Self-employment

Labor market in Russia

Main article: Labor market in Russia

2023

Self-employed incomes in Russia for the year increased by 48% to 1.4 trillion rubles

Self-employed incomes in Russia in 2023 increased by 48% compared to 2022 and reached 1.4 trillion rubles. Such data in the Federal Tax Service (FTS) were published in mid-January 2024.

According to Vedomosti, citing statistics from the Federal Tax Service, the number of users of the special tax regime in 2023 increased by 39% from 6.6 million to 9.3 million people. The average check for their services for 2923 amounted to 1882 rubles, an increase of 221 rubles compared to a year ago. By January 1, 2024, the total income of the self-employed during the period of the professional income tax (NAP) amounted to 3.2 trillion rubles.

Self-employed earned 1.4 trillion rubles in 2023

According to the tax department, the self-employed, working with individuals, earned 495 billion rubles, and with companies - 844 billion rubles. Most of the self-employed as of the end of 2023 live in Moscow - 1.6 million people. The number of self-employed increases by an average of 8500 people every day. The average age of the self-employed is 35 years, 42% are women, 58% are men. Most often, the self-employed provide repair services. Other popular areas of their activity include automotive business, IT, beauty and information services.

The rapid increase in the number of self-employed in Russia is associated with preferential tax rates for them, said Alexander Isakov, chief economist for Russia at Bloomberg Economics. In his opinion, in the foreseeable future, the number of users of the special tax regime will reach a maximum at the level of about 10 million people.

At the same time, a significant increase in the income of the self-employed, in turn, is associated with inflation and a physical increase in their number, Vice-Rector of the Financial University Alexander Safonov told Vedomosti. He believes that the main influx of such workers into the economy is due to the fact that the business is trying to optimize the number of personnel and save on taxes.^[1]

Every fifth self-employed relocant returned to Russia

According to approximate estimates, from 400 to 600 thousand people left Russia in 2022, among them there were many self-employed. According to the Console. Pro platform, 20% of freelance performers returned back to Russia. The company announced this on June 6, 2023.

Almost every fourth self-employed relocant is an IT specialist (25%) or a marketer (21%), 16% are copywriters, and 14% work in the educational sphere.

More than half of the respondents (65%) chose the Caucasus and (, and) to move Middle East. Georgia Turkey Armenia Almost every tenth (9.6%) self-employed relocant went to, and 9% Slovakia went to. Kazakhstan

More than a third of the respondents (36%) decided to leave impulsively due to fear and rising social tensions in the country. Interestingly, almost one in five (17%) self-employed took the opportunity to visit the country of their dreams, and one in ten (12%) wanted to find work abroad.

During their stay in another country, respondents noted the availability and quality of food (23%), low rental prices (22%) and comfortable weather conditions (21%).

During the year, 20% of self-employed respondents returned back to Russia. The majority returned after two months - 37%. More than three months, almost half (47%) of the returning self-employed lived abroad. And every tenth (11%) freelance performer spent six months or more abroad.

Almost half of the self-employed (48.3%) relocants returned due to family circumstances or health problems, and one in five (20%) violated the rules of staying abroad or missed loved ones in Russia.

Among those who are still abroad, more than a third of respondents (35.9%) are ready to return to Russia due to problems with their health or illness of loved ones, almost every tenth (8.1%) would come to their homeland to resolve issues with documents.

The number of self-employed in Russia over 5 years increased from 337 thousand to 7.5 million people

The number of self-employed in Russia over five years has increased from 337 thousand to 7.5 million people, Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Tatyana Ilyushnikova told TASS in May 2023.

Self-employed in Russia form the market for new banking services

The analytical department of R-Style Softlab conducted a study on the development in Russia of the Institute of Self-Employed and IT Infrastructure, which is available to people who have chosen this method of official employment. R-Style Softlab announced this on March 30, 2023.

Over the past year, the number of self-employed has increased significantly. At the beginning of 2022, there were 3.9 million people in Russia, and by January 2023 - already 6.8 million. The main areas of activity of the self-employed (payers of professional income tax, NAP) are repairs, transport services, IT and beauty. The average age of the self-employed is 35 years. By the end of 2023, the number of self-employed may exceed 10 million people, and the total turnover - more than 377 billion rubles.

Additional services appear for financial services for the self-employed, including from credit institutions. Banks planning to launch such services are faced with the task of providing basic digital infrastructure for a growing new segment of customers.

As of March 2023, 327 banks were registered in Russia, however, less than 10% of them provide basic services for registering NAP payers with the Federal Tax Service and paying professional income tax. Given the active growth in the number of NAP payers in all industries, such services are planned to be launched in 2023 by at least 2% of credit institutions. One of the factors of increasing this indicator will be the integration availability of modules for working with the self-employed for remote banking systems and automated banking systems.

Traditionally, payment instruments are widespread. 63% of banks provide services for receiving payments through the Fast Payment System (FPS). This method is most popular for organizing mutual settlements, when both the customer and the contractor are individuals. Although while accepting payment using QR codes through the SBP is more often used by small businesses, this service has great growth potential for the self-employed,

Other financial products for the self-employed include special loan programs, including mortgages, which are already provided by 22% of banks. The high percentage of distribution of such services is explained for banks by the speed and transparency of obtaining data on the status of self-employed in the Federal Tax Service for TIN, and for borrowers - the possibility of receiving a certificate of legal income from the Federal Tax Service in a couple of clicks.

A number of insurance companies provide self-employed insurance services for cases of illness, accident or civil liability to other people. If the self-employed will not be able to earn due to illness, he will be paid a monetary amount according to the amount of insurance he has chosen. As of March 2023, insurance programs are most popular among the self-employed in the field of transport services and transportation.

The self-employed can independently form their future pension by voluntarily paying insurance contributions to the FIU. Citizens applying a special tax regime independently determine the amount of insurance premiums payable for the settlement period. In addition, the self-employed can form additional pension savings within the framework of an individual pension plan - services provided by non-state pension funds.

Additional document management services for individuals, specialized exchanges for searching for orders, register payments for the self-employed are integrated into less than 1% of Russian banks, while this category of products will also be developed to provide uniform service standards in the industry.

The experiment on the use of a special NAP regime started only 3 years ago. Nevertheless, as early as March 2023, it is possible to state the emergence of a new business unit that becomes a client of traditional digital services, while requiring an individual approach that combines the functionality of products, both for individuals and for legal entities. Companies that can quickly provide quality service to the self-employed will become beneficiaries of the new market, commented Evgenia Titova, owner of the Module for working with self-employed R-Style Softlab.

Every fifth employer in Russia uses the services of self-employed

Every fifth employer uses the services of the self-employed. Representatives of 1000 companies from all districts of the country took part in the survey of the Superjob job search service. The company announced this on March 27, 2023.

Most often, companies attract the self-employed to perform work on the design, development of software and transportation of goods.

Programmers, drivers, marketers and designers who have registered the status of self-employed are also in high demand.

Cooperation with independent performers small business practices more often than larger enterprises and organizations (23%).

Among companies industries of various activities, self-employed are most often hired by employers from the industry transportlogistic (32%), construction organizations (29%) and IT companies (22%).

Polling location: Russia, all counties

• Settlements: 181
• Time: March 1 - 23, 2023
• Study set: HR managers and other representatives of HR services of enterprises and organizations responsible for personnel selection
• Sample size: 1,000 respondents

Question: "Does your company use the services of citizens with self-employed status?"

In which areas the self-employed most often perform work (contextual analysis of comments, in descending order of number of mentions):

1. Construction, design
2. Information Technology
3. Logistics, freight transportation
4. Marketing, advertising, PR
5. Design
6. Bookkeeping, financial consulting
7. Personnel, Human Resources
8. Editing, copywriting
9. Translations
10. Workflow

2022

The number of self-employed freelancers in Russia has grown 6 times in 2 years

The number of self-employed freelancers by January 2023 compared to the same period in 2022 increased 6 times, and the number of freelancers working in the status of an individual remained high - about 50% of the total number of Russian freelancers. Individual entrepreneurs providing services as freelancers are the least, but there is also an increase (+ 70%). This is stated in a study that was announced at the end of June 2023 at Solar Staff (specializing in providing secure transactions between companies and freelancers). Read more here.

FTS: The number of self-employed in Russia increased 1.7 times to 6.5 million people

According to the Federal Tax Service (FTS), in 2022 the number of self-employed in Russia over the year increased 1.7 times compared to 2021 and amounted to 6.5 million people. Their total revenue at the end of 2022 was estimated by the department at 125.8 billion rubles.

According to Lilia Ovcharova, Vice-Rector of the Higher School of Economics (HSE), the new lightweight tax regime turned out to be more attractive for small and medium-sized businesses. Interest in part-time work as a self-employed can be shown by workers who are faced with a reduction in working hours in their main place, she added. According to Elina Klimenko, operating director of Nimix, some companies (for example, in light industry) may be interested in employees who are ready to legally earn extra money in parallel with their main work.

According to the Federal Tax Service, the number of self-employed in Russia over the year increased to 6.5 million people

Natalya Golovanova, head of the SuperJob research center, notes that by February 2023, every fifth Russian company already uses the services of the self-employed. According to forecasts of analysts of the Nimix service, by the end of 2023 there may be more than 10 million self-employed in Russia.

According to a survey by Ventra Go!, up to 70% of respondents are ready to try themselves in the new role of working "for themselves." This format attracts the self-employed with the opportunity to go to work at a convenient time and place (26%), receive a quick payment (15%), independence from their superiors and labor regulations (12%). The newspaper was also told about the high dynamics of the growth of self-employed in the service for safe transactions between companies and freelancers Solar Staff - over the year the number of its users increased by 146%. According to the YouDo platform, the number of self-employed registered there is growing by about 10% every month^[2]

Self-employed incomes in Russia increased by 51% to 900 billion rubles

According to the Qugo platform, in 2022 the self-employed earned almost 900 billion rubles, which is 51% more than in 2021 and their tax deductions to the Russian budget amounted to about 40 billion rubles. Such figures were released in February 2023.

It is noted that business is increasingly interacting with the self-employed: according to a study by Зарплаты.ру, 70% of company leaders in Russia by the end of 2022 already had such experience, and 40% cooperate with such performers on an ongoing basis.

Self-employed incomes in Russia increased by 51% over the year

According to the Federal Tax Service (FTS), in December 2022, 337.65 thousand new self-employed were registered, 96.39 thousand people were deregistered. A fifth of the self-employed are registered in the provision of repair services (454 thousand), road transportation (405 thousand), IT (310 thousand) and beauty services (227 thousand). These industries remain the most common among NAP payers since October 2020, and if earlier road transportation services were in the first place, then in April 2022 the leaders were repair services, which still maintain this position.

The largest number of NAP payers was registered in Moscow (1.235 million), the Moscow region (481 thousand) and St. Petersburg (430 thousand).

According to estimates of international and national organizations, by 2022 there are from 1 million to 3 million working for themselves in Russia, said Mikhail Nikolaev, director of the ACRA sovereign and regional ratings group. The average estimate is about 7-8 million people, he added. The fact that there are more legalized self-employed is most beneficial to the regions, whose budgets receive taxes on self-employed citizens, the expert noted. However, in absolute terms, such receipts are insignificant, Mikhail Nikolaev pointed out.^[3]

The number of self-employed in Moscow exceeded 1.2 million

The number of self-employed in Moscow exceeded 1.2 million. This became known on January 26, 2023.

The most popular activities were passenger transportation, delivery, rental of apartments, advertising and marketing, as well as construction.

Tax The "for professional income" regime remains popular with residents. Moscow For 11 months of 2022, the number of self-employed in the city increased by 340 thousand people. In January - November, citizens with this status earned almost 240 billion. rubles At the same time, the total income of the self-employed since the beginning of 2019, when this tax regime was introduced in the capital, reached 556 billion rubles by December 1, 2022, - said the Vladimir Efimov Deputy Mayor of Moscow for Economic Policy and Property and Land Relations.

As noted by Maria Bagreeva, Minister of the Government of Moscow, head of the city Department of Economic Policy and Development, in November the increase in the number of payers of tax on professional income in the capital amounted to 35.5 thousand people. This is a record number since January 2022. In January - November, the self-employed transferred 6.5 billion rubles to the Moscow budget - almost 40 percent more than in the entire 2021. In total, since the beginning of the tax regime, the capital's budget has received 13 billion rubles.

In November 2022, the self-employed issued almost eight million checks to customers, which is 40 percent more than a year ago. The average check for the same period increased by 13 percent - to 2830 rubles, she added.

For many, this regime allows you to earn a hobby by doing what you love. The average income of citizens with this status was 72 thousand rubles a month. The high interest in doing business in this format is evidenced by the demand for our project "Everything about self-employment from a to me" by Small Business of Moscow. Services of partners for registration as self-employed without visiting the tax inspectorate, step-by-step instructions and other resources in 2022 were used 108.5 thousand times, "said Alexey Fursin, head of the Moscow Department of Entrepreneurship and Innovative Development.

According to Aleksandra Alexandrova, First Deputy Head of the Moscow Department of Labor and Social Protection of the Population, alternative forms of employment are an established trend in the capital's labor market, which does not lose popularity among job seekers in 2023. The city supports at all stages of opening its own business: from consultations and assistance in registration to promotion in the market and reaching a payback. At the same time, it is noted that the interest of young people under 35 years old in working for themselves is growing. For 11 months of 2022, self-employment, individual entrepreneurs or LLC registered 1.5 times more young people than in the same period of 2021. Most often, the self-employed choose e-commerce and work with marketplaces.

On the basis of the flagship center "My Job" on Shabolovka Street, novice entrepreneurs can get advice, register self-employed status, open an individual entrepreneur or LLC, assess business skills, strengths and growth zones using professional testing. There are also daily trainings and webinars. Open selections, which take place in cooperation with the largest marketplaces, online stores, banks and other partners of the employment service, allow you to find potential customers.

Self-employed increased sales of products and services to state-owned companies by 211%

Companies with state participation in 2022 purchased products, services and works from the self-employed as part of public procurement for a total of 3.371 billion rubles, which is 211% more than a year earlier. This was announced on January 12, 2023 by the press service of the Ministry of Investments, Industry and Science of the Moscow Region with reference to the data of the largest customers located in the monitoring perimeter of the SME Corporation. At the end of 2022, 4.5 thousand self-employed became suppliers, which is more than three times higher than a year earlier.

At the end of 2022, the most popular in the procurement system were self-employed services related to advertising and research of market conditions - 830.26 million rubles (26.14%), wired telecommunications - 212.36 million rubles (6.68%), buildings and work on their construction - 100 million rubles (3.15%), support for performing arts - 86 million rubles (2.71%) and directly performing arts - 78.76 million rubles (2.48%).

State-owned companies in 2022 purchased more than 3.37 billion rubles from self-employed products and services

The highest increase in the volume of purchases in 2022 compared to a year earlier was recorded in such areas as legal services - 31 million rubles (an increase of 128 times), support for the performing arts - 85 million rubles (80 times), buildings and work on their construction - 98 million rubles (55 times).

The list of leading regions in terms of purchases from the self-employed in 2022 was headed by Moscow (more than 663 million rubles). This is followed by the Moscow (364.4 million) and Ryazan (207.6 million) regions, St. Petersburg (137.15 million) and the Novosibirsk region (135.3 million rubles).

An increase in the volume of purchases and an increase in the number of self-employed suppliers is a trend due to a general increase in the number of people choosing a tax on professional activities. Over the past [2022] year, their number exceeded 6 million people, having increased by more than 1.5 times compared to 2021, "said Alexander Isaevich, CEO of SME Corporation.[4]]

Self-employed services are used by every fifth company

The number of companies attracting the self-employed to work is growing and is 20% as of December 2022. Employers who have already assessed the advantages of such cooperation are most of all in the areas of logistics, construction and services. 1,000 HR managers from all districts of the country took part in the survey of the Superjob search service. The company announced this on December 16, 2022.

73% of companies do not use the services of self-employed.

Employers who managed to assess all the advantages of cooperation with independent service providers are among small businesses more than among large organizations (23%). Most often attract self-employed companies from logistics (30%), construction (28%) and services (24%).

It is economically profitable to attract the self-employed to work, but there are pitfalls. How to make this collaboration safe for your company

Polling location: Russia, all counties Settlements: 172 Time: December 1 - 14, 2022 Study set: HR managers and other representatives of HR services of enterprises and organizations responsible for personnel selection Sample size: 1,000 respondents

Question: "Does your company use the services of citizens with self-employed status?"

In which areas the self-employed most often perform work (contextual analysis of comments, in descending order of number of mentions):

1. Construction, design
2. Information Technology
3. Marketing, advertising, PR
4. Design
5. Logistics
6. Bookkeeping, financial consulting
7. Personnel, Human Resources
8. Purchasing
9. Editing, copywriting
10. Translations

The results of the All-Russian study "Self-employment: entrepreneurship and stable partnership with platforms" are presented

On August 22, 2022, Strategy Partners presented the results of the All-Russian study "Self-employment: entrepreneurship and stable partnership with platforms." As part of the study, they analyzed the self-perception of the self-employed, their goals, found out what role platforms play for the self-employed.

According to the company, the study covered all regions of the Russian Federation. It was attended by citizens who carry out legal activities in the country and are payers of professional income tax - self-employed.

The self-employed working in the Russian Federation were divided into two categories as part of the study: entrepreneurs and professionals who cooperate with platforms in various forms. As a result of the analysis, the hypothesis was confirmed about the prevailing number of self-employed professionals over self-employed entrepreneurs.

The Institute of Self-Employment for 5 years has become a significant component of the socio-economic development of Russia. The number of self-employed workers in the country has grown significantly over 5 years and in 2022 exceeded five million people. In 2021, the self-employed earned more than 800 billion rubles, in 2022 this figure will be much more.

This growth is explained very simply. It is important for both the self-employed and the economy that there is some predictability, including regulatory, at a long period of time. If we turn back, we will see that for almost 5 years we have not fundamentally changed the conditions for the self-employed: what they promised at the entrance, then it happens. For people, this is very important. noted Alexey Volostnov, partner of Strategy Partners

Online platforms for the self-employed are becoming the main channel for work and orders. For 86% of participants in Russian platforms, platform employment is the main source of income. Platforms act as mediators and facilitators of the service delivery process, essentially helping those who provide services and those who need them find each other.

As of August 2022, the platforms allow the employer client to avoid transaction costs associated with finding a suitable counterparty, determining the cost of work and form of payment. Tax administration can also be simplified.

As the study showed, self-employed specialists collaborating with platforms see in this form of employment the opportunity to go beyond traditional employment, develop independently and optimize the process of professional/career growth.

Employment limits the career and professional development of most workers. However, registration as self-employed removes this restriction. Three-fifths of respondents (65%) noted that "it is impossible to sell professional qualifications in a decent way" if you do not work as a self-employed person. 44% of the self-employed perceive themselves precisely as entrepreneurs, and not as just professionals selling their services and goods. The largest concentration of self-employed professionals (permanent partners of platforms) is observed among large cities, where the demand for services employed on the platform is much higher. Thus, 71% of self-employed professionals are residents of large cities (from 250 thousand to 1 million people).

Most of the self-employed surveyed consider themselves to be professionals (63%) who are regular performers on online platforms, and slightly more than 1/3 of the respondents (37%) define themselves as self-employed entrepreneurs and also cooperate with platforms to one degree or another.

The vast majority of respondents under the age of 25 (92%) cooperate in one form or another with platforms in the framework of their activities self-employed. Older people (55 years and older) also show a high degree of involvement in interaction with platforms - 72%. Strategy Partners experts propose to stimulate the creation of adaptation programs for people of so-called silver age, for those who are preparing for retirement.

It makes sense for them to talk about the possibilities of this status, to explain that there are no difficulties in this and this can be used while continuing their professional activities. It would be helpful and correct. supplemented by Alexey Volostnov

According to experts, in the coming years the share of self-employed will grow, since the younger generation has a greater tendency to mobility in every sense. This manifests itself in the choice of professions that allow you to work anywhere in the world, without reference to certain means of production.

The Institute of Self-Employment is an interesting phenomenon, an attempt to bring out of the shadows a sphere that has always been gray. The experiment, which began five years ago, demonstrated its success. noted Valeria Plotnikova, Managing Partner of Strategy Partners

Summing up the results of the study, it can be argued that the number of self-employed in Russia, especially among young people, is growing as of August 2022. This trend will continue. Most of the self-employed like their working conditions and taxation, so in the future they are ready to continue working in this particular status. Therefore, a large role is played by federal and regional state support, which is in demand in this area.

Self-employed can register through Public services

On August 12, 2022, the Ministry of Digital Development announced that entrepreneurs could apply for registration as self-employed through the Public services portal.

Such changes were made to the Federal Law "On Conducting an Experiment to Establish a Special Tax Regime" Tax on Professional Income. "

"Tax on professional income" is a special tax regime for self-employed citizens, which can be applied from 2019. Self-employed can pay tax on professional income at a preferential rate:

• 4% - when working with individuals;
• 6% - with legal.

Previously, it was possible to register as self-employed only through the "My Tax" application, a personal account on the website of the Federal Tax Service (FTS) or authorized banks.

The tax office will consider the application within 5 working days from the date of its submission. Notification of registration as self-employed will come to the personal account of State Public services.

FIU: Self-employed and working abroad can "buy" seniority for retirement

In mid-July 2022, the Pension Fund of Russia announced that the self-employed and those who worked abroad would be able to "buy" experience for retirement. Read more here.

Vladimir Putin allowed self-employed to register trademarks

On June 29, 2022, it became known that Russian citizens, officially registered in the status of "self-employed," can now independently register trademarks. The law was signed by President Vladimir Putin.

This initiative of the president provides individuals-residents of the Russian Federation with an additional tool for the development of personal brands, the promotion of works, goods and services. Also, this legal instrument will be able to use people who provide services under civil law contracts.

Previously, only legal entities and individual entrepreneurs (individual entrepreneurs) had the right to register a trademark. After the entry into force of the document, foreign citizens in the Russian Federation will also be able to register trademarks.

In Russia, a law has been adopted allowing self-employed to get up for tax registration through State Public services

On June 21, 2022, the State Duma of the Russian Federation adopted in the third (final) reading a law allowing self-employed Russians to register for tax through the Unified Portal of Public Services. Citizens of the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) will receive a similar opportunity.

An additional possibility of interaction with the operator of a single portal will allow taxpayers to "expand" the efficiency of submitting an application to the tax authority for registration and (or) deregistration as a payer of the NAP (professional income tax), the explanatory note says.

In Russia, a law has been adopted allowing self-employed to get up for tax registration through State Public services

An amendment was prepared for the second reading of the bill, according to which citizens of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics can also take advantage of the opportunity to register for tax through the State Public services portal.

The bill specifies that if the documents submitted to the portal of public services find shortcomings, then the individual will be notified of the refusal to register through the My Tax mobile application, an authorized credit institution or through public services indicating the reasons for the refusal within six days. Documents and any information sent by the tax authority to an individual will not be sent on paper by mail.

The amendments may seem small, but in reality this is a step towards platform employment of the self-employed, says Nikolai Andreev, head of tax practice at the Zartsyn & Partners law firm. On the one hand, the Federal Tax Service promotes the concept of digitalization of document management, and on the other, shifts part of the burden of tax administration to digital platforms that act as intermediaries between the state and the payer, he added in a conversation with the publication "Право.ру."^[5]

The number of self-employed has already reached almost 5 million people

On June 10, 2022, the service for working with self-employed YouDo Business and the Russian online recruiting platform hh.ru conducted a study on two years of self-employment in Russia. Analysts found out how business demand for self-employed services changed from 2020 to 2022, and also learned how the attitude of the performers themselves to the NAP regime changed, what are the main difficulties and advantages of freelancing for June 2022 for them. In addition, experts told which areas of activity and categories of tasks were the most popular among the self-employed for two years. 

According to a survey by YouDo Business, 62% of the self-employed have been working for themselves for several years or more. 20% in freelance for less than a year, and 8% came with the onset of the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic. One in 10 self-employed people freelanced 3 months ago or less due to labour market instability and economic challenges.

Compared to 2021, the share of self-employed aged 18 to 25 has doubled - from 5% to 10%. Slightly less than half of the self-employed as of June 2022 are young people aged 18 to 35 (42%). In addition, the share of freelancers working part-time in the Virtual Assistant category has doubled - from 6% to 12%. The self-employed have become more likely to provide services in the field of marketing, copywriting and translation of texts.

Among the reasons for the transition to the NAP regime, the self-employed began to call the opportunity to provide checks to customers more often - 51% in 2022 against 36% in 2021. In addition, the share of individual entrepreneurs who decided to change the regime to self-employment due to its profitability also increased - from 7% to 10%. As of June 2022, more than a quarter of freelancers say that the decisive factor in formalizing the official tax status for them was the payment guarantee and the ability to conclude an agreement with the customer. A year earlier, only 10% of NAP payers spoke about this. In general, this indicates a serious trend towards the legalization of the service sector. According to a survey of the performers themselves, the share of clients who refuse to work with the self-employed has decreased by more than 4 times - from 50% to 12%. 

More and more freelancers are switching to the NAP regime in order to try themselves in another area - the share of such self-employed has grown from 15% to 19%. In addition, a quarter of performers switched to freelancing to monetize the hobby. A year earlier, 22% of respondents stated this. Among those who combine freelance and employment, already 36% of the self-employed said that they plan to go to work for themselves in the future, leaving behind the story of full-time employment. A year ago, only 29% of respondents had such a vector. In 2022, the self-employed more often began to talk about difficulties in independently finding customers - as of June 2022, half of the self-employed already declare this, and a year earlier this figure was only 39%.

{{quote 'author
= commented Denis Kutergin, co-founder of the online service YouDo'In June 2022, the number of self-employed has already reached almost 5 million people. The growth rate of self-employment in Russia has already overtaken many forecasts - in the fall of 2021, the Ministry of Labor predicted that we could achieve such a figure only by 2024. The able-bodied population is increasingly making a choice in favor of self-employment due to the ability to independently choose customers and distribute the load. In addition, for June 2022, we see a steady trend towards multitasking. Most freelancers provide services in several areas at once or undergo retraining in order to be ready for any changes in the market. Initially, self-employment began as an opportunity to earn legally for those who worked in the shadows for a long time - blue collars. Now we see significant growth qualified personnel who formalize the status. For two years, the ratio of spheres has shifted in favor of intellectual services. Another driver of the growth of self-employment was Russian business. Companies are increasingly turning to freelancers, and not only to blue collars, such as couriers or merchandisers, but also to specialists from IT, marketing and consulting. For many business representatives, demand is unstable, hiring people in the state is quite risky, so they are increasingly switching to the format of project work in order to maintain flexibility. Under these conditions, the appropriate tax regime is self-employment.}}

According to a hh.ru survey, in 2022, 52% of Russian companies cooperate with the self-employed on a regular basis - this is 19 percentage points more than a year earlier. Another quarter (25%) of Russian business representatives plans to start working with them in the near future. Almost a quarter (23%) of companies cooperate with self-employed from the very beginning of the NAP regime. Almost half (48%) of the surveyed representatives said that they began working with the self-employed about a year ago. It is noteworthy that in every fifth companies they said that they began to attract the self-employed quite recently, and in every tenth they work with them for less than a year. 

According to Russian business, the main advantages of such cooperation are a decrease in the tax burden (64%), simplicity and speed of paperwork (51%), transparency and legality of payments (41%), cost optimization (38%), the possibility of easy hiring of mass personnel (38%), the speed of the contractor's exit to shift (34%), as well as the ability to close personnel gaps at peak time of demand (30%). 89% of companies said that they plan to cooperate with 30 or less self-employed, 10% of respondents said about the high need for contractors - they are ready to attract up to 100 such performers. Only 1% of businesses need 500 or more self-employed in 2022.

58% of vacancies for the self-employed in the market are working specialties: installation and installation of equipment, loader services, repair and construction, merchandising and cleaning, courier services, transportation of passengers and goods. White-collar jobs account for 42%: most often they are IT specialists, marketers, accountants, lawyers recruiters, designers and tutors. As of June 2022, almost a third of companies are in need of design IT specialists (28%) - this is 12% more than in 2021. In addition, over the year, the demand for the services of self-employed accountants doubled - from 6% in 2021 to 13% in 2022. 

Despite the growing popularity of self-employed services, almost a quarter of the companies surveyed said they did not plan to cooperate with them in 2022 (24%). More than half of them admitted that they simply do not see the benefits in cooperation (53%). Possible retraining risks scare off about a third of companies, but over the year their number has significantly decreased - from 42% in 2021 to 28% in 2022. In addition, a third of the business is not ready for complex document management (28%). And another 19% of respondents refuse to work with self-employed due to lack of internal resources.

Almost every fifth Russian company uses the services of self-employed

IT There were most self-employed specialists in the field. The company Superjob announced this on April 20, 2022.

Self-employed labor is already used in every fifth company (19%), which is 2 percentage points. more than a year ago. The advantages of such cooperation were more appreciated by small businesses, as well as employers from construction and transport (29%) and the service sector (26%). In the banking sector, the self-employed are attracted much less often (12%). The survey by high-paying job search service SuperJob involved 1,000 HR managers from every county in the country.

Almost every fifth Russian company (19%) uses the services of the self-employed - Employers explain their position by savings (there is no need to pay taxes and contributions for the self-employed), as well as the lack of need for full-time employees in certain areas of work.

Most often, the self-employed are attracted by small businesses: among companies with a staff of up to 100 people, 23% use their services, while among large organizations - only 15%.

According to respondents, most often the self-employed perform work in the field of construction, design, information technology and logistics. In areas such as HR, marketing, design, sales, law and accounting, self-employed labor is used a little less often.

• Polling location: Russia, all counties
• Settlements: 261
• Time: April 1 - 18, 2022
• Study set: HR managers and other representatives of organizations and enterprises responsible for personnel selection
• Sample size: 1,000 respondents

Question: "Does your company use the services of citizens with self-employed status? If yes, please comment on the work in which area the self-employed are doing in your company "

In which areas the self-employed most often perform work (contextual analysis of comments, in descending order of number of mentions):

• Construction, Design
• IT
• Logistics
• HR
• Marketing, Advertising, Design
• Sales
• Law
• Accounts department

2021

The number of self-employed in Russia has reached 4 million people

On January 24, 2022, the Federal Tax Service (FTS) of Russia published statistics on the development of self-employment in the country. According to the ministry, the number of citizens with such a professional status reached 4 million people, and their total income during the special tax regime exceeded 882 billion rubles.

By January 24, 2022, the self-employed formed more than 610 million checks, the average amount for them is 1,446 rubles. Every day, more than 7 thousand people are registered as new payers of professional income tax.

The number of self-employed in Russia has reached 4 million people

As told in the Federal Tax Service, most often self-employed are registered in the field of taxis, repair and marketing, delivery of goods and rental apartments. Most of all are self-employed Russians who work in the field of IT services, lawyers, consultants, designers, etc. 42% of self-employed in Russia are women, 58% are men. The average age of the self-employed is 35 years, but in St. Petersburg, Chechnya, Tyumen, Voronezh and Nizhny Novgorod regions this figure is lower - 33 years.

The maximum income per professional is noted in Moscow, the Moscow region, the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, the Republic of Tatarstan, St. Petersburg.

The Federal Tax Service also added that the self-employed actively use the services of banks and electronic partner platforms of the project, which, through the API developed by the Federal Tax Service of Russia, have built the functionality of the My Tax mobile application into their software products. By January 2022, 80 partners are connected to the platform, about 36% of the income of the self-employed are registered through their platforms.

The Center for Strategic Research calculated that by January 2022, most self-employed people working through aggregators and online services work an average of 27 hours a week and receive 408 rubles per hour. The Ministry of Labor expects that by 2024 the number of self-employed in Russia will grow to 5-6 million people.^[6]

The most popular services of self-employed among state-owned companies

In 2021, self-employed in Russia fulfilled orders from state-owned companies totaling more than 1 billion rubles. This volume includes sales of products and services, according to data from the SME Corporation, released on January 11, 2022.

The list of the most popular self-employed services among state customers in 2021 is as follows:

• advertising and marketing - 408.3 million rubles (40.3% of the total amount of purchases in 2021);
• auxiliary related to financial intermediary and insurance services - 80.7 million rubles (8%);
• transport - 63.9 million rubles (6.9%);
• educational - 49.5 million rubles (4.9%);
• professional, scientific and technical, others - 47.1 million rubles (4.6%).

The most popular services of self-employed among state-owned companies are named, among them advertising and marketing are in the lead

At the same time, in 2021, the highest increase in the volume of purchases compared to 2020 was noted in publishing services (+ 13.2 million rubles, + 7328%), services in the field of creativity, art and entertainment (+ 31 million rubles, + 1166%).

We note a special demand for training seminars on access to procurement. They will take place on a digital platform, which we will launch soon. In total, more than 100 such events have already been attended by about 2.7 thousand self-employed citizens. At the seminars, you can learn about support measures, the organization of procurement activities of the largest customers and the peculiarities of participation in procurement, - said Alexander Isaevich, General Director of the SME Corporation.

The company recalled that self-employed citizens can participate in purchases under 223-FZ on the same terms as small and medium-sized businesses.

According to the SME Corporation, support for the self-employed is one of the main areas of business support within the framework of the National Project "Small and Medium Enterprises and Support for Individual Entrepreneurial Initiatives." The goal of the project is to support business at all stages of its development: from the start-up idea to expansion and export. ^[7]

The number of self-employed in Russia for the first time caught up with the number of individual entrepreneurs

The number of self-employed in Russia for the first time caught up with the number of individual entrepreneurs (individual entrepreneurs). This became known on November 22, 2021 from an interview with the head of the Federal Tax Service (FTS) Daniil Egorov to RBC.

More than 3.5 million people are self-employed. We also have about 3.5 million individual entrepreneurs. Tax treatment is status. An individual entrepreneur can also be self-employed. But for meaning, it is still important, "he said, talking about the strategy of his department to create tax regimes.

The quantity self-employed in the Russian Federation for the first time was equal to number of SP

The indicator of the number of self-employed has doubled over the year. So, if at the end of 2020 the Federal Tax Service reported 1.6 million registered, then in November 2021 there are 3.54 million self-employed.

The most popular activities of the self-employed are automobile and transport services, repairs, construction, and beauty services.

The individual entrepreneur, unlike the self-employed, is endowed with the rights and powers of legal entities and is responsible for his business with personal property. He can hire people and is obliged to pay insurance and pension contributions, and the self-employed does not have such obligations and opportunities.

On November 20, 2021, Alexander Kalinin, president of the all-Russian public organization of small and medium-sized businesses Opora Rossii, said that due to the restrictions imposed to combat coronavirus, the number of economic entities decreased, while the number of self-employed increased by 1 million. According to Kalinin, the number of economic entities decreased by about 200,000 in a year and a half, employment decreased by 700,000.

As Inna Dadayan, director of the department of investment policy and development of small and medium-sized businesses of the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia, noted, "the main goal of introducing the self-employed regime was to create a simple and convenient way to legally conduct business and receive income from freelance services, part-time jobs and activities that bring irregular earnings."^[8]

The self-employed occupy the largest share among the working-age population in those regions where the pilot project was held - Moscow, St. Petersburg and Tatarstan. Moscow is the capital of the self-employed, it has registered almost a quarter of all Russians who have chosen a tax regime on professional income (793 thousand people), or 11% of the working-age population of the city (here you need to make a reservation on the difference between registered and actual residents).

According to forecasts of the Ministry of Labor, in 2024 there will be 5-6 million self-employed, analysts from Frank RG are even more optimistic, predicting 8.4 million people in 3 years.

YouDo and hh.ru launched a platform for the self-employed

On July 22, 2021, the online service of YouDo.com services and the Russian online recruiting platform hh.ru announced a strategic partnership and the launch of a platform for the work of legal entities with self-employed - YouDo Business. Read more here.

Marketplace for self-employed launched in Russia - Qugo

On April 7, 2021, it became known that a marketplace for self-employed Qugo was launched in Russia, which helps legal entity customers find performers for their tasks, automates accounting and settlements between counterparties. Testing of the project began behind closed doors in early 2020. Qugo's target segments are food tech, construction and repair, courier, warehouse and logistics services, cleaning, freelance recruiting and others. Read more here.

2020

More than half a million people received self-employed status in facial biometrics using the VisionLabs platform

On October 7, 2020, it became known that more than 500 thousand self-employed registered in the mobile application "My Tax" using facial biometrics. The function is implemented on the basis of the VisionLabs Digital ID platform. During the pandemic, it was remote service that helped Russians register as a taxpayer without leaving their homes. According to the results of the first half of 2020, the number of self-employed citizens in Russia doubled. Read more here.

Job search, payment of taxes and registration with the Federal Tax Service. Yandex launched a platform for self-employed

On August 11, 2020, Yandex announced the launch of a single platform for the self-employed. A service called Yandex.Pro is available throughout Russia. Read more here.

Self-employed incomes in Chuvashia will be automatically calculated in a mobile application

On May 26, 2020, a law on a simplified tax regime for the self-employed was adopted in Chuvashia, within the framework of which a special proposal for automatic accounting of income will be created for this category of workers.

According to TASS, the Information Agency of Russia, citing the press service of the head of the Chuvash Republic, who switched to the new system will not need to provide a declaration and buy an electronic cashier.

Mobile application will calculate the income of self-employed in Chuvashia

The experience of using [this] software has already been developed by other regions. It is also important that the tax gives the self-employed the opportunity to get experience, which is taken into account when retiring, or, for example, confirm income when receiving a loan, - said the Minister of Finance of Chuvashia Mikhail Nozdryakov.

It will be possible to switch to a simplified taxation system voluntarily, it will operate in the region until 2028. Taxpayers who do not switch to the new tax regime will pay taxes taking into account other taxation systems that they apply as usual.

The tax rate is 4% of the income received from the sale of goods (works, services, property rights) to individuals, and 6% - in relation to income from the sale of individual entrepreneurs and legal entities. You can use the regime in relation to income in the amount of no more than 2.4 million rubles per year (200 thousand rubles per month).

Earlier , the acting head of Chuvashia, Oleg Nikolaev , called on the deputy corps to widely discuss the bill already at the adoption stage. He noted that the self-employed receive quite a lot of rights on a par with other entities of economic activity and in the implementation of public procurement, in the implementation of other state programs.

We also see from the decisions of the President of the country that the category of self-employed received state support, along with other economic entities affected by the spread of coronavirus, - summed up then the acting head of the republic.[9]

Amendments to the 223-FZ will give self-employed opportunities to participate in public procurement

On March 26, 2020, the Moscow City Department for Competition Policy announced that the changes in the 223-FZ, which will enter into force on March 28, 2020, will allow self-employed citizens to actively participate in city tenders. This was stated by the Deputy Mayor of Moscow for Economic Policy and Land and Property Relations Vladimir Efimov.

The amendments to the 223-FZ that come into force will be an effective measure to support self-employed citizens who want to participate in procurement. If earlier this category of entrepreneurs participated in the procurement of state-owned companies and state corporations on a general basis, now they are equated with small and medium-sized businesses and receive appropriate preferences. Such a step will expand the presence of self-employed citizens in the procurement market, and, accordingly, increase the number of contract suppliers concluded with this category, noted vice-mayor

Among the support measures that self-employed citizens will receive after the amendments come into force, the obligation of customers to carry out a certain amount of purchases, as well as a fixed payment period for supplied products (no more than 15 working days from the date of acceptance). At the end of March 2020, amendments to the Administrative Code are being prepared for violation by the customer of this period.

As a point of access to small purchases, self-employed citizens can use the supplier portal. Almost 15 thousand individuals are registered on this Internet resource as of March 2020. As practice shows, they are ready to provide consulting services, technical expertise, organization of events, supplemented by the head of the Moscow City Department for Competitive Policy Ivan Shcherbakov

The capabilities of the supplier portal are available for March 2020 to users of more than 30 Russian regions, stressed the Minister of the Government of Moscow, Head of the Department of Information Technologies Eduard Lysenko.

The Moscow Supplier Portal as a single procurement platform will give self-employed citizens, including residents of other regions, the opportunity to get prompt and convenient access to purchases carried out by state organizations. The portal provides tools for participating in online purchases, as well as the ability to customize subscriptions to notifications of potentially interesting purchases and a large number of other convenient functions. The supplier portal is developing dynamically, and we want to make it even more convenient for suppliers, including for self-employed citizens, noted Eduard Lysenko

Notes