the new special regime to optimize taxation are likely.

They had previously been warned that the Federal Tax Service was developing a special product based on big data to catch unscrupulous entrepreneurs.

Cunning schemes are already being revealed when businessmen, for example, replace full-time workers with self-employed ones in order to save on paying insurance premiums and taxes. According to Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, the tax office sees and already holds on its account enterprises that have questions. However, by agreement, as part of the experiment, tax authorities did not inspect businesses during 2021, but in the future they may well begin to do so.

We wrote about legal ways to cooperate with the self-employed in the article “How companies can work with the self-employed.”

Platform for hiring self-employed people

It is known that SuperJob launched a platform to attract self-employed people to cooperation. Now employers have the option “Self-employed and individual entrepreneurs” in the candidate search filter. It makes it possible to determine whether the applicant is ready to work as a self-employed person or individual entrepreneur.

Is it possible to combine hired work on a five-day week with self-employment?

You can combine permanent work with self-employment and at the same time open an individual entrepreneur.

The income that a self-employed person receives from his main place of work is declared at his place of work.
The law refers specifically to the activity for which he receives side income, which he does not document anywhere. For example, in ordinary life he officially sells potatoes, and his employer withholds taxes. And in the evenings this man translates articles. He can formalize this activity as self-employment. And then the tax office will not have any questions. Vasily Voropaev Founder and CEO of the platform for working with IT specialists Rubrain.com

How will self-employed people issue checks?

Self-employed people do not need cash registers. Everything can be done through the “My Tax” application: register, make payments, receive electronic checks, pay taxes. Data on the legalization of income will be automatically transmitted to the tax authorities.

A self-employed person will simply link the card of his partner bank in the smartphone’s mobile application, and the tax will be debited automatically.
Organizations and individual entrepreneurs that apply the general taxation regime, the simplified tax system or the unified agricultural tax, when determining the tax base, do not take into account expenses associated with the purchase of goods (work, services) from self-employed people in the absence of a receipt. This rule may indicate a simplified procedure for confirming the expenses of an organization or individual entrepreneur for goods, work, and services purchased from self-employed people.
Vasily Voropaev Founder and CEO of the platform for working with IT specialists Rubrain.com

Help has arrived

The day before, President Vladimir Putin announced the development of support measures specifically for self-employed citizens. There are two such measures.

Firstly , those who carried out activities last year (and let me remind you, these are residents of four regions) will receive a refund of the taxes they paid to the budget for 2021.

Vladimir Putin noted that self-employed citizens - people who, among other things, provide transport services, rent out real estate, work as tutors, nannies, and so on - last year had the opportunity to officially register their activities, leave the so-called gray zone and pay taxes at the rate of 4 or 6 percent of income. In 2021, there were about 340 thousand self-employed people in Russia, the President specified.

“These people trusted the state, believed its guarantees to work securely and in a civilized manner. In this regard, I believe that such a desire should be supported and even encouraged. I propose to return to self-employed citizens their income tax paid in 2021 in full,” said Vladimir Putin.

Secondly , in 2020, all self-employed citizens will be provided with so-called “tax capital” in the amount of one minimum wage, through which they will be able to make tax payments without diverting their own funds, preserving their income.

That is, all self-employed people will actually receive state aid from the state in the amount of 12,130 rubles, which can be used to pay taxes.

Let me add that this does not cancel the tax deduction (bonus) for self-employed people in the amount of 10,000 rubles. I talked about what it is and how it is considered in one of my previous blog posts.