On December 27, 2018, the President of the Republic of Belarus signed, according to which self-employed citizens whose activities are not entrepreneurial have received the right to participate in state social insurance. And individual entrepreneurs, notaries and lawyers will now be able to pay contributions to the Social Security Fund only for the period of actual implementation of their activities generating income. Previously, the Ministry of Labor and social protection innovation. Now employees of the Social Protection Fund of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection have explained some of the nuances of the implementation of the Decree.

Responsibility for non-payment of contributions

Payment of contributions to the Social Security Fund for individual entrepreneurs, lawyers and notaries remains mandatory. Therefore, administrative penalties will be applied for incomplete or untimely payment of contributions, said the manager of the Social Protection Fund. Natalia Pavlyuchenko. For evasion of payment of contributions, a fine is imposed in the amount of 20% of the amount not paid to the fund’s budget, collection of debt from the individual entrepreneur, taking into account the penalty that has been formed. Responsibility is also provided for failure to provide a personalized accounting form and involves a warning or collection of an amount of up to 20 basic units.

First of all, control over the payment of contributions to the Social Security Fund by individual entrepreneurs will be carried out upon liquidation of an individual entrepreneur. To do this, information will be requested on the movement of funds in current bank accounts, and a reconciliation will be carried out with the database of tax and other government agencies. For example, information resources republican bodies government controlled, including the Unified State Register legal entities And individual entrepreneurs.

The same tools will be selectively used when reconciling data on periods of implementation and non-implementation of activities after submitting personalized accounting forms.

By the way, the Board of the Social Protection Fund of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Republic of Belarus dated January 10, 2019 No. 1 came into force, by which the instructions on the procedure for filling out the personalized accounting document form are supplemented with a special code reflecting the non-execution of activities by an individual who independently pays the insurance premium .

Individual entrepreneurs, lawyers and notaries will declare the periods of their activities and provide personalized accounting documents to the Federal Social Security Fund once a year, no later than March 31 of the year following the reporting year.

Head of the Department for the Development of Informatization and Personalized Accounting of the Social Protection Fund Nina Gabar told them how to act: having a state SUOC key and an attribute certificate, an individual entrepreneur, a lawyer or a notary in personal account on the social security fund portal can check the amount of contributions paid, read the PU-3 form, sign it electronically digital signature and submit it to the fund body. Or fill out form PU-3 using software package for entering individual (personalized) accounting documents, print, sign, take a copy with you to in electronic format and bring it to the Social Security Fund authority.

Pay mandatory insurance premiums for the previous year should be no later than March 1, 2019, the amount can be calculated using the calculator on the FSZN portal. The minimum contribution if the activity is carried out throughout the year is 1281 rubles. (106.75 rubles per month or 35% of the minimum wage). For 2019, the total amount of contributions, while maintaining the current minimum wage, will be 1,386 rubles. (115.5 rubles per month). Decree No. 500 also provides for the possibility of paying contributions throughout the reporting year.

Let us remind you that according to Decree No. 500, the bodies of the Social Protection Fund are allowed to collect the debt of contribution payers from electronic wallets.

How self-employed citizens pay contributions to the Social Security Fund: algorithm of actions

According to tax authorities for 2018, there are 37 thousand self-employed people in Belarus. Natalia Pavlyuchenko explained how they should proceed to pay contributions to the Social Security Fund - no less than the minimum wage in order to receive the right to a pension upon reaching retirement age, disability, or loss of a breadwinner.

You must contact the fund authority at the place of registration, providing a passport and a document confirming the conduct of business as a self-employed person (a receipt for payment of a single tax), and write an application for registration with the Federal Social Security Fund. A self-employed person will be assigned a unique fund payer number, which, together with the payment of contributions, gives the right to participate in state system social insurance.

The monthly pension insurance contribution for a self-employed person is 29% of the minimum wage. Now the minimum wage is 330 rubles, respectively, the monthly contribution is 95.7 rubles. or 1,148.4 rub. in year. You can contribute it immediately for the year, monthly or even every week.

Periods of activity are counted in the insurance length of service used to determine the right to a labor pension only if contributions to the social security fund were paid during these periods. Periods for which contributions have not been paid or are paid at a rate below the minimum amount will not be counted toward the length of service or will be counted in proportion to the amount of contributions paid.

For example, with a minimum wage in 2018 of 305 rubles. the minimum monthly payment for an individual entrepreneur when carrying out activities for a whole month is 106.75 rubles, for a self-employed person - 88.45 rubles. If an individual entrepreneur transferred half to the FSZN budget in a month - 53.4 rubles, a self-employed person - 44.23 rubles, then only 15 days will be counted towards the insurance period for assigning a pension.

Until 2014, the insurance period, which is taken into account when determining the right to a retirement pension, was 5 years, then it was increased to 10 and 15 years. Currently, a progressive (six-monthly) increase in the insurance period continues; in 2019, the minimum insurance period for granting a pension will be 17 years and by 2025 it will reach 20 years.

If possible, the amount of contributions should be greater than the minimum, the Social Security Fund warns, because if you pay contributions for 20 years from the minimum wage, then the minimum retirement pension will be 216 rubles. Those who have not completed the insurance period necessary to receive a labor pension can apply for a social pension upon reaching retirement age; today this is 50% of the budget living wage– 107 rub. Currently, 3.6 thousand people receive it.

You can check your insurance record for the period starting from January 1, 2003 by contacting the social security fund authorities for a free extract from your individual personal account.

In numbers

The FSZN budget for 2019 includes income from individual entrepreneurs and self-employed persons at the level of 2018, that is, about 123 million rubles (according to calculations as of mid-January, the data will still be updated during the reporting period) - this is 1% of the amount of mandatory insurance contributions in in general.

Anna Shilets, National legal Internet portal The Republic of Belarus
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Source: Infa-Kur'er

How much does a self-employed person need to pay to the Social Security Fund?

Decree No. 337, recently adopted by the President, expanded to 30 the list of types of activities that individuals can engage in without registering as an individual entrepreneur. Now, in order to chop firewood, cut hair and do manicures at home, repair computers and make websites, install stoves, repair shoes and watches, it is enough to notify the tax authorities about the start of the activity and pay taxes (once a year) before the start of its implementation.

However, types of activities that do not require opening an individual entrepreneur are currently not covered by social insurance. And to be eligible for a pension, you need to have an insurance period. How much does a self-employed Belarusian need to pay to the Social Security Fund in order to provide himself with at least a minimum pension in old age?

From January 1, 2017, the minimum wage in Belarus is 265 rubles. In order for a self-employed Belarusian to receive a minimum pension, it is necessary for 16 years (and by 2025 the insurance period will increase to 20 years) every year until March 1 to pay 35% (29% for pension insurance and 6% for social insurance) of the minimum wages set by the state. That is, 1113 rubles per year. You can pay either in a one-time payment or monthly.

“If, for example, a craftsman registers with the Social Protection Fund and pays insurance premiums, he acquires the right to receive a pension in the future. If the craftsman has not registered with the fund and does not have insurance experience, then he will not have the right to a labor pension. He can only be assigned social pension. From August 1, 2017, the cost of living budget is 197 rubles 57 kopecks. The minimum old-age pension, taking into account additional payments, is 174 rubles 61 kopecks. The social pension is granted to women at the age of 60, and to men at 65. The pension amount is 50% of the subsistence level budget. And today it’s a little less than 100 rubles,” explained Valery Kovalkov, Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Protection.

Source: Infa-Kur'er

Who can now be self-employed

Decree No. 337, signed by the president on September 19, creates in the country additional conditions for self-employment and promotes entrepreneurship development. According to it, as of October 19, many types of activities will be possible to engage in without registering as an individual entrepreneur or legal entity.

To the list of species economic activity which Belarusians can engage in without registering themselves as individual entrepreneurs, provided they pay a single tax, included:

• sale of self-made bakery, confectionery and culinary products,
• provision of places for short-term accommodation (residential or garden house, dacha),
• repair work on watches, shoes,
• repair and restoration, including reupholstery of furniture from customer materials,
• tailoring (including hats),
• tuning musical instruments,
• sawing wood,
• cargo loading,
• laying stoves and fireplaces,
• performing finishing works,
• decoration (decoration) of cars,
• provision of website development services,
• maintenance of computer and peripheral equipment,
• provision of services for the design of premises, interior design, furniture, clothing and footwear, graphic design,
• provision of hairdressing and cosmetic services.

The list legalizes those types of activities that today are actually carried out by individuals at home, for example, hairdressing services, or can be carried out in such conditions without the threat of harm to both individual citizens and society as a whole, according to the explanation to the decree.

To engage in such types of activities, you need to write an application (in any form) to the local tax office. Then pay single tax- and you can start working.

Source: BelTA

What taxes will be charged to self-employed people in different cities?

The base rates of the single tax for types of activities that citizens have the right to engage in without registering as individual entrepreneurs (according to Decree No. 337) are differentiated by type of settlement. According to Tatyana Putrik, head of the individual tax department of the Ministry of Taxes and Duties, the decree defines the range of base rates of the single tax for each type of activity. At the same time, base rates differ depending on the place of residence and work of a self-employed person.

For example, for Minsk, Minsk region and regional centers your betting range for rural areas- mine. Regional Councils of Deputies and the Minsk City Council must establish a specific single tax rate for each type of activity within the range of base rates established by the document by October 19.

The tax payment mechanism will work like this. A person who wishes to work as a self-employed person will need to submit to his/her tax notice about what exactly and how long he will do. The tax authority will calculate a single tax that will have to be paid to the budget, after which the citizen can start working. Since he does not need to register as an individual entrepreneur, there is no obligation to keep records or provide any reporting to the tax office.

Is there a discount on insurance premiums for families with many children or foreigners? Why, even in prison, should a criminal agent pay to the Federal Social Security Fund? Does working under a contract exempt from pension payments? the site publishes the Social Security Fund’s answers to readers’ questions about pensions for individual entrepreneurs.

The head of the department for organizing payment collection of the Minsk City Administration of the Social Protection Fund answered the questions Eva Svechnikova and specialists from the Committee on Labor, Employment and Social Protection of the Minsk City Executive Committee.

Eva Svechnikova.

Regulatory acts regulating state social insurance:

Law of the Republic of Belarus of January 31, 1995 No. 3563-XII “On the fundamentals of state social insurance” (hereinafter referred to as Law No. 3563-XII);

Law of the Republic of Belarus of February 29, 1996 No. 138-XIII “On compulsory insurance contributions to the budget of the state extra-budgetary fund for social protection of the population of the Republic of Belarus” (hereinafter - Law No. 138-XIII);

Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus dated January 16, 2009 No. 1 “On state registration and liquidation (termination of activities) of business entities" (hereinafter - Decree No. 1);

Regulations on the payment of mandatory insurance contributions, contributions to professional pension insurance and other payments to the budget of the state extra-budgetary social protection fund of the Republic of Belarus, which was approved by Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus dated January 16, 2009 No. 40 (hereinafter - Payment Regulations);

Regulations on the procedure for confirming and calculating length of service for the purpose of pensions, which was approved by Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus dated December 24, 1992 No. 777 (hereinafter Regulations on the confirmation procedure);

Law of the Republic of Belarus dated April 17, 1992 No. 1596-XII “On pension provision” (hereinafter Law No. 1596-XII).

A craftsman can save for retirement voluntarily

Question from Vasily: Good afternoon! Tell me, how much should a craftsman pay to the Federal Social Security Fund? Mandatory or optional?

Answer: Individuals who are engaged in craft activities on an application basis without state registration as individual entrepreneurs are given the right to voluntarily participate in state social insurance (Article 7 of Law No. 3563-XII). If you want to pay insurance premiums, you must register with the Social Security Fund at your place of residence.

The contribution amount is 35% of income (for pension insurance - 29%; for social insurance - 6%). You have the right to choose to pay pension or social insurance contributions, or both, and pay contributions in the amount of 29%, 6% or 35% (Article 3 of Law No. 138-XIII).

The income from which insurance premiums are paid is determined by the artisan independently, but this amount must be no less than the minimum wage established and indexed in accordance with the law (Article 2 of Law No. 138-XIII).

For example, in March 2016, the “minimum wage” was 2 million 300 thousand rubles, respectively, the minimum payment for this month will be: in case of paying contributions only for pension insurance - 667 thousand rubles, only for social insurance - 138 thousand, for both types of insurance - 805 thousand.

People with many children pay like everyone else

Question from Igor: Are there benefits on contributions to the Social Security Fund for individual entrepreneurs who have three or more children (large families)?

Answer: Unfortunately, there is no such benefit. The voluntary procedure for paying contributions to the fund’s budget is established only for individual entrepreneurs who, at the same time as carrying out business activities, are in labor and related relationships. This can be membership (participation) in any organizations, ownership of property of legal entities and performance of the functions of their managers.

You also have the right to voluntary payment of contributions if you receive a pension, have the right to child care benefits until the child reaches the age of three, receive vocational training, secondary special education, higher education full-time education (clause 7 of the Payment Regulations). There are no other exceptions for individual entrepreneurs established by law.

Foreign citizens registered as individual entrepreneurs must also pay

Question from Dmitry: I am a foreign citizen, but a resident of Belarus and an individual entrepreneur. Until January 1, 2016, foreign individual entrepreneurs were exempt from payments to the Federal Social Security Fund, while they had paid healthcare (starting with paid appointments in clinics, and so on), and did not receive pensions. What has changed now?

Answer: At the end of last year, the president signed a decree “On Social Security Issues,” according to which foreign citizens and stateless persons working in Belarus or who are individual entrepreneurs are subject to mandatory state social insurance under the conditions established by law for citizens of our country.

That is, from January 1, 2016, foreign citizens who are individual entrepreneurs are required to pay insurance contributions to the fund’s budget in the generally established manner.

Working under a contract or studying in the evening does not provide a benefit in payment

Question from Natalia: I am an individual entrepreneur, but at the same time I work in an organization. Until January 1, 2016 - under a contract, and then under a rental agreement. The organization pays contributions based on the amount of earnings to the Social Security Fund. That is, formally, except for the form of labor relations, nothing has changed. Why then am I, as an individual entrepreneur, required to pay contributions to the Social Security Fund?

Answer: If in your situation a contract means labor Relations, and under a rental agreement is a civil contract, then there is a fundamental difference. Only individual entrepreneurs who, at the same time as carrying out business activities, are in labor and related relationships can voluntarily pay contributions (Article 7 of the Payment Regulations). There are no exceptions established by law. Consequently, during the period when you switched to civil law rather than labor relations with your employer, the grounds for exemption from paying contributions to the fund budget disappeared.

In addition, I inform you that labor and related relations are regulated Labor Code. Relations arising on the basis of contracts provided for by civil legislation, which include civil contracts (Article 6 of the Labor Code), are not subject to the Labor Code.

Question from Alexey: Hello! I am an individual entrepreneur, but at the same time I am receiving higher education in the evening, that is, my studies are part of my internship. For some reason, the FSZN employees told me that I still had to pay contributions. Are they right?

Answer: The fund's employees were not mistaken. A voluntary procedure for paying contributions to the fund’s budget is established for individual entrepreneurs who, simultaneously with the implementation of entrepreneurial activities, receive vocational, secondary special, higher education in full-time education (Article 7 of Law No. 3563-XII, paragraph 7 of the Regulations on Payment).

Since you are an evening student, there are no grounds for exemption from paying fees.

You cannot refuse your pension or payments to the fund.

Question from Yuri: I want to give up my future pension. Therefore, paying contributions by me or for me will lose all meaning. How and where should I submit the corresponding application? Where can you recalculate contributions already paid and how to get them back - through payment utilities, against income tax or in cash?

Answer: You cannot refuse a pension or pay contributions. In Belarus, such categories of persons as, in particular, working citizens (under employment contracts, civil law contracts), individual entrepreneurs, notaries and lawyers are subject to compulsory state social insurance (Article 7 of Law No. 3563-XII). Accordingly, contributions to the fund’s budget for them and (or) by themselves are legally established sizes are subject to payment in accordance with the generally established procedure. And filing an application for refusal to participate in social insurance is not provided for by law.

Living abroad does not exempt you from contributions to the Social Security Fund

Question from Dmitry: I am an individual entrepreneur, but I have not been active for 2 years. All this time I have been working in Poland and paying all taxes there. I can’t close an individual entrepreneur, since I must first close the current account. But there is a court decision according to which the debtor must pay me. If I close the account, the money will not come. At the same time, I am again asked to pay contributions to the Social Security Fund for last year. Please explain the situation.

Answer: A voluntary procedure for paying contributions is established for those individual entrepreneurs (who are citizens of Belarus) who, during the period of employment, entrepreneurial activity the length of service is formed for the assignment of a labor pension on other grounds or who are already receiving a pension (Article 7 of Law No. 3563-XII and paragraph 7 of the Regulations on Payment).

If for an entrepreneur, including one working employment contract outside the country, contributions to the fund's budget are not paid, the length of service required to assign a pension is not formed (except for cases provided for by international treaties), and he is obliged to independently pay contributions to the fund's budget in the generally established manner.

Legislatively defined minimum amount insurance premiums payable, regardless of business activity and income received - 35% of the minimum wage.

Contributions are not paid by individual entrepreneurs only for periods of suspension of their activities in cases provided for by legislative acts. Accordingly, there are no grounds for exemption from payment for the period of absence of the entrepreneur on the territory of Belarus.

In prison, an individual must pay contributions to the Social Security Fund. Only a sentence that prohibits activities will get rid of this

Question from Irina: Hello! My husband has been in prison from January 2013 to today. Until his arrest, he worked as an individual entrepreneur and, accordingly, regularly paid contributions to the Social Security Fund. Since 2014, the local authorities of the fund sent a notice of payment of contributions for 2014, and then also for 2015. Please explain how my husband, while in prison, can work and pay contributions to the Social Security Fund?

Answer: Individual entrepreneurs are subject to mandatory state social insurance (Article 7 of Law No. 3563-XII). Consequently, they must pay contributions to the fund's budget. In this case, the minimum amount of contributions (calculated from the sum of the minimum wage) is paid without fail, regardless of any circumstances (Article 2 of Law No. 138-XIII).

If the individual entrepreneur worked while serving his sentence and paid state social insurance contributions for him, then he does not need to pay anything for this period.

Question from Evgeniy: Good afternoon! I was an individual entrepreneur and traded for 1 month in 2010. Then I worked for hire, and I still do. The individual entrepreneur was liquidated in 2013. Can I have a debt to the Social Security Fund? Must the debt owed to the fund be repaid before liquidation?

Answer: Contributions are not paid by individual entrepreneurs for periods of suspension of their activities (in cases provided for by legislative acts), and this is only possible if they are sentenced to deprivation of the right to engage in entrepreneurial activities. Other cases are not provided for by law. Even a written notification to the inspectorate of the Ministry of Taxes and Duties about the suspension of activities and non-payment of taxes does not exempt from paying contributions to the fund budget.

If there are arrears in payments, the individual entrepreneur cannot be excluded from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs.

For an entrepreneur in respect of whom the procedure for terminating his activities has been initiated, the payment amount is calculated before the day the relevant decision is made (clause 10−1 of the Payment Regulations).

All individual entrepreneurs operating their activities are required to pay insurance premiums in accordance with the law. Mandatory insurance contributions are: pension and social types insurance, which are paid to the social protection fund (FSZN).

Who pays the fees?

Everyone pays except the following individual entrepreneurs:

• engaged in business and in an employment relationship at the same time
• receiving a pension
• receiving higher, secondary specialized and technical types full-time education
• eligible for child care benefits under the age of 3 years.

Attention!

Previously, foreign citizens and stateless persons registered as individual entrepreneurs on the territory of the Republic of Belarus were also exempt from mandatory tax payment. But now, in accordance with Presidential Decree No. 2015 dated December 31, 2015, these persons are required to pay contributions on a general basis.

Also, if an individual entrepreneur attracts workers, then he pays both for himself and for the employee without fail.

What do the fees include?

Types of mandatory contributions

Pension insurance, which includes:

• insurance in case of reaching retirement age
• disability insurance
• survivors insurance

Social insurance, including:

• Temporary disability
• pregnancy and childbirth
• child care under 3 years of age
• providing one day off from work per month to a parent raising a disabled child under 18 years of age
• death of the insured or death of a family member

Amount and calculation of contributions

The amount of contributions is determined from the income of the entrepreneur received over the past year. Moreover, the amount of such contributions should not be less than the amount of the minimum wage ( 330 rubles), established by law taking into account indexing.

Mandatory contributions amount to 35% (29% pension insurance, 6% social) of the minimum wage, which means 35% * 330 rubles = 115.5 rubles amount of contributions for 1 month.

Due date for payment of the fee

A single deadline has been established for the payment of compulsory insurance contributions - no later than March 1 the year following the reporting year. For example, before March 1, 2020, you need to pay the fee for the entire 2019.

IN 2019 year, the total amount of contributions, maintaining the current minimum wage, will be 1386 rub.(115.5 rubles per month). Decree No. 500 also provides for the opportunity to pay contributions throughout the reporting year.

How to pay if the entrepreneur’s activities are not carried out?

If you are registered in the state register of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs, but for some reason you do not carry out activities (for example, you worked for 3 months, and then temporarily for 2 months you do not carry out activities due to economic problems or there are few clients and use the services very rarely), then you are still obliged to transfer mandatory contributions to the social protection fund for all periods. That is, even if you did not carry out activities for one year and 2 months, you will have to pay a fee.

However, there are cases when an entrepreneur does not pay contributions for a certain period. Mandatory insurance contributions are not paid to the social protection fund in cases provided for clause 20 of the regulation on liquidation (termination of activities) of business entities, namely, in cases:

• undergoing compulsory or alternative service
• stay in institutions of the penitentiary system
• stay in pre-trial detention centers of state security agencies
• issuing a sentence to an individual entrepreneur related to deprivation of the right to engage in entrepreneurial activity
• other cases provided for by legislative acts

As a justification for the need to pay insurance contributions to the Social Security Fund for an employee on unpaid leave, the norm in clause 5 of the Regulations is given *. It provides for the following: the amount of mandatory insurance contributions, payable for a working citizen for the past month, must be no less than the amount of these contributions, calculated from the minimum wage established by law and indexed in the month for which the contributions are calculated.

__________________

* Regulations on the payment of mandatory insurance contributions, contributions to professional pension insurance and other payments to the budget of the state extra-budgetary social protection fund of the Republic of Belarus, approved by Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus dated January 16, 2009 No. 40 (hereinafter referred to as the Regulations).

Let us remind you that previously, according to clause 5 of the Regulations, the amount of mandatory insurance contributions, calculated from payments accrued in favor of the employee, and payable for the past month, should have been no less than the amount of these contributions, calculated from the amount of the minimum wage established by law and indexed in the month for which contributions were accrued (changes were made to the Regulations by Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus dated April 25, 2015 No. 174 (hereinafter referred to as the Decree), which entered into force on July 29, 2015).

As you can see, the words “calculated from payments accrued in favor of the employee and payable” were replaced by the words “payable for a working citizen.”

According to the opinion expressed, the exclusion of the words “calculated from payments accrued in favor of the employee” allows us to talk about the fact that now contributions can be calculated even in the absence of payments.

Such comments do not take into account a number of the most important principles and rules of social insurance defined by law.

Insurance premiums should only be paid if there is a facility to collect them

The position is adjusted only payment issues insurance premiums. Who is the payer of insurance premiums, the object of their collection and other basic issues are determined not by the Regulations, but by the Law of the Republic of Belarus dated February 29, 1996 No. 138-XIII “On compulsory insurance contributions to the budget of the state extra-budgetary fund for social protection of the population of the Republic of Belarus” (hereinafter referred to as the Law) .

Thus, the object for the calculation of compulsory insurance contributions to the fund budget is for employers and working citizens payments of all types in cash and (or) in kind, accrued in favor of working citizens on all grounds, regardless of sources of financing, including remuneration under civil contracts, except for the payments provided for in the list, for which mandatory insurance contributions to the fund budget are not charged |*| , approved by the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus, but not higher than 4 times the average salary of workers * in the republic for the month preceding the month for which mandatory insurance contributions are paid (Article 2 of the Law).

* An explanation of the procedure for applying the list of payments for which insurance premiums are not charged is available for subscribers of the electronic “GB”

___________________

* It should be taken into account that in accordance with sub. 1.5 clause 1 of Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus dated December 8, 2014 No. 570 “On improving pension provision”, mandatory insurance contributions to the budget of the state extra-budgetary fund for social protection of the population of the Republic of Belarus for employers and working citizens are accrued for payments not exceeding 5 times the average salary wages of employees in the republic for the month preceding the month for which mandatory insurance contributions are paid.

As we can see, the Law defines the object for calculating compulsory insurance contributions, which for employers and working citizens recognizes not just payments, but payments accrued in favor of working citizens.

Insurance premiums are paid only if there are payments

Even in the tax sphere, the legislator, as a rule, avoids establishing taxes on imputed income, which do not have an economic connection between the presence of real income and tax liability.

As for insurance premiums, although they are mandatory, they have practically nothing in common with tax payments. Their payment |**| is a consequence of certain risks against which the person is insured. In this case, insurance premiums must be paid only if there is an object that has a direct connection with the insured event and the performance of work in particular. Only if there are payments, the employee is subject to compulsory insurance and contributions must be paid accordingly, since only in this case the work can be performed.

** Information on the deadlines for paying insurance payments to the Federal Social Security Fund

This fact is very important, since it is the presence of payments to a working citizen that allows us to talk about the emergence of an object for calculating contributions, which has a direct connection with work or the performance of other similar duties. The condition that insurance premiums be paid at least from the minimum wage (MW) is also quite understandable and does not at all contradict the conclusions that insurance premiums are paid only in relation to employed persons. The fact is that the minimum wage is the state minimum social standard in the field of remuneration, which the employer is obliged to apply as the lowest limit of remuneration for workers for work in normal conditions during normal working hours when performing the employee’s duties arising from legislation, local regulations and an employment contract.

In other words, if individual performs the work, his salary in any case should not be less than the specified amount. That is why the legislation on social insurance provides that the payment of insurance contributions in relation to working citizens must be made at least from an amount corresponding to the size of the minimum wage.

However, if the employee did not perform the work, he was not accrued any income. In this case, the employer is not obliged to pay the minimum wage to the employee; accordingly, there is no reason to talk about the emergence of an object for paying insurance premiums.

This is also confirmed by the provisions of the Regulation that when working citizens are employed part-time and (or) an incomplete month, mandatory insurance contributions payable for the past month must be no less than the amount of these contributions, calculated from the amount of the minimum wage (including indexation) in proportion to the time worked in the corresponding month.

There are other periods when salaries are not accrued...

Let us assume that for an employee on vacation, contributions must still be paid from the base in the amount of the minimum wage. In this case, it turns out that the contributions paid for an employee who does not perform any work at all may be greater than the contributions for a citizen who worked part-time. Obviously, this is completely unacceptable and contrary to common sense.

Please note that wages are not accrued not only to those employees who are on vacation |*| without maintaining wages, provided at the initiative of the employee, but also to those who are on maternity leave, parental leave until the child reaches the age of 3 years, etc. Wage also not accrued during periods of temporary disability, absenteeism, etc.

* Information on recording the payment of additional vacations and insurance premiums is available for subscribers of the electronic “GB”

In all these cases, the individual continues to remain an employee of the employer, since the employment relationship between them does not terminate. However, this does not mean at all that for the specified periods the employer is obliged to pay insurance premiums from the base in the amount of the minimum wage. At the same time, adherents of the approach, which boils down to the need to pay contributions for non-working citizens, either forget about these situations or do not comment on them at all. Obviously, paying contributions in such situations looks completely illogical and illegal.

Thus, from a legal point of view, and from a logical, and from an economic point of view, the opinion about the need to pay insurance premiums for unemployed citizens on unpaid leave is incorrect. According to available information, the unofficial position of the FSZN apparatus is also that contributions should not be paid if the individual has not fulfilled job responsibilities(for example, was on vacation).

An official clarification from the Federal Social Security Service, which would resolve this problem completely, would help eliminate misinterpretations and illegal demands.