Illegal entrepreneurship of legal entities. Entrepreneurship "not according to the law" - what is it

Commerce, which is carried out in compliance with the requirements of the law, is positioned as legal. But if there is a violation of the order, then we are already talking about illegal entrepreneurship, which implies an appropriate punishment.

Illegitimate business and its varieties

According to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, illegal entrepreneurship is commercial activity with no registration or license, if any.

There are several options for illegal business, which determine the severity of the violation and involve one or another type of liability. Entrepreneurship outside the law can be expressed in:

• lack of required registration or incorrect formation of a legal entity;
• lack of a special permit to conduct a specific activity;
• violation general requirements licensing.

Subject any person who is at least 16 years old and who is engaged in commercial activities without legal grounds. object business activity itself without registration or license is considered.

In the presented video, the lawyer explains in detail which cases are still considered illegal business, what punishment threatens the criminal in certain situations, and how things are with investigations in practice.

Legislative framework and responsibility

The businessman who was caught illegal activities may be subject to administrative, criminal or tax liability. It all depends on the severity of the violation.

Administrative responsibility

If there is minor violation, then penalties are applied. For each type of violation, individuals have developed their own " tariff scale» fines according to article 14 Code of Administrative Offenses:

• with absence legal registration the fine is from 500 to 2,000 rubles;
• in the absence of a license, the fine ranges from 2,000 to 2,500 rubles.

For legal entities fines are several times higher (40,000 - 50,000 rubles) than for individuals, and confiscation of products, equipment, etc. is chosen as an additional punishment.

Punishment for officials - a monetary penalty in the amount of 4,000 to 5,000 rubles. With regard to confiscation, it may or may not be used.

To determine the punishment for illegal sale of goods also used Article 14 of the Code of Administrative Offenses. If it is proved that the goods were sold illegally (without a license) or produced with gross violations of quality standards, which also falls under the definition of "illegal business", then according to Articles 14.2 and 14.4 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, it is possible to suspend the company's activities for a period of 3 or more months. Penalties are issued, the amount of which depends on in question about a legal entity, individual or official. In case of repeated violation, the amount of the fine will be increased.

Criminal liability

Criminal punishment (according to Article 171 (paragraphs 1-2) and Article 172 (paragraphs 1-2)) will be relevant when gross violations that resulted in causing significant damage to someone or receiving large income on which the taxes established by law were not paid.

According to Article 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation when doing business without a license(in the case of its mandatory licensing) a fine is due. But if the illegitimate business led to the receipt big income(tax-free) or significant damage citizens, then in addition to a fine, the would-be entrepreneur is threatened with forced labor (about 480 man hours) or imprisonment for up to 6 months.

If illegal business activities that were conducted with or without licensing standards required permits resulted in particularly impressive revenues or major damages and was carried out group of people, then:

• the amount of penalties increases from 100,000 to 500,000 rubles;
• time compulsory works is 5 years;
• the term of arrest is increased to 5 years.

Article 172 (pars. 1-2) applies in the case where illegal business was carried out in financial sector , or rather in banking.

As punishment for doing banking operations without the required license, a fine of 100,000 to 300,000 rubles is used. But in order for Article 172 to be used against the “guilty”, the conduct of illegitimate banking should be accompanied either by making a profit on an especially large scale, or by causing significant damage to citizens and the state. Compulsory (forced) labor for a period of up to 4 years, arrest for a period of up to 4 years are used as punishment.

If illegal business activity in banking conducted several people together, the punishment increases. The period of compulsory work is increased to 5 years, and the term of imprisonment - to 7.

Tax Liability

In the tax code of the Russian Federation, punishment for illegal entrepreneurial activity is described in article 116. It involves punishment in the form of 10% of the income of an illegal businessman, but not less than 20,000 rubles. Such sanction is applied if the application for registration has not been submitted.

If the entrepreneur has been doing business without registration for 90 days, the fine will be 20% of his income, but not less than 40,000 rubles.

For delay in registration, if it is overdue by less than 3 months, you will also have to pay a fine of 5,000 rubles. If the delay exceeded 90 days, the penalty is 2 times more. In addition, the violator may charge all unpaid taxes.

How are such crimes investigated?

Business cases, including illegal ones, are considered only in court. As for conducting investigations and searching for evidence, this is done by the relevant government agencies, which use special methods in their work and operate with clear concepts.

In order to apply penalties or criminal liability to a legal entity or individual for illegal business, the fact of illegitimate activity must be identified and proven. And if it is quite possible to identify violations during the registration of a company, the use of false data or the lack of a license, then the fact of receiving income in a systematic format or the fact of causing damage still needs to be proven. In addition, it must be proved that the income has become the property of the offender, and the damage caused is indeed classified as “large and significant”.

Significant damage is the income that is not received by the state treasury. Damage is understood as taxes that have not been transferred to the state treasury by a legal entity, individual or group of individuals as a result of conducting business activities aimed at making a profit.

When calculating the amount of damage, only the profit of the offending entrepreneur is taken into account. But his expenses are not taken into account. At the same time, the amount includes both the financial resources that were received by the illegal entrepreneur and the cost of goods as of the date of the special investigation.

Determining the amount of damage (its size) is within the competence of state bodies and is not established by law.

Investigations to identify illegal business are carried out by the tax service and the Department of Economic Crime of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Pay attention to a company that can be classified as illegitimate, employees of the competent authorities can either independently or on the basis of a statement written by vigilant citizens.

An appeal to the tax authorities or the Economic Crime Department must be written in as much detail as possible, with the obligatory specification of your contact details.

Is it legal to make money online?

Recently, the services of freelancers have become very popular, that is, specialists who are not full-time employees of companies, but provide their services on a remote basis. This global practice has long proved its expediency, but the main thing to remember is that working remotely is not a reason to violate the law.

Everyone who earns income must pay taxes. As for licensing, if the activity carried out by a freelancer requires obtaining a special permit, then work without a license is a priori positioned as an illegal business. If the remote worker provides his services in compliance with all licensing standards, and is also registered as a private entrepreneur and pays all the required taxes, then his activity is completely legal, and is unlikely to attract the attention of law enforcement agencies, the tax service or the financial police.

The legality of the activities of freelancers, as well as the methods of combating illegal entrepreneurship on the Internet, are described in the following video.

Examples of Violations

And deviation from the rules of licensing, and work without a license, and, of course, the illegality of registering business units are ubiquitous, so it is not difficult to find examples of illegal entrepreneurship.

One of the most common violations in terms of licensing can be called running a business that is not specified in permits. For example, construction company upon registration, it received permission to equip objects of complexity class SS-1. And in order to get more profit, the company's management signed a contract for the construction of a building of SS-3 complexity class. As a result of such manipulation, the basic requirements for conducting construction activities in the Russian Federation were violated, which could lead to tragic consequences. Accordingly, not only administrative, but also criminal liability can be applied to the company's management as a punishment.

No less often, when conducting investigations to identify cases of illegal business, specialists are faced with situations where activity is carried out without registration. For example, a citizen organizes a workshop for the repair of expensive gadgets at home, makes a profit and at the same time does not pay taxes determined by law to the state treasury. As a result of such activities, the state receives less tax revenue, and this business classified as illegal. As a punishment, both administrative methods (fines) and tax liability for concealing income can be taken.

As practice shows, popular violations in the environment of "dishonest deeds" include setting up a company or registering a business through the use of false or third-party documents. Knowingly false information is submitted to the registration authorities both about the owner of the company and about its location. A company registered with such violations cannot be considered legitimate, and all activities that it conducts are classified as illegal business.

Illegal business is punishable by law, and it is well justified. Solving many problems in the field domestic business lies within the competence of supervisory authorities and local government structures. In order to avoid excesses and subjective assessments, experts advise regularly consulting with experienced lawyers.

Any state traditionally strictly regulates the conditions under which its citizens and foreigners can engage in entrepreneurial activities, so if you plan to open your own business, it is imperative to know the relevant legislation. Illegal entrepreneurial activity may entail liability commensurate with the scale of the business and the damage that the state has received from the actions of the entrepreneur.

The concept of entrepreneurial activity carried out outside the law

To be illegal, an activity must first be entrepreneurial, that is, it must meet several basic requirements:

• carried out independently and at your own risk. A driver or any other employee who works for a person doing business illegally is not subject to any liability. Although in practice courts often take the opposite position;
• aim at systematic income generation. A single sale and purchase transaction or the provision of any service for payment is not a business activity;
• the source of income for the entrepreneur is the use of property, the provision of services or the sale of goods.

That is why an entrepreneur will be a grandmother who comes to the metro every Monday to sell vegetables from her garden, but there will not be a person who has sold not even one, but several real estate objects belonging to him. If the latter is not a systematic activity of buying and selling, but simply a series of transactions, the seller is not responsible.

According to the law, any person who systematically receives income from any activity can be considered an entrepreneur and be held accountable, including those who traditionally do not consider themselves entrepreneurs: freelancers, farmers who sell their products, people of creative professions.

Only landlords who rent out their own but unused real estate are exempted from liability for carrying out entrepreneurial activities without registration, although in this case they are not exempted from the obligation to pay personal income tax (this exception is spelled out in Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of November 18, 2004 No. 23 ). All landlords are released from liability, regardless of the method of acquisition, the number of real estate objects and the amount of income received.

Whether the activity of a citizen is entrepreneurial is determined in each case individually. The Plenum of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation several times pointed out that only systematic activity can be called entrepreneurial, as can be judged by the range of goods sold, its origin, the frequency with which a person is engaged in trade or the provision of services, and other signs (Resolution of the Plenum of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation dated 24.10. 2006 No. 18).

Also Civil Code the criteria that define activity as entrepreneurial include state registration of a legal entity or registration of a citizen as an individual entrepreneur.

But in reality, trade without registration does not cease to be entrepreneurial activity. Non-compliance with the requirements of the law will only entail the onset of liability, but will not relieve the entrepreneur of the obligation to answer for the obligations that he assumed by doing business illegally. Therefore, in addition to claims from regulatory authorities, an entrepreneur can receive a subpoena and civil claims from counterparties if his activities have caused damage to them.

Illegal business activity: liability and possible fines

There can be several violations of the law when doing business:

• lack of registration. Moreover, the moment of state registration is the moment of making an entry about a legal entity or individual entrepreneur (individual entrepreneur), therefore, it is impossible to do business until the end of the registration procedure;
• activities without a license, when necessary (for example, illegal trade alcohol);
• activities with violations of licensing conditions (only administrative responsibility).

What type of liability a person will be held to depends on the amount of income received. It should also be borne in mind that if law enforcement agencies are interested in you, in addition to being directly responsible for trading or providing services without registration, you may be punished for other related articles of the Code of Administrative Offenses or even the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (for example, when illegal trade is combined with trade in unmarked goods).

Criminal liability under Art. 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

This is the most serious possible consequences violation of the norms of the legislation on registration of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs and licensing rules. A criminal record closes many doors for a person, including access to credit resources in the same volume.

According to Art. 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, it can be qualified to conduct business without registration or without obtaining a license (when this is a mandatory legal requirement), if this activity caused major damage to the state or third parties or allowed to receive income on a large or especially large scale (this is 250 thousand and 1 million rubles, respectively).

Fine for illegal entrepreneurial activity - up to 500 thousand rubles or in the amount of the convicted person's income for a maximum of three years, forced labor for up to 5 years, arrest for up to 6 months, or even imprisonment for up to 5 years. It is quite difficult to prove illegal entrepreneurial activity with the receipt of such income, therefore the article is rarely applied. But if law enforcement officers set themselves such a goal, with the appropriate scale of business, the application of Art. 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is a very real prospect.

After the fact of carrying out business activities in violation of the law has been recorded, law enforcement agencies must prove two facts:

• the fact that the person was engaged in entrepreneurial activity;
• the fact that the person received income in excess of 250 thousand rubles or caused damage by his actions in an amount higher than indicated.

Most often, in order to prove that a person really conducts trade or provides services, test purchase. Evidence of income can be bank statements, primary accounting documentation, testimony of counterparties and other witnesses, an assessment of the value of goods seized from the entrepreneur.

If the entrepreneur was brought to criminal responsibility, the court in most cases is limited to a fine, but it should always be borne in mind that there is also the possibility of applying the highest penalty for this article - imprisonment. To do this, you just need to receive income on an especially large scale or commit a crime by an organized group of people (for example, together with your accountant).

If law enforcement officers managed to prove the fact of conducting illegal business activities, but failed to prove the receipt of income on a large or especially large scale, the crime will be reclassified as an administrative offense.

Administrative responsibility

This type of liability is used more often, as it does not require proven income. Most often, street vendors or other persons trading without registration are brought to justice. Administrative fine for trading without registering an individual entrepreneur under Art. 14.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation:

• from 500 to 2 thousand rubles for entrepreneurial activity without registration (for example, a fine for illegal trading on the street);
• for entrepreneurial activity without a license - from 2 to 50 thousand rubles with confiscation of all products and raw materials (for example, a fine for illegal trade in alcohol). The amount of the fine depends on who committed the offense, the most lenient punishment is for individual, the most severe - for the legal;
• for entrepreneurial activity in violation of the terms of the license - from 1.5 to 40 thousand rubles;
• for gross violation of the terms of the license - from 4 to 50 thousand rubles with the possibility of suspending the activities of a legal entity for up to 90 days.

An offense is proved in the same way as a crime under Art. 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation: a test purchase is made, proving the fact of conducting activities or conducting it in violation of the terms of the license. The rest of the evidence base is collected as needed.

Tax Liability

The main reason why there is liability under the above articles is that a person who is not properly registered does not pay taxes to the budget. Therefore, having discovered a violation, the tax service will try to compensate for this damage. Therefore, an individual or legal entity is waiting for a fine for illegal trade in the amount of 10 thousand rubles plus 10% of the income received from illegal activities (Article 116 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

In addition, the tax service will accrue all taxes due for the time of work without a license.

When bringing to tax liability, it should be remembered that the Federal Tax Service must prove your guilt in court in order to achieve repayment of debts to the budget of the Russian Federation, therefore, with competent legal support, the amount of claims can be reduced.

How to avoid liability for trading without registration?

It's not about how to run a business without registration and sleep peacefully. In this case, there is no solution: sooner or later, regulatory authorities will become aware of your activities during a scheduled inspection, from competitors or a dissatisfied client. Therefore, for doing business, it is better to choose the least expensive form of legal entity to maintain or register as an individual entrepreneur.

But you should always remember that in order to hold you accountable, the regulatory authorities must comply with all formal requirements. One of the ways to evade responsibility is to challenge the drawn up protocol on an administrative offense. If the judge sees significant errors in it, the protocol will be sent for revision. Correction of errors and re-consideration take time, and two months after the protocol is drawn up, it is no longer possible to hold a person accountable.

But often, when selling several real estate objects or concluding other large transactions by an individual, the tax office has many claims and the seller is called in to explain the fact of income. In this case, you should not be afraid if you really do not conduct business (even if there has been an underestimation of the cost):

• come to the "conversation" with a lawyer;
• insist that there is no systematicity in your activity in selling or buying something, you are not going to do business in this area. No one can prove otherwise;
• refer to the right of the owner to dispose of his property as you like.

Even if you sold the property at a lower cost to a family member to minimize taxes or simplify inheritance, no valid claims against you government bodies they won’t be able to present it, so you can go to the tax office with a clear conscience. Even if you have made several transactions (more than two per year, making it possible to talk about systematicity), it will be almost impossible to prove the receipt of income.

But if you are afraid of criminal prosecution (and if the case has already been opened, you should always be afraid of it), it is better to hire an experienced lawyer as soon as possible, he will help assess the risks in specific situation and correctly form and defend your position.

Illegal entrepreneurial activity, especially when it brings significant profit, will very quickly be of interest to tax and law enforcement agencies. In most cases, the risk is not worth the possible income, so it is better to formalize your activities in accordance with the requirements of the law. But if you find yourself in a situation that threatens to bring you to administrative or criminal liability, it is important to seek legal help as soon as possible - it can be quite a difficult task to formulate your position correctly and defend it in court on your own.

More and more people are engaged in entrepreneurial activity today. There is a certain procedure for starting any business, the legislative framework and responsibility for violation of the law. Increasingly, cases of illegal business activity or fraud are emerging.

What is illegal business activity

Illegal entrepreneurship is the implementation of entrepreneurial activities in violation of the law. The main criteria: lack of registration, violation of registration rules, lack of a license, provision of false information to the tax authorities.

Illegal activities, as a rule, are aimed at obtaining maximum profit, bypassing the tax authorities.

Each person sells something or provides services during the period of his life. It would seem that there is nothing illegal in the sale of used equipment, clothing, real estate. Someone can do a friend's hair at home or fix a car. But if you do it all the time, then it is illegal business.

The actions of one person will in no way affect the formation of the state economy, and if you bring all the illegal figures together, this causes considerable damage to the state and social sphere.

The law is unified, non-compliance with it leads to criminal, administrative and tax liability, which is provided for both an illegally functioning large corporation and a person engaged in the systematic sale of vegetables on the market.

Types of illegal business activities

Illegal business is divided into three types:

1. Commercial activity without registration and . A person constantly carries out certain activities: provides services, sells products. This is usually the only source of income, but the tax authorities and Pension Fund no deductions are made. The most striking common example is the rental of apartments by private individuals. Real estate for rent paid basis, but the activity is not registered in the tax office.
2. Entrepreneurship without a license, if so provided by law. There are groups of goods and services for which you need to purchase a license: alcohol and tobacco products, cosmetic and medical services. The license costs a lot of money. Therefore, many entrepreneurs are engaged in business either without a license, at their own peril and risk, or provide services at home.
3. Conducting business activities in violation. For example, an entrepreneur submits documents to open one business, say, a store household chemicals, but actually opens a hairdresser or cafe. It happens that the address in the registration documents does not match the actual location of the production premises.

All this can be attributed to illegal business.

Complaints about illegal business

Everyone knows that you need to pay taxes, but deliberately refuse to do so. Many motivate this by saying that the taxes are too high, the income from the business is not constant, you need to somehow survive. Here it is necessary to divide illegal figures into two categories.

If a person sells children's things for a small price, for example, or sells a related with my own hands sweater, this can hardly be called an illegal activity. But if someone starts providing cosmetic services at home, without having necessary conditions and corresponding registration, then this is already an illegal activity.

A complaint about illegal business can be filed with the Department economic security, the prosecutor's office, the police or the tax office. At the same time, you need to understand that words cannot be sewn into deeds, evidence is needed.

First, evaluate the scale of the deed. You should not run to the police or the tax office if your neighbor sold a bucket of potatoes on the market. But if a whole beauty salon has settled in one of the apartments, and there is no end to visitors, it is worth signaling to the relevant authorities.

If you yourself have become a victim of an illegal business: bought counterfeit products or used paid service, resulting in harm to your health, you can freely initiate a complaint with the tax office by providing checks and certificates.

Complaint to the tax office

If you have reason to file a complaint against an illegal businessman, you must write an application to the tax office. There is no established pattern. The application must include the following information:

1. Surname and initials of a person engaged in illegal business, and what is its violation. For example, the lack of a license.
2. What is the business: cosmetology, repair of objects, construction or other.
3. What time is the activity.
4. It is necessary to register a request for the intervention of the tax service.
5. A package of documents as evidence.

Important! The tax service will accept the application if you provide the fact of receipt Money entrepreneur. Perhaps you have a receipt, contract or a copy of the document.

Punishment for illegal business

Criminal prosecution against an illegal businessman occurs most often for repeated violations:

• for systematic business without the necessary registration;
• for receiving money from illegal business in especially large amounts;
• for causing material damage to the state and citizens during illegal activities, or causing harm to health.

According to article 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Illegal business”, punishment occurs in the following cases:

1. If a businessman worked without registration and a license, as a result of which great damage was caused to the state, organization or citizens. The activist shall be punished with a fine of up to three hundred thousand rubles or compulsory work up to four hundred and eighty hours. In some cases, arrest is provided for up to six months.
2. For carrying out the same activity by a group of persons, causing significant damage to the state or citizens, a businessman will be punished in the form of a fine of one hundred to five hundred thousand rubles, forced labor up to five years, imprisonment up to five years with a fine of eighty thousand rubles.

Additional Information. Article 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is used extremely rarely, since it is very difficult to prove that an entrepreneur receives large incomes.

Other types of liability of individuals and legal entities

Criminal liability for an illegal act comes into force in the event of damage to the state or social society in the amount of one and a half million rubles and more. In all other cases, administrative liability arises and penalties are applied, the amount of which depends on the degree of violation:

• If the entrepreneur does not register his activity, a fine in the amount of from five hundred to two thousand rubles.
• For the implementation of activities without a license, a fine from two to fifty thousand rubles with the withdrawal of all products. The most widespread is the illegal sale of alcohol.
• Violation of the terms of the license in the process of implementing a business entails a fine from one and a half to forty thousand rubles. For gross violation four to fifty thousand rubles with termination of activity up to 90 days.

What kind of punishment to apply is determined by the court. If the entrepreneur did not take care of acquiring a license to conduct his business, then such a violation is considered the most serious. In this case, serious damage to the health of consumers can be caused.

Administrative punishment carried out not only for illegal work, but also for the use of other people's logos, copyright infringement, deceiving customers, selling fakes. Get more information about the responsibility of the IP -.

Illegal business and tax services

The tax authorities apply penalties in the form of fines for the illegal activities of entrepreneurs, relying on articles 116 and 117 of the Tax Code. Many believe that if the profit from the systematic sale of products or services is minimal, then this is not punishable.

In reality, it looks quite different. If you, for example, implement via social media products handmade, and they send you cash on delivery for this, it is better to register yourself as an individual entrepreneur, otherwise you cannot avoid tax prosecution. The amount of the fine depends on the type of violation:

1. If the entrepreneur has not registered his activity with the tax office, then the amount of the fine is 10% of all income received by him, but not less twenty thousand rubles. Such punishment is applied to entrepreneurs who, at the time of the detected violation, had never filed an application for registration with the tax authority.
2. If the illegal activity continues for more than ninety days, then the amount of the fine here will be 20% of all profits, but not less forty thousand rubles.
3. If during the inspection it turns out that the entrepreneur registered later than he began to operate in the business sector, a penalty for late registration is provided. Here the fact of receiving the first profit is established. For failure to register up to ninety days, the fine will be five thousand rubles over ninety days ten thousand rubles respectively.

The tax service, in addition to penalties, can make an additional accrual of lost taxes for the time of illegal work. A businessman will be forced to pay income tax on the entire amount that the tax authorities could prove. Penalty for missed tax payments and a penalty for non-payment of them will be 20% of the amount of additional accrued profit.

Important! The tax service has the right to charge fines and penalties, and the punishment is established by a court decision on the basis of current legislation.

What is important to know about illegal business (video)

We will see short video, where an experienced lawyer talks in detail about the illegal activities of citizens and gives examples. What are the consequences and punishment for an entrepreneur for illegal activities:

Taxes on business income are quite high today. Many entrepreneurs after paying taxes remain at a loss, so they work without registration. You need to understand that sooner or later you will have to pay not only taxes, but also fines. Before starting any business, calculate everything in advance, and do not delay registration.

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

The establishment of a fact that indicates the conduct of entrepreneurial activity without official registration with the competent authorities is a serious violation in the field of doing business. Entrepreneurship getting out of control is undesirable both for the authorities, which promises a lack of funds in the region's budget, and directly for entrepreneurs who are deprived of state protection. In order to exclude illegal entrepreneurship, certain norms 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 activity of the entity is focused on generating income;
3. does it have economic activity the subject of consistency - whether it was carried out once or has a duration of maintenance;
4. lack of license documents for doing business;
5. the complete absence of registration actions in the conduct of entrepreneurial activities.

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

• unregistered entrepreneurial activity;
• activities executed in violation or with the provision of false information;
• implementation certain types 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 proper registration is fraught with consequences - for illegal activities, the following is provided:

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

Let's consider each type of punishment separately.

Administrative liability for illegal business

This type of offense is provided for by the 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 activities 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 illegal activities for up to 90 days or a fine:
  • for citizens - from 4000 to 8000 rubles;
  • for officials - from 5,000 to 10,000 rubles:
  • for organizations - from 100,000 to 200,000 rubles.

The fact of illegal entrepreneurial activity can be established by police officers or prosecutors, tax authorities, antimonopoly committee or consumer market regulators. The reason for checking is usually a complaint from dissatisfied customers or another signal that informs about illegal business conduct or the admission of a violation in work. The result of checking and revealing the fact of a violation is the drawing up by the employees of the bodies of a protocol on the offense, which is drawn up during the verification activities. Bringing to administrative responsibility for illegal entrepreneurship 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 the place of his residence. A citizen can avoid liability if the protocol was drawn up incorrectly or contains inaccuracies and contradictions, since while the authorities are re-issuing it, the period allotted by law for holding the citizen liable, 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 business

Sanctions for illegal business are defined in tax code Article 116 of the Russian Federation and are expressed in the form of collection of taxes not received by the state and fines for evading their payments:

1. an entrepreneur who has not registered with the tax authorities for the purpose of conducting business is punished with a fine of 10% of the amount of income received, but not less than 40,000 rubles ( this species 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 a tax authority entails a fine in the amount of 10,000 rubles.

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

Illegal business and criminal liability

This type of act, as illegal entrepreneurial 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 caused major damage to individuals or legal entities, or to 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 of wages or other income of the convict for a period of up to 2 years;
  • or compulsory work - up to 480 hours;
  • or arrest - up to 6 months;
• the implementation of the above act committed by an organized group and / or is associated with the extraction of profit on an especially large scale, is punishable by:
  • a fine from 100,000 to 500,000 rubles or in the amount of the wage 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 or without 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.

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

Proving the facts of making profit on a large scale without registering activities or causing damage to third parties is carried out by police officers or prosecutors. It is worth noting that it is virtually impossible to detect an offense that falls under the Criminal Code, since the control purchase by the authorities during the check is carried out for limited amounts. Therefore, as a rule, criminal prosecution of persons receiving significant income from business is carried out only in cases of involvement in the laundering of proceeds from crime, while responsibility for such activities carried out by the organization lies with its head. Also, it should be noted that, regardless of the amount of income received, the following are not subject to criminal liability:

• citizens who are responsible for employment contract concluded with an illegal entrepreneur;
• owners of properties that are rented out.

Important! Circumstances mitigating criminal liability are positive characteristics guilty and a single fact of attracting a citizen.

Criminal legislation suggests the possibility of conjugating illegal entrepreneurial activity with other criminal penalties in the field of entrepreneurship, for example, with the purchase and circulation of counterfeit products, and more. In this case, measures of criminal liability are provided for the totality of all crimes.

Almost every adult has sold something at least once in their life, but it would never occur to anyone to call the sale of grandma's furniture an entrepreneurship. But what if a person begins to purposefully search the city old furniture, buy it and sell it to new owners? Such activity already bears the character of an entrepreneurial activity, which means that it is necessary to register and pay taxes so that you do not have to pay a fine for illegal entrepreneurial activity.

You should not rely on the fact that the tax authorities turn a blind eye to illegal business if it brings relatively small incomes. To hold a person accountable for illegal business activities, even proof of income is not required. It is enough to convict him of the fact that by his actions he pursued the goal of making a profit - for example, he advertised in a newspaper or bought goods in bulk.

What is illegal business activity

There is an opinion that the tax authorities will be interested in an entrepreneur only if he earns a serious amount. In fact, this is not so. Even if a person sends homemade jewelry from time to time, receiving cash on delivery, he should be ready for personal attention from the tax. It is possible to be punished for illegal entrepreneurial activity even with a meager income. The severity of the punishment depends on the amount of income: upon reaching a certain amount, administrative responsibility for illegal entrepreneurship develops into a criminal one.

To understand what constitutes illegal entrepreneurial activity, you need to understand the concept of “entrepreneurial activity”. The Civil Code interprets it as an activity that is aimed at systematic profit. Theoretically, two transactions of the same type in a year will be enough to see such an orientation in the actions of a person.

Among the signs of entrepreneurial activity it is worth highlighting:

• testimonies of clients - persons who paid for services or goods;
• advertising of goods and services;
• exhibiting product samples;
• wholesale purchases;
• availability of receipts for receiving money;
• established relationships with contractors;
• conclusion of commercial space lease agreements;
• accounting for business transactions.

If the activity of a person is characterized by any of the above, it is useless to rest on the lack of profit. Illegal business is an activity that is aimed at making a profit, but does not necessarily bring it.

Those who rent out housing may not register an individual entrepreneur: in order not to be held liable for illegal business, you need to draw up an agreement with the tenant, submit it on time tax return and pay income tax. The same applies to persons who have entered into a one-time sale transaction for a decent amount: by submitting a declaration, the seller will save himself from proceedings with the tax authorities.

If the activity concerns the service sector, and you don’t want to register an individual entrepreneur or LLC at all, you can provide services on the basis of contracts. This does not qualify as illegal business, but such cooperation has obvious disadvantages:

• you can not advertise your services;
• tax authorities may consider such business relationship labor, which will cause problems for the customer of services;
• ceteris paribus, the customer will prefer to cooperate with an individual entrepreneur or a company, since it will be more profitable for him.

Please note: since 2019, persons providing services on their own in Moscow, the Moscow and Kaluga regions and Tatarstan can legalize their activities as.

To do business fully, it is worth registering properly. It is very easy to do this with the help of our free document preparation service: the procedure itself will take a little time, and a certificate of state registration will be issued within three working days.

If you continue to conduct illegal business activities, the consequences can be the most unpleasant - from fines up to imprisonment.

Punishment for illegal business activities

For illegal business bear tax, administrative, criminal responsibility. Employees of the tax inspectorate, police, prosecutors, antimonopoly authorities, and consumer market supervisors are authorized to incriminate illegal business activities. The reason for the check will be a signal from vigilant citizens: for example, the client of an illegal taxi driver will be dissatisfied with the service and file a complaint.

According to the court, the tax authorities are seeking compensation from the owner of the illegal business for taxes that, through the fault of the latter, the state did not receive. Punishment for an individual for illegal entrepreneurial activity will involve the payment of personal income tax in the amount of proven income and late fees. In addition, tax evasion is subject to:

• 10% of the amount of income derived from illegal entrepreneurial activities, but at least 20 thousand rubles, is a fine for an entrepreneur who did not submit an application to the IFTS to register his own business;
• 20% of the amount of income, but at least 40 thousand rubles, will be paid by an entrepreneur who has been running an illegal business for more than 90 days;
• Entrepreneurs are fined 5,000 rubles for delaying business registration. This is a situation when an individual has submitted documents for registration of an individual entrepreneur or LLC, but the fact of receiving revenue earlier has been revealed. If the registration is delayed for a period of more than 90 days, the amount of the fine doubles - 10 thousand rubles.

Code of administrative offenses RF provides for penalties. For illegal entrepreneurship, the fine in 2019 will be at least 500 rubles.

• The amount of the fine for illegal entrepreneurship without registering an individual entrepreneur or LLC is from 500 to 2000 rubles;
• The implementation by an individual of licensed types of activities without a license entails a fine from 2000 to 2500 rubles. Products and means of production may be confiscated.

The decision in the case of illegal entrepreneurship is made by the judge at the place of residence of the accused or the place of activity. The case is considered within two months from the date of drawing up the protocol on the violation, otherwise the case is not given a course.

Criminal liability for illegal business

If an illegal business has caused damage to the state or citizens, the entrepreneur risks incurring criminal liability for illegal business. The articles of the Criminal Code cover the extraction of illegal income on a large scale (1.5 million rubles or more) or on an especially large scale (6 million rubles or more). Prosecution in such cases is the task of the police and the prosecutor's office.

For illegal entrepreneurial activity, the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides for the following penalties:

• for causing damage on a large scale - a fine of up to 300 thousand rubles or in the amount of the violator's earnings for two years; Also, punishment for an individual for illegal entrepreneurial activity can be 180-240 hours of compulsory work or imprisonment for a period of 4-6 months.
• for causing damage on an especially large scale - a fine of up to 500 thousand rubles or in the amount of the offender's earnings for three years; imprisonment for a term of up to five years, coupled with a fine of up to 80 thousand rubles or in the amount of six months' income.

The fine for illegal business activity can be supplemented with sanctions for related offenses: illegal use in the business of other people's trademarks, cheating the buyer, counterfeiting.