The Federal Tax Service has begun to massively identify self-employed people who are hiding their income: 3,000 people have already been fined. The IRS is testing a system that looks for self-employed people to cancel checks in the My Tax app so they don't have to pay tax on the money they receive. In the first nine months of 2026, about 3,000 people were prosecuted. The total amount of the fines amounted to about 300 million rubles. FTS representative Vladimir Maltsev told Vedomosti about it. The system looks for two signs: normal check cancellations and cases where the check is canceled by the bank or the digital platform through which the person receives payment. The model is still being tested in the regions, but it is already working in a practical trial mode. For the first violation, a self-employed person faces a fine of 20% of the transaction amount. If the violation occurs again within six months, you will have to pay 100% of the settlement amount. For example, if you hide an income of 10,000 rubles, the fine will be 2,000 for the first violation and 10,000 for the second. Checks can be canceled without breaking the law, for example if the customer's money was returned or there was a mistake in the document. They are punished not for the cancellation itself, but for hiding the income received. According to experts, some freelancers do not reflect all of their income on the application, especially if they are paid in cash. Another reason is the reluctance to exceed the annual limit of 2.4 million rubles. Once this has been achieved, the self-employed regime can no longer be applied. Today, about 16.8 million self-employed persons are registered in Russia. They pay 4% on income from individuals and 6% from companies and individual entrepreneurs. The experiment in this tax regime is valid until the end of 2028.

The Federal Tax Service has begun to massively identify self-employed people who are hiding their income: 3,000 people have already been fined. The IRS is testing a system that looks for self-employed people to cancel checks in the My Tax app so they don't have to pay tax on the money they receive. In the first nine months of 2026, about 3,000 people were prosecuted. The total amount of the fines amounted to about 300 million rubles. FTS representative Vladimir Maltsev told Vedomosti about it. The system looks for two signs: normal check cancellations and cases where the check is canceled by the bank or the digital platform through which the person receives payment. The model is still being tested in the regions, but it is already working in a practical trial mode. For the first violation, a self-employed person faces a fine of 20% of the transaction amount. If the violation occurs again within six months, you will have to pay 100% of the settlement amount. For example, if you hide an income of 10,000 rubles, the fine will be 2,000 for the first violation and 10,000 for the second. Checks can be canceled without breaking the law, for example if the customer's money was returned or there was a mistake in the document. They are punished not for the cancellation itself, but for hiding the income received. According to experts, some freelancers do not reflect all of their income on the application, especially if they are paid in cash. Another reason is the reluctance to exceed the annual limit of 2.4 million rubles. Once this has been achieved, the self-employed regime can no longer be applied. Today, about 16.8 million self-employed persons are registered in Russia. They pay 4% on income from individuals and 6% from companies and individual entrepreneurs. The experiment in this tax regime is valid until the end of 2028.