The other day, a statement by the Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Economic Policy, Artyom Kiryanov, spread:
"I believe that what is called an individual entrepreneur today is a morally outdated form of taxation and business conduct. Perhaps, after summarizing the results of the experiment, it will be gone. It was relevant in the 1990s."
A smooth warm-up has begun in order to change the rules of the game that have been in effect in Russia for the last thirty years - small businesses do not go into the shadows, but they pay 6% of income or 15% of profit for this. It seems that the era is slowly passing away - the treasury is emptying, my lord.
Logic suggests three further scenarios:
1. Tough: Everyone is driven into an LLC with full VAT and accounting.
2. Basic: Rates will be raised (up to 8-10%) and mandatory social contributions will be introduced.
3. Optimistic: The regime will be divided into classes (freelancers separately, taxi drivers separately, business separately).
To stay on the sidelines, they say, I don't care about these businessmen, it's stupid, because any increase in taxes on businesses is always paid by the end user.
After such tightening of the screws, prices are already rising by 5-10% from January 1, since all self-employed and individual entrepreneurs without employees will pay the state more out of their pockets. And they will include these expenses in their check.
The trend towards increasing tax pressure on everyone is inevitable - oil is cheap, the ruble is strong, the economy is growing by only 1% per year, sanctions are not in a hurry to lift, and the best scenario in geopolitics now is overly cautious optimism.
Therefore, the signal has been given, and there is still a three- to five-year window of opportunity. Below is what it looks like.
For SME entrepreneurs:
A) If your business model is barely supported by simplistic or semi-gray schemes, this is a dead business. Change your niche or approach to work - the sooner you do this, the more you will thank yourself that you read this post at the time.
B) Prepare for VAT and LLC. At least morally. Learn how to work with VAT, start looking for an accountant.
C) Automate the work. People are expensive. Social contributions are painful. You can cut your bones by automating your routine through neural networks.
For salaried employees and freelancers:
A) Gas up now while the rates for the self-employed are in effect (4-6%). Form capital, and don't squander money like winter will never come. Now is your golden time, which will soon be gone.
B) Improve your skills. Cheap employees will be replaced by neurons and Indians, and expensive and qualified businesses will take care of whatever taxes they may have.
It's a forced transition to a more expensive and transparent economy, even if you don't want to.
