What is the punishment for illegal business activities. What is the penalty for illegal business in the Russian Federation: in detail. Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

According to government estimates, about 20 million able-bodied Russians do not declare the sources of their income. Approximately half of them run their own, often small, illegal businesses. What is the penalty for illegal entrepreneurial activity in 2019 they are threatened?

What is entrepreneurial activity

But first, what is entrepreneurial activity? How does it differ from employment? And why is illegal business prosecuted by law?

The concept of entrepreneurship is established by Article 2 of the Civil Code. It's independent risky activity aimed at systematic profit. At the same time, the entrepreneur receives income not from the execution job duties but from the sale of goods, the performance of work, the provision of services, the use of property.
If you compare an entrepreneur with an employee, you can identify a number of differences.

Entrepreneur	hired worker
Independently establishes relationships with the consumer, performing the entire cycle from finding an order for a product or service to receiving payment for it.	Works under the control of the employer, often performs only one function in the consumer service cycle. Receives payment from the employer.
He risks not getting paid for his goods and services, but if successful, manages the income from the business at his discretion.	Protected by labor laws, receives a salary, regardless of personal results. In this case, the employer pays the employee only a part of the profit earned by him.
Independently provides for his pension and health insurance, pays taxes on the income received from the business.	The employer pays for the pension, social and medical insurance of the employee, he also withholds and transfers personal income tax from the salary.

If business is conducted without registration, then the state does not receive anything from such a commercial entity. But at the same time, an illegal entrepreneur enjoys all the rights of a citizen, plus he can count on free medical care and a social pension. And this happens at the expense of law-abiding business and its employees, who just pay taxes and contributions.

The state is trying to return the shadow business to the legal field in various ways, including by imposing administrative, tax and criminal sanctions.

Administrative sanctions

The current norms of Article 14.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation establish a fine for illegal business activities in 2019 in the amount of 500 to 2,000 rubles. If a citizen is illegally engaged in activities that require a license (which is issued only to registered entities), then the fine here is slightly higher - from 2,000 to 2,500 rubles.

In addition, a registered organization or individual entrepreneur receives the status of a commercial entity and is required to comply with numerous legislative provisions. This is, at a minimum, the timely submission of reports, the payment of taxes and contributions, the fulfillment of the obligations of the employer, the application cash register.

At the same time, fines are imposed on legal traders for violating the laws governing business, and these are often very significant amounts. For example, for placing advertisements without the consent of the local administration, a legal entity can be fined up to 1 million rubles.

Thus, if we talk about administrative responsibility for illegal business, then the sanctions currently applied do not have any stimulating function. Moreover, this situation provokes even law-abiding citizens who cannot compete with illegal businesses to go into the shadows.

Tax Penalties

Tax legislation does not establish liability for illegal business, but imposes penalties for non-payment of tax or non-registration.

If it is proved that income was received from illegal business, from which tax was not paid, then a fine is collected under Article 122 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. This is 20% of the tax amount, and for deliberate evasion of payment - 40%. The tax itself and penalties on it will also have to be paid.
If an entrepreneur conducts real activities for more than 30 days without registration and registration with the Federal Tax Service, then this threatens with a fine of 10,000 rubles under Article 116 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

Criminal liability

A fine for illegal entrepreneurial activity in 2019 may also be imposed as part of criminal prosecution. The amounts here are significant - up to 300 thousand rubles or the income of a convict for a period of up to two years.

However, you can be held criminally liable if the proven income from illegal business was received on a large scale, and this is more than 2.25 million rubles. Anything below is subject to administrative jurisdiction, i.e. under fines from 500 to 2500 rubles.

If the criminal income is received by an organized group, or its size is recognized as especially large (more than 9 million rubles), then the fine rises to 500 thousand rubles, or up to three years of income of the convict. Criminal liability for illegal entrepreneurship also provides for real terms of restriction of freedom - from six months to five years.

Illegal entrepreneurial activity (punishment of an individual)

Why register a business

As can be seen from the size of the sanctions, and judging by the number of illegal businessmen, the established responsibility for illegal entrepreneurial activity does not fulfill its motivating function.

However, every year it becomes more and more difficult to conduct activities without registration, and the reason here is not at all in state control. The choice in favor of registered business entities is made by consumers themselves.

If a product or service is obtained from an illegal businessman, then the consumer is not protected by anything here. He cannot receive a document confirming payment, apply for a warranty repair, replace a defective product, demand a quality work or service.

If we talk about the b2b segment, then it is more difficult for an entrepreneur without registration to find business partner. The efforts of the tax authorities to control the execution of business transactions are bearing fruit. In order not to be accused of tax evasion, counterparties conduct a thorough analysis of the future partner before concluding transactions. And the first point of this analysis is the presence of registration in state register individual entrepreneurs or legal entities.

A new form of entrepreneurial activity

Usually, when talking about registering a business, they mean an individual entrepreneur or LLC. But although these organizational and legal forms are very popular, they have a lot of disadvantages. This is a fairly high tax burden, and the complexity of management, and the need to constantly submit difficult reports, and the use of a cash register, etc.

For several years now, the state has been trying to create a new form of entrepreneurial activity - self-employed persons. In fact, this category includes all small sellers and performers who have a small income and do not attract employees to their business.

Of course, they could be registered as individual entrepreneur, but they are stopped by the following nuances:

the irregular nature of the business;
having to pay insurance premiums(in 2019 this is at least 36,238 rubles), even if the activity does not bring any profit;
the obligation to use a cash register, the acquisition and annual maintenance of which exceeds 25 thousand rubles;
complex reporting, for which you have to pay an accountant.

What was needed was a mechanism that would allow these individuals to work legally, but simplify the accounting of their income and the payment of taxes.

However, the first experiment aimed at bringing illegal entrepreneurs out of the shadows failed. A very narrow circle of performers was classified as self-employed: tutors, domestic staff, nannies and nurses. Moreover, they do not pay taxes and contributions for two years, but simply register with the Federal Tax Service.

The unregulated status of the self-employed, as well as the need for subsequent registration as an individual entrepreneur, did not bring results. Across Russia, a little more than 1,000 people were registered in this capacity, which is incomparable with millions of illegal entrepreneurs.

But at the end of June 2018, the Federal Tax Service came up with a completely new initiative that could really radically resolve the situation. It is proposed to refer to self-employed individuals who independently sell goods and provide services in various business areas.

Moreover, the tax rate depends on the consumer of the product or service. If this is an ordinary individual, then a self-employed person will pay only 3% tax on the income received. If the buyer or customer is a legal entity, then the tax rate will be 6%.

And most importantly, the tax payment system has been simplified as much as possible. Payment confirmation for the buyer is issued through a mobile application, i.e. no cash register. The self-employed will be registered in personal account on the website of the Federal Tax Service, which reflects their income. Each transaction must be taxed. If there is no income, then no tax or contributions will have to be paid.

The implementation of this option in practice will make it possible to bring the majority of small businesses out of the shadows, and they will no longer have to apply fines and other sanctions.

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. Driver or any other employee who works for a person who illegally conducts business activities 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 liable, 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).

The Civil Code also includes the state registration of a legal entity or the registration of a citizen as an individual entrepreneur among the criteria that define activity as an entrepreneurial one.

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. And the moment state registration- this 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 in 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 face punishment under other related articles of the Code of Administrative Offenses or even the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (for example, when combining illegal trade with trade in unmarked goods).

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

This is the most serious of the possible consequences of violating the norms of the legislation on the 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 may 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 trades or provides services, a test purchase is made. 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 has been 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 correctly formulate your position on your own and defend it in court.

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 the Department of the Tax Service of the Russian Federation: 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 engaged in commercial activities to make a 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 coming 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 long term), because 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 for replenishment. 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. not accountable 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 some cases, provided by law, for the legal activities of an individual entrepreneur, registration alone is not enough, you need to obtain 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 business management 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., having a higher pedagogical education in the region 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 began to work also 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, the police, the state inspectorate for 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 sale of alcoholic beverages. 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 entrepreneurial 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 article of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (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 to carry out transportation by road, 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, considering that the lack of equipment for checking the technical serviceability of cars is not a gross violation, he did not agree with the fine imposed on him in the amount of 8,000 rubles. 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 can 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 left unchanged, 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:

the use of someone else's trademark or name, 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 goal 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 an entrepreneur has carried out such criminal activities 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 a person carrying out permanent activities aimed at systematically extracting profits without state registration, without a license or in violation of licensing conditions, if such actions caused damage to citizens in the amount of more than 2,250,000 rubles, or income was generated for this amount (if less than 2,250,000 - liability arises according to 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 the head of a legal organization whose activities are not registered, can be involved as an accused;
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.

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:

Conducted independently and own initiative physical 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 in commercial purposes property (for example, renting a car), sells goods (trade) or services ( repair work, cosmetic services and so on).

The systematic sale of goods at a cost equal to or less than that at which it was acquired cannot be considered 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

By Administrative Code The Russian Federation is liable if the violation did not result in 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 can demand 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.

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