7 tips for a beginner entrepreneur to avoid problems (something you don’t know exactly from this)

After registering the PI in the tax office, you get not only the right to conduct business, i.e. do business, but also duties, the first of which is to submit reports and pay insurance premiums for themselves. In addition to these key responsibilities of each IPeshnik, there are a number of nuances that you should be aware of so as not to run into fines in the very first month of your official activities. Especially for this article, we selected seven important issues that need to be resolved by the IT freelancer immediately after the state registration.

And for those who opened an LLC, we prepared: 10 things that must be done after registering an LLC

1. Choose the right taxation system.

If, during your registration as an IP, you did not submit notifications on the transition to the simplified taxation system, then you need to decide on the taxation system during the ICS period after the registration date.

The taxation system is the procedure for calculating and paying tax. Each system has its own rate and tax base, but the main thing is that the amounts of tax payable differ significantly. One of such illustrative examples is in the article “ How much does a programmer earn in Moscow according to the Federal Tax Service ”.

There are five tax systems in total, but one of them (UAT) is intended only for agricultural producers. You can choose between the main (OSNO) and special systems (USN, UTII, PSN). In principle, the calculation of the tax burden is an accounting topic, so if you have a friend who knows a competent specialist, then it makes sense to refer to it.

On the knee, too, can count something:

on the basis of the payment you have to pay 13% of the difference between income and expenses plus VAT;
with USN, the income tax will be 6% of the income (in some regions the rate can be up to 1%);
with USN Revenues minus expenses - from 5% to 15% of the difference between income and expenses (in some regions, the rate can reach up to 1%);
patent value is issued by the FTS calculator ;
The calculation of UTII is a bit more complicated, but it can really cope on its own .

If you do not want to delve into the calculations, and do not get to the accountant, we recommend that you apply for the USN Revenues , because This is the most common taxation system. Plus, this is the easiest system in terms of reporting with a fairly low tax burden. It can also be combined with any other systems, except OSNO.

(!) From our recommendation to immediately switch to the simplified taxation system there is an exception - if your main customers are budget organizations or a large business, then they just need an IE that runs on OSNO.

Why this is important : special (they are also preferential) tax regimes allow you to reduce payments to the budget to a minimum. This right is enshrined in article 21 of the Tax Code. But if you yourself do not file an application for the transition to the simplified tax system, UTII, PSN, then no one will persuade you. By default, you will have to work on a shared system (OS). It is undesirable to forget about the timing of the reporting of your system; for an undelivered declaration, the tax authorities very quickly block the PI account.

Another reason to submit tax reports on time is the risk of receiving a payment in the amount of 154,852 rubles from the PFR. The logic is this - since you have not reported your income to the IFTS, their size is simply immodest. This means that the contributions will be calculated to the maximum (8MROT * 26% * 12). This is not a fine, the money will go to your retirement account and will be taken into account when calculating the pension (if everything has not changed by that time), but still the surprise is not the most pleasant.

2. Take advantage of tax holidays

If you register as an individual entrepreneur for the first time after the adoption of the regional law on tax holidays, you can claim a zero tax rate on the simplified taxation system and the special tax regime. Do not pay tax can be a maximum of two years. The specific activities for which tax holidays are established determines the regional law.

In Moscow, IPSH developers do not rely on tax holidays, but if your activity is related to research and development, then in most regions, including Moscow, you can get a zero tax rate.

It is possible to familiarize with tax holidays in details, and also with base of the majority of regional laws here .

Why this is important: if there is an opportunity to be in a tax haven for some time, why not take advantage of it? In addition, on PSN, in principle, it is not possible to reduce the cost of a patent by the amount of contributions. And in the framework of the tax holidays, the IP patent will not cost you anything.

3. Know and pay for insurance premiums.

Insurance premiums are the payments that each entrepreneur is required to contribute to the pension fund (PFR) and the compulsory health insurance fund (MHIF). From the new year, the Federal Tax Service will be responsible for collecting fees, because in the opinion of the authorities, the funds themselves with the collection of payments in their favor cope poorly.

The minimum amount of contributions varies every year. In 2016, it is about 23 thousand rubles, plus 1% of income over 300 thousand. If you have been registered as a PI less than a year, then the amount is recalculated accordingly. Contributions for yourself need to pay all the time while you are registered as an entrepreneur. Excuses and arguments of the form:

I do not conduct real activity;
what business is there, just a loss;
contributions are paid by the employer for me;
I'm actually retired already, etc.

in consideration by the funds is not accepted.

You can not pay for yourself contributions if the individual entrepreneur was drafted into the army or cares for a child under one and a half years old, a disabled child, a disabled person in the first group, elderly people over 80 years of age. But even in these cases, the assessment of contributions does not automatically stop, you must first submit documents that you are not engaged in real business.

So open the PI just like that, with the expectation that it might be useful sometime, not worth it. If you are still registered as an individual entrepreneur, and now you are in idle mode, then it is cheaper to withdraw from the registration (state duty is only 160 rubles), and if necessary, register again. The number of approaches to the reception desk of the registrar is not limited.

Why this is important: contributions will still be collected from you, even if you close the IP. Plus, a penalty of 20% to 40% of the unpaid amount and interest. In addition, by not paying the contributions on time, you are depriving yourself of the opportunity to immediately reduce the amount of accrued tax on this amount.

An example of reducing payments on the STS for insurance premiums

SP without workers on the USN mode Revenues for 2016 earned 1 million rubles. He did not have any business expenses (but even if he did, then no expenditures are accounted for in the simplified tax system).

The tax amount is 1 000 000 * 6% = 60 000 rubles. Insurance premiums for individual entrepreneurs amounted to 30 153.33 rubles, at the rate of:

contributions to the Pension Fund of Russia - (6 204 * 12 * 26%) + ((1 000 000 - 300 000) * 1%) = (19 356.48 + 7 000) = 26 356.48 rubles.
MHIF contributions - 3,796.85 rubles at the rate of (6,204 * 12 * 5.1%) at any level of income.

The entrepreneur exercised the right to reduce advance payments on the unified tax on the simplified tax system at the expense of paid insurance premiums, so he paid them quarterly (*).

Let us calculate the total amount that went to the budget in the form of tax: 60,000 - 30,153.33 rubles (the amount of insurance premiums paid for which the tax can be reduced) = 29,846.67 rubles. As a result, his entire tax burden, including insurance premiums, is 60,000 rubles. The net income from the business of an individual entrepreneur is 1,000,000 - 60,000 = 940,000 rubles.

(*) If you pay your dues in a single amount at the end of the year, you will first have to pay the full tax amount of 60,000 rubles, and then apply to the tax inspectorate for refund or offset of the overpaid tax. Therefore, it is better to pay the installments in installments every quarter, and immediately reduce the quarterly advance payments on the USN. The result will be the same, but in the first case more trouble.

4. Submit a notice of start of activity

Few people know this, but before starting to provide services for the repair of computers and communication equipment (OKVED codes 95.11 and 95.12), an individual entrepreneur must be notified to the local office of Rospotrebnadzor about the start of business activities.

This is done in order to include you in the inspection plan of Rospotrebnadzor, although the first three years after registration SP are promised not to check. But if a client complains about you, who is dissatisfied with the quality of services, then the check will be unscheduled. By the way, from January 1, 2017, the Federal Service for the Consumer Rights Protection and Human Rights will come with a check only if the client provides evidence that he has already tried to call you to account. Apparently, the department has already got tired of checking the reality of all consumer complaints.

Why this is important: if you do not submit a notification, you can get a fine of 3 to 5 thousand rubles. In itself, the indication of OKVED codes 95.11 and 95.12 during the registration of the IP does not oblige you to report anything. You need to submit a notification only if you really plan to start repairing computers and communication equipment.

5. Open a current account

You can work without a settlement account if your clients are individuals who pay in cash and you enter into contracts with other PIs and LLCs for amounts not exceeding 100 thousand rubles. This is the limit that the Central Bank set for cash settlements between commercial entities.

To transcend it is quite easy, because it is not a one-time payment, but the sum of payments during the entire term of the contract. For example, you entered into a lease for a year, a rent - 15 thousand rubles a month. The total amount of payments under the contract will be 180 thousand rubles, which means that rent payment is allowed only by bank transfer.

Non-cash payments are convenient in principle, not only because they increase the number of payment methods, but also allow the consumer to pay you with a credit card when he has no other free money. Electronic money settlements can be legalized by creating a corporate wallet.

Why this is important: for violation of the limit of cash payments, an imposition of a fine is imposed on the IP under Article 15.1 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation (from 4 to 5 thousand rubles). And about why you should not accept payments to your personal card, we told in article 5 the reasons not to use your personal account in freelancing .

6. Register as an insured

If you use hired labor, then you need to get registered as a policyholder in a timely manner. Moreover, the type of contract with the employee - labor or civil law - does not matter. Even if you conclude a one-time short-term contract for the performance of some services or works with an ordinary individual, you become the insured. That is, besides paying remuneration to the executor, are obliged to pay insurance premiums for him at his own expense, withhold and transfer to the budget personal income tax and submit reports.

The obligations of the insurer on the delivery of various reports on employees or performers are very depressing - it is really a lot of it, and it is difficult. And in 2017, the main functions of administering contributions were transferred to the FTS, leaving some reports to the FIU and the FSS.

Why this is important: the terms of registration as the insurer of individuals in the FIU and the FSS - 30 days from the date of the conclusion of the first employment or civil law contract. If the deadline is violated or not registered at all, the Pension Fund will fine between 5 and 10 thousand rubles, and social insurance - from 5 to 20 thousand rubles. From 2017, the procedure for registering with the FSS remains the same, and instead of the PFR, the application of the IP insurer must be submitted to any tax authority .

7. Get a license if your type of activity is licensed.

A license is permission to engage in a specific activity. In the IT field, the law of 04.05.2011 No. 99-FZ refers to the following areas for licensing:

Development, production, distribution of encryption tools, information systems and telecommunication systems, performance of works, provision of services, maintenance in this area, except for the organization’s own needs or individual entrepreneurs;
Development, production, sale and purchase for the purpose of selling special technical equipment intended for secretly obtaining information;
Activities to identify electronic devices intended for secretly obtaining information, except for the organization’s own needs or individual entrepreneurs;
Development and production of protective equipment, technical protection of confidential information.

Licenses are issued by the FSB, advice on licensing issues can be obtained here .

Why this is important: an administrative fine under Article 14.1 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation (for an IP from 3 to 5 thousand rubles) can be charged for activity without a license or in violation of its conditions; confiscation of manufactured products, production tools and raw materials is also allowed. If, as a result of such activities, major damage has been caused or large-scale income has been received, then criminal liability is also possible.

Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, Article 171. Illegal business

1. Doing business without registration or without a license in cases where such a license is required, if this act caused major damage to citizens, organizations or the state or is associated with extracting income on a large scale is punishable by a fine of up to three hundred thousand rubles or in the amount of wages. payment or other income of the convict for a period of up to two years, or compulsory labor for up to four hundred and eighty hours, or arrest for up to six months.

2. The same act:

a) committed by an organized group;

b) associated with the extraction of income on a large scale, -

is punished with a fine in the amount of from one hundred thousand to five hundred thousand rubles, or in the amount of the salary or other income of the convicted person for a period of one to three years , or with forced labor for up to five years, or imprisonment for up to five years with a fine of up to eighty thousand rubles, or in the amount of the salary or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to six months or without it.

Finally, a brief overview of what can not be done with the PI:

PI can not be sold completely as a business. An entrepreneur can sell property, remnants of goods, raw materials, materials and so on. The buyer, if he intends to continue to conduct business, must be registered as an IP or LLC. Documents where the name of the entrepreneur-seller appears (licenses, permits, approvals, contracts, etc.) will have to be renewed to the new owner, and this is not always easy.
PI can not be renamed. Changes in the name of the IP are allowed only if the passport data of the individual himself has changed. For example, when changing the name in marriage. And just to call yourself by another name or come up with a resounding pseudonym / name is impossible. You can register a trademark or service mark, which is used in advertising, but in official documents the entrepreneur will still appear under the full name of the individual.
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You cannot register two or more PIs at the same time. The registration of an entrepreneur is carried out on his TIN of a physical person, which does not change in his entire life, regardless of the change of name. If you are a current entrepreneur, the tax authorities will immediately see this, so they will refuse to open a new IP. You want to have several unrelated businesses - register companies, you just have to stop at number 10, after that the founder is recognized as massive .
SP cannot be transferred or rented. This is equivalent to renting a passport or employment record. There are such offers on the Internet, and they are trying to convince everyone that everything is within the law: they will show copies or originals of the registration certificate of the individual entrepreneur, issue a power of attorney, and even sign a joint activity agreement. Only such a contract is entitled to enter into commercial entities, not physical persons, therefore, it has no legal force. All that you earn will belong to the "landlord", you can try to prove something only through the courts.

If you are not an IPShnik yet, but you are actively thinking about it, read our full instructions on how to register IP with all life hacks. We are also ready to advise you on the choice of the optimal tax system for free.