Many of us periodically provide some services to our friends (or their acquaintances): help with repairs, get a haircut, order some goods via the Internet, sew a dress or repair a car. And they do this for a certain reward. And if such a business clearly goes beyond a small part-time job and begins to generate significant profits, it can be classified as an illegal business. Not only the tax authorities, but also the police and other structures may be seriously interested in this activity.

You also need to know that to perform some types of work it is not enough to register as an individual entrepreneur or open a company - you will also need a special permit (license). This applies to medical and cosmetic services, passenger transportation, design work, etc. Running such a business without completing all the necessary documents is a much more serious offense than simply being an unregistered business.

Letter of the law

Entrepreneurial, in accordance with the Civil Code, is an activity that is carried out with the aim of systematically generating profit at one’s own risk. Profit can be made by carrying out work, selling goods, leasing property, providing paid services. A citizen conducting commercial activities must register as an entrepreneur.

As we can see, the main differences between a private transaction between citizens and entrepreneurship are the systematic nature of the activity and the extraction of profit. Thus, a one-time purchase and sale transaction or once rendered paid service cannot be considered illegal business activity. But if produced twice or more during the year, they become systematic and fall under the definition commercial activities.

However, if we are talking about selling a product at the cost for which it was purchased (or less), this will in any case be considered a private matter: there is no profit. Such activities cannot be considered entrepreneurial, even if carried out systematically.

Illegal business in Russia is considered:

1. Commercial activity that is carried out without registration of an individual business or legal entity. This also includes activities registered with violations or with false data indicated in registration documents.
2. Business activities carried out without a license, if required.
3. Gross violations of licensing requirements.
4. Doing business illegally can cause serious trouble for an entrepreneur. For this offense, the legislation provides for three types of liability: tax, administrative and even criminal.

Administrative responsibility

The Code of Administrative Violations for conducting illegal commercial activities provides for the following penalties:

1. For activities that are not registered in accordance with the established procedure (individual entrepreneur or LLC), a fine of 500 to 2000 rubles is imposed.
2. For carrying out those types of activities that are subject to mandatory licensing, without the appropriate permits, fines may be imposed: for individuals - from 1 to 2.5 thousand rubles, for officials - 4-5 thousand rubles, for legal entities - 40-50 thousand rubles. In this case, unlicensed products and means of their production may be confiscated.
3. If there is a license, but the licensing requirements are violated, this is also fraught with penalties: for citizens - in the amount of 1.5-2.5 thousand rubles, for officials - 3-4 thousand rubles, for organizations - from 30 to 40 thousand . rubles.
4. If the licensing conditions are grossly violated, business activities may be suspended for 90 days; the fine in this case is 4–5 thousand rubles for individuals and officials, and 40–50 thousand rubles for organizations.

The fact of illegal business can be established by:

• tax office,
• antimonopoly committee,
• supervisory authorities for consumer market,
• police,
• prosecutor's office

A protocol on violations can be drawn up as a result of verification activities: inspection of the premises, making test purchases, etc. The reason for such an inspection may be any signal that illegal business activity is being conducted or irregularities in work are being committed.

Cases of illegal business are considered by a magistrate at the place of its implementation or at the place of residence of the offender. Such a case must be considered within two months after the relevant protocol is drawn up. If this does not happen, the case should be closed. If the protocol is drawn up with violations, there are contradictions and inaccuracies in it, the violator can avoid punishment: while the protocol is being reissued and errors are corrected, the period allotted for bringing to justice may expire.

Criminal liability

In some cases, illegal business activities can lead to criminal liability. This happens if the state, organizations or individuals suffer serious damage as a result of such activities, or when the entrepreneur receives large profits from illegal business. A large amount (both damage and profit) is considered to be an amount of 250 thousand rubles, and an especially large amount – from 1 million rubles.

In this case, the illegal entrepreneur will face punishment in accordance with the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:

1. Causing damage on a large scale is punishable by a fine of up to 300 thousand rubles or in the amount of the offender’s earnings for 2 years, 180-240 hours of compulsory labor or imprisonment for 4-6 months.
2. Damage on an especially large scale or the same actions committed by a group of persons entails a fine of 100–500 thousand rubles or in the amount of earnings for 3 years or imprisonment for up to 5 years with payment to the state of 80 thousand rubles or in the amount of the convicted person’s income for 6 months.

The prosecutor's office or the police must prove the fact of causing damage or generating large profits. It must be said that it is quite difficult to detect an offense that would be subject to criminal sanctions: test purchases are usually made for small amounts, and therefore they cannot become evidence of excess profits.

Responsibility for illegal business that conducts commercial organization, falls entirely on its leader. The following will not be held criminally liable:

• citizens who have entered into an employment contract with an illegal entrepreneur and are acting within the framework of this contract;
• owners of real estate for rent, regardless of the amount of income.

There are also circumstances that may mitigate criminal punishment. These include the positive characteristics of the perpetrator, as well as the uniqueness of the case of bringing him to justice.

In addition to the fact that it is illegal entrepreneurial activity I can hold an entrepreneur criminally liable for:

• using other people's trademarks without appropriate permissions or providing deliberately false information about the origin of the goods;
• production, sale, purchase of counterfeit products.

Tax liability

Sanctions for commercial activities without registration are regulated by Articles 116 and 117 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. They involve the collection of taxes not received by the state and fines for evasion of payment of these taxes.

1. An entrepreneur who is not registered with the Federal Tax Service is fined an amount of 10% of the income he receives (at least 20 thousand rubles). Such punishment is applied if by the time tax audit registration documents were not submitted to the tax office at all.
2. Conducting commercial activities without registration for 90 days or more is punishable by a fine of 20% of income (but not less than 40 thousand rubles).
3. The fine for late registration of a business with the Federal Tax Service is 5 thousand rubles. If the delay in registration is more than 90 days, a fine of 10 thousand rubles will be charged. Such penalties apply if registration documents are submitted after the first revenue, but before the tax audit. Late registration is considered from the moment of first revenue.

In addition to fines for lack of state registration or late registration, the tax office may assess additional unpaid taxes. In this case, the illegal businessman will need to pay personal income tax (NDFL) on the entire amount of income, the receipt of which will be proven. To this should be added all penalties for late payment of taxes and a possible fine for non-payment - it is 20% of the additional assessed amount.

All these sanctions are applied to the violator only by court decision.

As we can see, liability for illegal business activities can be quite serious. In addition, the tax authorities are quite actively collecting information about “illegals,” so it will be quite difficult to conceal their activities from the concerned services.

In some cases, registration can be avoided. For example, if your business is to provide services to enterprises and organizations, you can document this cooperation (conclude a contract agreement or a one-time employment contract).

It is not necessary to register as an entrepreneur for those who rent out housing: it is enough to conclude an agreement with the tenant and pay personal income tax (personal income tax). In this case, you only need to submit a declaration to the Federal Tax Service annually.

However, if you are seriously planning to engage in entrepreneurial activity, you should not delay with its official registration: for a serious entrepreneur there is nothing more important than business reputation, and troubles with government agencies can serve a disservice here.

What is illegal business, what are its criteria? What type of punishment is provided for conducting business illegally? When can punishment be avoided? You will find answers to these and other questions in our article.

Establishing a fact that indicates the conduct of business activities without official registration with the competent authorities is a serious violation in the field of business. Entrepreneurship getting out of control is undesirable both for the authorities, which means a lack of funds flowing into the regional budget, and directly for entrepreneurs who are deprived of state protection. In order to exclude illegal entrepreneurship, certain rules have been developed, which are contained in Russian codes and laws. In Russia, the fact of illegal entrepreneurship is determined by the following criteria:

1. whether the commercial activity is independent;
2. whether the subject’s activities are focused on generating income;
3. does it have economic activity the subject is systematic - whether it was carried out once or has a duration of maintenance;
4. lack of licensing documents to conduct business activities;
5. complete absence of registration actions when conducting business activities.

Based on the above, it can be determined that the main hallmark entrepreneurship from an ordinary transaction is a combination of systematic actions and deriving profit from them. That is, for example, a service provided once for money is not entrepreneurship, but the same actions performed 3-5 times a year will already be of a systemic nature. Therefore, illegal entrepreneurship means:

• unregistered business activity;
• activities executed in violation or with the provision of false information;
• carrying out certain types of activities without licensing;
• conducting business in gross violation of licensing requirements.

According to the laws of the Russian Federation, a citizen of the Russian Federation who has registered his business as a legal entity or individual entrepreneur. Carrying out activities without appropriate registration is fraught with consequences - illegal activities are punishable by:

• administrative responsibility;
• tax liability;
• criminal liability.

Let's consider each type of punishment separately.

Administrative liability for illegal entrepreneurship

This type of offense is provided for in articles of Chapter 14 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation:

• penalties in the amount of 500 to 2000 rubles are provided for a citizen engaged in commercial activity who has not registered it as an individual entrepreneur or legal entity;
• Conducting licensed activities without obtaining a permit entails fines:
  • for citizens - from 2000 to 2500 rubles with the possibility of confiscation of manufactured products and means of production;
  • for officials - from 4,000 to 5,000 rubles with possible confiscation;
  • for organizations - in the amount of 40,000 - 50,000 rubles with or without confiscation;
• in case of violation of the requirements and conditions of licenses:
  • for individuals - from 1500 to 2500 rubles;
  • for officials - from 3,000 to 4,000 rubles;
  • for legal entities - from 30,000 to 40,000 rubles;
• in case of gross violation of licensing conditions, sanctions are provided in the form of suspension of implementation illegal activities up to 90 days or fine:
  • for citizens - from 4,000 to 8,000 rubles;
  • for officials - from 5,000 to 10,000 rubles:
  • for organizations - from 100,000 to 200,000 rubles.

The fact of illegal business activity can be established by police officers or prosecutors, tax authorities, the antimonopoly committee or consumer market supervisory authorities. The reason for inspection is usually a complaint dissatisfied customers or other signal indicating illegal business conduct or irregularities in work. The result of checking and identifying the fact of a violation is the drawing up by employees of the authorities of a protocol on the offense, which is drawn up during the verification activities. Bringing to administrative responsibility for illegal business is within the competence of the magistrate who carries out judicial proceedings at the place where the citizen’s illegal business is conducted or at his place of residence. A citizen can avoid liability if the protocol was drawn up incorrectly or contains inaccuracies and contradictions, since while the authorities are re-registering it, the period allotted by law for holding the citizen accountable, which is 2 months, may expire. If the case is not considered within this period, the judge is obliged to make a decision to terminate the proceedings.

Tax liability for illegal entrepreneurship

Sanctions for illegal entrepreneurship are defined in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation in Article 116 and are expressed in the form of collection of taxes not received by the state and fines for evasion of their payments:

1. An entrepreneur who has not registered with the tax authorities for the purpose of conducting business is punishable by a fine in the amount of 10% of the amount of income received, but not less than 40,000 rubles ( this type sanctions are applied if at the time of the tax audit an application for registration of activity was not submitted to the authorities);
2. Violation by a taxpayer of the deadline established by law for filing an application for registration with the tax authority entails a fine of 10,000 rubles.

In addition to applying sanctions for the absence or delay of state registration for conducting business activities, tax authorities have the right to assess additional taxes that were not paid by the citizen during the conduct of business. An illegal entrepreneur is required to pay personal income tax on the entire amount of income received as a result of conducting illegal business activities. In addition to the accrued tax, penalties are added for the entire period of overdue tax payments and a fine for non-payment in the amount of 20% of the total amount of additional assessment. Tax sanctions are imposed on the violator only if there is a court decision.

Illegal business and criminal liability

This type of act, such as illegal business activity, also provides for criminal liability under the sanctions of Article 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, as follows:

• Carrying out activities without registration and obtaining a special permit, in cases where licensing of activities is mandatory, if this act has caused major damage to individuals or legal entities, or the state or is associated with the extraction of income on a large scale, is punishable by:
  • a fine of up to 300,000 rubles or in the amount wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to 2 years;
  • or mandatory work - up to 480 hours;
  • or arrest - up to 6 months;
• the implementation of the above act, committed by an organized group and/or associated with the extraction of profit on an especially large scale, is punishable:
  • a fine from 100,000 to 500,000 rubles or in the amount of wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of 1 to 2 years;
  • or forced labor - up to 5 years;
  • or imprisonment - up to 5 years with a fine of up to 80,000 rubles or in the amount of wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to 6 months or without it.

Important! In this case, a large amount of income is recognized as cost, damage, income or debt in an amount exceeding 2,250,000 rubles, especially large - 9,000,000 rubles.

Police officers or prosecutors are responsible for proving facts of making large profits without registering activities or causing damage to third parties. It is worth noting that it is virtually impossible to detect an offense that falls under the Criminal Code, since test purchases by authorities during inspections are carried out for limited amounts. Therefore, as a rule, criminal prosecution of persons receiving significant income from business is carried out only in the framework of cases of involvement in laundering proceeds from crime, while responsibility for such activities carried out by the organization is assigned to its leader. Also, it should be noted that the following are not subject to criminal liability, regardless of the amount of income received:

• citizens who performed duties under an employment contract concluded with an illegal entrepreneur;
• owners of real estate properties that are rented out.

Important! Circumstances mitigating criminal liability are the positive characteristics of the perpetrator and the single fact of involving a citizen.

Criminal legislation assumes the possibility of combining illegal business activities with other criminal penalties in the field of business, for example, with the purchase and circulation of counterfeit products, etc. In this case, criminal liability measures are provided for the totality of all crimes.

Many Russians receive various types of income bypassing the state treasury, that is, without paying taxes and other obligatory payments. Some people sell goods (including via the Internet), others manage to make money by tutoring or doing repairs. But not all of them realize what they are risking by doing this. After all, serious liability is provided for business activities that are considered illegal. Therefore, it is important to know what exactly refers to such entrepreneurship and what consequences this activity can lead to.

Below we will give a definition of illegal business activity, as well as all necessary information about the content different types responsibility for it under tax, administrative and criminal legislation. We will tell you what fines and other penalties face violating entrepreneurs in 2018-2019.

What is illegal business?

First, you need to decide what entrepreneurial activity is in general from the point of view of the domestic legislator. According to the Civil Code, this is an independent activity aimed at obtaining a permanent profit from the provision of services, carrying out work, selling goods or using property, which is carried out at one’s own risk. In this normative legal act It is also stated that persons engaged in business must be registered in the manner prescribed by law.

Thus, the legislator allows doing business only on the condition that the state registration procedure has been completed. If activities are carried out aimed at obtaining a permanent income, without carrying out the necessary registration actions and obtaining mandatory permits, illegal entrepreneurship occurs.

There can be several forms of its manifestation:

• Conducting business without state registration as an individual entrepreneur or legal entity.
• Entrepreneurship without obtaining a license (if its availability is mandatory for the types of activities carried out).
• Entrepreneurial activity in violation of the conditions stipulated by the license.

The fact that illegal business is being carried out, namely unregistered activities, is evidenced by certain facts:

• Services are provided, work or other operations are carried out in order to generate income in the absence of a record of registration as a private entrepreneur or legal entity in the relevant state registers (Unified State Register of Legal Entities and Unified State Register of Individual Entrepreneurs).
• A person engages in commercial activities without waiting for registration to be completed or after its cancellation.
• The entrepreneur is engaged in a type of activity that he did not inform the tax authorities about during registration or for 2 months after changing his specialization.

Let's consider the following form of illegal business activity - work without a license in an area where it must be required. According to domestic legislation, access to approximately 50 types of business is granted only upon obtaining a license. Both activities that are subject to licensing without obtaining permission for them, as well as failure to comply with the deadlines for its beginning and termination, are considered illegal. In other words, if a business in a certain area was launched before the license came into force, or continued to operate economic activity after its termination, it is as illegal as working without a license. Entrepreneurship in the process of which the terms of use of the license are violated is also contrary to the law.

The following government bodies are vested with the authority to identify facts of illegal business activity:

• Tax service.
• Prosecutor's office and other law enforcement agencies.
• Antimonopoly Service.
• Bodies issuing licenses.
• Rospotrebnadzor.

Fine for illegal business activities

Individual, who violated the law by engaging in illegal business, in 2018-2019, as before, risks suffering financially. If a violation is detected, it will be held accountable in the form of a fine. Let us consider to what extent and under what conditions such punishment is applied under tax and administrative legislation.

Tax

Article 116 of the Tax Code provides for penalties for violations related to the registration of business entities in tax service. Both individuals and companies face a fine if they conduct business without going through the tax registration procedure under this code. For such illegal actions in 2018-2019, you will have to pay 10% of the income received from them, but not less than 40 thousand rubles.

And even if an application for registration as a taxpayer is submitted, the entrepreneur will be fined if he contacted the tax authorities at the wrong time. In this case, the fine will be 10 thousand rubles. In addition to fines, the culprit will have to pay taxes on the amount of illegally obtained income (VAT, property, personal income tax, etc.)

Administrative

Under Article 14.1 of the Code of Administrative Offences, persons guilty of running a business without state registration or a special permit (license) are held accountable. Depending on the content of the violation, the following penalties are provided for them:

• For individuals running a business without registration as individual entrepreneurs and entities not registered as legal entities - from 500 rubles to 2 thousand.
• Business activity without a license(when required):
  • for individuals – a fine in the amount of 2 to 2.5 thousand rubles;
  • legal entities will have to pay 40-50 thousand rubles;
  • officials are required to contribute 4-5 thousand rubles.

Important: at the same time they can confiscate manufactured products, raw materials and equipment used to conduct business.

• Business in violation of license conditions:
  • for individuals – from 1.5 thousand rubles. up to 2 thousand rubles;
  • for companies – 30-40 thousand rubles;
  • for officials – 3-4 thousand rubles.
• Gross violation of license requirements:
  • for citizens – 4-8 thousand rubles;
  • for companies – 100-200 thousand rubles;
  • for officials – 5-10 thousand rubles.

Important: Instead of a fine, punishment such as administrative suspension of activities for a period of up to 90 days may be applied.

Administrative fines for illegal business activities may be increased in the near future (already in 2018-2019). This will happen if the State Duma passes the corresponding bill that is under consideration. In this case, for running a business without registration you will have to pay 3-5 thousand rubles, and not from 500 rubles. up to 2 thousand, as per the Code of Administrative Offenses in force today. It is proposed to establish the same fine for working without a license.

Criminal liability for illegal business

When business activity contrary to law, acquires serious proportions, that is, the amount of income received turns out to be significant, and the punishment becomes more severe. Under certain circumstances, if the crime committed is recognized as a crime, the perpetrator will be prosecuted. The decision in such a case is made by the court at the place of residence of the perpetrator or at the place of business.

Article 171 of the Criminal Code is devoted to illegal entrepreneurship. To be eligible, the following must happen:

• The business is conducted without registration or with registration, but without a license (if required).
• Such actions led to major damage to the state, legal entities or individuals, or large income was received.

The perpetrator of the crime described in 2018-2019 may be subject to one of the following punishments:

• Fine – up to 300 thousand rubles. or in an amount corresponding to the salary or other income of the offender for a certain period, which cannot exceed 2 years.
• Mandatory work – up to 480 hours.
• Arrest – up to 6 months.

Responsibility may be even stricter if business is carried out in violation of the law under the following circumstances:

• Actions in an organized group.
• A particularly large income was received.

In this case, the perpetrator will be held accountable in one of the following ways:

• Fine – 100-500 thousand rubles. or an amount corresponding to income for 1-3 years.
• Forced labor – up to 5 years.
• Imprisonment – ​​up to 5 years. Such punishment may be accompanied by a fine of up to 80 thousand rubles. or in the amount of income received during a period of up to 6 months.

A separate article 171.3 introduces liability for illegal business activities in the field of alcohol and alcohol trafficking. If such products are produced, purchased, supplied, stored, transported or sold at retail without a license (when one should be) on a large scale, one of the following negative consequences may occur in 2018-2019:

• Fine – from 2 to 3 million rubles. or in an amount equivalent to one to three years of income.
• Forced labor – up to 3 years.
• Imprisonment – ​​up to 3 years.

In addition to the main punishment, the perpetrator may be deprived of the right to conduct a certain type of activity for a period of up to 3 years. If the same actions were committed with aggravating circumstances, that is, the amount of damage was particularly large or an organized group acted, the liability will be even more serious - up to imprisonment for 5 years.

Important: the large amount of damage referred to in Article 171 of the Criminal Code is considered to be 1.5 million rubles, and especially large - 6 million rubles. As for Article 171.3, here major damage is illegally produced or sold alcohol ( alcoholic drinks) for an amount of more than 100 thousand rubles, and a particularly large amount - for 1 million rubles.

Let's sum it up

Illegal business activity is the provision of services, carrying out work, selling goods, transferring one’s property for use and other actions aimed at repeatedly obtaining income. To obtain the right to conduct such activities, you must pass state registration, and in some cases also obtain a license. If you do not do this and start running a business, it will be considered illegal.

Responsibility for carrying out unregistered activities is provided for in tax, administrative and criminal legislation. Such actions lead to a fine, the amount of which depends on the severity of the offense. It is possible that already in 2018-2019 there will be a tightening of administrative liability for illegal business, since a corresponding bill is being considered in the State Duma.

The state assumes that business activities carried out within its borders will be carried out legally, but in practice this is far from the case. The concept of legal business activity is reflected in the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (clause 1, article 2). In addition, here are listed legal provisions, establishing the basics of running a legal business: the age of a person at which he can officially register as an individual entrepreneur (Article 21), the rights and obligations of an individual entrepreneur (Article 23), etc.

Legal business activity is the activity of a business entity that has been registered in accordance with the procedure established by the state, carried out by it on an ongoing basis and for the purpose of generating income. It follows that activities without registration or in any other way that do not comply with the requirements of the law are illegal businesses.

Signs and types of illegal entrepreneurship

Signs of illegal business activity, in the presence of which law enforcement agencies may be interested in organizing work and providing services by a certain company:

• not regularly carrying out activities;
• excessive enrichment when it is impossible to explain and confirm the legality of obtaining high incomes;
• lack of registration or obtaining it in violation of the law;
• lack of a license to operate in cases where its presence is mandatory;
• use of third party labor without appropriate official registration of labor relations and payment of wages with contributions to state funds.

Illegal participation in business activities can be carried out in the following ways:

1. Carrying out activities without pre-registration subject to the tax authorities. The law establishes that such registration makes it possible to protect the rights of consumers, replenish the treasury through deductions and taxes, and also control the legality of the activities carried out.
2. Carrying out activities beyond those for which the business was opened. When registering an entity, the registration documents must indicate the type of activity for which the legal entity is being registered. A violation will be considered an intentional or unintentional failure to comply with permitted boundaries and licensing requirements.
3. Carrying out activities without a license in cases where obtaining such permission is considered mandatory by law. There are certain types of activities that are subject to licensing. Obtaining a license confirms that the subject has undergone additional testing in an area that requires closer government control (medicine, investment, insurance, international transportation, etc.).
4. Fictitious business is an illegal commercial activity carried out for the purpose of “laundering” proceeds obtained by criminal means or for the purpose of evading tax obligations. The main sign of fictitious entrepreneurship is the presence of direct intent, i.e. the person knows very well that he is acting outside the law, but continues to do so in order to obtain his own benefits.

The subject of illegal commercial activity can be either an individual or a legal entity, including non-profit organizations and political parties who are, in principle, prohibited by law from engaging in such activities. A special subject is an organized group, the creation of which always entails criminal liability.

Criminal liability (Article 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation)

Illegal business activity entails negative consequences for the entity carrying it out, including criminal liability when serious violations of the law are detected.

The corpus delicti (Article 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) presupposes the occurrence of certain consequences, i.e. a person will be punished under criminal law only if the damage caused by such actions is considered major.

The article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is divided into two parts:

1. Part 1 establishes liability if an entity carries out activities without registration or a compulsory license.
2. Part 2 establishes liability for similar actions, but committed by an organized group or causing damage on a particularly large scale.

Other penalties

In the event that the illegal conduct of business activities does not entail grave consequences providing for criminal liability, legal entities and entrepreneurs may be brought to other types of liability established by the administrative or tax code.

In accordance with the Tax Code of the Russian Federation (Article 116), in the case where an entrepreneur or officials of an organization do not submit documents for registration in a timely manner (delayed registration), the tax authorities may impose. A similar punishment may follow in the case where activities are carried out without registration, but with a small income.

In the event that a business entity, in the course of carrying out its illegal business activities, violates other norms of legislation, it will have to bear responsibility in the aggregate, i.e. under Article 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation or Article 14.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, plus another article providing for liability for committing another crime. For example, a legal entity has been created to engage in medical activities, but a license has not been obtained (Article 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). In the course of their activities, the staff disclosed medical confidentiality, i.e. certain important information has become public knowledge, which provides for liability under Art. 137 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. In this case, liability will arise for the totality of crimes.

Case studies

Example 1

Citizen K. had been selling seasonal fruits and vegetables for a long time at one of the high-rise buildings in a residential area, but he did not have registration as an individual entrepreneur, and, therefore, he did not pay taxes. When this fact was established, K. was held liable under Article 14.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation for conducting business without registration, which did not result in major damage. As evidence of illegal business, testimonies were received from persons who periodically bought fruits and vegetables from K., booklets and leaflets about the sale of products were included, which K. hung around the area in order to increase sales, documents and explanations were received from persons where K. purchased products, which he subsequently sold.

Example 2

Citizen E. has a higher education teacher education and for a long time provided tutoring services for foreign languages. She was registered as an individual entrepreneur, where she indicated the type of activity “other types of services.” After some time E. opened her educational center and continued the practice. When checking its activities, tax authorities found violations of the Federal Law “On Licensing”, because legislation requires the obligatory obtaining of a license for educational activities. Depending on the amount of income received, citizen E. will be brought to criminal or administrative liability.

If you have any questions about the topic of the article, ask them in the comments

Many people have a question: “What is illegal business. How to qualify it, by what criteria? What is the responsibility for business without registration?”

Each of us at least once had to make deals or do some kind of work. They are often personal, private, isolated and of no interest to official bodies. But other deals and agreements are concluded constantly and bring regular income. It is such transactions that can arouse the curiosity of the tax authorities.

For example, if you bought a piece of land, and then, after some time, sold it and at the same time made a profit, then this is not an illegal business, because the deal was a one-off, is concluded between individuals and therefore does not fall under the category of entrepreneurial activity.

But if a person regularly purchases land (as well as equipment, cars, etc.) for the purpose of resale and profit, then such a person is an entrepreneur. Moreover, if he is not registered in the manner prescribed by law, and has not received a license (if required), then the entrepreneur is illegal.

Some “entrepreneurs” deliberately evade tax evasion, while other people do not even realize that their activities fall under the definition of entrepreneurship, which means that a person must. Entrepreneurial activity can be different: rental of premises, training, oil and gas, equipment repair, provision of various kinds of consultations, tailoring, development of souvenirs, design services, website creation, etc.

Often people who are engaged in entrepreneurial activities consider themselves so-called freelancers. Usually they are paid for the work done either “in black money”, without any contracts, or under contract agreements, i.e. taxes, as they are, are paid for by the company for which they wrote an advertising article, made a translation, or provided some other one-time service. Therefore, if a person’s activity is episodic and income is very modest, such work is your personal business.

Note: Selling personal items, performed from time to time minor works and instructions does not entail either administrative or criminal liability. This also does not apply to a one-time rental of your apartment.

The difference between entrepreneurial activity and freelancing is that it is built on a permanent professional basis and its main goal is to make a profit. If you made a large profit from the sale of your own property, this is not considered entrepreneurship. In other cases, when there is independence, carrying out work on an ongoing basis in order to generate income, but there is no registration, you can get into trouble.

They want to increase fines for illegal business

It is proposed to increase fine for illegal business, setting its size from 3 to 5 thousand rubles.

SIGNS of illegal business activity

1. independence of economic activity and its implementation at your own risk;
2. systematic profit-making as the goal of activity;
3. use of property, sale of goods, performance of work or provision of services as sources of profit.

At the same time, the signs of entrepreneurial activity must be distinguished from the forms of illegal entrepreneurial activity enshrined in the disposition of Article 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Independence of economic activity First of all, it assumes that an individual or legal entity - an entrepreneur - participates in civil transactions directly, on his own behalf, by his own will and in his own interest.

Therefore, economic activity that lacks independence cannot be considered entrepreneurial. It's already labor relations between employee and employer. And such activities are most often legally formalized by an employment contract, even if not properly executed. An employment contract is different from ( characteristic of entrepreneurship) by its subject.

Subject employment contract is “the living labor of the worker itself.” Accordingly, in labor relations the employee becomes subordinate to the employer, disciplinary relations arise, the employee’s work is organized by the employer, who appropriates the income and bears the commercial risk of losses from business activities.

THREE FORMS of illegal entrepreneurship:

• without state registration,
• without a license,
• in violation of licensing.

Even if you legally registered as an individual entrepreneur, but did not receive a license for the activities that require, you are also working illegally, i.e. you are an illegal entrepreneur. Moreover, it is necessary to remember that each type of activity may require a separate license, and if you do not have one, you are engaged in illegal business activity. This is also worth considering.

Note: For example, if you open a treatment center, you should not sell medications until you receive a separate document.

Criminal, administrative or tax LIABILITY

Occurs if the actions of the entrepreneur caused serious damage to citizens, organizations or the state, or income was generated on a large scale (i.e. over 1 million 500 thousand rubles).

Note: Note to clause 2 of Art. 169 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

In other cases, the perpetrators bear administrative responsibility in the form of fines. As punishment Art. 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides for a fine (in the amount of up to 300 thousand rubles or in the amount of wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to two years), compulsory work up to 480 hours) or arrest for up to six months.

For example, you decided to earn a lot of money by reselling some expensive product (car, land, building materials, etc.). In one case, such a transaction may, due to its uniqueness, be excluded from the definition of entrepreneurial activity; in another, due to the receipt of a fairly large income, it may be classified as illegal entrepreneurship.

Tax liability for illegal business

The Tax Code of the Russian Federation provides for liability for activities without registration in two articles at once: . Failure to register with the inspectorate will result in a fine of 10 percent of the income received, but not less than 40 thousand rubles.