Russia proposes to allow the self-employed to register for tax purposes through the State Service

The Government of the Russian Federation has proposed allowing self-employed Russians and citizens of other member countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) to register for tax purposes through the unified State services portal. The relevant bill has been submitted to the State Duma for consideration. It is assumed that after the adoption of the amendments citizens of the Russian Federation and other EAEU countries (Belarus, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan) will be able to submit a referral to the tax authority to register on the portal as a payer of professional income tax (PIT). “The additional possibility of interaction with the operator of the single portal will allow taxpayers to “expand” the speed of filing an application to the tax authority for registration and (or) deregistration as a payer of NPD,” the explanatory note to the bill says. It is expected that the innovations will increase the number of individuals operating in the legal field and, consequently, revenues from them to the budgets of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. NPA is a preferential tax regime for self-employed people, which gives them the right to legalize their entrepreneurial activities with minimum costs. The tax rate under NPA is 4% (when calculating sales tax to Russian and foreign individuals) or 6% (for sales to Russian and foreign organizations and individual entrepreneurs) instead of 13% tax on income of individuals. From January 1, 2019, the NTC was introduced as an experiment in four regions – Moscow, Moscow region, Tatarstan and Kaluga region. From January 1, 2020, it was extended to another 19 regions, and from July 1 of the same year – to the entire country.