2 legal status of an individual entrepreneur. Legal status of an individual entrepreneur: features, pros and cons. Individual entrepreneur: status features

04.12.2021

Entrepreneurs who want to implement their ideas and make a profit from it are required, first of all, to legalize their activities by going through the state registration procedure. At this point, there are difficulties with the choice of the organizational and legal form of doing business. To make a decision, you need to weigh all the advantages and disadvantages of existing forms of organization, but not everyone is aware of what it means to become an individual entrepreneur, and what is meant by its legal status.

Sole Proprietor - individual or legal entity

Those who have not come across the concept of "individual entrepreneur" before would like to figure out who an individual entrepreneur is - an individual or a legal entity. According to the definition given in Article 23 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, an individual entrepreneur is a citizen engaged in entrepreneurship without forming a legal entity. It turns out that an individual entrepreneur cannot be classified as a legal entity.

When registering an individual entrepreneur, a citizen not only retains his status individual- from the moment the enterprise is legalized, it acquires specific rights and obligations.

An individual entrepreneur has a unique legal status that combines the rights of ordinary citizens and legal entities

It can be concluded that individual entrepreneurs should be attributed to a separate group of persons who have rights and obligations acquired in connection with the start of business management, but at the same time are equated to individuals in all other sectors of life.

Definition and characteristics of entrepreneurial activity

Entrepreneurship - an activity that is registered in accordance with applicable laws, begins with a business owner willing to take risks in order to regularly make a profit and consists in performing any work, providing services or selling goods to the population.

The main features of the work of entrepreneurs:

Only citizens registered with the tax authorities who have received the right to be called individual entrepreneurs apply for its implementation. If there was no registration, the activity does not cease to be called entrepreneurial, but is recognized as illegal. This should be understood in such a way that a person will not be relieved of the need to pay debts to those with whom he entered into an agreement, the fact that at the time of the transaction he was not an individual entrepreneur. The court will not be on his side.
Independence (organizational and property).
Extraction of profit (the list of methods for obtaining it is closed).
The presence of risk (in case of illiterate business management or by chance, circumstances may arise that will cause the loss of the property acquired by the individual entrepreneur).

Employees are not considered entrepreneurs - their activities do not have the above signs of entrepreneurship.

Legal status of IP

The civil legal status of an individual entrepreneur means legal status IP in the field of commercial relations, which affects the list of its rights, obligations and the level of responsibility and determines their position in the system of legal relations, taking into account the specifics and nuances of their business activities.

The Constitution of the Russian Federation promises the citizens of Russia the freedom to use their own skills, ideas and savings to organize their own business or realize themselves in other areas of work, if this is not prohibited by Russian laws.

The Constitution of Russia gives every inhabitant of the country the right to use knowledge, skills and savings in order to implement commercial activities permitted by applicable law

The legal status of an individual entrepreneur is characterized by duality - at the same time, regulations related to all ordinary residents of the country and business entities are applicable to its work.

The right to engage in entrepreneurship arises from the date of registration of a citizen of the Russian Federation, a foreigner or a stateless person as an individual entrepreneur.

If a person wants to be engaged in cattle breeding or cultivation of cultivated plants, entrepreneurship will take the form of a peasant economy, which is also not a legal entity.

The heads of a peasant (farm) economy are required to undergo state registration and obtain the official status of an individual entrepreneur

Entrepreneurial legal capacity and legal capacity appear at the same time, and the right to entrepreneurship is exercised exclusively independently - it does not happen that an incapacitated person becomes legally capable due to the fact that a legal representative has assumed part of his obligations.

The right to organize their business as an individual entrepreneur has:

capable citizens (without obtaining anyone's consent);
partially capable minor citizens 14 years of age and older (after obtaining the written consent of legal representatives, certified by a notary) and minors who have entered into an official marriage or emancipated by a court decision or guardianship and guardianship authorities.

The law prohibits the following groups of people from opening a company:

Those who are in the public service, law enforcement officers, the military.
Already registered IP.
Deprived of the right to conduct business on the basis of a court decision, if the ban has not expired.
The enterprise of which was forcibly closed, if 12 months have not passed after the entry into force of the court decision.
Those who have a criminal record or have been prosecuted in the past for criminal acts, after the commission of which it is legally impossible to engage in certain types business (for example, those convicted of murder do not have the right to open children's institutions) or entrepreneurship in general.
Stateless persons and foreigners who are on the territory of the country without legal grounds (temporary residence permit, residence permit).

The law limits individual entrepreneurs in choosing an occupation. For example, the alcohol trade is available only to business owners who have registered an LLC.

Individual entrepreneurs do not have the right to sell alcohol and medicines, to open a security company and to some other activities

The IP performs actions on its own behalf and is subject to the same legal regulations that apply to the work of commercial companies (unless it contradicts the essence of the legal relationship or legislative norms).

Individual entrepreneurs are given the right to enter into any legal commercial contracts. Also, business owners can participate in general partnerships and team up with companies non-profit organizations for joint activities.

Individual entrepreneurs have the right to conduct business on their own, without the involvement of hired workers, or they can hire personnel for the enterprise.

Individual entrepreneurs have the right to hire employees or work independently without the involvement of hired labor

Individual entrepreneurs pay off the accumulated debts with all the property they own as owners - owned in full or by shares in joint ownership that are not involved in business affairs. Only the property listed in Art. 446 Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation:

Features of the legal status of IP

There are no laws that would contain a complete description of the essence of the civil legal status of an individual entrepreneur. Regional laws are adopted with the expectation of the most active growth of small enterprises, but at the federal level no single regulatory act has been adopted.

The status of an individual entrepreneur occupies an intermediate position between the position of commercial organizations and individuals. Individual entrepreneurs are participants in economic turnover who themselves have not formed any economic entity. In this regard, the legal status of an individual entrepreneur is special and has its own distinctive features.

Existing laws emphasize the special position of individual entrepreneurs, but they have to rely on a huge number of regulations in order to determine the rules and conditions for doing business.

IP rights and benefits

An individual entrepreneur has certain rights and has benefits established at the federal and regional levels. By the way, regional authorities often provide assistance to the development of entrepreneurship.

The right to engage in any legitimate commercial activity for financial gain.
An individual entrepreneur in certain situations can act as an individual. For example, when operating a car in the course of business activities, an individual entrepreneur transfers transport tax to the Federal Tax Service on an equal basis with all car owners.
An individual entrepreneur has the right to apply to the Arbitration Court (as an individual entrepreneur) and to courts of general jurisdiction (as a citizen of the Russian Federation).
Income can be used in any amount for personal needs by the individual entrepreneur and his family.
IP is exempt from the calculation and transfer to the personal income tax budget.
The individual entrepreneur has the right to hire employees.
The law allows IP:
- work under an employment contract (but not in any position),
- become a founder of an LLC,
- establish or participate in public organizations,
- exercise all the rights available to ordinary citizens.
An individual entrepreneur has the right to make his own seal imprint and open a current account, but is not obliged to do either one or the other.
An individual entrepreneur and members of his family have the right to use the property involved in the work of the enterprise for personal needs.

Responsibilities and Restrictions of the IP

The status of an individual entrepreneur imposes certain obligations on its owner, and from the side of the legislation some restrictions are imposed on its work:

An individual entrepreneur must pay taxes and fees in accordance with the terms of the taxation regime he prefers, as well as make payments to the FSS, PFR.
Individual entrepreneurs are required to submit reports on time as commercial firms.
Individual entrepreneurs must take on the role of tax and insurance agent for the employees they hire, withhold funds from their wages to pay insurance premiums and personal income tax.
Individual entrepreneurs are subject to a ban on combining entrepreneurial activity With public service, work in the prosecutor's office and other authorities.
An individual entrepreneur does not have the right to use real estate acquired during marriage if the spouse did not give him consent to this.
The law limits individual entrepreneurs in the choice of types of economic activity. In particular, they are prohibited from selling medicines and alcoholic beverages, as well as from opening a security agency.
The individual risks everything he owns. The property of an individual entrepreneur is not divided into personal and participating in business.
An individual entrepreneur is not entitled to transfer the right to engage in entrepreneurship by inheritance; after his death, only property passes to the heir.

IP and marriage contract

Family people who are going to register themselves as an individual entrepreneur should take into account one more thing related to property and future earnings. In addition to the fact that an individual entrepreneur is not entitled to use real estate purchased during the marriage without the prior consent of the husband (wife), in the event of a divorce, the income of the individual entrepreneur and the property used in the course of business management will be divided in half.

In the event of a divorce, half of the income of the entrepreneur and property involved in commercial activities will go to the former spouse

The fact that the registration of an individual entrepreneur took place even before receiving a certificate from the registry office will not matter. Therefore, if there is any doubt about the strength of family relationships, you should protect your business by signing a marriage contract, which would directly indicate the procedure for dividing possessions in the event of a break in family ties.

Acquiring the legal status of an individual entrepreneur

The right to open a company is associated with the need to pass the state registration of the business owner as an individual entrepreneur and register it with the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation.

Passing state registration as an individual entrepreneur is a sufficient condition for acquiring the status of an individual entrepreneur

To do this, it is necessary that the legal capacity of a person is not limited in relation to opening his own company:

he must reach the age at which entrepreneurial legal capacity occurs;
a potential individual entrepreneur should not hold the position of a state or municipal employee, judge, etc.;
a citizen should not be limited in the ability to do business by a court decision;
a person should not be declared partially or completely incompetent on the basis of, for example, a medical opinion that he has a mental disorder.

Registration is carried out at the place of residence and is a mandatory and sufficient condition for acquiring the official status of an individual entrepreneur. The procedure must be completed in the division of the Federal Tax Service of Russia serving the corresponding territorial entity.

Acquisition of the legal status of an individual entrepreneur by a minor

In Russia, not only persons who have reached the age of 18 have the right to become entrepreneurs, but also minors in the country. But for this they will need to comply with the requirements established by law.

The legislation of Russia allows minor citizens to register as an individual entrepreneur if there are grounds for recognizing them as capable

The right to register an individual entrepreneur for minors arises if there are grounds for declaring it legally capable:

Entering into a legal marriage (in the event of a divorce, legal capacity remains).
Emancipation (recognition as fully capable by the court or guardianship and guardianship authorities in the absence of parental consent).
Consent of both parents, adoptive parents or guardian to conduct business activities.

The minor must additionally attach one of the following documents to the standard set of papers:

Notarized copy of the marriage.
The decision of the guardianship and guardianship authorities to recognize the teenager as capable.
The decision of the court on the onset of full legal capacity.
Notarized written consent of legal representatives. If only one of the parents (adoptive parents) granted a business permit, the following is additionally provided:
- death certificate of the second parent (if one of the parents has died),
- a court decision on recognizing a citizen as missing (if the location of one of the parents is not established),
- birth certificate without information about the father (if the child was brought up in an incomplete family).

In any case, a teenager cannot apply for registration as an individual entrepreneur until he is 14 years old. This is justified by the fact that Art. 28 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation prohibits persons under the age of 14 from entering into transactions related to commercial activities. And for registration with the Federal Tax Service and registration of a company, a passport is required, which can be obtained no earlier than the specified age.

Termination of the legal status of IP

Termination of the status of an individual entrepreneur is also associated with a number of conditions that must be met, and occurs at the time of putting a mark in the Unified Register (EGRIP) on the completion of its activities by employees of the Federal Tax Service.

Do not confuse the concepts of termination and suspension of the IP - in the second case, the business owner does not carry out commercial activities for various reasons, but has the right to resume business.

The law allows an entrepreneur to refuse the status of an individual entrepreneur on any day by voluntarily refusing to continue working as such. For this you will need:

draw up an application in the form P26001,
provide a receipt for payment of state duty,
file a tax return from the beginning of the last reporting period to the date of completion of the IP,
report the completion of economic activities to extra-budgetary funds.

To terminate the status of an individual entrepreneur, in addition to own desire There may be other legitimate reasons:

death of an individual entrepreneur;
decision by the court to close the enterprise;
recognition of an individual entrepreneur as bankrupt (insolvent) in a judicial proceeding;
the entry into force of a court verdict, according to which a sanction is imposed on an individual entrepreneur in the form of deprivation of his rights to conduct business for a certain period of time;
cancellation of a document (or expiration of its validity), on the basis of which a foreign citizen or stateless person resided in Russia on a temporary or permanent basis.

If one of the above reasons for closing a company occurs, the state registration of an individual entrepreneur becomes invalid. Refusal of the IP status does not release the former businessman from obligations under contracts that were signed during the operation of his enterprise.

Termination of activity as an individual entrepreneur does not release the entrepreneur from his obligations under contracts concluded during the period of work

Positive aspects of the legal status of IP

The organizational and legal form of an individual entrepreneur in some aspects of doing business, when compared with an LLC, has a number of concessions, plus an individual entrepreneur can exercise some rights that ordinary residents of the country are deprived of. Within the framework of this article, we will limit ourselves to the positive aspects of entrepreneurship, due to the specific legal status of an individual entrepreneur.

Advantages of an individual entrepreneur over ordinary citizens

The status of an individual entrepreneur expands the possibilities of an ordinary individual, largely due to the fact that:

An individual entrepreneur has the opportunity to conduct commercial activities, while concluding transactions and regularly making a profit.
Individual entrepreneurs do not have to pay personal income tax.

Advantages of individual entrepreneurs over legal entities

If we compare individual entrepreneurs and LLCs in terms of the advantages of the organizational and legal form, it turns out that in general it is easier for entrepreneurs to start doing business and further develop the business:

Disadvantages of the legal status of IP

Obviously, in addition to the advantages of the legal status of IP, there are also negative aspects:

Video: IP or LLC (pros and cons)

Speaking about the legal status of an individual entrepreneur, it is necessary to supplement it with the rights and obligations of an ordinary citizen in parallel. People who want to organize their own business, but refuse to register themselves as individual entrepreneurs, are stopped by the fear of property liability. However, honest activity without attempts to evade obligations and a realistic view of the risks involved can protect the business owner from the adverse consequences of inept entrepreneurial work. In general, some aspects of the legal status of individual entrepreneurs contribute to the rapid development of business, while others hinder this. The main thing is to correctly use its advantages.

Individual entrepreneurs are citizens of the Russian Federation, foreign citizens and stateless persons engaged in entrepreneurial activities in accordance with the procedure established by law without forming a legal entity. This general provision on the right to entrepreneurial activity is formulated in Art. 18, 23 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

In the literature, the opinion was expressed that the concepts of "unincorporated entrepreneur" and "individual entrepreneur" do not coincide. Entrepreneurial activity as an economic phenomenon can be carried out by an individual without state registration. For example, by virtue of paragraph 4 of Art. 23 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, a citizen who carries out entrepreneurial activities without forming a legal entity in violation of the requirements of clause 1 of this article is not entitled to refer, in relation to transactions concluded by him, to the fact that he is not an entrepreneur. The court may apply to such transactions the rules of the Code on obligations related to the implementation of entrepreneurial activities.

In addition, some scholars include the so-called private practitioners (lawyers, detectives, notaries) among entrepreneurs without forming a legal entity. Although the current legislation does not consider notarial and advocacy activities as entrepreneurial.

However, according to paragraph 2 of Art. 11 tax codec Russian Federation(hereinafter referred to as the Tax Code of the Russian Federation), in the context of this Code, individual entrepreneurs are understood not only as individuals registered in the prescribed manner and carrying out entrepreneurial activities without forming a legal entity, but also private notaries, private security guards, private detectives. This wording raises a fair question about the possibility of applying the norms of tax legislation to private practitioners without taking into account the specifics of the nature of advocacy and notarial activities. It was this question that arose in the practice of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation on the complaint of citizen G.Yu. Prituli, notary.

According to the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, the analysis of the disputed provision in normative unity with other provisions of Art. 11 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation indicates that some intersectoral concepts, including the concept of "individual entrepreneurs", are used in a special meaning exclusively for the purposes of this Code. Moreover, in the group of subjects of tax relations, united by the generic concept of "individual entrepreneurs", private notaries are included along with individuals registered in the prescribed manner and carrying out entrepreneurial activities without forming a legal entity. Therefore, a systematic interpretation of the disputed provision allows us to conclude that the legal status of private notaries is not identified with the legal status of individual entrepreneurs as individuals engaged in entrepreneurial activities without forming a legal entity from the moment of state registration as an individual entrepreneur (Article 23 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). This is consistent with the Fundamentals of the legislation of the Russian Federation on notaries, according to which notarial activity is not an entrepreneurship and does not pursue the goal of making a profit.

The following conclusion of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation is also interesting: the assignment of private notaries as subjects of tax obligations to the same group with individual entrepreneurs follows from the peculiarities of the status characteristics of private notaries. In particular, in the rulings of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation of May 19, 1998 and December 23, 1999, it is noted that the activities of notaries and lawyers engaged in private practice are a special legal activity that is carried out on behalf of the state, which predetermines the special public law status of notaries ( lawyers).

However, a certain similarity in the status of public law characteristics of notaries and lawyers does not exclude, in the opinion of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, the possibility for the legislator to apply socially justified differentiation in the legal regulation of tax relations in relation to these categories of self-employed citizens.

Thus, the definition of individual entrepreneurs given in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation has a special terminological meaning, and those contained in paragraph 2 of Art. 11 norms-definitions are intended for use solely for taxation purposes. Independent regulatory value - as a norm of direct action - par. 4 p. 2 art. 11 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation does not have. This is the general conclusion of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation on the complaint of a private notary.

In theoretical terms, the figure of an individual entrepreneur raises a number of fundamental questions.

First, it is necessary to comprehensively evaluate the proposal to consider as individual entrepreneurs individuals engaged in entrepreneurial activities without state registration. Indeed, from an economic point of view, such activity is entrepreneurial, since it meets all the necessary properties.

Secondly, such activity is illegal; there is no state registration of a business entity. The legal regime of illegal entrepreneurship gives rise to various legal consequences. The Civil Code of the Russian Federation (Clause 4, Article 23) does not allow these persons to refer, in relation to transactions concluded by them, to the fact that they are not entrepreneurs. Likewise, tax code The Russian Federation considers persons engaged in entrepreneurial activities without state registration to be taxpayers.

The logic of the legislator is clear here: on the one hand, to protect the private interests of the party in a civil law transaction, on the other hand, the public interests of the state through the collection of a tax (levy).

In turn, administrative and criminal legislation establishes measures of legal liability for illegal entrepreneurship. Yes, Art. 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides for criminal liability for illegal entrepreneurship, i.e. carrying out entrepreneurial activities without registration or without a special permit (license) in cases where such a permit (license) is mandatory, or in violation of the terms of licensing, if this act caused large damage to citizens, organizations or the state or is associated with the extraction of income on a large scale.

In the light of the foregoing, the following conclusions can be drawn. Entrepreneurship - as already mentioned, is an economic and legal concept. The economic nature of entrepreneurial activity is complemented by a legal form. From the standpoint of the law, entrepreneurship must comply with the requirements of the law. Otherwise, it (entrepreneurship) is illegal with all the ensuing consequences.

Therefore, when characterizing legitimate entrepreneurship (clause 1, article 2 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation), two criteria should be distinguished - subjective and subjective. Using the subjective criterion, the legislator directly pointed out the need for state registration of persons engaged in entrepreneurial activities. Without registration (as well as without a license), such activities are illegal. Moreover, a legal entity simply does not exist outside of state registration. There is also no figure of an individual entrepreneur without proper registration.

In relation to illegal entrepreneurship, in our opinion, it is correct to use the phrase "a person engaged in entrepreneurial activity without state registration."

It is hardly possible to agree with the statement that the activities of private practitioners are entrepreneurial. One of the weighty arguments is the legal position of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation on the public legal status of lawyers and notaries.

The legal capacity of an individual entrepreneur is the next important issue. The legal capacity of an individual means to be a subject of law. In the literature, it is widely believed that the legal capacity of an individual entrepreneur is universal. At the same time, scientists who share this point of view refer to Art. 23 and 49 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. By virtue of paragraph 3 of Art. 23 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation to entrepreneurial activities of citizens carried out without forming a legal entity, the rules of the Code are accordingly applied, 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.

The question of the legal capacity of individual entrepreneurs is not simple. First, if we compare legal entities with individuals (citizens), then the volume of legal capacity of collective entities is much less than the volume of legal capacity of individuals. Moreover, in this comparative plan, all legal entities must have special legal capacity, since they are created for the implementation of certain goals.

Secondly, comparing the legal capacity of legal entities, one can distinguish between universal and special legal capacity. The Civil Code of the Russian Federation (Article 49) also distinguishes between general and special legal capacity. By general rule commercial organizations have general legal capacity. The exception is unitary enterprises, as well as other types of organizations provided for by law.

The same conclusions can be extended to the legal capacity of individual entrepreneurs. An individual is a carrier of universal legal capacity. At the same time, individuals engaged in entrepreneurial activities without creating a legal entity are endowed with special legal capacity.

In practice, this means that an individual entrepreneur has the right to engage in only those types of activities that are indicated in the registration certificate. The certificate must indicate the full and exact name of the activities.

At the same time, we believe that our proposal on the special legal capacity of individual entrepreneurs does not correspond to the rules (norms) of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and special laws. From the point of view of the Code and certain laws adopted in its development, the legal capacity of persons engaged in entrepreneurial activities without forming a legal entity is of a general (universal) nature, since it is equated with the legal capacity of commercial organizations. Thus, there is a discrepancy between doctrinal opinion and the letter of the law on the issue at hand.

The authors of the commentary to the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (under the editorship of Prof. O.N. Sadikov) contrast the universal legal capacity of an individual entrepreneur and the special legal capacity of the head of a peasant (farm) economy. We believe that there are no grounds for such opposition to legal capacity.

The head of a peasant (farm) economy, being an individual entrepreneur, has general legal capacity. This conclusion is confirmed by certain provisions of the Federal Law of June 11, 2003 No. 74-FZ "On the Peasant (Farmer's) Economy". In our opinion, it is necessary to distinguish between the status of the head of a peasant (farm) economy and the status of an individual entrepreneur. Article 17 of the said Law lists the powers of the head of the economy, in particular, he organizes the activities farming; acts on behalf of the farm without a power of attorney, including representing its interests and making transactions; issues powers of attorney; carries out employment in the farm of workers and their dismissal; organizes accounting and reporting of the farm; exercise other powers determined by agreement between the members of the farm. In other words, the head of a peasant (farm) economy is a body of a farm, which is not endowed with the right of a legal entity. On the other hand, the head of a peasant (farm) economy is an individual entrepreneur, and therefore he carries out any type of entrepreneurial activity based on the goals of establishing the economy. In this capacity, the head of the farm does not conduct his own individual entrepreneurial activity, separate from other members of the farm. Its activity (as well as the activity of the members of the economy) is subordinated to the general goal of the formation of the economy.

This conclusion can be reached by analyzing the relevant norms of the current legislation. But in theoretical terms, we again repeat the thesis: the legal capacity of individual entrepreneurs should be special, taking into account the nature of the activity. The scope of the rights and obligations of an individual entrepreneur does not affect the determination of the type of legal capacity. Equally, it does not affect the establishment of the type of legal capacity and cases of its restriction.

The legal capacity of an individual entrepreneur may be limited in cases and in the manner established by federal law. By virtue of paragraph 3 of Art. 55 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the rights and freedoms of a person and a citizen may be limited by federal law only to the extent necessary to protect the foundations of the constitutional order, morality, health, rights and legitimate interests of others, to ensure the defense and security of the state. The Civil Code of the Russian Federation (clause 2, article 1) states that civil rights may be limited on the basis of federal law. Comparing the norms of the Constitution of the Russian Federation (clause 3, article 55) and the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (clause 2, article 1), one can really come to the conclusion that the scope of civil rights of subjects from the point of view of the Code can be limited by other regulatory legal acts.

The Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation tried to eliminate this textual contradiction, pointing out that "since, according to Article 55 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and paragraph 2 of Article 1 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, civil rights can be limited only on the basis of federal law, it should be borne in mind that other normative acts issued after the entry into force of the first part of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and restricting the rights of the owner are not subject to application. It is noted in the literature that it is incorrect to eliminate such a contradiction in the decision of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation. There are other ways, methods of elimination.

An individual is recognized as an individual entrepreneur if he is fully capable (Article 21 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). Minors aged 16 to 18 can engage in entrepreneurial activities only with the consent of their parents, adoptive parents or trustees (clause 1, article 27 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). Upon reaching the age of 16, minors are also entitled to be members of cooperatives in accordance with the laws on cooperatives (Article 26 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

In theoretical and practical terms, the question of the possibility of adult citizens who are limited in legal capacity due to the abuse of alcoholic beverages and drugs to engage in business activities. By virtue of Art. 30 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation under the restriction of legal capacity should be understood as the deprivation by the court of a citizen of the right to perform the following actions without the consent of the trustee:

Sell, donate, bequeath, exchange, buy property, as well as make other transactions on the disposal of property, with the exception of minor household transactions;

Directly to receive wages, pensions and other types of income (author's fees, remuneration for discoveries, inventions, etc.). Any other restrictions on the capacity of a citizen Art. 30 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation does not contain, i.e. civil law does not prohibit these persons from engaging in entrepreneurial activities. Moreover, the consent of the trustee is not required here.

Individuals engaged in entrepreneurial activities without forming a legal entity have the right to use hired labor. The former Law of the RSFSR "On Enterprises and Entrepreneurial Activities" (clause 3, article 2) prohibited individual entrepreneurs from using hired labor.

Individual entrepreneurs have the right to engage in any type of activity, except for those prohibited by law. Engaging in certain types of activities requires the entrepreneur to have a special permit (license) or a qualified certificate. The list of these species should be determined only by law (clause 1, article 49 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). Now valid the federal law"On Licensing Certain Types of Activities", which regulates relations arising between federal executive authorities, executive authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, legal entities and individual entrepreneurs in connection with the licensing of certain types of activities in accordance with the list provided for in paragraph 1 of Art. 17 of this Law. The named Law does not apply to the types of activities, the list of which is given in Art. 2 of the Licensing Act. Licensing of these activities is carried out in accordance with special laws.

In the literature, licensing is considered not only as a form of power public activities. Licensing is the way (method) state regulation entrepreneurial activity.

The public law assessment of licensing is not affected by the rule of paragraph 1 of Art. 49 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. It is unlikely that under the influence of civil law norms, relations in the field of licensing can acquire a civilistic connotation. The issuance of a license (special permit) is a legal fact, on the basis of which various kinds of legal relations arise, including administrative and civil ones.

It should be noted that individual entrepreneurs, including the heads of peasant (farm) enterprises, have some advantages over other organizational and legal forms of entrepreneurship. Let's start with paying taxes and fees. Sole proprietors pay income tax in the manner and amount determined by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation for individuals (citizens). For this group of taxpayers, a single tax rate is set - 13%. Features of the calculation of tax amounts by individual entrepreneurs and other persons engaged in private practice are provided for in Art. 227 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. These rules differ significantly from the provisions of the Code dealing with corporate income tax.

In the field of individual entrepreneurship, a simplified taxation system is applied, accounting and reporting. It (the system) is used for small businesses - organizations and individual entrepreneurs.

In accordance with paragraph 1 of Art. 861 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, settlements with the participation of citizens that are not related to their entrepreneurial activities can be made in cash (Article 140) without limiting the amount or by bank transfer. In turn, settlements between legal entities, as well as with the participation of citizens, related to their entrepreneurial activities, are made in a non-cash manner, unless otherwise provided by law. However, at present there are no restrictions or prohibitions on settlements with the participation of citizens-entrepreneurs in cash. The Bank of Russia has set a limit on the amount of cash settlements in the Russian Federation between legal entities in one transaction (the indicated amount is subject to change).

Recovery of property and funds from the accounts of individual entrepreneurs is carried out only in court.

There are other advantages and benefits that make it very attractive for business use. individual form entrepreneurship. Therefore, it is hardly possible to recognize as convincing the opinion of some scientists and practitioners on the abolition of the individual form of entrepreneurship.

Sole Proprietor - individual or legal entity

When registering an individual entrepreneur, a citizen not only retains his status as an individual - from the moment the enterprise is legalized, he acquires specific rights and obligations.

An individual entrepreneur has a unique legal status that combines the rights of ordinary citizens and legal entities

Definition and characteristics of entrepreneurial activity

The main features of the work of entrepreneurs:

Only citizens registered with the tax authorities who have received the right to be called individual entrepreneurs apply for its implementation. If there was no registration, the activity does not cease to be called entrepreneurial, but is recognized as illegal. This should be understood in such a way that a person will not be relieved of the need to pay debts to those with whom he entered into an agreement, the fact that at the time of the transaction he was not an individual entrepreneur. The court will not be on his side.
Independence (organizational and property).
Extraction of profit (the list of methods for obtaining it is closed).
The presence of risk (in case of illiterate business management or by chance, circumstances may arise that will cause the loss of the property acquired by the individual entrepreneur).

Employees are not considered entrepreneurs - their activities do not have the above signs of entrepreneurship.

Legal status of IP

The civil legal status of an individual entrepreneur means the legal status of an individual entrepreneur in the field of commercial relations, which affects the list of his rights, obligations and level of responsibility and determines their position in the system of legal relations, taking into account the specifics and nuances of their business activities.

The Constitution of Russia gives every inhabitant of the country the right to use knowledge, skills and savings in order to carry out commercial activities permitted by applicable law.

The legal status of an individual entrepreneur is characterized by duality - at the same time, regulations related to all ordinary residents of the country and business entities are applicable to its work.

The right to engage in entrepreneurship arises from the date of registration of a citizen of the Russian Federation, a foreigner or a stateless person as an individual entrepreneur.

If a person wants to be engaged in cattle breeding or cultivation of cultivated plants, entrepreneurship will take the form of a peasant economy, which is also not a legal entity.

The heads of a peasant (farm) economy are required to undergo state registration and obtain the official status of an individual entrepreneur

The right to organize their business as an individual entrepreneur has:

capable citizens (without obtaining anyone's consent);
partially capable minor citizens 14 years of age and older (after obtaining the written consent of legal representatives, certified by a notary) and minors who have entered into an official marriage or emancipated by a court decision or guardianship and guardianship authorities.

The law prohibits the following groups of people from opening a company:

Those who are in the public service, law enforcement officers, the military.
Already registered IP.
Deprived of the right to conduct business on the basis of a court decision, if the ban has not expired.
The enterprise of which was forcibly closed, if 12 months have not passed after the entry into force of the court decision.
Those who had a criminal record or were prosecuted in the past for criminal acts, after which, according to the law, it is impossible to engage in certain types of business (for example, those convicted of murder do not have the right to open children's institutions) or entrepreneurship in general.
Stateless persons and foreigners who are on the territory of the country without legal grounds (temporary residence permit, residence permit).

The law limits individual entrepreneurs in choosing an occupation. For example, the alcohol trade is available only to business owners who have registered an LLC.

Individual entrepreneurs do not have the right to sell alcohol and medicines, to open a security company and to some other activities

An individual entrepreneur performs actions on his own behalf and is subject to the same legal norms that apply to the work of commercial companies (unless this contradicts the essence of the legal relationship or legislative norms).

Individual entrepreneurs are given the right to enter into any legal commercial contracts. Also, business owners can participate in general partnerships and unite with firms and non-profit organizations for joint activities.

Individual entrepreneurs have the right to conduct business on their own, without the involvement of hired workers, or they can hire personnel for the enterprise.

Individual entrepreneurs have the right to hire employees or work independently without the involvement of hired labor

Features of the legal status of IP

Existing laws emphasize the special position of individual entrepreneurs, but they have to rely on a huge number of regulations in order to determine the rules and conditions for doing business.

IP rights and benefits

The right to engage in any legitimate commercial activity for financial gain.
An individual entrepreneur in certain situations can act as an individual. For example, when operating a car in the course of business activities, an individual entrepreneur transfers transport tax to the Federal Tax Service on an equal basis with all car owners.
An individual entrepreneur has the right to apply to the Arbitration Court (as an individual entrepreneur) and to courts of general jurisdiction (as a citizen of the Russian Federation).
Income can be used in any amount for personal needs by the individual entrepreneur and his family.
IP is exempt from the calculation and transfer to the personal income tax budget.
The individual entrepreneur has the right to hire employees.
The law allows IP:
- work under an employment contract (but not in any position),
- become a founder of an LLC,
- establish or participate in public organizations,
- exercise all the rights available to ordinary citizens.
An individual entrepreneur has the right to make his own seal imprint and open a current account, but is not obliged to do either one or the other.
An individual entrepreneur and members of his family have the right to use the property involved in the work of the enterprise for personal needs.

Responsibilities and Restrictions of the IP

The status of an individual entrepreneur imposes certain obligations on its owner, and from the side of the legislation some restrictions are imposed on its work:

An individual entrepreneur must pay taxes and fees in accordance with the terms of the taxation regime he prefers, as well as make payments to the FSS, PFR.
Individual entrepreneurs are required to submit reports on time as commercial firms.
Individual entrepreneurs must take on the role of a tax and insurance agent for the employees they hire, withhold funds from their wages to pay insurance premiums and personal income tax.
Individual entrepreneurs are subject to a ban on combining business activities with public service, work in the prosecutor's office and other authorities.
An individual entrepreneur does not have the right to use real estate acquired during marriage if the spouse did not give him consent to this.
The law limits individual entrepreneurs in the choice of types of economic activity. In particular, they are prohibited from selling medicines and alcoholic beverages, as well as from opening a security agency.
The individual risks everything he owns. The property of an individual entrepreneur is not divided into personal and participating in business.
An individual entrepreneur is not entitled to transfer the right to engage in entrepreneurship by inheritance; after his death, only property passes to the heir.

IP and marriage contract

In the event of a divorce, half of the income of the entrepreneur and property involved in commercial activities will go to the former spouse

Acquiring the legal status of an individual entrepreneur

Passing state registration as an individual entrepreneur is a sufficient condition for acquiring the status of an individual entrepreneur

To do this, it is necessary that the legal capacity of a person is not limited in relation to opening his own company:

he must reach the age at which entrepreneurial legal capacity occurs;
a potential individual entrepreneur should not hold the position of a state or municipal employee, judge, etc.;
a citizen should not be limited in the ability to do business by a court decision;
a person should not be declared partially or completely incompetent on the basis of, for example, a medical opinion that he has a mental disorder.

Acquisition of the legal status of an individual entrepreneur by a minor

The legislation of Russia allows minor citizens to register as an individual entrepreneur if there are grounds for recognizing them as capable

The right to register an individual entrepreneur for minors arises if there are grounds for declaring it legally capable:

Entering into a legal marriage (in the event of a divorce, legal capacity remains).
Emancipation (recognition as fully capable by the court or guardianship and guardianship authorities in the absence of parental consent).
Consent of both parents, adoptive parents or guardian to conduct business activities.

The minor must additionally attach one of the following documents to the standard set of papers:

Notarized copy of the marriage.
The decision of the guardianship and guardianship authorities to recognize the teenager as capable.
The decision of the court on the onset of full legal capacity.
Notarized written consent of legal representatives. If only one of the parents (adoptive parents) granted a business permit, the following is additionally provided:
- death certificate of the second parent (if one of the parents has died),
- a court decision on recognizing a citizen as missing (if the location of one of the parents is not established),
- birth certificate without information about the father (if the child was brought up in an incomplete family).

Termination of the legal status of IP

Do not confuse the concepts of termination and suspension of the IP - in the second case, the business owner does not carry out commercial activities for various reasons, but has the right to resume business.

The law allows an entrepreneur to refuse the status of an individual entrepreneur on any day by voluntarily refusing to continue working as such. For this you will need:

draw up an application in the form P26001,
provide a receipt for payment of state duty,
file a tax return from the beginning of the last reporting period to the date of completion of the IP,
report the completion of economic activities to extra-budgetary funds.

To terminate the status of an individual entrepreneur, in addition to one's own desire, there may be other legal grounds:

death of an individual entrepreneur;
decision by the court to close the enterprise;
recognition of an individual entrepreneur as bankrupt (insolvent) in a judicial proceeding;
the entry into force of a court verdict, according to which a sanction is imposed on an individual entrepreneur in the form of deprivation of his rights to conduct business for a certain period of time;
cancellation of a document (or expiration of its validity), on the basis of which a foreign citizen or stateless person resided in Russia on a temporary or permanent basis.

Termination of activity as an individual entrepreneur does not release the entrepreneur from his obligations under contracts concluded during the period of work

Positive aspects of the legal status of IP

Advantages of an individual entrepreneur over ordinary citizens

The status of an individual entrepreneur expands the possibilities of an ordinary individual, largely due to the fact that:

An individual entrepreneur has the opportunity to conduct commercial activities, while concluding transactions and regularly making a profit.
Individual entrepreneurs do not have to pay personal income tax.

Advantages of individual entrepreneurs over legal entities

Disadvantages of the legal status of IP

Obviously, in addition to the advantages of the legal status of IP, there are also negative aspects:

Video: IP or LLC (pros and cons)

For many who are just starting to enter the business, the legal status of an individual entrepreneur is not always clear. Meanwhile, an accurate understanding of the essence and significance of this provision is simply necessary when choosing one or another organizational and legal form for one's own business.

Unfortunately, the level of legal literacy, despite the abundance of lawyers, in our country is often not at a very high level. As a result, even quite promising business ideas turn out to be unrealized for the simple reason that a person could not fully understand all the nuances that the status of an individual entrepreneur brings with it. the result of this is either a failed business, or a complete rejection of the implementation of your idea.

Features of the IP status

First of all, we note that the legal status of an individual entrepreneur has a dual nature, therefore, the norms of legislation applicable to individuals, as well as business entities, are simultaneously applied to it.

This duality is caused by the fact that a citizen who has expressed a desire to carry out entrepreneurial activity receives such a right, but at the same time he does not create a new economic entity and, to a certain extent, receives a more extensive list of civil rights.

Features of IP activities

The most significant right in acquiring the status of an individual entrepreneur is the ability of a citizen to carry out any entrepreneurial activity that is not prohibited by law, which allows you to make a profit.

At the same time, a number of duties are assigned to him, the fulfillment of which provides for the legal status of an individual entrepreneur. For example, on the payment of mandatory tax payments, fees and contributions to off-budget funds.

At the same time, in many legal relations, an individual entrepreneur acts on the basis of the norms of legislation for individuals. For example, if he uses vehicles that are registered for him for commercial purposes, then he also pays transport tax as an individual, in the manner prescribed for this category of taxpayers.

There is also no distinction in relation to other property of a citizen-entrepreneur. For example, in the event of its bankruptcy, everything that belongs to the entrepreneur is included in the bankruptcy estate, regardless of the purpose for which this or that property was used.

Peculiarities of judicial protection of the rights and interests of individual entrepreneurs

Another feature in the status of an individual entrepreneur lies in the options for judicial protection of his interests. Thus, the protection of the rights of individual entrepreneurs, as a business entity, is carried out in the Arbitration Courts. And disputes arising from civil law relations of an entrepreneur as a citizen are subject to consideration in courts of general jurisdiction. Therefore, it is extremely important, in the perspective of litigation, to determine on the basis of what an individual entrepreneur acts in a given situation, or rather, as someone, a citizen or an entrepreneur. Depending on this, a further scheme for the protection of rights and interests is being built.

Features of the civil law status of an individual entrepreneur

Note that on this moment there is no normative legal act that would regulate in detail the civil legal status of an individual entrepreneur. Meanwhile, attempts to prepare such a bill have been made repeatedly, both at the level of the legislature and in the form of initiatives from various public organizations. In a number of regions, local legislative acts have been adopted at the local level, which emphasize the special position of citizens with the status of individual entrepreneurs. First of all, these legal documents are related to measures to support small businesses.

Nevertheless, the adoption of a single law at the federal level, which would legislate the specifics of the legal status of individual entrepreneurs, would greatly facilitate life, both for the entrepreneurs themselves and for their counterparties and government bodies. Until then, it is necessary to be guided by many regulatory documents that contain provisions regarding the status and features of the work of an individual entrepreneur.

For a detailed disclosure of all the nuances of the position of a citizen registered as an individual entrepreneur, it makes sense to consider all the strengths and weak sides such a position. By the way, it is this analysis that best reveals the features of the legal status of an individual entrepreneur.

Benefits of being an individual entrepreneur

p> Note that all the advantages of registering a citizen as an individual entrepreneur can be divided into two groups:

advantages over the usual position of a citizen;
advantages of an individual entrepreneur in comparison with other organizational and legal forms of entrepreneurial activity.

Advantages of individual entrepreneurs over ordinary citizens

In comparison with general civil rights, the civil legal status of an individual entrepreneur significantly expands the possibilities of a citizen. Most importantly, he is given the right to conduct entrepreneurial activities. A citizen who is not registered as an individual entrepreneur does not have the right to carry out any commercial operations aimed at making regular profits. Otherwise, he may be held liable, depending on the consequences of criminal or administrative.

In the field of taxation, an individual entrepreneur is exempt from paying personal income tax, which is mandatory for all citizens of the Russian Federation to pay on most types of income received.

Advantages over legal entities

An individual entrepreneur has even more advantages compared to legal entities, which are also created for profit in the process of doing business. For example, the costs of registering an individual entrepreneur are minimal, there is no need to prepare many documents, pay authorized capital, search for a legal address. In the process of carrying out its activities, an entrepreneur can do without such mandatory for legal entities. entities attributes like checking account and seal. Tax legislation provides for individual entrepreneurs a greater number of tax regimes, and administrative legislation provides for a smaller amount of penalties.

The organizational and legal form of an individual entrepreneur allows him to independently manage all the income received in the process of entrepreneurial activity.

The mode of use of property, which an individual entrepreneur can use both for commercial purposes and for his own needs, has also been significantly simplified. By the way, family members of an entrepreneur also have the right to dispose of property, including those used in their business activities.

Meanwhile, commercial activity is not the only thing that an individual entrepreneur can do. The legislation does not restrict his right to work for hire, with the exception of certain positions, to be the founder of legal entities, the founder or member of public organizations, to enter into various legal relations as an individual.

Disadvantages of IP status

At the same time, the acquisition of the status of an individual entrepreneur imposes certain obligations and restrictions on a citizen. We have already noted that from the moment of registration of an individual entrepreneur, a citizen is obliged to make payments established by law to extra-budgetary funds and taxes. In addition, he must regularly submit the established reporting forms provided for business entities. And when using hired personnel, perform the duties of a tax agent for the transfer of mandatory payments from the income of individuals.

Restrictions of individual entrepreneurs

There are also certain restrictions for persons with the status of individual entrepreneurs. For example, they cannot be accepted into the state civil or other service. In addition, there are certain restrictions that directly relate to the implementation of entrepreneurial activities. So, there is a certain list of activities, the implementation of which is closed to individual entrepreneurs.

Cons compared to legal entities

We also note that situations of refusal of a transaction with an individual entrepreneur in favor of a legal entity are not uncommon, since for many managers and business owners, as well as ordinary citizens, the status of a legal entity. face is more attractive than IP. The reasons for this opinion are different and require a separate detailed discussion.

However, the most significant drawback of the status of an individual entrepreneur, which most often leads to the rejection of such an organizational and legal form, is that an individual entrepreneur is liable for his obligations with all the property that belongs to him by right of ownership. The Civil Code provides that an individual entrepreneur carries out his activities at his own risk. As a result, failures in business can lead not only to its loss, but also to the loss of most of the property of the entrepreneur's family.

What other disadvantages are there?

The right of ownership of individual entrepreneurs has another nuance, which for some reason is rarely paid attention to in practice. The fact is that if an entrepreneur is married, then all his income received in the course of entrepreneurial activity, as well as property acquired from them, in the event of a divorce, are subject to division between the spouses.

As a general rule, this division is carried out in equal shares, while property used for commercial purposes is also subject to division. Moreover, even if one of the spouses acquired the status of an entrepreneur before marriage, then all income received from entrepreneurial activity after marriage will be recognized as the common property of the spouses. The only exception is if a marriage contract is concluded between the spouses, which contains a provision on the division of income of the spouse who has the status of an individual entrepreneur.

In addition, an individual entrepreneur is not entitled, without the consent of the spouse, to dispose of real estate, which was acquired during marriage, including if this property is used solely for the purpose of carrying out business activities.

Summary

Thus, the legal capacity of an individual entrepreneur is a kind of “extension” of the rights of an ordinary citizen. This status provides an opportunity for him to broader opportunities in economic activity, but at the same time requires him to comply with certain requirements not only in the process of entrepreneurial activity, but also in everyday life.

For example, it is not uncommon for an entrepreneur who has the habit of spending part of the profits from a business for his own needs, and does the same with targeted funds received as part of supporting small businesses or obtaining a loan. And if in the first case there are no restrictions on the use of profits, then in the second situation, this may lead to Negative consequences further.

By the way, the mistake of many novice entrepreneurs often lies not in the reasonable expenditure of proceeds. As a rule, not a very psychological attitude works: “my profit, I do what I want”. As a result, the business is left without financial support, and often deprived of the opportunity to make the necessary payments.

This problem is not unique to our country. In many countries where the legislation provides for a legal position similar to that of an individual entrepreneur, applicants for this status undergo psychological testing, which allows them to determine a person’s ability to run their own business.

In Russia, for the time being, the conditions for acquiring the status of an individual entrepreneur do not provide for such a mandatory procedure, which may be why people who are deprived of an entrepreneurial spirit often get into business. As a result, many good ideas remain unfulfilled, and a person is disappointed in his abilities. And if the loss of the status of an individual entrepreneur is also accompanied by serious debt repayment costs, then tragedies are not uncommon here.

All this makes you think again and firmly weigh your capabilities in the implementation of your plans, and if you have faith in yourself and it is justified, then it makes sense to take risks and open your own business.

Economy

Keywords:

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The Civil Code of the Russian Federation states that business activity is an activity that a citizen carries out to obtain regular profits (by legal means). It is important that he does it at his own risk.

It is also allowed by law to conduct business without forming a legal entity. To do this, they undergo state registration as an individual entrepreneur (hereinafter referred to as IP). What is the legal status of an individual entrepreneur? How to become one and what are the features of the organizational and legal form (hereinafter referred to as OPF) of an individual entrepreneur?

Individual entrepreneurs are individuals, but the provisions of the laws of the Russian Federation, which also apply to legal entities, apply to them at the same time. This is due to the fact that people registering as an individual entrepreneur expand their civil rights (they can engage in activities that persons without an individual entrepreneur cannot do), but do not create a new business entity.

The main right of an individual entrepreneur, which he receives at the time of state registration, is to carry out commercial activities (if it is not prohibited by law) and receive profit from it.

You have to pay for everything. And it's not even a figurative expression. As a payment for the opportunity to have a business, the IP transfers taxes to the state treasury. They are withdrawn in the form of duties, contributions (insurance or pension, for example) to funds (PFR, FSS), as well as direct taxes (such as personal income tax).

IP pays taxes as an individual. For example, if he uses vehicles in his activity, then he pays for them exactly as an individual. For legal entities, a similar tax (due to other legal requirements) may be higher.

What is the difference between the legal status of individual entrepreneurs and legal entities? The fact that for the obligations of individual entrepreneurs they are responsible with all their property, including personal ones, while legal entities work only within the framework of the authorized capital.

In terms of litigation, the status of an entrepreneur also differs from legal entities. Individuals resolve their rights and disputes in Arbitration Courts and courts of general jurisdiction. In order to better understand the status of an individual entrepreneur, it is necessary to take into account the peculiarities of the civil law status of an individual entrepreneur.

One of them is that in Russia there is no single act that would clearly establish:

Who is an IP?
What are his responsibilities?
What are his rights?

Answers to these questions have to be sought in various articles and provisions of domestic legislation. A single structure of the legal status of an individual entrepreneur at the federal level has not been defined. Yes, in some subjects of the federation there is no such problem. Local deputies took appropriate measures to eliminate it in order to support small businesses.

It is much easier to provide benefits to that category of citizens, the signs of which are clearly defined by law (in this case, this category is individual entrepreneurs).

To find out all the strengths and weaknesses of the IP payer status and decide whether to switch to IP or not, you need to study in detail a large number of Codes of the Russian Federation? No.

The IP form has advantages and disadvantages over:

ordinary citizens;
other OPFs.

Compared to ordinary citizens, sole proprietors have one significant advantage, from which all others are derived - sole proprietors can legally engage in commercial activities, while ordinary citizens cannot. If civilians do business without establishing an individual entrepreneur or legal entity, then they will be held accountable (administrative or even criminal) under the law.

In terms of taxation, entrepreneurs also stand out among ordinary citizens. Individual entrepreneurs do not pay income tax at a rate of 13%. But they must regularly pay contributions to state funds.

AT financial terms activities of individual entrepreneurs are more profitable than the activities of legal entities. It all starts with registration.

It is much easier and cheaper to obtain such a status than to establish an LLC or JSC:

It is not necessary for an individual entrepreneur to acquire a seal and a bank account (although most often entrepreneurs draw up these attributes).
LLCs and JSCs initially invest in registration in the form of authorized capital, individuals are not required to do this.

Entrepreneurs have a wider choice of taxation systems than legal entities.

In case of non-compliance with any requirements of the law, for individual entrepreneurs, sanctions are not as significant as for legal entities (smaller fines, for example).

Individual entrepreneurs can dispose of income at their own discretion: withdraw it from the business, invest it back into the company without reporting. Legal entities they cannot do that. The founders of LLC and JSC can withdraw money in the form of dividends, for example. However, they are required to pay the established tax on them.

The situation is similar with the property of an individual entrepreneur. Moreover, members of his family have the right to dispose of this property at their own discretion.

A businessman with the status of an individual entrepreneur can be not only self-employed, but also combine entrepreneurial activities and cooperation with an employer on employment contract.

It was noted above that individual entrepreneurs have the right to act as employees without closing the individual entrepreneur. True, this right does not apply to all positions. A businessman does not have the right to simultaneously be registered as an individual entrepreneur and hold any public position. This is prohibited by law.

Many companies and individuals often prefer legal entities rather than individual entrepreneurs when cooperating. What is it connected with? For many citizens, the status of an LLC or JSC (in any form) is more credible than an individual entrepreneur. There is no compelling rationale for such behavior. It is only generally accepted that LLC and JSC are more reliable than individual entrepreneurs and cooperation with them is more promising, although this is not at all the case.

It is necessary to judge not by the OPF, but by the results of the development of a company or an individual. Unexpectedly, both LLC and individual entrepreneurs can equally terminate their activities.

The disadvantages include the fact that individual entrepreneurs are liable for obligations with all personal property, including those belonging to the family. In this case, legal entities have a more advantageous position.

Family relationships also influence IP. For example, in the event of a divorce (if the terms of the marriage are not agreed in advance), the profits from commercial activities are equally divided between the spouses. At the same time, it does not matter when one of the spouses registered an individual entrepreneur: before marriage or after - everything is considered jointly acquired property.

To avoid such a situation, an individual entrepreneur can draw up a prenuptial agreement, which will clearly define all the conditions for the division of property in the event of a divorce.

In order for a citizen to obtain the status of an individual entrepreneur, it is necessary to apply to the Federal Tax Service and submit the relevant application with the package of documents attached to it.

The deadline for processing documents for individual entrepreneurs in 2019 is three days.

What documents do citizens of Russia need to submit to the Federal Tax Service for registering an individual entrepreneur?

Application (form P21001).
Receipt of payment of the state duty for registration. Cost: 800 r.
Copy of the passport.

For foreign citizens to this list are added:

A copy of the TRP / permanent residence document.
Certified translation of the passport of the native state.

A similar procedure can be performed (following the procedure) through the website of the Federal Tax Service.

If the applicant initially decided that he would switch from the main tax collection system to another preferential regime, then a notice of the transition must be attached to the documents (in two or three copies).

The simplified taxation system or STS (or “simplified”) is divided into two types: income 6%, income minus expenses 15%. In the first case, the tax is levied in the amount of 6% of the income received, in the second - on the difference between income and expenses in the amount of 15%.

A patent or PSN does not imply the payment of any taxes at all. A patent is a document that is acquired by an individual entrepreneur and gives him the right to engage in certain types of business on preferential terms (they are determined separately by the laws of specific subjects of the federation).

Individual entrepreneurs on a single tax on imputed income or UTII (or "imputation") pay a fixed income, which is established by the regional authorities for each type of business that is allowed on UTII, individually.

With a single agricultural tax (ESKhN), the situation is similar to that with UTII. Only those individual entrepreneurs who receive more than 70% of all profits from the sale of agricultural products (production or sales, for example) have the right to switch to the UAT.

The general taxation system (OSNO) is the most disadvantageous for an entrepreneur, not only in terms of the amount of taxes charged, but also in terms of reporting. In order to competently and correctly report on tax payments, an entrepreneur needs to have an accountant on staff with work experience and significant professional skills. Not every specialist can handle this.

Individual entrepreneurs who use preferential taxation regimes (STS, ESHN, UTII) need to purchase and register a cash register. It is also necessary for owners of online stores and entrepreneurs who are engaged in retail alcohol or products containing more than 15% ethyl alcohol.

In other cases, an individual entrepreneur acquires a check printing machine. This will help automate accounting and record the entrepreneur's cash flow, which is convenient when reporting in tax authorities.

In addition, receipts give a guarantee to customers that they can return or exchange the goods in case of a defect or for any other reason. However, some items are non-refundable.

For example, the following are non-refundable:

Cosmetics and perfumery.
Textile products.
Household furniture.
Auto.
Products from precious metals.

After registering a citizen as an individual entrepreneur, a corresponding entry is made in the unified state register of individual entrepreneurs, and the citizen himself registers with the tax authority.

The presence of the legal status of an individual entrepreneur gives a citizen wide opportunities for conducting economic activities:

trade;
production;
services.

The state gives benefits to businessmen with this status. In particular, it allows you to legally engage in entrepreneurial activities in the above business areas. For this, it collects taxes from them.

Some citizens believe that the mandatory payment of taxes can be attributed to the shortcomings of individual entrepreneurship, but this statement can hardly be called fair, because absolutely all citizens of the country pay taxes in one form or another. This is one of the main sources of state income, with the help of which roads, houses are built, various benefits are paid, for example.

It is important for an entrepreneur to learn how to properly manage their income. One of the reasons budding entrepreneurs fail at the start is a waste of money.

Firstly, in order for a business to develop, it is constantly necessary to invest in it, and at the initial stage, this may have to be done “out of one's own pocket”. How to invest from the "pocket" if it is empty? Yes, you can take a loan, but is it reasonable if you can correctly redirect the profits already received without paying interest to the bank? In addition, late payment of debts will not lead to anything good.

Second, what if the investment was received from the state? For example, as part of a small business support program. They cannot be spent at one's own discretion, investments of this kind must be accounted for, and if obligations are not met, severe penalties will follow.

So, it is impossible to be guided by the principle “my profit: I do what I want”. You need to approach everything wisely and make balanced actions - this is the essence of business.

A businessman is responsible to clients, employees, the state:

If obligations to the client are not fulfilled, the entrepreneur will miss out on profits.
If the obligations to the employee are not fulfilled, then, perhaps, the individual entrepreneur will lose a specialist who could bring him large incomes in the future.
If a businessman does not fulfill his obligations to the state, then administrative or even criminal sanctions may be applied to him.

Therefore, starting work as an individual entrepreneur is a serious step that needs to be carefully considered. In some countries, in order to obtain entrepreneurial status, similar to an individual entrepreneur in Russia, it is necessary to undergo a psychological test, the results of which will serve as the basis for granting such status or refusing it.

Unfortunately or fortunately, such testing has not yet been introduced in the Russian Federation. To obtain the status of an entrepreneur, you only need to meet certain criteria (for example, not have a court ban on doing business), as well as provide a certain package of documents to the executive body involved in the registration of individuals and legal entities.

The legal status of an individual imposes a number of restrictions on a citizen, increases the level of his responsibility to the state, but at the same time gives him privileges compared to ordinary citizens and other forms of business organization.