How to prove and where to report illegal entrepreneurial activity? Filing a complaint with the tax and other authorities, a sample application. What is the punishment for illegal business activities What will happen if you are engaged in an illegal business

Tax and other regulatory authorities quite often bring certain persons to responsibility for illegal business. Every day there are many convictions for this crime. However, even the courts often have questions related to its legal qualification. Let's try to understand the most important of them.

First of all, let us turn to the definition of entrepreneurial activity. According to civil law, such is "an independent activity carried out at one's own risk, aimed at systematic obtaining profits from the use of property, the sale of goods, the performance of work or the provision of services by persons registered in this capacity in the manner prescribed by law "(Clause 1, Article 2 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

Based on the general rule "Participants in relations regulated by civil law (including business. - Ed.) Are citizens and legal entities" (clause 1, article 2 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation), they are the subjects of the offense under Art. 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Possible involvement of public law entities (e.g. Russian Federation, subjects of the Russian Federation and municipalities) we will not consider in this material.

Citizens and legal entities. Legal capacity

Unlike legal entities, the set of citizens is heterogeneous. It consists of citizens who have:

• only general legal personality;
• both general and special legal personality (that is, entrepreneurs).

By Civil Code RF "a citizen has the right to engage in entrepreneurial activities without forming a legal entity:" (clause 1, article 23 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). It is subject to the rules "which regulate the activities of legal entities that are commercial organizations, unless otherwise follows from the law, other legal acts or the essence of the legal relationship" (Clause 3, Article 23 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

The Code distinguishes several categories of such citizens and, on this basis, connects the moment they acquire special legal personality with the onset of various events:

• general category (entrepreneurs without forming a legal entity) - "from the moment of state registration as an individual entrepreneur" (clause 1, article 23 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation);
• special category "head of a peasant or farming carrying out activities without forming a legal entity" - "from the moment of state registration of a peasant (farm) economy" (clause 2, article 23 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

The legal capacity and legal capacity of a legal entity arise and terminate simultaneously at the time of its creation and at the time of making an entry on its exclusion from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities (clause 3, article 49 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

The legislator associates the emergence of special legal personality among citizens and legal entities with obtaining a special permit (license). According to civil law, “the right to carry out activities for which a license is required arises from the moment such a license is received or within the period specified in it and terminates upon the expiration of its validity period, unless otherwise provided by law or other legal acts” (paragraph 3 article 49 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

Note that legal entities are also heterogeneous, and according to Art. 50 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, they are divided into two large groups: commercial and non-profit organizations. The criterion for such a classification is the purpose of the activity. Commercial organizations are business entities. The main purpose of their work is to make a profit. At the same time, non-profit organizations are not business entities, since making a profit is not their main goal (clause 1, article 50 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). Next, we will talk about how this circumstance shows its positive and negative significance for the criminal law qualification of illegal entrepreneurship.

Objective and subjective sides of the crime

Let us turn to the definition of illegal business, which is given in Art. 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. It is understood as "carrying out entrepreneurial activities without registration or in violation of the registration rules, as well as representation to the body that carries out state registration legal entities and individual entrepreneurs, documents containing knowingly false information, or carrying out entrepreneurial activities without a special permit (license) in cases where such a permit (license) is mandatory, or in violation of license requirements and conditions, if this act caused large damage citizens, organizations or the state, or is associated with the extraction of income on a large scale" (part 1 of article 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

It is preferable to start characterizing this composition from an objective side. First of all, illegal entrepreneurship is always an action. It can be of two types:

• with a defect in the registration of its subject;
• with a defect in the special legal personality of its subject.

Thus, this crime acquires social danger not due to the criminal nature of the subject, that is, the action itself (entrepreneurial activity). The danger arises as a result of the criminally directed intent of the subject to commit actions outwardly absolutely legal, but entailing illegal receipt of income.

Therefore, the Plenum of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation indicated that "in cases where a person, with the aim of generating income, is engaged in illegal activities, liability for which is provided for by other articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (for example, the illegal manufacture of firearms, ammunition, the sale of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and their analogues), what he did does not require additional qualification under article 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "(paragraph 18 of the resolution of the Plenum of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation of November 18, 2004 N 23, hereinafter - resolution N 23).

From the subjective side, this crime is characterized by direct intent and selfish purpose.

Subjects of the crime

Having described illegal entrepreneurship from the objective and subjective sides, let us return to the subjects of this crime, or rather, to the problem of establishing their circle. As noted above, the legislator, in order to qualify the act as illegal entrepreneurship, established two types of vice of the subject:

• in registration, that is, in existence itself;
• in the emergence of special legal personality.

Defect in registration can be expressed in various forms. It can be either a lack of registration or a violation of its rules.

At the same time, "carrying out entrepreneurial activities without registration will take place only in cases where the Unified State Register for Legal Entities and the Unified State Register for Individual Entrepreneurs does not contain an entry on the creation of such a legal entity or the acquisition by an individual of the status of an individual entrepreneur, or contains an entry on liquidation legal entity or termination of the activity of an individual as an individual entrepreneur" (paragraph 3 of Resolution No. 23). Under the implementation of entrepreneurial activities in violation of the rules of registration should be understood as "the conduct of such activities by a business entity, which knowingly knew that violations were committed during registration, giving grounds for declaring the registration invalid (for example, documents were not submitted in full, as well as data or other information necessary for registration, or it was carried out contrary to existing prohibitions" (paragraph 3 of Resolution No. 23).

The Civil Code of the Russian Federation twice allows the possibility of legally conducting entrepreneurial activity without registration, both for citizens and for legal entities. So, in the cases provided for in paragraph 4 of Art. 23 of the Code, "a citizen engaged in entrepreneurial activity without forming a legal entity in violation of the requirements: (on registration. - Auth.) is not entitled to refer to the transactions concluded by him at the same time that he was not an entrepreneur. The court may apply to such transactions rules: (Civil Code of the Russian Federation. - Auth.) on obligations related to the implementation of entrepreneurial activities".

It should be noted that the provision of art. 198 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (it deals with tax evasion from individuals) is formulated on the basis of the same principle, that is, the subsequent legitimation of illegal actions and the application of a special regime to the legal relations that have arisen legal regulation.

Fixing in para. 1 p. 3 art. 49 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the provision on the acquisition by a legal entity of general legal personality in full from the moment of its creation, the legislator admitted the possibility of the existence of "backlash". At least five days must pass from the moment the company is created to the moment of its state registration and making an entry in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities. This is the term for registration of legal entities. This exception cannot be ignored. Illegal business should be really illegal. In addition, exceptions are special rules - both in relation to the rules on state registration of legal entities and IPBOYuL, and in relation to the rules of criminal law (for example, in relation to the rule contained in Article 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

There is one more nuance: the commercial activities of companies that own property on the basis of the right of economic management and operational management, as well as non-profit organizations, which do not distribute profits among the participants, but in the course of their activities they extract it with enviable constancy. Both the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and the Plenum of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are silent on this issue. Emphasis with reference to paragraph 1 of Art. 2 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation on the systematic receipt of profit from activities (clause 1 of Resolution No. 23) does not solve this problem. It remains unclear from what point "systematicity" begins, given that entrepreneurial activity is of a continuing nature.

The defect in the emergence of special legal personality does not raise any special questions. The procedure for issuing a license is quite formalized. Only in a situation where its validity has expired, and the person continues to carry out a licensed type of activity and after some time receives a new license or extends the validity of the previous one, it may be necessary to additionally qualify such an act under Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "Fraud".

The interpretation by the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of the legal qualification of the activities of a legal entity with special legal capacity and, therefore, incapable of conducting other activities, except for the one for which it was created, looks very original, as activities without registration or as activities without a license (paragraph 6 of Resolution N 23). Here the Plenum contradicts itself: paragraph 6 of Resolution No. 23 contradicts paragraph 3 of the same resolution, expanding the content of the concepts "activities without registration" and "activities without a license." It seems that in this case the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation should have exercised the right to interpret the rules of law and give a broad interpretation not to these concepts, but to the concept of "illegal entrepreneurship". The activities of an already established subject of law and entrepreneurial activity outside the limits of exclusive competence cannot be recognized as activities without registration.

Liability: criminal, tax, administrative

If a person conducts entrepreneurial activities without registration (Article 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), the state does not have the opportunity to accurately determine the amount of his income - the taxable base and calculate the amount of taxes or fees. Registration is carried out by the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation (Article 2 of Federal Law No. 129-FZ of 08.08.2001). The Tax Code of the Russian Federation provides for administrative liability for violation of the deadline for registration with the tax authority (Article 116 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation) and evasion of such (Article 117 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Article 14.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, establishing administrative responsibility for doing business without state registration or a special permit (license), duplicates the provisions of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation (in particular, clause 1, article 117 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

At the same time, it should be borne in mind that the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation refers to administrative responsibility for carrying out entrepreneurial activities without state registration. The Tax Code of the Russian Federation provides for the onset of administrative liability at a later stage, that is, when a person is registered as an organization or individual entrepreneur, but at the same time evades registration with the tax authority as a subject of taxation (taxpayer). This circumstance determines the application of various measures of administrative responsibility in the event that a person commits one or another of the above offenses.

When limiting the scope of the norms of administrative and criminal law, it must be borne in mind that the criminal law norm (Article 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) is of a material nature (the material composition of an offense is a crime). A necessary condition for its application is the infliction of damage of a certain amount or illegal extraction of income in a certain amount. The administrative-legal norm is of a formal nature (the formal composition of the offense) and therefore does not require the establishment of the fact of causing damage. A mere formal violation of a legal order is sufficient (clause 13 of the Decree of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of October 24, 2006 N 18).

Unfortunately, the Presidium of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation ignores a problem that is very important for the practical activities of both law enforcement and judicial authorities: the delimitation of the scope of the norms of administrative, criminal and civil law in the implementation of mixed legal regulation of the same legal relations. As a result, the question of the norm of which branch of law to apply to resolve a particular incident is always relevant and insoluble. Therefore, every time it is solved differently. And the meager amount of damage, established as the lowest limit for the application of the norm of criminal law, on the one hand, makes it nominal, and on the other hand, gives wide scope for abuse, creating a situation in which for the same actions one person is brought to administrative and the other to criminal liability. Moreover, for the damage caused in the amount of 250,000 rubles and 1 kopeck, this person does not always receive a punishment in the form of a conditional measure. By the way, a third person can generally get off with a slight fright, having received a court decision on the recovery of some amount from him.

In the topic of "illegal business" there is one more question that needs to be disclosed. Namely - on qualifications under Art. 171 and 199 (198) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. On the one hand, illegal entrepreneurship (Article 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) is a general rule in relation to tax evasion from an organization (Article 199 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) or from an individual (Article 198 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Therefore, when establishing the fact of tax evasion and (or) fees, the actions of a person must be qualified under Art. 198 or Art. 199 of the Code in order to avoid double punishment for the same action.

On the other hand, the content of the norm formulated in Art. 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, significantly narrows the scope of the concept of "illegal entrepreneurship". This does not allow defining these compositions as general and special in relation to each other, that is, the volume of one composition does not overlap with the volume of another. In addition, the subject composition of legal relations in these cases differs significantly: in cases of tax evasion and (or) fees, one of the parties to legal relations is the fiscal authorities, and in the case of illegal entrepreneurship - management bodies of special competence that are not related to fiscal, as well as fiscal authority in the implementation of state registration and maintenance of a unified state register. Therefore, if there are signs of corpus delicti in the actions of a person under Art. 171 and 198 (199) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, they should be qualified in aggregate. This is confirmed by paragraph 2 of Resolution No. 23, in which the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation indicates how to qualify the actions of an individual who has acquired property and leases it out without paying taxes.

E.V. Semyanov,
MGKA, Ph.D. Sciences

Penalty for illegal business: 7 features of entrepreneurial activity + 5 types of illegal business + 3 types of liability that a businessman who violates the law may incur.

With gone to oblivion Soviet Union the ban on private business activity also disappeared.

Today, anyone can become a businessman and earn money.

The only condition is to register officially and pay taxes to the state treasury.

Anyone who does not comply with this condition will receive a fine for illegal business.

Don't risk running an illegal business in the hope that you can get through. Do everything according to the rules and earn money as a law-abiding citizen.

Illegal entrepreneurship: the fine that is provided for it and the definition of the concept

In fact, each of the illegal entrepreneurs knows perfectly well that he violates the laws of the Russian Federation by doing business without official registration. But as soon as it comes to the responsibility that you have to bear for your business, it immediately begins: “Yes, I didn’t think that this qualifies as entrepreneurship”, “Yes, I didn’t earn so much”, “For what a fine”, etc. .d.

That is why it is better to study in a timely manner what signs illegal entrepreneurial activity has and what types it is.

1) What should be understood by the term "Illegal business"?

Some citizens of the Russian Federation do not fully understand whether they are engaged in entrepreneurship or their one-time action to make money can do without registration.

There are several features:

1. the frequency of the same transaction;
2. advertising your services;
3. bulk purchases of goods that you then sell or ingredients for the manufacture of products for sale;
4. customer base (not one or two people can confirm that they are your clients);
5. keeping records of their transactions;
6. profit that you receive regularly;
7. contracts (oral or written) that you enter into with suppliers, customers, distributors, etc.

As you can see, the characteristic features of entrepreneurship are many activities that people are in no hurry to register. For example:

• baking and selling cakes at home;
• manicure and other services in the beauty industry performed for girlfriends;
• repair of cars and equipment, albeit infrequently, but for money;
• selling crafts that you made yourself;
• the sale of a large number of things, even if they previously belonged to you, through online auctions, etc.

Let's now look at 2 situations that are not business activities, so penalties are not due for them.

Situation #1.

You inherited an apartment from your grandmother. You are happy with the apartment, but the old furniture that clutters up the living space is not very good.

You decide to arrange a sale in the courtyard of the house in order to sell things you don’t need for mere pennies (whoever offers how much). What is not for sale, you think to throw in the trash.

There is no need to register or obtain special permits for this one-time promotion.

Situation #2.

Do you have an empty apartment that you want to rent out. not necessary.

The conditions for conducting such activities are an official contract with tenants of housing, a timely filing of a declaration and the payment of taxes for the profits received.

Important ! As you can see, even without expertise it is clear what you are doing business or not. It's time to stop leading illegal activity and become a legal businessman, otherwise fines cannot be avoided.

2) What is illegal business and what are the penalties for it?

In fact, there are quite a few types of businesses that qualify as illegal businesses.

Depending on the severity of the offense committed, the regulations of the Russian Federation provide for different types of punishment for attempts to illegally earn money.

Let's dwell on the most common types of illegal business, for which a fine or other punishment is provided:

Important ! Whatever you decide to do, make sure that your activity is completely legal and that you have issued it according to the official procedure. This will allow you to avoid unnecessary problems during state inspections.

Fines for illegal business and other penalties

There are three types of liability that is provided for illegal business:

• administrative;
• tax;
• criminal.

As you can see, we are talking not only about fines, but also about other types of punishment.

1. Administrative liability and fines for illegal business.

The Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (its article 14.1.1.) provides for different amounts of fines for a particular type of illegal activity.

The standard fines that will have to be paid to those who are engaged in entrepreneurship without official registration are 500 - 2,000 rubles.

But there are exceptions to this rule: the amounts may still increase depending on the conditions in which the violations were committed and the personality of the violator.

One protocol is not enough to impose a fine on you. The case must be considered by a justice of the peace, and it depends on his opinion what kind of punishment you will incur.

He has 2 months to make a decision.

Liability can be avoided if the protocol is drawn up illiterately and contains factual errors. But such happiness for illegal entrepreneurs does not always fall out.

Important ! draw up a protocol for illegal business not only the police, but also other state bodies can: the antimonopoly committee, the tax office, the prosecutor's office, etc.

2. What fine for illegal entrepreneurship will have to be paid according to the Tax Code of the Russian Federation?

Articles 116 and 117 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation are responsible for illegal entrepreneurship.

The tax authorities are primarily interested in the taxes they did not receive, which were supposed to replenish the state treasury.

There are three types of misconduct by an entrepreneur, according to the Tax Inspectorate, for which a fine or other type of liability is provided.

№	Violation	Punishment
1.	unregistered in tax office entrepreneur	10% of the income received by him, at least 20,000 rubles. The penalty is applied if, at the time of the tax audit, an application for registering an entrepreneur was not submitted to the inspection at all.
2.	Actual conduct of unregistered business activities for more than 90 days	A fine of 20% of the income extracted by a citizen, but not less than 40,000 rubles
3.	For delay in registering a business with the tax office	For the minimum delay- 5 000 rubles Overdue for a term of more than 90 days- 10 000 rubles

Keep in mind that in addition to the fine, you will most likely have to return to the treasury taxes that you could pay if you were officially registered.

In general, the amount is serious, so it's not worth the risk.

Important ! Such violations are discovered in the course of planned or unscheduled inspections. A complaint filed by your competitor or a dissatisfied client is also considered, so you need to take care not only of compliance with the registration conditions, but also of the impeccability of doing business in all respects.

3. Criminal liability for illegal business.

If only your wallet suffers from administrative and tax liability for illegal business activities, then you can pay for a criminal offense with your freedom.

The amount of the fine depends on how much damage you have caused to the state with your business:

• large size - 250,000 and more rubles;
• especially large size starts from 1 million rubles.

Good news for illegal businessmen: it is very difficult for police officers and investigators to prove the very fact of causing damage on a large or especially large scale due to the nature of the procedure.

Bad news for illegal businessmen: Typically, such crimes are classified as money laundering (Article 174 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and are punished no less severely than illegal business. And the fines there amount to hundreds of thousands of rubles, and you can easily lose your freedom for two years.

Important ! If your illegal business has fallen under criminal liability, consider that the jokes are over for you. This will not only affect you, but your loved ones as well. Just imagine what a stain on the reputation of your family you will put with your actions. Why risk so much if you can register, get all the permissions, pay taxes on time and work quietly officially.

Entrepreneurial activity without registration.

What is the responsibility for the lack of IP or license?
Detailed consultation.

Citizens of the Russian Federation are asked to be vigilant and signal illegal business

In Russia, alas, the awareness of civil society is not as high as, for example, in Europe, where a violation of the law by one citizen will necessarily be met with a complaint to the law enforcement agencies of the second. And those who did business dishonestly will definitely receive a fine for illegal business.

In our country, such behavior is considered squealing and is condemned in every possible way.

The government, on the other hand, has a different opinion and asks the population to show civic consciousness, signaling cases of illegal business known to them.

Just think about the harm to the country's economy caused by hundreds of thousands of small and medium-sized businessmen who work in the shadows. What kind of security can we talk about if cosmetic services are provided in the apartment, and pastries are made in a dirty summer kitchen?

All that is needed for the manifestation of consciousness is to make a complaint in any form. The main thing is to indicate who and where is engaged in illegal business.

You can address your message to any government agency, for example, the police, tax, prosecutor's office, etc.

If the facts you indicated are confirmed, then the would-be businessman will receive a fine for illegal business, and we will take one more step towards building a power in which laws are respected.

Many Russians receive various kinds of income bypassing the state treasury, that is, without paying taxes and other obligatory payments. Someone sells goods (including via the Internet), others manage to earn money by tutoring or repairs. But not all of them are aware of the risks involved in doing this. Indeed, for entrepreneurial activity, which is considered illegal, serious liability is provided. Therefore, it is important to know what exactly relates to such entrepreneurship and what consequences this activity can lead to.

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

What is illegal business?

First you need to decide what entrepreneurial activity is in general from the point of view of the domestic legislator. According to the Civil Code, this is an independent activity aimed at obtaining a constant profit from the provision of services, work, sale of goods or use of property, which is carried out at your own risk. This regulatory legal act also states that persons who are engaged in entrepreneurship must be registered in the manner prescribed by law.

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

There can be several forms of its manifestation:

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

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

• Services are provided, work or other operations are carried out in order to generate income in the absence of an entry on registration as a private entrepreneur or legal entity in the relevant state registers (EGRLE and EGRIP).
• face engaged commercial activities without waiting for registration to complete or after canceling it.
• The entrepreneur is engaged in the type of activity that he did not report to the tax authorities upon registration or within 2 months after changing specialization.

Consider the following form of illegal entrepreneurial activity - work without a license in the area where it must be mandatory. According to domestic legislation, access to approximately 50 types of entrepreneurship is granted only if a license is obtained. Both activities subject to licensing, without obtaining a permit for it, and non-observance of the terms of its beginning and termination are considered illegal. In other words, if a business in a certain area was launched before the license began to operate, or continued to be economic activity after its termination, it is just as illegal as working without a license. Contradicts the law and entrepreneurship, in the process of which the conditions for using the license are violated.

The following state bodies are empowered to detect facts of illegal entrepreneurial activity:

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

Penalty for illegal business activity

An individual who has violated the law by engaging in illegal business in 2018-2019, as before, risks suffering materially. If a violation is detected, it will be prosecuted in the form of a fine. Consider the extent and under what conditions such punishment is applied under tax and administrative legislation.

Tax

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

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

Administrative

Under Article 14.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, persons guilty of doing business without state registration or a special permit (license) are held liable. For them, depending on the content of the violation, the following penalties are provided:

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

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

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

Important: instead of a fine, a penalty such as an administrative suspension of activities for a period of up to 90 days can be applied.

Administrative fines for illegal business activities in the near future (already in 2018-2019) may be increased. This will happen if the State Duma adopts the corresponding draft law, which is under consideration. In this case, you will have to pay 3-5 thousand rubles for doing business without registration, and not from 500 rubles. up to 2 thousand, as per the Code of Administrative Offenses currently in force. For work without a license, it is proposed to establish the same penalty.

Criminal liability for illegal business

When entrepreneurial activity that is contrary to the law becomes serious, that is, the amount of income received is significant, the punishment becomes more severe. Under certain circumstances, if the committed is recognized as a crime, the perpetrator is held criminally liable. The decision on such a case is made by the court at the place of residence of the guilty person or at the place of business.

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

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

One of the following penalties may be applied to the perpetrator of the described crime in 2018-2019:

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

Liability can be even tougher if illegal business is conducted under the following circumstances:

• Activities in an organized group.
• Received a particularly large income.

In this case, the perpetrator will be held accountable for one of the following types:

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

In a separate article 171.3, responsibility for illegal entrepreneurial activity in the field of alcohol and alcohol circulation is derived. If such products are produced, purchased, supplied, stored, transported or sold at retail without a license (when it should be) on a large scale, one of the following negative consequences may occur in 2018-2019:

• Fine - from 2 to 3 million rubles. or in an amount equivalent to the income received for one to three years.
• Forced labor - up to 3 years.
• Imprisonment - up to 3 years.

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

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

Summing up

Illegal entrepreneurial activity is the provision of services, the performance of work, the sale of goods, the transfer of property for use and other actions aimed at repeatedly generating income. To acquire the right to conduct such activities, it is necessary to undergo state registration, and in some cases also obtain a license. If you do not do this and start doing business, it will be declared illegal.

For the implementation of unregistered activities, liability is provided for in tax, administrative and criminal legislation. Such actions lead to a fine, the amount of which depends on the severity of the offense. It is possible that already in 2018-2019 there will be a tightening of administrative responsibility for illegal entrepreneurship, since a corresponding bill is under consideration in the State Duma.

The activities of entrepreneurs are always associated with risk - you can get not only profit, but also losses.

Some feel that taxes are too high for entrepreneurs and decide to operate illegally.

But if the entrepreneur acts illegally, he faces criminal, administrative and tax liability. In what case and how you can bring the violator to justice - we will tell further.

What is illegal business activity?

To begin with, we will analyze what is included in this concept from the point of view of the law. This will help identify signs of misconduct.

• The company operates independently

The person himself made the decision to conduct business and acts solely on his own behalf and only in his own interests.

• The manager takes full responsibility for running the business

Running a business implies not only rights, but also obligations. In case of errors and violations, the responsibility will fall on the leader.

• The purpose of the enterprise is regular profit

The entrepreneur regularly professional activity and earns income.

• The company or individual entrepreneur is officially registered

For the legal implementation of activities, you should register a company or register as an individual entrepreneur with the tax office.

Business can be developed and carried out in various areas - the sale of food and non-food products, the use of movable and immovable property, the provision of various services to the population. The main thing is legal.

If the company does not comply with the rules and regulations that are indicated in the law, its actions are considered illegal.

signs

Regulatory authorities may file claims against enterprises if they find the following signs of illegal activity:

• the main goal is to extract income for the purpose of enrichment;
• carried out without outside help;
• the labor of hired workers is involved, paid wage, but labor Relations not formalized;
• trade takes place, services are provided, etc.;
• official registration in the tax office was in violation or completely absent;
• there are no permits (licenses).

The legislation of the Russian Federation provides for liability for "shadow" business.

What can be the reason for checking the company?

Government agencies can detect illegal activities when they discover the following facts:

• testimonies of buyers;
• availability of documents confirming the fact of payment for goods or services - checks, waybills, acceptance certificates, etc.;
• advertising on stands, in newspapers, etc.;
• information about the lease of premises for trade.

A typical example is a nail salon opened in an apartment without registration documents.

If you find an illegal company, you can file a complaint against the entrepreneur.

Responsibility

Liability can be held on various grounds:

• sale of unrecorded goods;
• provision of running registration services;
• sale of weapons without a license;
• sale of counterfeit branded goods;
• provision of services without an appropriate license;
• manufacture or sale of drugs, etc.

If an enterprise did not apply to the tax authority for registration at all, or if an application was submitted, but the company started work without waiting for an official document, this is an illegal activity.

Depending on the type of activity carried out and the amount of damage caused, administrative, tax and even criminal liability may be applied to a negligent entrepreneur.

Administrative

Violators face a fine under Art. 14.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, if they carry out activities:

• without official registration in state structures - from 500 to 2 thousand rubles;
• without a compulsory license - from 2 to 50 thousand rubles;
• in violation of the requirements prescribed in the license - from 1.5 to 40 thousand rubles;
• grossly violating the requirements of the license - from 2 to 200 thousand rubles.

A fine is imposed on citizens, officials or legal entities.

The activities of the company can be suspended for 90 days if violations of license requirements are found.

The government establishes for each type of activity its own norms for the concept of " gross violation» in the field of licensing. This may be non-compliance with the rules related to gambling, alcohol and tobacco products, transportation, medicinal and promotional activities, etc.

The statute of limitations for bringing the perpetrator to administrative responsibility is insignificant - 2 months.

Cases for such offenses are heard by justices of the peace. If you have identified inaccuracies and errors in the completed protocol, you can challenge it. There is a high probability that while the regulatory authorities make corrections to the documentation, the statute of limitations will expire. In such a situation, the magistrate will be forced to terminate the proceedings.

Criminal

As soon as you decide to do business, you need to register with the tax office. If you bypassed this point, in addition to administrative liability, you may be brought to criminal responsibility.

If the amount of damage caused by illegal business is large, then a criminal article threatens.

Illegal entrepreneurial activity refers to crimes of moderate gravity. Therefore, the statute of limitations for criminal liability is 2 years.

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

If the infliction of major damage or the receipt of profit in an identical amount is proved, then Art. 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Damage can be caused not only to the state and citizens, but also to other enterprises.

Major damage is considered to be more than 2 million 250 thousand rubles, and especially large - more than 9 million rubles.

In case of major damage, the violator faces:

• a fine in the amount of 100 to 500 thousand rubles;
• confiscation of income for 1 to 3 years;
• forced labor up to 480 hours;
• arrest up to 6 months.

If especially large damage is caused or a crime is committed by a group of persons, then the offenders will:

• a fine of up to 300 thousand rubles;
• retention of income for 2 years;
• forced labor up to 5 years;
• imprisonment up to 5 years.

If you work under an agreement with an unregistered entrepreneur, you will not be attracted under the article.

Where to complain about illegal business?

Complaint can be sent to:

• department for economic crimes;
• the prosecutor's office, which will consider the claim and send it to the right authority;
• tax service (for entrepreneurs who hide their real income);
• police authorities (in case of illegal circulation of alcoholic products);
• licensing structures (if permission is missing).

Anonymous messages will not be accepted.

How to write a complaint?

It is written in free form, but you need to specify:

• the name of the body to which the complaint is filed;
• personal data (full name, registration address, contact phone number);
• information about the offender - who illegally conducts business, where, etc.;
• what the company does illegally (sale of alcohol without a license, lack of registration, etc.);
• regularity of committing illegal activities- how many days, what time of day, etc.;
• a request to take action against the violator;
• list of supporting documents, if any;
• At the end, sign and date.

Usually, the period for consideration of a complaint is 30 calendar days.

Appeal

In order to bring charges against an illegally operating company, the regulatory authorities will need to make a lot of efforts to collect evidence.

All facts established during the audit must be recorded in the act. After that, a protocol is drawn up.

As practice shows, it is better to appeal the protocol before sending it to judiciary. It is almost impossible to prove one's innocence in court.

Only a protocol issued by a state body can be appealed. The act is not subject to appeal.

Please note that you first need to appeal the document to a higher instance of the regulatory authority. Only in case of refusal, you can apply to the judicial authority.

The court may overrule the decision, dropping all charges against the defendant, or leave it in force and punish the culprit.

The mitigating circumstance in sentencing is the absence of a criminal record.

Nuances of illegal activity

The law delimits the punishment for persons if they carried out illegal activities that are not subject to registration. For example, the illegal manufacture of weapons or drugs.

Also, they cannot punish citizens under Art. 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, if they sold their apartment and then rented it out. This is already a scam.

The state is trying to fight illegal business, but so far to no avail. Business leaders and entrepreneurs resort to various methods to make a profit and not pay taxes.

But with the help of vigilant citizens, such actions are stopped. It is worth recalling that in addition to the fine, violators will have to pay taxes and accrued penalties.