The legal status of individual entrepreneurial activity. The legal status of an individual entrepreneur in the Russian Federation. Definition and characteristics of entrepreneurial activity

The current legislation provides the right to engage in entrepreneurship in the forms listed by it. One of them is an individual entrepreneur.

general characteristics

Legal status individual entrepreneur- this is the legal status of the specified category of citizens, which predetermines the scope of rights and obligations, limits of responsibility and protection. The peculiarity is characterized in its duality as a citizen (individual) and as a subject of commercial activity. Therefore, the rules governing the activities of corporations and individuals (citizens) are subject to application.

Significance for the status of an individual entrepreneur is the nature and type of activity that involves the personal employment of a person duly registered as an individual entrepreneur.

Other qualities that the status in question possesses are:

the entrepreneur acts on his own behalf;
independence of commercial activities;
the goal is to achieve an economic result, to make a profit;
increased property liability.

An individual entrepreneur has the right to become a citizen of the Russian Federation, a foreigner or a stateless person. This does not affect the general content of rights and obligations, with the exception of restrictions on the types of activities. An individual entrepreneur can become a capable person, including a minor, subject to the conditions specified in the law. Thus, a 14-year-old teenager has the right to carry out activities within the framework of the status under consideration with the consent of his parents (guardians, trustees). Persons deprived of legal capacity due to mental illness or otherwise incapacitated cannot be entrepreneurs.

We must not forget that some citizens are prohibited from engaging in entrepreneurial activity by virtue of the instruction of the law or on the basis of a court decision (state and municipal employees, deputies, persons to whom such a measure of punishment has been applied, etc.).

For the legality of the implementation entrepreneurial activity it is required to comply with the administrative procedure and register as an individual entrepreneur. The state bodies authorized to act on the fact of obtaining the status of an individual entrepreneur by a person are the tax authorities. Registration is made by entering into State Register relevant information about the acquisition by citizens of the status of an individual entrepreneur, its closure, and other necessary.

Benefits of the legal status of an individual entrepreneur

The following main positive aspects of the considered status are highlighted.

Compared to commercial organizations:

the legislation provides for a simpler administrative procedure for registration and termination of the status of an individual entrepreneur;
Individual entrepreneurs are provided with more options for using the simplified taxation procedure, for example, a patent regime;
the organization must have an independent balance sheet (estimate), accounting must be kept. Individual entrepreneurs do not have this obligation. They only keep records of income and expenses for the fulfillment of tax obligations.
using property in commercial activities, an individual entrepreneur is not obliged to separate it from the rest in any way, he and his family continue to use and dispose of it in the usual manner;
It is easier for individual entrepreneurs to dispose of income received from entrepreneurial activity. In order to make a profit, the participants (shareholders) of the organization need to wait for the decision of the meeting, which is made only if certain conditions are met.

Compared to ordinary citizens:

obtaining the appropriate status in the manner prescribed by law eliminates the prospect of bringing a person engaged in commercial activities to responsibility for illegal entrepreneurship;
it is not required to pay tax (personal income tax) on income received as a result of entrepreneurial activity;
possibility labor activity not only as an individual entrepreneur, but also under an employment contract;
the possibilities of concluding a large number of contracts and increasing profits are expanding, as many suppliers prefer not to work with individuals, treating them as retail buyers.

Negative aspects of the legal status of individual entrepreneurs

The capital of corporations is formed at the expense of contributions (contributions) of the founders (participants, shareholders), the rights of the latter to this property are terminated. With this capital, the organization meets the requirements of creditors. The founders are not involved in this process.

An individual entrepreneur does not make a separate accounting of property used in commercial activities, he is fully responsible for everything that belongs to him.

In addition, such a regime carries additional risks for individual entrepreneurs of loss of property used for commerce. As a result of a divorce, the subsequent division of property or foreclosure on the debts of a spouse, an entrepreneur may be left without fixed assets with which he conducts business (vehicles, real estate, etc.). It is possible to avoid the occurrence of such problems by concluding an appropriate marriage contract.

An individual entrepreneur has the right to carry out a limited list of activities.

So, he is not entitled to sell alcohol (other goods: medicines, weapons, etc.), open an investment fund, transport passengers and goods on some types of transport (for example, air), etc. In case of violation of this prohibition, he faces administrative or criminal sanctions.

The use of some simplified taxation systems requires the administrative acquisition of a patent, which leads to additional costs for the entrepreneur.

Regardless of the activity of entrepreneurial activity, an individual entrepreneur from the moment of registration is obliged to regularly submit reports in the manner prescribed by law and fulfill other obligations of economic entities.

When hiring workers, the status of an employer is fully extended to an individual entrepreneur, including the corresponding obligations provided for by labor and tax legislation (to keep personnel records, list personal income tax as a tax agent, etc.).

Responsibility of individual entrepreneurs

If a person, in the course of carrying out his usual commercial activities, violates the current legislation, he is brought to property, administrative, and criminal liability. This risk also exists for individual entrepreneurs. At the same time, he becomes the subject of responsibility both as a businessman and as a citizen.

Administrative liability involves violations of both tax and labor, customs and other legislation. Practice shows that untimely submission of reports, payment of taxes, contributions to funds, and other administrative offenses become standard violations for an entrepreneur.

Due to improper performance of obligations under contracts, an individual entrepreneur is brought to civil liability, which in more than fifty percent of cases leads to proceedings in court: when selling goods of inadequate quality (in relation to consumers), non-payment or delay in payment for goods. This type of liability is material in nature and involves the application of financial sanctions in the form of fines, penalties, and other compensation for harm.

For the commission of serious offenses in the field of business activities (crimes), an individual entrepreneur runs the risk of criminal liability as a citizen: for the sale of alcoholic beverages, weapons, and other types of illegal entrepreneurship. The amount of sanctions under this type of responsibility is stricter than under administrative responsibility.

Features of protecting the rights of individual entrepreneurs

A characteristic feature of the status of an individual entrepreneur is also recognized that if a dispute with his participation is of an economic nature, and the other party is also a business entity, it is subject to consideration by an arbitration court. And conflicts with citizens (consumers) or disputes in which an individual entrepreneur does not act as a businessman are the subject of proceedings by courts of general jurisdiction.

Thus, the dual position of an individual entrepreneur is manifested in the peculiarities of protecting rights, giving him the right to act both as a subject of entrepreneurial activity and as an individual (citizen).

In addition to judicial protection, an entrepreneur has the right to use other methods of protection, in particular, in relation to acts of state bodies, to appeal them in an administrative manner.

In addition, the SP is subject to the requirement to comply with the pre-trial settlement of the dispute in the event of such a conflict from economic activity.

Termination of SP status. Bankruptcy

If a citizen makes a decision to terminate his independent entrepreneurial activity, he has the right to take steps to voluntarily close it. The loss of status occurs after the entry of the relevant information into the USRIP in accordance with the administrative procedures established by law.

The presence of debts in taxes and other obligatory payments by an entrepreneur is not a reason for refusing to take actions to terminate his activities.

Liquidation of individual entrepreneurs provides for a simplified procedure compared to similar procedures for organizations.

The necessary registration actions are carried out by the tax authorities. After the inspections, they make a record of the termination of the entrepreneurial activity by the person in USRIP and issue a notification to the former entrepreneur.

In the event that an individual entrepreneur is unable to meet the monetary claims of creditors and / or pay taxes and other mandatory payments, he is declared bankrupt. Since October 1, 2015, the legislation on this issue has undergone changes.

Cases on bankruptcy of individual entrepreneurs or citizens who have lost this status in the presence of outstanding obligations as a result of entrepreneurial activity are subject to consideration in the framework of arbitration proceedings.
Based on the results of a court decision on declaring a person bankrupt, a legal procedure for the sale of property belonging to him is introduced, which takes place in accordance with civil procedural legislation, and the status of an individual entrepreneur is lost.

Doing business well is inextricably linked to understanding the rules of the law. Without this, it is impossible to build a successfully developing company. The choice of organizational and legal form depends on the goals of the business. The correct decision at the initial stage will contribute to the successful implementation of ideas and intentions. There are many common points between the legal statuses of an individual entrepreneur and a legal entity (LE), but there are also enough differences.

To understand the features of the submitted forms, it is necessary to analyze the articles of the law indicating the procedure and conditions for the implementation of activities. Knowing the regulatory framework and requirements, it will not be difficult to choose the appropriate option for the implementation of the business plan. We propose to understand what constitutes the legal status of an individual entrepreneur, as well as its features.

Individual entrepreneur: status features

Individuals who carry out entrepreneurial activities without registering a legal entity, but registered in accordance with the requirements of the law, are called individual entrepreneurs or individual entrepreneurs. They also include the heads of the peasant farms... The term “individual entrepreneur” was introduced in 1995 (Civil Code, article 23). The use of the combination "private entrepreneur" is considered incorrect.

Due to the peculiarities of the term "individual entrepreneur", the legal status of an individual entrepreneur is dual in nature. At the same time, it is subject to the norms of legislation both for individuals and for business entities. Thus, a citizen gets the opportunity to conduct business without creating a new economic entity (law of 08.08.2001 under number 29-FZ). Compared to the rights of legal entities, it is significantly inferior, but against the background of other individuals, they are more extensive.

The civil legal status of an individual entrepreneur is defined as the legal status of an individual entrepreneur in the field of entrepreneurial (civil) relations, which characterizes the principles, guarantees, measures of responsibility and determines their place in the system of civil legal relations, taking into account the specifics and characteristics of their activities.

Conducting any activity not prohibited by law is a characteristic feature of a citizen who has acquired the status of an individual entrepreneur. Exclusive rights impose certain responsibilities. With the adoption of the status of an individual entrepreneur, it becomes necessary to pay taxes, mandatory contributions and fees during extrabudgetary funds... But in many cases, an entrepreneur is guided by legislative acts for individuals. So, for example, when using existing vehicles for commercial purposes, he pays taxes as an individual, observing the procedure established for this category.

Defending the rights and interests of individual entrepreneurs in court and features of legal regulation

The scheme of judicial protection of the interests of an individual entrepreneur depends on the basis on which he acted in a given situation. For an individual entrepreneur who is a business entity, it will be carried out in arbitration courts. In the case when legal relationship An individual entrepreneur is considered from the point of view of a citizen, then the court of general jurisdiction will be the venue for the proceedings. In this regard, it is very important to determine on the basis of what and in the capacity of whom the entrepreneur acts in a particular situation.

Conducting production or commercial activities without proper registration is prohibited by law.

Currently, there are no regulatory legal acts regulating in detail the civil status of an individual entrepreneur. Numerous attempts to remedy this omission have been unsuccessful. The adoption at the federal level of a single law would to some extent simplify the interaction between entrepreneurs and their counterparties, as well as government agencies. Legislative acts existing at the local level are primarily aimed at the development and support of small businesses. They emphasize the special status of citizens - individual entrepreneurs, but in order to find out the procedure and conditions of work, it is necessary to rely on a large number of normative documents.

You can find out about the main methods of protection in the implementation of commercial activities of an individual entrepreneur by reading this article:

Positive aspects of the IP status

Individual entrepreneurs have a number of advantages. All positive (and negative) aspects are easier to consider in terms of comparison with two categories:

with ordinary citizens,
with other organizational and legal forms.

Citizens who are not registered as individual entrepreneurs are significantly limited in their rights. For them, it is prohibited to carry out commercial transactions that involve making a profit on a regular basis. Violation of this requirement may lead to liability, the nature of which - administrative or criminal - will depend on the details of the situation. Such restrictions do not apply to individual entrepreneurs. Even in terms of taxation, an individual entrepreneur has a small advantage - he does not have to pay personal income tax, which is mandatory for all citizens (payments are made from most of the income received).

Comparing individual entrepreneurs and legal entities, one can note the minimum level of expenses for registration. In addition, for IP, the volume required documents much less, there is no obligation to pay the authorized capital and registration legal address... An entrepreneur can safely conduct business without a stamp and a checking account. In the tax legislation for individual entrepreneurs, a greater number of tax regimes are enshrined, and in the administrative one, penalties for much smaller amounts and short sentences are provided.

The individual entrepreneur has the right to independently decide on what needs to spend the income received in the process of activity. The property of an individual entrepreneur is another significant advantage of the status. An individual entrepreneur can use it for both personal and commercial purposes without restrictions. Family members of an entrepreneur also have a similar right.

For individual entrepreneurs, opportunities are open to combine this status with the implementation of other types of activities. So, for example, he can carry out work for hire (except for some positions that are subject to the restriction). An entrepreneur has the right to act as a founder of a legal entity, as well as a participant or founder of a public organization. As an individual, he can enter into legal relations without restrictions. Thus, the range of possible occupations does not end with commercial activities.

Negative aspects of status

The peculiarities of the legal status of an individual entrepreneur presuppose the presence of not only many advantages, but also a sufficient number of disadvantages. First of all, it is worth noting the mandatory tax deductions and payments to off-budget funds. An individual entrepreneur must submit reports established by law. If an entrepreneur has employees, he performs the functions of a tax agent - he transfers mandatory payments from the income of employees (individuals).

A number of restrictions apply to individual entrepreneurs. Certain types of public services are closed for them, including civil (Article 17, subparagraph three of paragraph 1 of the law of July 27, 2004 under number 79-FZ). A restriction is established on the activities carried out. Some types are not available for individual entrepreneurs (among them the production and sale of alcohol, medicines; activities related to the military sphere, etc.). Sometimes legal entities refuse to cooperate with individual entrepreneurs. One of the reasons is the difficulty with VAT (payment and refund).

An important disadvantage of the IP status is the (risk) of all available property. In the event of claims arising in the course of activities with individual entrepreneurs, they can collect funds (including personal property, taking into account the restrictions established by law) to pay off the debt to government agencies or business partners in full. This fact leads to the fact that an improperly organized business will directly affect the welfare of the entrepreneur. But also for legal entities there is a possibility of incurring significant material losses of personal property. They bear subsidiary liability (Article 399 of the Civil Code).

Individual entrepreneur and prenuptial agreement

It is necessary to pay attention to one more point, which concerns the property and income of the entrepreneur. If the individual entrepreneur is in a civil marriage (officially registered), then everything that is received in the process of activity is subject to division upon divorce. Property, which was used only for commercial purposes, is also distributed among the spouses in equal shares. This rule applies even if the status of an entrepreneur was acquired before marriage.

A kind of "insurance" can help in this situation. To prevent unwanted division, it is necessary to conclude a marriage contract, in which the existing status and procedure for divorce must be indicated. It is also worth considering that without the consent of the spouse, an individual entrepreneur cannot dispose of real estate acquired in marriage. Even if it is used for commercial purposes only.

Termination of activity

Along with the beginning of the status, its termination has a number of features that must be observed. The entrepreneur has the right at any time to own decision stop carrying out this activity. To do this, he needs to fill out an application (form No. Р26001) and pay the state duty (160 rubles). After submitting the necessary documents to the tax office, a positive decision is obtained and a mark is made in the state register on the termination of activities. In addition to this reason, the reason for changing the status of an individual entrepreneur may be:

death of an entrepreneur,
bankruptcy,
an injunction against such activities,
invalid certificate of an individual entrepreneur (expiration).

The legal status of an individual entrepreneur has many advantages over legal entities and ordinary citizens, there are also some disadvantages. In any case, it cannot be said that individual entrepreneurship is an ideal form for carrying out commercial activities. With the right approach, build successful business it is possible regardless of the organizational and legal form. In the process of work, it is important to take into account the requirements of the legislation, to have an understanding of the rights and obligations, and then many problems will be avoided.

Video - "Comparison of IP and LLC"

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 meaning of this provision is simply necessary when choosing a particular organizational and legal form for your 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 unfulfilled for the simple reason that a person could not fully understand all the nuances that the status of an individual entrepreneur carries with it. the result of this is either a failed business, or even a refusal to implement your idea.

Features of the status of individual entrepreneurs

First of all, we note that the legal status of an individual entrepreneur is of a dual nature, therefore, the norms of legislation applicable to individuals, as well as to subjects of entrepreneurial activity, are simultaneously applied to him.

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 wider list of civil rights.

Peculiarities of IP activity

The most essential right when 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 him to make a profit.

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

At the same time, in many legal relations, an individual entrepreneur acts on the basis of legal norms for individuals. For example, if he uses for commercial purposes vehicles, which are registered on him, then he makes the payment of the transport tax as an individual, in the manner established 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 his 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.

The peculiarity 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. So, the protection of the rights of an individual entrepreneur as a subject of entrepreneurial activity 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 the trial, to determine on the basis of what the IP acts in a given situation, or rather, in the capacity of whom, 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 legal status of an individual entrepreneur

Note that at the 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 legislative branch 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 regulatory documents are related to measures to support small businesses.

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

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 strong and weak sides such a situation. By the way, it is this kind of analysis that best of all allows us to identify the features of the legal status of an individual entrepreneur.

Benefits of IE status

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

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

The 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 endowed with the right to conduct business. A citizen who is not registered as an individual entrepreneur does not have the right to carry out any commercial operations aimed at regular profit. Otherwise, he may be held liable, depending on the consequences to criminal or administrative.

In the field of taxation, an individual entrepreneur is exempted from paying personal income tax, which is obligatory paid by all citizens of the Russian Federation from most types of income received.

Benefits over legal entities

An individual entrepreneur has even more advantages in comparison with legal entities, which are also created to make a profit in the process of carrying out entrepreneurial activities. For example, the costs of registering an individual entrepreneur are minimal; there is no need to prepare a lot of documents, to pay the authorized capital, or to search for a legal address. In the process of carrying out his activities, an entrepreneur can do without such mandatory legal entities. persons attributes like checking account and printing. Tax legislation provides for a greater number of tax regimes for individual entrepreneurs, while administrative legislation provides for a smaller amount of penalties.

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

Also, the mode of use of property has been significantly simplified, which an individual entrepreneur can use both for commercial purposes and for their own needs. By the way, family members of an entrepreneur also have the right to dispose of property, including those used in their entrepreneurial 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 a founder of legal entities, a 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 the 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 on individual entrepreneurs

There are also certain restrictions for persons with the status of individual entrepreneurs. For example, they cannot be accepted into government civil or any 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 for individual entrepreneurs.

Cons compared to legal entities

We also note that situations of refusal from 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. a person is more attractive than an individual entrepreneur. 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 abandonment of such an organizational and legal form, is that an individual entrepreneur is responsible for his obligations with all property belonging to him by right of ownership. The Civil Code stipulates that an individual entrepreneur carries out his activities at his own risk. As a result, business failures 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?

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 divorce, are subject to division between the spouses.

By general rule this division is carried out in equal shares, and 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 common property spouses. The only exception is if a marriage contract is concluded between the spouses, which contains a provision on the division of income of a spouse who has the status of an individual entrepreneur.

In addition, an individual entrepreneur is not entitled to dispose of immovable property that was acquired in marriage without the consent of a spouse, including if this property is used solely for the purpose of carrying out entrepreneurial activities.

Summary

Thus, the legal capacity of an individual entrepreneur is a kind of "expansion" of the rights of an ordinary citizen. This status provides the 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, situations are not uncommon when an entrepreneur, who has a habit of spending part of the profits from a business for his own needs, does the same with earmarked funds received as part of supporting a small business or applying for a loan. And if in the first case there are no restrictions on the use of profit, then in the second situation, this may entail negative consequences in the future.

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

This problem is typical not only for our country. In many countries where the legislation provides for a legal status similar to individual entrepreneurs, applicants for such status undergo psychological testing, which allows them to determine a person's ability to run their own business.

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

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

Economy

Keywords:

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Entrepreneurs wishing to implement their ideas and make a profit from this are obliged, first of all, to legitimize their activities by going through the state registration procedure. At this moment, difficulties arise 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.

IE - an 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 who is engaged in entrepreneurship without forming a legal entity. It turns out that an individual entrepreneur cannot be counted among legal entities.

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

It can be concluded that individual entrepreneurs should be attributed to a separate group of persons who have the rights and obligations acquired in connection with the beginning 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 willing to take risks by the owner of the business with the aim of regularly making 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 tax authorities who have received the right to be called an individual entrepreneur apply for its implementation. If there was no registration, the activity does not cease to be called entrepreneurial, but is recognized as illegal. This must 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 an illiterate conduct of business or by accident, circumstances may arise that will cause an individual entrepreneur to lose the property acquired by him).

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

Legal status of individual entrepreneurs

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 the level of responsibility and determines their position in the system of legal relations, taking into account the specifics and nuances of their conduct economic activity.

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 citizen of the country the right to use knowledge, skills and savings in order to carry out commercial activities permitted by current legislation

The legal status of an individual entrepreneur is characterized by ambiguity - at one time, normative acts are applicable to his work, which are relevant to all ordinary residents of the country and business entities.

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 engage in cattle breeding or cultivation of cultivated plants, entrepreneurship will take the form of a peasant farm, which is also not a legal entity.

The heads of the 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 realized exclusively independently - it does not happen that an incapacitated person becomes legal capacity due to the fact that the legal representative has taken on part of his obligations.

The right to organize their business as an individual entrepreneur is possessed by:

capable citizens (without obtaining anyone's consent);
partially capable minor citizens of 14 years and older (after obtaining the written consent of legal representatives, certified by a notary) and minors who entered into an official marriage or were emancipated by a court decision or 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.
Previously registered individual entrepreneurs.
Deprived of the right to conduct business on the basis of judgment if the ban has not expired.
The enterprise of which was forcibly closed, if not 12 months have 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 the commission of which it is impossible by law 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 having legal grounds for that (temporary residence permit, residence permit).

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

Individual entrepreneurs do not have the right to sell alcohol and medicines, to open security company and for some other types of 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).

SP is given the right to enter into any legal commercial contracts... Also, business owners can participate in full partnerships and associate 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 to the enterprise.

Individual entrepreneurs have the right to hire employees or work independently without hiring hired labor.

For the accumulated debts, individual entrepreneurs are paid with all the property they own as owners - fully owned by them or with shares in joint possessions 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 individual entrepreneurs

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

SP status occupies an intermediate position between the position commercial organizations and individuals. Individual entrepreneurs - participants in the economic turnover, which 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.

The 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.

Rights and benefits of individual entrepreneurs

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

The right to conduct any lawful commercial activity aimed at obtaining financial gain.
An individual entrepreneur in certain situations can act as an individual. For example, when operating a car in the course of economic activity, an individual entrepreneur transfers the 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.
The individual entrepreneur is exempt from calculating and transferring to the personal income tax budget.
SP has the right to hire employees.
The law allows individual entrepreneurs to:
- work on labor contract(but not in any position),
- become a founder of an LLC,
- establish or participate in public organizations,
- to exercise all the rights available to ordinary citizens.
The individual entrepreneur has the right to make his own seal imprint and open a current account, but he is not obliged to do either one or the other.
The individual entrepreneur and members of his family have the right to use the property involved in the work of the enterprise for personal needs.

Obligations and limitations of individual entrepreneurs

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

An individual entrepreneur must pay taxes and fees in accordance with the conditions of his preferred taxation regime, as well as make payments to the FSS, PFR.
The individual entrepreneur is obliged to submit reports on time as commercial firms.
Individual entrepreneurs should take on the role of tax and insurance agent for employees hired by them, withhold funds from their salaries to pay insurance premiums and personal income tax.
Individual entrepreneurs are prohibited from 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 in marriage, if the spouse has not given him consent to do so.
The law restricts individual entrepreneurs in the choice of types of economic activity. In particular, they are prohibited from selling medicines and alcoholic beverages, and from opening a security agency.
An individual entrepreneur risks everything he owns. The property of an individual entrepreneur is not subdivided into personal and participating in business.
The individual entrepreneur is not entitled to transfer the right to engage in entrepreneurship by inheritance; after his death, only the property is transferred to the heir.

SP and prenuptial agreement

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

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

The fact that the registration of the individual entrepreneur took place even before the receipt of the certificate from the registry office will not matter. Therefore, if you have doubts about the strength of family relations, you should protect your business by signing a marriage contract, which would directly indicate the procedure for the division of ownership in the event of a break in family ties.

Acquisition of the legal status of an individual entrepreneur

The right to open a company is associated with the need to undergo state registration of a business owner as an individual entrepreneur and registering 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 incapacitated on the basis of, for example, a medical report that he or she 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 at the subdivision of the Federal Tax Service of Russia serving the relevant territorial unit.

Acquisition of the legal status of an individual entrepreneur for minors

In Russia, not only persons who have reached the age of 18 have the right to become entrepreneurs, but also minor residents of the country. But for this they will need to comply with the statutory requirements.

Russian legislation allows underage citizens to register as individual entrepreneurs if there are grounds for recognizing them as legally capable

The right to register an individual entrepreneur for minors arises if there is a reason for declaring him capable:

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

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

A notarized copy of the marriage.
The decision of the guardianship and guardianship authorities on the recognition of a teenager as legally capable.
The court's decision on the onset of full legal capacity.
Notarized written consent of legal representatives. If only one of the parents (adoptive parents) has granted permission to do business, the following is additionally provided:
- death certificate of the second parent (if one of the parents has passed away),
- a court decision on recognizing a citizen as missing (if the whereabouts of one of the parents have not been 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 turns 14. 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 an individual entrepreneur

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

Do not confuse the concept of termination and suspension of the work of an individual entrepreneur - 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 relinquish 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 of Р26001,
provide a receipt for payment of the state duty,
submit a tax return from the beginning of the last reporting period to the date of completion of the individual entrepreneur's work,
report the completion of economic activities to extrabudgetary funds.

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

death of an individual entrepreneur;
the court's decision to close the enterprise;
recognition of an individual entrepreneur as bankrupt (insolvent) in court;
the entry into force of a court verdict, according to which a sanction is imposed on the 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 the closure of the company occurs, the state registration of the individual entrepreneur becomes invalid. Refusal from the status of an individual entrepreneur does not relieve 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 relieve the entrepreneur from his obligations under the contracts concluded during the period of work

Positive aspects of the legal status of an individual entrepreneur

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

The advantages of an individual entrepreneur over ordinary citizens

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

SP has the ability to conduct commercial activities, while concluding deals and regularly making a profit.
Individual entrepreneurs do not have to pay personal income tax.

Benefits of an individual entrepreneur over legal entities

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

Disadvantages of the legal status of individual entrepreneurs

Obviously, in addition to the merits of the legal status of an individual entrepreneur, there are also negative aspects of it:

Video: individual entrepreneur or LLC (pros and cons)

Speaking about the legal status of an individual entrepreneur, it is necessary in parallel to supplement it with the rights and obligations of an ordinary citizen. People who want to organize their own business, but refuse to register themselves as an individual entrepreneur, are stopped by the fear of property liability. However, acting honestly without attempting to evade obligations and realizing the risks that are not present 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 speedy 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 the manner prescribed by law without forming a legal entity. it general position on the right to entrepreneurial activity is formulated in Art. 18, 23 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

In the literature, it was suggested that the concepts of "an entrepreneur without forming a legal entity" and "an 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 carrying out entrepreneurial activity without forming a legal entity in violation of the requirements of paragraph 1 of this article does not have the right to refer to the transactions concluded by him with 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 so-called private practitioners (lawyers, detectives, notaries) as entrepreneurs without 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 Code Russian Federation(hereinafter referred to as the Tax Code of the Russian Federation) in the context of this Code, individual entrepreneurs mean not only individuals registered in the prescribed manner and carrying out entrepreneurial activities without forming a legal entity, but also private notaries, private security guards, and private detectives. This formulation 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 is this question that arose in the practice of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation on the complaint of citizen G.Yu. Pritula, notary.

According to the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, the analysis of the contested 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 solely 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 contested provision allows us to conclude that the legal status of private notaries is not identical with the legal status of individual entrepreneurs as individuals carrying out 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 a business 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 classification of private notaries as subjects of tax liabilities to the same group with individual entrepreneurs follows from the peculiarities of the status characteristics of private notaries. In particular, in the decisions 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-legal status of notaries ( lawyers).

However, a certain similarity in the status public law characteristics of notaries and lawyers does not exclude, in the opinion of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, the possibility of the legislator's application of 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 clause 2 of Art. 11 rules-definitions are intended to be applied solely for tax purposes. An 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. 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 assess the proposal to consider individuals as individual entrepreneurs who carry out entrepreneurial activities without state registration. Indeed, from an economic point of view, such an 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 business gives rise to various legal consequences. The Civil Code of the Russian Federation (clause 4 of Art. 23) does not allow the specified persons to refer to the transactions concluded by them that they are not entrepreneurs. Likewise, the Tax Code of the Russian Federation considers persons engaged in entrepreneurial activity without state registration as a taxpayer.

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

In turn, administrative and criminal legislation establish measures of legal liability for illegal business. So, Art. 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides criminal liability for illegal business, 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 licensing conditions, if this act has caused major damage to citizens, organizations or the state, or is associated with the extraction of income on a large scale.

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

Therefore, when characterizing legal entrepreneurship (clause 1 of article 2 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation), two criteria should be distinguished - subject and subject. Using the subject criterion, the legislator directly indicated the need for state registration of persons engaged in entrepreneurial activity. 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 carrying out 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 compelling arguments is the legal position of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation on public status 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 the entrepreneurial activity of citizens, carried out without the formation of a legal entity, the rules of the Code apply, 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 perspective, all legal entities must have special legal capacity, since they were created for the implementation of certain purposes.

Secondly, comparing the legal capacity of legal entities, we can distinguish universal and special legal capacity. The Civil Code of the Russian Federation (Article 49) also distinguishes between general and special legal capacity. As a general rule, commercial organizations have general legal capacity. The exception is unitary enterprises, as well as other types of organizations provided 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 who carry out entrepreneurial activities without creating a legal entity are endowed with special legal capacity.

In practice, this means that an individual entrepreneur is entitled to engage in only those 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 some laws adopted in its development, the legal capacity of persons engaged in entrepreneurial activity without forming a legal entity is of a general (universal) nature, since it is equated to the legal capacity of commercial organizations. Thus, there is a discrepancy between doctrinal opinion and the letter of the law on the issue under consideration.

The authors of the commentary to the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (edited by Prof. ON Sadikov) oppose 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 an opposition to legal capacity.

The head of a peasant (farm) enterprise, being an individual entrepreneur, has general legal capacity. This conclusion is confirmed by individual provisions of the Federal Law of June 11, 2003 No. 74-FZ "On the peasant (farm) 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 named Law lists the powers of the head of the farm, in particular, he organizes the activities of the farm; acts on behalf of the farm without a power of attorney, including representing its interests and concluding transactions; issues powers of attorney; recruits workers to the farm and dismiss them; organizes accounting and reporting of the farm; exercises other powers determined by the agreement between the members of the farm. In other words, the head of a peasant (farm) economy is an organ of a farm that 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 types of entrepreneurial activity based on the goals of the formation of the economy. In this capacity, the head of the farm does not conduct his own, separate from other members of the farm, individual entrepreneurial activity. 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 does not affect the establishment of the type of legal capacity and cases of its limitation.

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 can be limited by federal law only to the extent necessary in order to protect the foundations of the constitutional order, morality, health, rights and legitimate interests other persons, ensuring 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 of article 55) and the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (clause 2 of 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 may be limited by other regulatory legal acts.

This textual contradiction was attempted to be eliminated by the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation, 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 part one of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and restricting the rights of the owner are not subject to application. " The literature notes that it is incorrect to eliminate such a contradiction in the ruling 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 between the ages of 16 and 18 can engage in entrepreneurial activity only with the consent of their parents, adoptive parents or trustees (clause 1 of article 27 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). Upon reaching the age of 16, minors also have the right 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 in practical terms the question of the possibility of adult citizens, limited in their legal capacity due to the abuse of alcoholic beverages and narcotic substances, to engage in entrepreneurial activity seems to be interesting. By virtue of Art. 30 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, limitation of legal capacity should be understood as the deprivation by a 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 for the disposal of property, with the exception of small household transactions;

Directly receive wages, pension and other types of income (royalties, rewards for discoveries, inventions, etc.). Any other restrictions on the legal capacity of a citizen of 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 either.

Individuals carrying out entrepreneurial activities without forming a legal entity have the right to use hired labor. The previously effective Law of the RSFSR "On Enterprises and Entrepreneurial Activity" (Clause 3, Article 2) prohibited individual entrepreneurs from using hired labor.

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

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

The public law assessment of licensing is not affected by the rule of clause 1 of Art. 49 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. It is unlikely that under the influence of civil law, relations in the field of licensing can acquire a civil shade. 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.

It should be noted that individual entrepreneurs, including heads of peasant (farm) households, have some advantages over other organizational and legal forms of entrepreneurship. Let's start by paying taxes and fees. Individual entrepreneurs 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, there is a single tax rate of 13%. The specifics of calculating 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 on corporate income tax.

In the sphere individual entrepreneurship a simplified taxation system is applied, accounting and reporting. It (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 making settlements with the participation of citizens-entrepreneurs in cash. The Bank of Russia has established limit size settlements in cash in the Russian Federation between legal entities under one transaction (the specified amount varies).

Recovery of property and Money from the accounts of individual entrepreneurs is made only in court.

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