Coming out of the shadows: number of self-employed exceeds 8k people in Tatarstan
The taxes paid by self-employed will be returned to the local budget to stimulate the districts of the republic
To date, 8,080 self-employed people have been registered in Tatarstan, which is more by 1,500 more than in the first quarter of this year — every month since the beginning of the year the number of registered was slightly less than 2,000. Such a sharp increase in the rate gives reason to believe that the target of 60,000 self-employed in Tatarstan by the end of 2019 is quite achievable. What measures contribute to this was told on 16 April at the briefing in the Cabinet of Ministers of Tatarstan. Read the details in the material of Realnoe Vremya.
10 years without rate change
Russia has launched the pilot project of the tax on professional income (NPD), better known as the tax for self-employed, since January 1, 2019. It allows everyone to register and become self-employed. Then they can legalize income and pay tax at reduced rates — 4% of income from individuals and 6% of legal entities — without registration of individual entrepreneurs, purchase of cash and submission of declarations.
''Moreover, the established rates within the framework of the law will not be changed in the next 10 years,'' Marat Safiullin, the head of the Federal tax service of Russia for the Republic of Tatarstan, said at a briefing on the progress of the experiment on the introduction of the new tax regime ''Tax on professional income''.
Marat Safiullin further explained the terms and benefits. So, for NDP has no other compulsory payments, as well as the duty of submission of reports. Registration does not require a visit to the tax service, it is enough to use a special mobile application of the Federal tax service ''My tax'', or a personal account on the website of the tax service, or a bank service. Entrepreneurs with revenues of up to 2,4 million rubles per year can work under the new tax regime.
Let us remind that the new tax regime began to work not throughout Russia, but only in four regions: Moscow and Moscow Oblast, Kaluga Oblast, Tatarstan. Realnoe Vremya has already studied the first interim results of the experiment on the establishment of the tax regime ''Tax on professional income'' (NDP).
Legalization of income in three minutes
Deputy Prime Minister-Head of the Cabinet of Ministers Shamil Gafarov told at the briefing what measures are being taken and what is the overall vision of the leadership of the republic in connection with the innovations. ''First of all, I want to say that the president of Tatarstan personally controls this issue. Last November, an interdepartmental commission was established. On April 15, we registered 8,080 self-employed. Is it a lot or a little?'' asks Shamil Gafarov. Let us clarify, the ministry of economic development of the Russian Federation has established an indicator for the republic — 60,000 registrations of self-employed until the end of the year.
Shamil Khamitovich explained that all the executive authorities and not only them were actively involved in the work to remove from the shadow the entrepreneurs who previously carried out their activities without proper registration and taxation. The Kazan Federal University was among the popularizers. ''The younger generation has a tool of self-realization. Having already received a passport, they can declare themselves as self-employed,'' Shamil Gafarov said.
Also, Chamber of Commerce and Trade of the republic of Tatarstan decided to create the centre for promotion of self-employed at its centre. What is important — the heads of municipalities are involved. By the decision of the president of Tatarstan, taxes from self-employed will be returned to the local budget, which should significantly spur the heads of districts.
Moreover, the self-employed themselves organized and created a non-profit organization. ''I registered in January. There were no problem. Registration is carried out in six steps. Three minutes. Nothing could be easier,'' said Yulia Reinwein, the co-founder of ANO Centre for Support of Self-employed, which daily receive applications from self-employed, who, for example, can not register. ''Let's say a person who has a handwritten passport turned to us today. We don't know what to do with it yet. Let's find out,'' Yulia Reinwein told Realnoe Vremya.
Moratorium on fines for self-employed
At the briefing, Commissioner for Entrepreneurs' Rights Protection Timur Nagumanov noted that the topic of self-employed is the most relevant agenda for the Council on Entrepreneurship under the President of the Republic. He recalled that the council had conducted a detailed study of the problems faced by the self-employed and had taken into account their wishes.
''The federal tax service has initiated an unprecedented regime, when only a cell phone is enough to interact with the state. We have a hotline open. Our lawyers answer the questions of the self-employed on a daily basis,'' said Timur Nagumanov.
As for possible administrative barriers, Nagumanov noted that a separate decision was made by the mayor of Kazan: a moratorium on fines by the administrative and technical service in case of violations has been introduced for self-employed until the end of the year. All regulations existing in the city hall are brought into full compliance to allow self-employed to use all services which are available to the businessmen having other statuses.
''There is an agreement with the city of Kazan that they will reconsider support measures. And we separately agreed to hold markets in the popular spaces of the city. Today, for the self-employed, one of the most pressing issues is the sale of their own products. You know that word of mouth works well. But if you want to scale, you need to use other modern resources. And the organization of markets with the help of Self-employed Support Centre — one of these methods. Now the plan will be developed, and in the summer, autumn seasons we will definitely see such markets on the sites of the city, where the self-employed will sell their products, already being in legal status,'' Timur Nagumanov said.
''Probably, there will be even more than 100k registered''
To the question of Realnoe Vremya whether the figure of 60,000 registered self-employed in Tatarstan is achievable by the end of this year and whether the voluntary procedure will not turn into a coercive measure, Head of the Federal tax service of Russia for the Republic of Tatarstan Marat Safiullin assured that there will be no coercive measure. ''This indicator is quite achievable. For people, it is an opportunity to start working in the legal field and legalize their activities. I think that paying 4 rubles from 100 rubles and working in the right field is also very important. And according to Tatarstanstat, we have more than 60,000 employees.''
His answer was complemented by Shamil Gafarov: ''There will be no coercion. And this is evidenced by real numbers.'' In January, 2,042 NPD payers were registered in Tatarstan, at the end of February there were 3,975, and at the end of the first quarter — 6,481, and as of April 15 there were 8,080. ''That is, people understand the explanations that we carry out. We have no doubt that there will be 60,000. Probably, there will be even more than 100,000 registered. We will see.''
The briefing also raised the issue that current employers may not resist the temptation to fire their employees and force them to re-register as self-employed in order to save on taxes. For such ''enthusiasts'' there are legal restrictions. Under the law, it is impossible to cover employment contracts with some others, for example contracts for work and labour. As assured, the tax can easily track it. Again, the tax on professional income applies only to those who carry out their activities independently and without an employer. It does not apply to those who work under an employment contract and have no other income except wages.