home › Sale of apartments › illegal mediation. Illegal business activity. Individual: punishment. Where to complain about illegal business

illegal mediation. Illegal business activity. Individual: punishment. Where to complain about illegal business

Many of the readers are entrepreneurs and know that such activity can both enrich and ruin. In civil law, this is how private business- risk-based activity, the purpose of which is to make a profit. There are hundreds of types of entrepreneurship - in the first place, of course, trading activity followed by construction, real estate, etc. Approximately the same number of types of illegal business activities, fines and other liability for which is provided for by the legislation of the Russian Federation.

The concept of entrepreneurship

In Russia, this term is defined using the following features:

All of the above features are typical for commercial activities. In addition, there are additional signs that are mentioned in the clarifications. Supreme Court and Office tax service RF: maintaining documentation on completed transactions, as well as on common work IP, the presence of a relationship between operations and counterparties, etc.

Illegal business

The legislation of Russia prohibits conducting illegal business activities, for which both administrative (in the form of a fine) and criminal liability are provided. There will be a discrepancy with the law if such activity:

carried out without registration;
carried out without a state license.

Without registering

This means that you have not submitted information about yourself as an individual entrepreneur to the tax office, and at the same time you are actively commercial activity for making profit.

Under the signs of illegality, such actions of a businessman may also fall, which were initially registered in accordance with the requirements of the law, but then the registration was terminated (upon an application, in connection with a court decision, etc.).

Example #2. Rakitin P.E. has been engaged in commercial activities for a long time (furniture production and subsequent sale), he registered an IP several years ago. In view of the onset of the economic crisis, Raktinin P.E. decided to stop production and filed an application for exclusion from the register of entrepreneurs, which was done. A few months later, Rakitin P.E. decided to resume production, hired workers, set up machines, restored ties with suppliers and buyers, but did not register again as an individual entrepreneur in the prescribed manner. In this case, there are grounds for holding Rakitin liable for illegal business.

In rare cases, such actions of a private trader are also recognized as illegal when registration is available, but it was carried out illegally. In such situations, the falsity of the documents submitted for registration is revealed, on the basis of which an entry in the register was erroneously made.

Example #3. Konovalov E.N. submitted documents for registration of an individual entrepreneur, among which was an application indicating the OKVED code according to retail. Based on the submitted Konovalov E.N. documents, an entry was made on its registration as an individual entrepreneur in the register. Later it was established that in fact Konovalov E.N. led wholesale trade, while it was not registered as an individual entrepreneur. Konovalov's actions were regarded as illegal business.

Based on the clarifications of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, it follows that the actions of a citizen who initially acquired a certain thing, object, real estate for personal use, and subsequently entered into a lease agreement (even for a long term), will not be considered illegal entrepreneurship, since the property belonging to him was not useful.

Example #4. Nikeshina R.G. I bought a one-room apartment in which I lived. A year later, she got married and moved in with her husband, and began to rent out her apartment to replenish the family budget. In this case, in the actions of Nikeshina R.G. there are no violations, since the originally purchased apartment was intended for personal use. However, if Nikeshina R.G. does not report for additional income and does not pay 13% of it, then there may be questions from tax office, up to bringing to criminal liability under Art. 198 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Without a license

In certain cases provided for by law, for lawful activities individual entrepreneur registration alone is not enough, you need to get a license.

Thus, in accordance with Federal Law FZ-99 dated 04.05.2011 “On Licensing certain types activities”, a license must be obtained:

for the production of alcohol-containing products;
for the activities of credit institutions;
non-state pension funds;
joint-stock investment funds;
insurance activities;
private security activities;
for entrepreneurial activities in the management of apartment buildings, etc.

The absence of a license in those cases that are reflected in the FZ-99 list entails liability for illegal business activities for individual entrepreneurs.

Example #5. Leonova A.P., who has a higher pedagogical education in the field of foreign languages, opened an educational center at her place of residence, while she was registered as an individual entrepreneur with the purpose of activity - “providing other types of services”. During the audit conducted by the tax authorities, it was found that, in violation of the requirements of the law "On Licensing", Leonova A.P. did not receive a license in accordance with the established procedure for educational activities which was the basis for bringing her to justice.

Violation will also occur in cases where the entrepreneur continues to operate, but:

the previously obtained license has been cancelled;
an application for a license has already been submitted to the licensing authority, but a decision has not yet been made (or a refusal to issue followed);
if the permit has expired.

When an entrepreneur has a license for a certain type of activity and at the same time is engaged in another type, for which a special permit is also required, such entrepreneurship will also be considered not in accordance with the law.

Example #6. Dorin G.O. for many years he was engaged in private medical practice under a license obtained by him in the Ministry of Health of the region. After many years of work, he also became involved in pharmaceutical activities, however, in violation of the requirements of federal law, licenses for this species did not receive, was prosecuted in the form of a fine for illegal business activities.

Administrative responsibility

The decision to bring to administrative responsibility Article 14.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation shall be issued by the justice of the peace of the judicial district in whose territory the offense was recorded.

How is a crime detected? With an inspection at the request of citizens or on their own initiative, an entrepreneur can be visited by a representative of the tax inspectorate, police, state inspection on trade, etc. These officials draw up a protocol, which reflects all the violations that have been recorded.

After the protocol is drawn up, a person can be held administratively liable within two months, after which the proceedings on the material are terminated. According to part 1 of Art. 14.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation for illegal entrepreneurial activity without registration is provided fine from 500 to 2000 rubles.

The verification may also consist in conducting a test purchase, the result of which will be significant, indisputable evidence of guilt. Typically, test purchases are used by the police to detect illegal business without a license, often in the field of sales alcoholic products. In such cases, liability arises under Part 2 of Art. 14.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, where the punishment may be in the form of a fine from 2000 to 2500 rubles with or without confiscation of manufactured products.

Example #7. The police received a message about the illegal business activities of IP Rasulov A.A., who traded in products in his own store, located in a residential area of the city. From a resident of the house, on the ground floor of which there was a shop, there were complaints that Rasulov did not have a license to sell alcoholic beverages. At the same time, as follows from the complaints, at night he sells vodka and beer to people who immediately consume purchased drinks in the courtyards of residential buildings. During the test purchase, the fact of selling alcohol in the absence of a license was confirmed, a protocol was drawn up under Part 2 of Art. 14.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. Subsequently, Rasulov A.A. imposed a fine of 2500 rubles.

Part 3 of Art. 14.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation provides for punishment in the form of a fine up to 2000 rubles for illegal business when there are violations of the terms of the license. If such violations are recognized as gross, then punishment is imposed under part 4 of the specified articles of the Code of Administrative Offenses RF (fine up to 8000 rubles). For each type of activity, the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation establishes individual criteria according to which this or that violation of the conditions can be attributed to a number of gross ones.

Example #8. Markin E.P. registered as an entrepreneur, he was issued a license for transportation activities by car equipped to accommodate more than 8 people. Markin E.P. challenged in court bringing him to justice under Part 4 of Art. 14.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, believing that the lack of equipment for checking the technical serviceability of cars is not a gross violation, he did not agree with the fine of 8,000 rubles imposed on him. Contrary to the arguments of Markin E.P., the court recognized the protocol drawn up against him under Part 4 of Art. 14.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, since paragraph 5 of the Regulation on Licensing Transportation approved by the Government of the Russian Federation, the repeated absence of equipment and premises for car repair during the year is considered a gross violation.

Responsibility under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

For criminal liability for illegal business, one of the mandatory features, according to Art. 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, is the infliction of large damage - that is, in excess of 2 million 250 thousand rubles. Damage can be caused to both citizens and any organizations, as well as the state.

As an alternative sign, which may be instead of "causing major damage", "deriving income" in a similar amount is provided.

Example #9. Kolaev G.E. carried out private security activities as an individual entrepreneur in the presence of an expired license. He was prosecuted for committing a crime under Part 1 of Art. 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, but he appealed against the guilty verdict due to disagreement with the accusation - he believed that he had not caused harm to anyone. As a result of the appeal hearing of the case, the sentence was upheld, since his income from illegal activities for 2020 amounted to 3,500,000 rubles, that is, exceeded 2,250,000 rubles, and the presence of the “causing major damage” feature is not required here.

It should be noted that when recalculating income, according to the clarifications of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, the proceeds received by the entrepreneur without taking into account expenses and expenses, as well as taxes, are taken into account.

According to part 1 of Art. 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for illegal entrepreneurship (both without registration and without a license or in violation of the terms of a license) threatens fine up to 300,000 rubles or compulsory work up to 480 hours.

If there are additional signs (part 2 of article 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), the punishment for illegal business activities can be in the form of:

fine up to 500000 rubles;
imprisonment up to 5 years with a fine of up to 80,000 rubles or without it.

Such additional (qualifying) features may be:

commission of a crime by an organized group - when several criminals have united in order to carry out entrepreneurial activities illegally, while roles are clearly distributed between them, each receives a part of the income, etc.
if the income received as a result of criminal activity is especially large, that is, it exceeds 9 million rubles.

Aggregate with other crimes

Often, along with illegal entrepreneurial activity, there are other offenses in the actions of the perpetrator, for example:

use of someone else's trademark or names, various product designations belonging to another organization - then the actions are additionally qualified under Art. 180 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation;
production, storage, transportation or sale of goods without excise marking, if it is mandatory in accordance with the law - there will be an additional qualification under Art. 181 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation;
if a product is sold that does not meet the safety requirements of citizens, then additionally the actions of the violator will be qualified under Art. 238 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Usually the purpose of illegal business is tax evasion. Meanwhile, if an individual entrepreneur conducts illegal activities, additionally qualify his actions under Art. 198 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (non-payment of taxes) is impossible. During the investigation, all income derived by the guilty will be recognized as material evidence in the framework of a criminal case under Art. 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and, in the event of a guilty verdict, everything will be turned into state revenue.

If the entrepreneur has such criminal activity, as the sale of weapons, the manufacture of psychotropic substances, etc., then these actions are fully covered by specific articles of the criminal law, without Art. 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Results

So, you should know about liability for illegal entrepreneurship under Article 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:

it occurs as a result of the implementation by a person of constant activity aimed at the systematic extraction of profit without state registration, without a license or in violation of the terms of licensing, if such actions caused damage to citizens in the amount of more than 2,250,000 rubles, or earned income for this amount (if less than 2,250,000, liability arises under Article 14.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation);
both an entrepreneur and a person who actually conducts such activities, but does not have state registration, as well as a head legal organization whose activity is not registered;
any regulatory authorities, as well as the police and the prosecutor's office, can conduct an inspection and identify violations, where you can write a complaint, if necessary, declare the fact of illegal business;
the maximum punishment provided for by Article 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is imprisonment for up to 5 years.

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 for 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 is illegal business 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 business transactions on deals.

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 liable for illegal business, you need to draw up an agreement with the tenant, file a tax return on time and pay personal 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;
the tax authorities may consider such a business relationship as an employment relationship, which will cause problems for the customer of the 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, 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 register his own business with the Federal Tax Service;
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.

The Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation provides for penalties. For illegal entrepreneurship, the fine in 2020 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 entrepreneurial activity can be supplemented with sanctions for related offenses: illegal use of other people's trademarks in business, deception of the buyer, counterfeiting.

Running a business involves paying taxes. But novice businessmen are sometimes in no hurry to formalize their activities, considering it too insignificant.

Dear readers! The article talks about typical ways to solve legal issues, but each case is individual. If you want to know how solve exactly your problem- contact a consultant:

APPLICATIONS AND CALLS ARE ACCEPTED 24/7 and 7 days a week.

It's fast and IS FREE!

How is illegal business punished in 2020? Illegal business activity is always a violation of the law.

Moreover, in order to recognize the fact of a violation, the amount of income received and the duration of its receipt do not matter.

It is enough to prove that the purpose of the subject's actions is aimed at making regular profits. What liability is provided for illegal entrepreneurs in 2020?

Highlights

A citizen who sells goods or services and at the same time bears certain risks in an effort to make a profit is considered an entrepreneur, and his activity is recognized as entrepreneurial.

Starting your own business, you need to take into account the legislative norms. In particular, it is required to register with the tax authorities, having received the status of an individual entrepreneur or legal entity.

Tax registration as a business entity entails certain obligations.

It is necessary to keep records on the activities carried out, pay taxes and fees in a timely manner. The amount of taxes depends on the chosen regime and the amount of systematic taxation.

According to the law, income that a citizen receives more than twice during the reporting year is recognized as systematic. Accordingly, entrepreneurial activity is recognized as an activity that brings systematic profit.

What it is

Illegal business activity is doing business without proper registration.

Some citizens believe that if you run a small business with a small income, then you can not be afraid of the attention of the tax authorities.

This is not so, punishment can be imposed even for minor offenses. But when is it necessary to obtain the official status of an entrepreneur?

You need to understand that the purpose of business legalization for the state is adequate taxation. For example, when renting out housing, it is not necessary to issue an IP.

If the owner rents an apartment under an agreement and pays regularly, then he does not violate the law. You can by paying tax on each transaction.

Conducting profitable activities without paying taxes is considered illegal business.

That is, any law-abiding citizen, if he suspects non-compliance with the law, can apply to the appropriate authorities with a request to verify the fact of violation.

Where to report a violation

Individual, which is a consumer of a product or service, may reveal the illegal activities of the entrepreneur.

When this has caused trouble or harmed health, investigations can be initiated on suspicion of illegal business conduct.

Employees of the bodies to which the appeal is submitted are required to check:

availability of activity registration;
availability (if any);
compliance with the rules and deadlines for licensing.

For your information! Lack of the required license is more severely punished by law than lack of registration.

Where to report illegal business activities? Citizens have the right to apply to such bodies as:

law enforcement agencies;
tax office;
prosecutor's office;
antitrust service.

If necessary, other structures can be involved. For example, independent communities and public organizations, where you can complain in case of difficulties with official structures.

But such methods rarely have to be resorted to. In 2020, such situations are becoming less and less common.

If state bodies discover during the verification the fact of illegal activity, then the violator is unlikely to be able to avoid punishment. But in order for the verification to be carried out, it is necessary to correctly issue the appeal.

How to write an application (sample)

There is no provision for filing an application for illegal business standard form. The appeal is made in free form.

You can, of course, use ready-made forms (when submitted on behalf of the organization), but in this case the situation is simplified only by the presence of a “header” with details.

Therefore, you need to be prepared that the authorities that accepted the application will check the compliance of the declared personal and contact data. You will not be able to contact anonymously.

The general structure of the application is as follows:

Depending on where the application is being made, specific considerations may need to be taken into account.

So when contacting the tax authorities, you need to know that this department deals exclusively with taxes. Accordingly, it is not necessary to expect proceedings in the intricacies of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.

You should contact the Federal Tax Service if it is known for certain or with a high degree of probability that there is no registration of an entrepreneur, there is tax evasion, there is no license.

For example, illegal activity has caused harm to health and life, or there is reason to believe that the activity poses a threat to others.

Citizens most often turn to the prosecutor's office when a reply has been received on a previously filed application to the police.

Video: illegal business activity

If you suspect an economic crime, you can contact the OEB. Service Specialists economic security will independently send requests to other authorities.

Please note that the answer will not be provided immediately. It usually takes several days to verify the appeal and assign it a number.

It takes about thirty days from the moment of registration of the application to the provision of a response. In practice, the answer may be late.

If it is fundamentally important for the applicant to restore justice, then a second appeal may be required to remind himself.

What is the responsibility for violations

Tax, administrative and criminal liability is provided for illegal entrepreneurial activity.

In case of confirmation of the fact of violation, the tax authorities will recover tax compensation from the violator:

the amount of unpaid taxes;
late tax penalties.

Collection is carried out in judicial order. Therefore, the punishment will be imposed not only according to the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, but also according to the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. Administrative liability involves the imposition of a fine.

When illegal activity caused damage to the state or citizens, then criminal liability arises.

Prosecutors in such cases are the police and prosecutors. Punishment ranges from a hefty fine to forced labor or imprisonment.

How can you actually prove

When filing a complaint about illegal business activity, it is desirable to have evidence of a violation.

These may be:

Evidence may vary. The main thing is that they confirm that the activity is carried out systematically and illegally.

Amount of the fine

Hello! Today we will talk about illegal business.

You will find out what kind of entrepreneurial activity can be called illegal, and what liability for illegal business is provided for by Russian law.

What is entrepreneurial activity

Before talking about legality, it is necessary to understand the very concept of entrepreneurial activity.

According to the law, this is an activity that:

It is carried out independently and on its own initiative by an individual or legal entity, which also independently bears all possible risks;
It is aimed at systematic (not a one-time) profit: cutting a friend’s bangs once for money is not yet entrepreneurship, but to open your own even a mini-salon and regularly make money on hairdressing services, you will already need to register with the tax office;
Uses property for commercial purposes (for example, renting a car), sells goods (trade) or services (repairs, cosmetic services, and so on).

The systematic sale of goods at a cost equal to or smaller one, for which it was acquired, cannot be considered an entrepreneurship, since there is no profit.

Types of illegal business

Illegal business activity - a business that does not meet the requirements of the law.

What law must an entrepreneurial business break in order to become illegal? In fact, the correct answer is any. There are many types of illegal business, but let's focus on the most common ones.

Situation 1. Carrying out business activities without proper registration

Simply put, doing business without or. The moment of registration is the date of making an entry in the appropriate state register.

It will be recognized as a violation not only to conduct business without filing an application with the registration authority, but also to start such activities before receiving a positive response. Only a certificate of the established form can confirm the state registration; it is illegal to conduct entrepreneurial activities until it is received.

Situation 2. Inconsistency between the type of activity and the one declared during registration

For example, an entrepreneur registered as an individual entrepreneur planning to open a car service, but at the construction stage he decided to change direction to a roadside cafe, which he did not report to the registration authority. Since the entrepreneur was not issued a permit to work in the field of catering, such activities will be considered illegal.

Situation 3. Lack of necessary permits (licenses)

For example, the sale of clandestine alcohol or other unlicensed products. A complete list of activities subject to mandatory licensing is specified in Article 17 federal law №128.

The entrepreneur did not apply to the relevant authority for permission when it is required by law;
An application for a license has been submitted, but a positive response has not yet been received, and the activity is already underway;
Commercial activity continues after the suspension or cancellation of the license, its expiration.

Case 4: Licensing violation

Violation of the conditions for products (the date of manufacture is not indicated);
Violation technical requirements to licensed activities (sanitary and hygienic conditions in food production);
Activities outside the territory specified in the license.

Complaints about illegal commercial activities

The Russian government is seriously concerned about the scale of illegal business in the country. When one person in a million without state registration systematically sells potatoes and does not pay taxes, the country's budget will not notice this, but when such violations are massive, the tax system sounds the alarm.

The desire of entrepreneurs not to pay taxes on their already meager income is understandable, but everything has a limit. Perhaps no one will complain about a neighbor who illegally bakes cakes to order once a month, but you can already file a complaint against a full-fledged hairdresser, open without registration and license in an ordinary apartment.

You can file a complaint at:

Department of Economic Security;
Prosecutor's Office (considers all complaints and redirects them to other instances);
Federal Tax Service (complaints against entrepreneurs hiding significant profits);
Police (considering complaints about street vendors and producers of illegal alcohol);
Licensing authorities (complaints regarding the lack of a license or violation of its conditions).

The application must indicate:

Information about the offender;
the object of the violation;
Direction of illegal activity;
A package of documents-evidence (receipt of payment, contract for the provision of services).

Liability for illegal business

Establish and record cases of illegal commercial activities can:

Law enforcement officers, prosecutors;
Inspectors of Rospotrebnadzor or antimonopoly service;
Employees of tax and other inspection bodies.

Most often, complaints from citizens and reports of illegal business become the basis for the visit of inspectors. The result of the check is a protocol containing all the allegations.

Depending on the scale of the violation, liability for illegal business can also be of varying severity.

For example, at the same time as the following, there may also be violations Labor Code, the requirements of the fire inspection, the antimonopoly service and many others. You will have to answer for violations of all rules of law.

Criminal liability (CC)

The most terrible for the violator is criminal liability for illegal entrepreneurial activity provided for by Article 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. They are brought to it only for violations that caused large (more than 1.5 million rubles) damage to citizens or other organizations.

Responsibility under Article 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is difficult to prove, so it is rarely used.

Depending on the damage caused, this article provides for the following penalties:

Measure	Lack of state registration or required license	Conducting illegal business by an organized group or causing damage of more than 6 million rubles.
Fine in rubles	Up to 300,000	From 100,000 to 500,000
Penalty in the income of the convict for the period	Up to 2 years	One to three years
Forced labor	Up to 480 hours	Up to five years
Arrest	Up to six months	Up to five years, sometimes an additional fine of about 80,000 rubles is imposed

Persons over 16 years of age may be held liable:

Managers, founders of the company;
Actual business owners without state registration.

Criminal liability is mitigated by the lack of a criminal record of the accused.

Regardless of the amount of damage, citizens working with an unregistered entrepreneur and owners of leased real estate cannot be held criminally liable.

Administrative responsibility

According to the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation, liability arises if the violation did not entail damage to third parties in excess of 1.5 million rubles.

Unregistered entrepreneurial activity can result in an administrative fine of 500-2000 rubles.

For violation of the licensing system, equipment and manufactured products may be confiscated, as well as the following fines:

Violation	For citizens		For officials	For legal entities
No required licenses		2000-2500 rubles	4000-5000 rubles	40000-50000 rubles
Non-Compliance with Licensing Terms		1500-2500 rubles	3000-4000 rubles	40000-50000 rubles
Gross violation of licensing conditions (in addition to the fine, the activity of the enterprise may be suspended for up to three months)		4000-5000 rubles	4000-5000 rubles	40000-50000 rubles

Sometimes administrative punishment can be avoided. For example, when the verification protocol was drawn up incorrectly or if there are contradictions in it. The protocol with inaccuracies must be re-drawn, and if this procedure takes more than two months, the judge is obliged to close the case. The decision to bring to administrative responsibility is made by the justice of the peace.

Tax code

The tax service is particularly interested in identifying illegal entrepreneurship, because due to unregistered activities, the state receives less of its share of taxes.

Article 116 most often becomes an article of the Tax Code punishing illegal entrepreneurship.

According to her:

For violation of the deadlines for filing an application for registration of entrepreneurial activity - a fine of 10,000 rubles.
Doing business without registration, that is, if an application for registration has not been submitted at the time of the claim - a fine of 10% of the income received for the entire period of work, but not less than 40,000 rubles. In practice, the amount of such a fine is rarely objective, since it is very difficult to reliably establish the date of commencement of unregistered entrepreneurial activity and the amount of income received.

In addition to fines for illegal business activities, the tax authorities may require the entrepreneur to pay all taxes and penalties for their delay.

Tax sanctions are imposed only by a court decision.

Civil Liability

After the commercial activity is recognized as illegal, all agreements concluded within its framework are terminated, and the entrepreneur has civil legal obligations to customers. For example, to return the paid funds and pay a penalty. Dissatisfied customers may require a refund within three years.

Failure to fulfill an obligation under civil liability can also be presented in court.

Appeal

To charge an entrepreneur with illegal activities, the regulatory authority will have to collect a lot of evidence. All revealed facts are recorded in the act, on the basis of which the protocol is formed.

You need to appeal the protocol before presenting it in court, since after that it will be almost impossible to prove your innocence.

You can only appeal against the protocol, but not the act - it only confirms the fact of the check. But when appealing, it is necessary to refer precisely to the lack of evidence of the circumstances in the act.

Based on the results of the appeal against the protocol, the court may cancel it and withdraw the charges against the defendant, or may leave it in force and continue the consideration of the case.

If your business is legal (included in the list of activities permitted in the region where the enterprise was opened), but you have not registered an individual entrepreneur, the category of responsibility and the fine of an individual for entrepreneurial activity will depend on the following circumstances:

The period of conducting shadow commercial activities until the moment of registration.
The amount of potential income received. The profit taken to determine the penalty does not have to be received by you in reality, its value is calculated theoretically based on existing evidence. So, if according to the documents you signed a deal for 100,000 rubles, but in fact received only 20,000, the first amount will be accepted when considering the case.

Thus, in the absence of business registration, you will be held liable for the very fact of hiding information about the conduct of activities, and for non-payment of taxes on profits.

According to the Tax Code of the Russian Federation (as amended on February 19, 2018), in the case when the registration of an individual entrepreneur was carried out for a period of more than 30 days from the start of your enterprise, the amount of the fine is set at 10,000 rubles. When an entrepreneur was convicted of running a shadow business without being registered for more than 3 months, the fine for an individual for illegal entrepreneurial activity will be 10% of potential income, but not less than 40,000 rubles. However, liability does not apply to the following cases:

if the face leading activity under the age of 16;
registration was not completed due to extreme circumstances (unforeseen natural disasters, military conflicts, diseases requiring hospitalization or isolation);
illegal activity was carried out three years before the fact of violation was established (according to the statute of limitations).

In the presence of mitigating circumstances (personal family, coercion to violate, difficult financial situation), fines can be reduced at least twice. In case of detection of aggravating circumstances (for example, if this is not the first violation), the amount of the fine is increased at least twice.

Directly for non-payment of taxes on profits received as a result of illegal activities, two types of fines are imposed:

20% of the tax amount;
40% of the amount of tax, if it is proved that the deliberate concealment of income received.

AT without fail the tax on the received profit for the entire period of implementation of illegal entrepreneurship is also paid.

Administrative fines for carrying out illegal business

In addition to tax liabilities, illegal commercial activities are subject to administrative fines stipulated Civil Code(as amended on 12/29/17). They include both a penalty for the lack of registration of an individual entrepreneur (LLC), and when carrying out activities without appropriate permits(licenses).

General provisions and amounts of possible fines

On this moment an administrative fine for entrepreneurial activity without an individual entrepreneur, depending on the scale of the business and related circumstances, ranges from a minimum of 500 to a maximum of 2,000 rubles. In turn, liability for the absence of a compulsory license and violations of licensing norms involves the imposition of the following types of fines:

for individual entrepreneurs from 2,000 to 500,000 with the possibility of confiscation of the property of the enterprise (products and equipment for its production);
for an official from 4000 to 5000 rubles;
for a legal entity from 40,000 to 50,000 with possible confiscation.

In case of violation of the requirements of licensing norms, the following fines are additionally levied:

for individuals within the limits of 1,500 to 2,000 rubles, and in case of gross violations (parameters are set separately depending on specific type activities) from 4000 to 8000 rubles;
for executive officers from 3000 to 4000 rubles, with extremely gross deviations from the norm from 5000 to 10000 rubles;
for legal entities from 30,000 to 40,000 rubles, for serious violations from 100,000 to 200,000 rubles with the suspension of the enterprise.

Penalties for illegal business by specific categories

In certain categories of activities, the fine for illegal entrepreneurial activity in 2018 will be significantly higher than the above amounts, and in some cases, in addition to administrative liability, criminal liability is imposed. This includes the following categories:

Illegal gambling without registration and license (including online) outside gambling zones- from 700,000 to 1,000,000 rubles with the possibility of complete confiscation of equipment and a term of imprisonment of up to 6 years.
Organization of illegal games in gambling zones- from 2,000 to 4,000 rubles for ordinary citizens, from 30,000 to 50,000 for officials, from 500,000 to 1,000,000 for legal entities (including in case of violations of the terms of the license).
Entrepreneurial activity in the transport sector- 5,000 rubles for individuals, 100,000 rubles for individual entrepreneurs, 400,000 rubles for legal entities. In case of repeated violation for individuals, the fine is doubled, and for other categories it remains the same, but the vehicle is confiscated.
Sale of things (jewelry, weapons, poisonous substances) prohibited or restricted by law- from 1,500 to 2,000 rubles with complete confiscation of goods for citizens not registered as entrepreneurs, also from 3,000 to 4,000 rubles for senior officials, from 30,000 to 40,000 rubles for legal entities.
wholesale and retail medicines - from 1500 to 3000 rubles for unregistered entrepreneurs, from 5000 to 10000 for officials and from 20000 to 30000 for legal entities.

In addition, in separate category in 2018, illegal trade in tickets (documents for obtaining them) for the FIFA World Cup was classified. Thus, resale and sale without relevant documents (subject to the fact of profit) is subject to a fine of up to 25 times the cost of the ticket being sold (but not less than 50,000 rubles) for citizens, up to 30 times the cost of the ticket for officials (but not less than 150,000 rubles), as well as from 500,000 to 1,000,000 rubles for legal entities. Sale of fake tickets - from 50,000 to 70,000 rubles for unregistered entrepreneurs, from 150,000 to 200,000 rubles for officials and individual entrepreneurs, and from 1,000,000 to 1,500,000 rubles for legal entities, but only if there are no criminal offenses as part of the violation.

Criminal liability and fines for illegal business

If the shadow business has caused damage in large (from 100,000 to 250,000 rubles), as well as especially large (from 1,000,000 rubles) amounts, a fine for entrepreneurial activity without registering an individual entrepreneur can also be imposed as part of criminal liability in accordance with the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (rev. 24.03 .eighteen). In this case, the following consequences are possible:

A fine of up to 300,000 rubles or a salary for two years for individuals whose illegal business activities have caused major damage. In the absence of the possibility of paying fines, corrective labor or full imprisonment for six months is assigned.
If the above is committed by a group of persons or the damage is classified as especially large, the possible fine ranges from 100,000 to 500,000 rubles or in the amount wages(basic income) for three years. If it is impossible to pay the amount, the fine is reduced to 80,000 rubles, but the perpetrator receives a prison term of up to five years.
Production and storage of products in violation of legal norms are subject to a fine of up to 300,000 rubles.
Illegal production and circulation of alcoholic products is subject to a fine of 2,000,000 to 3,000,000 rubles. When a group of people participate in a crime, the fine is from 3,000,000 to 4,000,000 rubles.
Regular illegal sale of alcohol by an individual is subject to a fine of 50,000 to 80,000 rubles.

Prospects for tougher penalties for illegal business

According to the majority of deputies of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, one of effective methods bringing the domestic economy out of the shadows is to tighten the punishment for illegal business, and at the moment in this direction is being active work. For example, in March 2018, a bill was submitted to the State Duma to increase fines for commercial activities without registration from the current level of 500 to 2,000 rubles to a level of 3,000 to 5,000 rubles. The document provides for similar changes for entrepreneurs who are in no hurry to obtain licenses.

In addition, previously tax-exempt self-employed persons, who may also not register their activities until the end of 2018, may soon find themselves in the category of illegal entrepreneurs. To solve the problem of legitimizing their activities, it was proposed to introduce a tax of 3% on income received as a result of providing services to individuals and 6% in cooperation with legal entities. If the project is approved, all self-employed citizens may become illegal immigrants, which will entail the above fines.

Another category of fines that Russians can expect this year is for the illegal sale of sanctioned products. It is planned that they will be from 3,000 to 5,000 for individuals, from 30,000 to 50,000 for officials and from 70,000 to 100,000 for legal entities.

Considering the question of what the fine for illegal entrepreneurial activity will be in 2018 for each specific type of business, one should take into account the whole range of circumstances present in the case, which can mitigate or, on the contrary, aggravate the situation. However, you should not assume that if your income is small and goes entirely to support the household, you can avoid punishment.

Popular in category: