Almost one in five (17%) self-employed people admitted to having trouble paying professional income tax (PIT) on time. Such data arise from the results of a survey conducted by the Analytical Center Consol.Pro, the results of which were reviewed by socialbites.ca.
According to the survey, one in three self-employed Russians (33%) pay their taxes regularly and on time. But self-employed people often spend the money they set aside to pay taxes on paying off debts or emergency purchases – with 26% of respondents regularly using NAP money as a reserve account “for a rainy day”. With the help of accumulated funds intended to be transferred to the Federal Tax Service, 18% of freelance experts buy gifts, 13% buy basic needs, and 8% buy food.
30% of respondents admitted that they periodically experience financial difficulties, which is why irregular NAP payments are due. At the same time, the most common reason for delays in paying taxes was lack of time; 36% of self-employed people spend too much time working and forget about mandatory payments. Only 15% stated that they did not have the necessary information to pay taxes and had difficulty filling out documents.
To avoid delays and financial difficulties, self-employed individuals are ready to transfer the obligation to pay NAP to clients and enjoy the benefits of automation. Almost 40% of survey respondents said that transferring the obligation to pay NAP to the customer would make their lives significantly easier. 30% of freelance professionals also want to automate their tax payment process. About the same number of respondents (29%) said they would prefer to control this process themselves.
“As survey data shows, self-employed people often forget not only about their professional income tax obligations, but also about the consequences. In case of violation of tax payment deadlines, a penalty of 1/300 of the key rate is imposed for each day of delay. In addition, for the first violation, the tax amount There is also a fine of 20% and 100% for repeated violation. It is worth noting that regulatory authorities no longer often impose fines on “forgetful” self-employed people. In the near future, a solution to the problem of punctuality of payments under NAP will be possible for self-employed people It may be the transfer of obligations to transfer taxes to special online platforms that can automatically deduct the amount of taxes from payments. limiting the access of those who are self-employed to these funds. The initiative is currently being examined by the Ministry of Labor and the Federal Tax Service,” commented Daria Golyeva, head of the legal department of Consol.Pro.
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