Systematic profit refers to. When working without registration becomes dangerous. Focus on profit

What is entrepreneurial activity and hired labor?

In accordance with Art. 2 Civil Code of the Russian Federation Entrepreneurial is an independent activity carried out at one's own risk, aimed at the systematic receipt of profit 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.

In its turn hired labor is the performance by an employee on the instructions of the employer for a fee of a labor function (i.e. work in a certain specialty, qualification or position) subject to the internal labor regulations applicable to the employer, while ensuring the latter proper working conditions in accordance with the norms labor law (Article 15 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

Compare signs entrepreneurial activity with signs of another type of economic relations - relations of hired labor.

So the necessary signs of entrepreneurial activity are:

1. independence;

3. risky nature;

4. fact state registration.

Let's take a closer look at these signs.

1. Independence, which in turn includes the following elements:

a) organizational independence

Unlike an employee, who is obliged to obey the established internal labor regulations (observe working hours, comply with labor standards, etc.), an entrepreneur is independent in his business. He himself decides what and how to produce, from whom to purchase raw materials and materials, to whom and at what prices to sell products. No one has the right to dictate and impose his will on him. But at the same time, no one is obliged to assist the entrepreneur in his activities: to provide him with work, to create working conditions.

b) initiative

Initiative is the other side of independence. Both of these signs imply each other. Being independent in economic activity from anyone, the entrepreneur himself determines its direction and means of implementation.

c) economic independence

Organizational independence and initiative are possible only under the condition of economic independence, which gives the entrepreneur the possession of separate property, which he uses in the implementation of entrepreneurial activities. The property is not always the property of the entrepreneur. Ownership of property may be on the right of economic management or the right of operational management. An entrepreneur can also own property on a leasehold basis. In any case, he has the opportunity to independently use such property.

The hired worker does not possess the means of production, and therefore, in order to satisfy his material needs, he is hired to work for the entrepreneur. Consequently, hired labor, unlike entrepreneurial activity, is dependent labor, subject to the will of the owner or other owner of the means of production. In this sense, the hired worker, although he receives for his work wages, does not work for himself, but for the employer.

2. Focus on systematic profit- this is perhaps the most significant sign of entrepreneurial activity. Both from the point of view of ordinary consciousness and from the point of view of science, entrepreneurial activity is, first of all, an activity whose purpose is to make a profit. Other signs of entrepreneurial activity are, in a certain sense, secondary, derived from this sign.

At the same time, it should be borne in mind that from the point of view of the law, in order to qualify an activity as an entrepreneurial one, it is not necessary that as a result of its implementation, a profit was actually received. The only thing that matters is the goal, the focus on getting it. Whether there will actually be a profit or not is important for resolving other issues, in particular taxation issues.

On the other hand, to be considered entrepreneurial, the activity must be aimed not just at obtaining, but at the systematic receipt of profit, i.e. carried out more or less regularly. Therefore, transactions aimed at a one-time profit cannot be considered as entrepreneurial activity.

It would seem that the sign of a focus on making a profit does not significantly distinguish entrepreneurial activity from hired labor. An employee, like an entrepreneur, works in order to earn income, pay for his work, which may exceed the income of an average entrepreneur. However, the earnings of an employee cannot be considered as profit. Profit is the difference between income and the cost of obtaining it, or, in other words, surplus value. The employee does not incur any costs, does not produce any of his own material costs. He simply “sells” his labor at the prevailing market price. For this reason, he can have neither profit nor loss.

3. Risky nature entrepreneurial activity lies in the fact that it does not always give the expected results. Due to a variety of reasons, both subjective (mistakes, miscalculations of the entrepreneur) and objective (changes in market conditions, default, natural disaster), an entrepreneur can not only not receive the planned profit, but also go bankrupt, crash. It was the risky nature of entrepreneurial activity that led to the emergence of the institution of insolvency (bankruptcy) in civil law.

The activity of the hired worker is built on other principles. Subject to conscientious performance of his duties, he has the right to claim wages, even if the products he produced turned out to be unclaimed and were not sold.

4. State registration of persons engaged in entrepreneurial activities as a sign of entrepreneurial activity is not always included in the main ones. Indeed, from the point of view of the economic content of entrepreneurial activity, the presence or absence of state registration is not significant. But from the point of view of law - in the absence of registration, there will be illegal business, for which administrative, and under certain conditions - and criminal liability is provided.

PD is aimed at systematic profit.

It should be noted that making a profit is the goal of entrepreneurial activity, and not its necessary result, i.e. if as a result of entrepreneurial activity no profit is received and the entrepreneur is at a loss, then such economically inefficient activity does not cease to be entrepreneurial.

The concept of "profit" combines economic and legal aspects.

In economic theory, profit was also considered as a product of production, since when the created product is exchanged for money, in addition to paying all expenses, there is also “something” that is compensation to the entrepreneur for the risk; both as entrepreneurial wages and as an incremental form of surplus value

The current legislation does not contain a single legal legal definition of the concept of “profit”. Thus, the Tax Code of the Russian Federation understands profit as the difference between income received and expenses incurred. The definition of profit is contained in Art. 247 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, dedicated to the object of taxation and the procedure for calculating taxable profit, in accordance with which the object of taxation for corporate income tax is the profit received by the taxpayer.

The current legislation determines the types of expenses that reduce the income received.

In other branches of law, when evaluating the results of entrepreneurial activity, the concept of “income” rather than “profit” is often used. Yes, Art. 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation establishes liability for illegal business activities related to the extraction of income on a large or especially large scale. At the same time, the qualification of the act provided for by this article, in the opinion of judiciary, should be based on the understanding of income as the difference between the profit received from entrepreneurial activity and the costs incurred as a result of such activities, and according to many researchers, it is based on the legislator's understanding of income as the amount of proceeds from the sale of products without taking into account any costs

Thus, we can state the need for further development of the concept of “profit” in relation to entrepreneurial activity (At the same time, it is often argued in the literature that the hallmark of an entrepreneur is a new type of motivation - the need to achieve (achieve) success. In this case, success is considered much broader than profit

The systematic nature of entrepreneurial activity is also a qualifying feature.

The current legislation does not contain the concept of "systematicity". The science of business law approaches the definition of systematicity from several positions. So, when determining the systematicity of making a profit, it is proposed to apply various criteria. For example, some scientists propose to establish the systematic nature of activities on the basis of identifying the share of income from a particular activity in the income structure of a given person); others - determine the systematicity on the basis of such a criterion as the duration, length in time of activities aimed at making a profit; others believe that the necessary property of entrepreneurial activity is the constancy, the duration of the implementation of operations, suggesting that certain operations are performed for a long or even specifically indefinite time; that entrepreneurial activity consists of a series of repetitive actions, on an ongoing basis

The sign of systematicity is realized in aggregate in two aspects. Firstly, in the systematic nature of entrepreneurial activity itself, in other words, it must be carried out constantly. Secondly, in the systematic receipt of profit.

At the same time, it should be noted that in business law, quantitative criteria are not always applicable when characterizing systematicity in other branches of law. Here, the systemic nature of operations should be interpreted as their unity, inseparability, coverage by one goal.

The legal definition of entrepreneurial activity is given in Art. 2 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

Entrepreneurial is an independent activity carried out at one's own risk, aimed at the systematic receipt of profit 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.
Analysis of this definition allows us to identify the following features of entrepreneurial activity.
1. Entrepreneurial activity is characterized independence.
It is conditionally possible to single out the property and organizational independence of the entrepreneur. Property independence is determined by the fact that the entrepreneur has a separate property of his own as the economic base of activity. The volume of property independence depends on the legal title on the basis of which this property belongs to the subject. The greatest autonomy of the owner of the property. Enterprises operating on the right of economic management also have significant property independence, but already limited by law and an agreement with the owner. And finally, ownership of property on the right of operational management gives the least scope for the manifestation of entrepreneurial initiative.
Organizational independence is the ability to make independent decisions in the process of entrepreneurial activity, starting from making a decision to engage in such an activity, choosing its type, organizational and legal form of implementation, the circle of founders, etc. The independence of the entrepreneur is also manifested at the stage of implementation of the results of entrepreneurial activity. Thus, independence, being a strong-willed, subjective sign of the activity of an entrepreneur, manifests itself at all its stages. The entrepreneur acts by his own power and in his own interest, by his actions realizing the rights granted to him by the legislation. Therefore, the legal relationship that develops when an entrepreneur carries out his activities is qualified in the science of business law as absolute - * (source No. 22).
However, entrepreneurial autonomy is not unlimited. Being a social activity, it must obey the social norms that operate in society. Among these norms, legal norms play a leading role, establishing the rules that an entrepreneur should follow in his activities when entering the market.
It is important to say that the sign of independence distinguishes entrepreneurial activity from labor. Having concluded labor contract, the employee must obey the rules of the internal labor schedule, fulfill the duties assigned to him, observe labor discipline. The manifestation of initiative in the implementation of labor activity is also possible, but it is obvious that its volume is not comparable with the independence of the entrepreneur.
2. Entrepreneurship involves risk. The risky nature of entrepreneurship fundamentally distinguishes it from the economic activity of the period of the administrative-planned economy, which allowed the existence of deliberately unprofitable enterprises that, in case of poor economic results, could turn to the state for support. In this regard, it is quite understandable that such a purely market institution as the institution of insolvency (bankruptcy) is reborn in our country only with the transition to the market.
Entrepreneurial risk is a powerful incentive to successful work; loss reduction can be achieved by concluding a business risk insurance contract, i.e. the risk of losses from entrepreneurial activities due to violation of their obligations by counterparties or changes in the conditions of this activity due to circumstances beyond the control of the entrepreneur, including the risk of not receiving expected income.
It should be noted that the category of risk has traditionally been the subject of research by economists. Thus, the French economist R. Catillon, who is considered the father of the term "entrepreneur", was one of the first to put forward the concept of risk as a distinctive feature of entrepreneurial activity. A. Smith in his "Research on the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations" characterized the entrepreneur as the owner of capital, taking on the risk of managing. Entrepreneurial profit, according to Smith, is the owner's compensation for risk. The authors of the well-known textbook "Economics" - * (source No. 23) K. McConnell and S. Brew considered entrepreneurship as a special type of activity, which is based on a number of features, among which are the characteristics of an entrepreneur as a person taking risks. An entrepreneur risks not only time, labor, business reputation, but also the invested funds - his own and his partners or shareholders.
In the legal literature, the category of risk is also of great interest; attempts have been repeatedly made to formulate a definition of this concept - * (source No. 24). Not being able to present the entire palette of definitions, we present one of them, proposed by V.S. Belykh, who understands entrepreneurial risk as "the potential possibility (danger) of the occurrence or non-occurrence of an event (a set of events) that entailed adverse property consequences for the entrepreneur's activities" - * (source No. 25).
3. Entrepreneurial activity is aimed at systematic profit. Making a profit, being the main goal of an entrepreneur, gives his activity a commercial character, which is not lost even if the result is not a profit, but a loss. At the same time, if making a profit as a goal is not set initially, the activity cannot be called entrepreneurial, it is not of a commercial nature.
Researchers paid attention to making a profit as the goal of an entrepreneur's activity centuries ago. Thus, the French economist J.B. This, a contemporary of D. Ricardo, defined the entrepreneur as an economic agent that combines the factors of production, moves economic resources from the area of ​​low productivity and low incomes to the area of ​​high productivity and profitability - * (source No. 26). R. Catillon identified an incentive motive for entrepreneurial activity - obtaining a higher income as a payment for bearing risk. Consonant with R. Catillon, the statement of A.I. Kaminki, who noted that profit is only an incentive for commercial activity. The purpose of commercial activity is this activity itself, activity that brings profit - * (source No. 27).
From a legal point of view, the concept of "profit" is defined in accounting and tax legislation as the final financial result of the activity of an economic entity. So, in accordance with Art. 247 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, income for Russian organizations is recognized as income received, reduced by the amount of expenses incurred, determined in accordance with Art. 247 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. At the same time, economic benefit in cash or in kind is recognized as income, taken into account if it is possible to assess it and to the extent that such benefit can be assessed, and determined in accordance with the provisions of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation (Article 41 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Reasonable and documented expenses (and in the cases provided for in Article 265 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, losses) incurred (incurred) by the taxpayer (Article 252 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation) are recognized as expenses. Thus, without setting ourselves the task of a detailed consideration of the issue of the procedure for generating profits, we note that this procedure is defined quite accurately by law. The state tax control is exercised over the reliability of the formation of the financial result of the activities of entrepreneurs. In addition, entrepreneurs can, and in some cases are required to use the services of auditors to confirm the reliability of their financial (accounting) reporting. It is safe to say that the interest in the correct formation of entrepreneurial profits is of a private-public nature.
It should be noted that the purpose of making a profit is the basis for distinguishing organizations into commercial and non-commercial in Art. 50 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.
It is impossible not to pay attention to such a qualifying sign of entrepreneurial activity as a systematic approach to making profit.
Unfortunately, clear quantitative criteria for systematicity have not yet been developed by law. It is proposed to fill the legislative gap by including additional qualifying features in the definition of entrepreneurial activity, such as the share of profit from this activity in the total income of a person, the "materiality" of profit, receiving it a certain number of times in a particular reporting period, etc.
It seems that arithmetic categories cannot be applied in this case. It is important that the entrepreneur sets himself the goal of not making a one-time profit, but extracting it as a trade, on an ongoing basis.
Of course, systematic profit cannot be considered as the only goal of entrepreneurial activity. At the same time, the construction proposed in the literature seems to be purely theoretical, which allows the entry into the market of an entrepreneur who does not set himself as strategic objective earning profit as a result of their activities.
4. In accordance with the legal definition of entrepreneurial activity, profit is derived by entities from the use of property, the sale of goods, the performance of work or the provision of services.
This feature seems to be poorly worded. The fact is that entrepreneurial activity is multifaceted and in market economy its directions cannot be represented by a closed list. Why, for example, is it necessary to talk only about the right to use in relation to property? And if the subject makes a profit in the process of exercising the right to dispose of property? Apparently, it did not make sense to enumerate the possible areas of entrepreneurial activity in the law, since they are determined primarily by the market. It should be noted that in the concept of entrepreneurial activity, which was given in the Law of the RSFSR of December 25, 1990 N 445-I "On enterprises and entrepreneurial activity" - * (source No. 28), this list was absent. This approach seems to be more correct.
5. Finally, as stated in Art. 2 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, entrepreneurial activity is carried out by persons registered in this capacity in the manner prescribed by law. A literal interpretation of the legislative norm leads to the conclusion that if the activity is carried out by unregistered persons, it is not entrepreneurial. This conclusion appears to be incorrect. Indeed, how, in such a case, to apply Art. 171 "Illegal entrepreneurship" of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, Art. 14.1 "Carrying out entrepreneurial activities without state registration or without a special permit (license)" of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, how to recover in court the income received from such activities to the budget? The imperfection of legal technique leads to the need to use other ways of interpreting this norm: systematic, logical. Such a sign of entrepreneurial activity as its implementation by duly registered persons is a formal sign, i.e. a sign that legalizes this activity, giving it a legal status. Its absence does not lead to the loss of entrepreneurial quality, but makes it illegal. Unlike the analyzed formal feature, the previously considered features of entrepreneurial activity are essential (revealing its essence), and only their totality makes it possible to qualify a person's activity as entrepreneurial. Some researchers of the concept of entrepreneurial activity propose to interpret the obligation of state registration not only as a sign, but also as a condition for proper entrepreneurship, a requirement for the implementation of legal entrepreneurial activity. It seems that such an interpretation of the need for state legitimization of an entrepreneur is appropriate.
It is important to say that in the scientific and educational literature it is proposed to consider other signs of entrepreneurial activity that are not presented in the legislative definition. Let's pay attention to some of them.
Sign of business professionalism. As a sign of entrepreneurial activity, professionalism proposes to single out, in particular, O.M. Oleinik. Expanding the concept of professionalism of an entrepreneur, the author writes that this feature "consists in:
- the conduct of this activity by people who have certain qualifications or information necessary for making and implementing decisions ... As a confirmation of professionalism, the current legislation in some cases recognizes previously received education (for example, legal, economic, medical), and in others requires the entrepreneur to pass relevant examinations (for example, for auditors);
- carrying out entrepreneurial activities according to certain rules and methods...;
- conformity of results of activity to certain requirements...;
- controllability of activities by state bodies...;
- the presence of state guarantees of activity ... "- * (source No. 29).
Without disputing the desirability of the presence of all the above components of professionalism and professionalism itself as such in the activities of an entrepreneur, confirming the presence of professionalism as a condition for successful, competitive activity, we note that in practice entrepreneurial activity is not always carried out professionally. However, this does not deprive the activity of qualification as entrepreneurial. This feature appears to be necessary only for some activities. For example, as licensing requirements and conditions, the availability of special knowledge, experience, education, which is confirmed by the necessary documents, is provided for most licensed activities. For many other types of entrepreneurial activity, professionalism is not put forward as a mandatory characteristic. Therefore, it seems more accurate to consider the sign of professionalism of entrepreneurial activity not as a mandatory, but as an optional feature.
Among the optional features of entrepreneurial activity, one should also consider its innovative, innovative nature. The creator of the theory of the entrepreneur-innovator is the economist J. Schumpeter, who considered the entrepreneur as "an agent that implements more and more combinations of factors of production (by updating commercial products, searching for new markets, etc.)" - * (source No. 30) . J. Schumpeter formulated the following functions of entrepreneurial activity:
- production of a new material good, still unfamiliar to the consumer, or the former good, but with a new quality;
- the introduction of new production methods that were not used in it before;
- development of new economic markets or wide and deep use of the former ones;
- development of new sources and types of raw materials;
- implementation new organization production and marketing. It is impossible not to notice that the signs put forward by J. Schumpeter are currently reflected in the emerging legislation on innovation activities.
Among the signs of entrepreneurial activity, the RSFSR Law of December 25, 1990 N 445-I "On Enterprises and Entrepreneurial Activity" pointed to the property liability of the entrepreneur. In the modern legal definition, this feature has not been fixed. At the same time, as rightly noted in the literature, this "does not mean the absence of legal responsibility itself" - this feature is inherent in entrepreneurial activity. The basis and procedure for bringing to responsibility of business entities are determined by the current legislation. Moreover, Art. 401 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, defining the grounds for liability for violations of obligations, provides for increased liability of the entrepreneur: "Unless otherwise provided by law or an agreement, a person who has not fulfilled or improperly fulfilled an obligation in the course of entrepreneurial activity shall be liable, unless he proves that proper fulfillment turned out to be impossible due to force majeure, i.e. extraordinary and unavoidable circumstances under the given conditions, such circumstances do not include, in particular, violation of obligations by the debtor’s counterparties, lack of goods on the market necessary for execution, lack of necessary Money".
Having considered the signs of entrepreneurial activity, it is possible to classify them. It seems that all signs of entrepreneurial activity can be classified:
- to those specified in the legislative definition of entrepreneurial activity (legal) and additionally offered in the literature;
- essential, characterizing the essence of entrepreneurial activity, and formal, characterizing its form;
- mandatory, the totality of which is necessary and sufficient to qualify the activity as a legitimate entrepreneurial one, and optional, the presence of which is desirable, but not mandatory.
In addition, in the scientific literature, among the signs of entrepreneurial activity, there are generic ones inherent in any economic activity (independence, risk) and specific (systematic profit making). The advancement of generic and specific characteristics leads us to the need to determine the relationship between entrepreneurial activity and such types of social activity as economic, economic, commercial (trading). The concept of "economic activity" seems to be the broadest. Economic activity can be defined as a reproductive activity that combines such stages as production, distribution, exchange, consumption.
Economic activity, being a type of economic activity, is defined as the procedure for its organization, management and direct implementation.
The concept of entrepreneurial activity was discussed earlier. Note that entrepreneurial activity is a kind of economic economic activity, having such a generic feature as a focus on making a profit. As V.K. Mamutov, the concept of economic activity includes entrepreneurship, but is not limited to it - * (source No. 34).
Commercial, or trading, activity is a set of actions to promote goods from manufacturers to consumers. commercial activity is a kind of economic economic entrepreneurial activity - * (source No. 35).

The law defines the systematic receipt of profit as the goal of entrepreneurial activity. Therefore, the systematic receipt of profit cannot be considered as a mandatory characteristic of this type of activity. Profit should be understood as the excess of income from the sale of goods and services over the costs of production and sale of these goods. This is one of the most important indicators financial results economic activity of the enterprise and entrepreneurs. Profit is calculated as the difference between the proceeds from the sale of a product of economic activity and the sum of the costs of production factors for this activity in monetary terms. Usually they calculate gross (balance sheet, total) profit and net - remaining after paying taxes and deductions from gross profit.

In accordance with Art. 247 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, profit is recognized:

1) for Russian organizations - income received, reduced by the amount of expenses incurred, which are determined in accordance with Chapter 25 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation;

2) for foreign organizations operating in Russian Federation through permanent representative offices - income received through these permanent representative offices, reduced by the amount of expenses incurred by these permanent representative offices, which are determined in accordance with Chapter 25 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation;

3) for other foreign organizations - income received from sources in the Russian Federation. The income of these taxpayers is determined in accordance with Article 309 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

At the same time, we are not talking about the actual receipt of profit, but about the corresponding direction of activity. Therefore, there may not be any profit as a result of such activity, but it will be recognized as entrepreneurial.

A sign of systematicity indicates that this activity is carried out for a certain, in most cases, a long period of time and is characterized by the repetition of actions performed, which are performed purposefully to achieve specific business goals. To define the concept of systematic profit making, it is rather difficult to use quantitative criteria, therefore, qualitative characteristics are most often used, such as “unity, continuity, coverage by one goal”.

Some authors, however, along with making a profit, also consider the satisfaction of public interests as the goal of entrepreneurial activity. Thus, K. K. Lebedev defines entrepreneurial activity as one of the types of generally useful activities carried out in the sphere of the economy by any legally capable persons through the exploitation of their property or by performing other actions in order to achieve any results related to a change in the position of this property, and reimbursement of costs incurred in connection with this at the expense of income received.

O. V. Tishanskaya believes that the goal of entrepreneurial activity can be not only profit: in developed countries, state policy is to encourage non-profit entrepreneurship in the fields of ecology, health, culture, and social security.

4. Statutory means of making a profit:

• use of property;
• sale of goods;
• performance of work;
• provision of services.

The list of areas and areas of entrepreneurial activity is formulated in the Civil Code of the Russian Federation as exhaustive, which does not seem quite correct, since in a market economy the areas and areas of entrepreneurial activity are determined, first of all, by the needs of the market. The market demand for one or another type, direction and scope of entrepreneurial activity will undoubtedly be realized by the entrepreneur.

In the definition given in Art. 2 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation does not mention the production of products, but instead refers to the use of property and the sale of goods, however, most often it is production activities that bring the main profit.

In addition, it is noted that this definition is “extremely unsuccessful, also because it does not allow to distinguish between active economic activity(for example, for the production and sale of goods, works, services) and passive (for example, for the placement of funds in credit institutions, for the transfer of property for rent, etc.)”.

How to determine if your activity is entrepreneurial or not? For example, a homeless man who collects bottles and delivers them to a collection point - are there signs of entrepreneurship in his work? And in the work of Petrovich, who made repairs to all the tenants of our house and went to conquer the neighboring high-rise buildings? By the way, yesterday I went to the village in my car and brought two fellow travelers, they gave me some money when I left. Now I’m sitting and thinking: “Maybe, as an honest citizen, I am now obliged to register an individual entrepreneur and hang checkers on the roof?” Let's see what signs characterize the presence of entrepreneurship in your actions. Actually, there are only three of them.

Organizational and property independence

So, the first sign is independence. It has two components: organizational and property.

Organizational component is the ability to make decisions independently in the course of their activities. For example, a homeless person decides what time he will go in search of bottles. He also develops his own working route. And if he wants to, he won’t go anywhere at all - he will make himself a day off. In general, he is independent in making decisions. He has no higher authorities, because he does not work anywhere. On the contrary, he is his own employer.

Property component- this is an independent use in the work of own or borrowed property. For example, Petrovich rented a hammer drill and went to drill his client's walls with it. In fact, the instrument is someone else's, but this does not prevent Petrovich from making money with it. The key factor is not the right of ownership, but the ability to dispose of property at one's discretion.

So, if you are independent, then congratulations - this is the first sign of entrepreneurial activity! Move on.

Focus on profit

The goal of any business is to make a profit. Ask yourself the question: “Am I doing this to earn something?” If so, then your actions correspond to the second sign of entrepreneurial activity. I want to draw your attention to this:

What is important is the focus on making a profit, and not the fact of its receipt.

You can, due to various circumstances, work at a loss for a whole year. However, this does not mean that your activity is not aimed at making a profit.

For example, Mega-Loch sells toilet paper in the center of the capital. They buy goods for 50 kopecks, and sell for 1 ruble. Is there a profit motive? There is.

However, according to the results of the month, the accountant Senya Lopukhov, having calculated all income and expenses, is surprised to find that the company's activities turned out to be unprofitable - the rent of premises was “eaten up” all the profit.

There is no profit, but there is a focus on obtaining it, and this is precisely the second sign of entrepreneurial activity.

By the way, but in my case with fellow travelers there is no focus on making a profit. I went to the village, my trip did not provide for the provision of transport services for money. Also, I did not announce any fares to my passengers - they independently decided on the amount of my remuneration. In general, checkers are canceled, gentlemen.

Systematic implementation of activities

You can give a ride to a fellow traveler once and receive a symbolic reward from him, or you can hang “checkers”, set tariffs and “taxi” around the city all day long. Do you feel the difference? This is systematic - the last sign of entrepreneurial activity.

What are the criteria for determining consistency? If Petrovich steadily repairs three apartments a month, is this already systematic? And if - twenty apartments? What if one? It is clear that one apartment is not much, but if this is done monthly, then regularity is visible here. However, you must admit that it is difficult to call the monthly performance of one small cosmetic repair a business. How, then, to understand whether the activity is systematic or not?

The fact is that the legislation does not define clear criteria for systematicity. Therefore, the final decision depends on the "checkers" who will analyze your activity for the presence of direct and indirect factors of regularity in it.

Direct factors of systematicity. There are two of them, and they are considered in the complex:

• The frequency of making a profit over a certain period of time. You can calm down your neighbor for a nominal fee, or you can go to three or four addresses every day. It is clear that in 30 days you will have up to a hundred trips. If you wish, it will not be difficult to prove the systematicity - just a few testimonies from customers who ordered services from you about paying you a certain remuneration are enough.
• The amount of profit received for a certain period of time. Homeless Grisha can bring glass containers to the collection point twenty times a day. However, his average monthly income is unlikely to attract the attention of a tax inspector. Quite another thing is modest Isaak Moiseevich, who supplies gold to jewelry workshops only once a month, but in kilograms. As you can see, Isaac rarely works, but aptly - the amount of his income is simply impressive.

Indirect factors of systematicity. They do not directly indicate the systematic conduct of activities, but they have all its signs. There are the following indirect factors:

• The presence of advertising in the media and the Internet. If you regularly advertise your products or services, then this only means one thing - you are set to systematically receive income from the advertised activities. By the way, it is through the Internet and advertisements in advertising newspapers that many “tax officials” reach out to persons engaged in illegal business. They just call ads, introduce themselves potential clients and easily get all the necessary information.
• Availability of prices and tariffs. If you ask Petrovich about the cost of his services, you can hear the following: "Window slopes - "x" rubles, whitewashing the ceiling - "y" rubles, plastering the walls - "z" rubles. Everything is laid out on the shelves and has its price. You immediately understand that Petrovich is engaged in repairs seriously and not for the first day, which means systematically.
• A lot of time is devoted to activities. If a girl Masha spends all her main time on the Moscow - St. Petersburg highway, doing it, then this is a sure sign of the regularity of her classes. Actually, what was required to prove.

So, friends, we have considered the main signs of entrepreneurial activity. By the way, why did we do this? Why do we need to know about them? Most often, these signs are of interest to those who fear accusations of illegal business. Do you know what illegal business is, and what responsibility threatens for its conduct? I think it's time.