Small business entity definition. How to confirm that the company belongs to small and medium-sized businesses

Small and medium-sized businesses are business entities (legal entities and individual entrepreneurs), referred in accordance with the conditions established by the Federal Law of 24.07.2007. No. 209-FZ "On the development of small and medium-sized businesses in the Russian Federation", to small enterprises, including micro-enterprises, and medium-sized enterprises.

The presence of the status of a small or medium-sized business allows you to use state and (or) municipal support.

Attention! Commercial organizations (except for state and municipal unitary enterprises), consumer cooperatives, individual entrepreneurs and peasant (farm) enterprises.

Criteria for inclusion in small and medium-sized businesses:

1. For legal entities - the total share of participation of the Russian Federation, constituent entities of the Russian Federation, municipalities, foreign legal entities, foreign citizens, public and religious organizations (associations), charitable and other funds, in the authorized (share) capital (share fund) does not exceed 25 %, the share of participation of one or more legal entities that are not subjects of small and medium-sized businesses does not exceed 25%.

2. The average number of employees for the previous calendar year does not exceed the following limit values:

101-250 people for medium enterprises,

Up to 100 people for small businesses, as part of small micro-enterprises - up to 15 people.

3. Proceeds from the sale of goods, works, services excluding VAT or the book value of assets for the previous calendar year does not exceed the following limit values:

1000 million rubles for medium enterprises,

400 million rubles for small businesses,

60 million rubles for microenterprises.

findings

1. Entrepreneurial activity may be carried out by citizens registered in accordance with the established procedure and organizations.

2. The organization may be commercial or non-commercial.

3. A non-profit organization may carry out entrepreneurial activity only to the extent that it is necessary to achieve the goals of its main activity. A commercial organization carries out entrepreneurial activities without restrictions.

4. Individual entrepreneurs and LLCs are full participants in civil circulation, however, each of these forms has its own characteristics.

5. There is a concept of small and medium-sized businesses. To be classified as a small and medium-sized business, an enterprise must comply with the established criteria.

Some legislative acts of the Russian Federation have undergone significant adjustments. In particular, the classification criteria for small business enterprises have changed, and from June 2015 a number of additional opportunities open up for businessmen.

 

Who is a small business?

A small business is a small firm registered as a peasant farm, LLC or individual entrepreneur and meets several parameters established by law. After the entry into force of the Federal Law "On amendments ..." dated June 29, 2015, the conditions for classifying small businesses have changed significantly and additional benefits have appeared.

Thus, for small businesses, only the number of employees remained unchanged, and an increase in the size of investments provides a number of undoubted advantages:

• Possibility to purchase modern technology and other equipment for the development of the company in the event that the previously established fixed capital was not designed for this.
• Increasing profits and turnover.
• Improving product quality.
• Greater opportunities for business development.

Recently, the Government of the Russian Federation has taken a course towards popularization of small innovative enterprises involved in the development and implementation of new programs and technologies, the creation and production of goods, the provision of services and works. Most often, such organizations are located at various universities and research institutes, work in the economic or scientific and technical fields, and foreign investors prefer to invest their money in them.

Microenterprise and small enterprise: the difference

A micro-enterprise is a subgroup of a small business that meets certain criteria. You can see the difference between micro and small enterprises here:

Benefits of creating micro-enterprises:

• Reduced tax rate (9%) for individual entrepreneurs.
• There is no need to provide a sworn auditor's opinion when submitting annual reports to the Federal Tax Service.
• No obligations for advance payments of income tax.
• Opportunity to work part-time at several business entities for employees of a microcompany.

Not without cons here:

• Some benefits are closed for employees.
• The same accounting rules for all forms of tax payments to the organization.
• Change of status from micro-enterprise tax payer to payer income tax from the population or the company is possible only after the end of the tax period.
• When an employee works only in a micro-enterprise, the amount of benefits from the Social Security Service is reduced.

Speaking of small businesses, the list of advantages is expanding significantly:

• Doing financial statements in a simplified form.
• Exemption from VAT if the amount of proceeds from the sale of goods for the last quarter is more than 2,000,000 rubles.
• Possibility of using USN.

The transition to the simplified tax system exempts from accounting, but it can only be carried out if over the past 9 months the individual entrepreneur has received no more than 15,000,000 rubles. revenue, and the residual value of intangible assets and fixed assets is not more than 100,000,000 rubles. There are no exemptions for legal entities.

Disadvantages of creating a small business entity:

• Greater dependence on larger organizations.
• Unstable exchange rates.
• Difficulties in attracting investors from other countries, as they are in most cases interested in larger investments and, accordingly, profits.

Do I need confirmation of their status by small businesses?

To be classified as a small business, it is enough that the company meets the specified criteria, i.e. no confirmation is needed: when submitting annual reports, the Federal Tax Service sees the results of financial activities.

If a legal entity needs to confirm the composition of the LLC participants, then this can be done using the decision on the establishment or an extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, which can be ordered on the website of the Federal Tax Service.

What benefits are provided for small businesses?

In accordance with established by law criteria, subjects receive many benefits:

• The absence of a cash limit and the possibility of storing any amount at the cash desk: for this, it is enough to issue an order from the head of the company.
• Increasing the likelihood of receiving subsidies from local authorities.
• Until July 1, 2018, it is possible to purchase municipal or state real estate on a preferential basis.
• Reduction of terms of non-tax audits.
• Tax holidays for organizations operating in the social, industrial or scientific sphere.

Also, a draft law was submitted to the State Duma, exempting all entrepreneurs from January 1, 2016 from supervisory checks, if they had not previously been deprived of their licenses and did not commit gross violations in the course of their activities.

More details can be found in this video:

By what criteria are enterprises and individual entrepreneurs classified as small businesses in 2018? How do the criteria distinguish small businesses from medium and large enterprises? We will show a detailed table with the criteria and recall what benefits small businesses and individual entrepreneurs included in the register of small and medium-sized businesses as of 2018 have.

What are the advantages

Small enterprises can get some privileges (when compared with medium and big business). Let us explain what rights and benefits enterprises that meet the criteria for small businesses in 2018 have.

Easy Accounting

One of the most time-consuming tasks of an accountant is bookkeeping. However, if the small business criteria are met, it is possible to keep simplified accounting and submit fewer documents as part of financial statements to the Federal Tax Service and statistics.

In 2018, enterprises that are classified as small businesses according to certain criteria can apply simplified accounting methods and draw up accounting (financial) statements in special (simplified) forms.

Tax relief

In some regions of Russia, for small businesses in 2018, a reduced single tax rate was established under the simplified tax system. The regions may also introduce property tax incentives and transport tax for small businesses.

Checkout restrictions

Small and micro enterprises can conduct cash transactions in a simplified manner. And, for example, do not set a cash balance limit.

Government contracts

Small businesses in 2018 have an advantage when participating in public procurement (bidding). Government customers are required to purchase at least 15 percent of their total annual purchases from small businesses.

Temporary ban on inspections

In 2016-2018, small businesses with a scheduled inspection will not come: Rostrud, the Federal Migration Service of Russia, Rostekhnadzor, Gospozhnadzor.

When the ban on checks does not apply

Keep in mind that the ban on scheduled inspections in 2018 does not apply to companies and individual entrepreneurs who were held liable in the form of (part 2 of Article 26.1 federal law dated December 26, 2008 No. 294-FZ):

• disqualifications;
• administrative suspension of activities;
• revocation or suspension of a license.

However, scheduled inspections (including Rostrud) can be carried out two or more times every three years in organizations and individual entrepreneurs that operate in the field of:

• health care;
• education;
• heat supply;
• electric power industry;
• energy saving and energy efficiency improvement;
• social sphere.

Main criteria: table

Small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) include:

• economic societies and partnerships;
• production and consumer cooperatives;
• peasant (farm) farms;
• individual entrepreneurs.

So, in particular, any LLC that meets all the criteria listed in the table (Article 4 of the Federal Law of July 24, 2007 No. 209-FZ “On the development of small and medium-sized businesses in Russian Federation»).

Criteria for small and global enterprises
№	Criterion	limit value
		microenterprise	Small business
1	The total share of participation in the authorized capital of the LLC of the Russian Federation, subjects of the Russian Federation, municipalities, public, religious organizations, foundations	25%
2	The total share of participation in the authorized capital of LLC of other organizations that are not subjects of small and medium-sized businesses, as well as foreign organizations	49%
3	Average number of employees for the previous calendar year	15 people	100 people
4	Income from entrepreneurial activity (the sum of revenue and non-operating income) excluding VAT for the previous calendar year	120 million rubles	RUB 800 million

Register of small and medium-sized businesses in 2018

Information about the company and the entrepreneur is entered in a special register, which the Federal Tax Service of Russia forms annually on August 1 as of July 1. This register is located on the website of the Federal Tax Service. Its maintenance is provided for by Article 4.1 of the Federal Law of July 24, 2007 No. 209-FZ. https://rmsp.nalog.ru/

What is included in the register

In 2018, the register publishes information on the status of a company - a small or medium-sized business. Also, other data about the company and its partners can be obtained from the register.
So, upon request on the website of the Unified Register, you can find out:

• name of the organization or full name of the entrepreneur;
• TIN of the organization and individual entrepreneur;
• date of inclusion in the Unified Register of Small and Medium Enterprises;
• exact location;
• information about the main and additional types economic activity from OKVED;
• product information;
• availability of a license to operate;
• company obligations in partnerships.

Inclusion in the register

Companies and individual entrepreneurs enter the register of small enterprises automatically if all the criteria for inclusion are met. The IFTS themselves will form a register based on the data that they have, namely:

• information about the number of employees;
• income declarations;
• information from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities about the participants and the composition of the authorized capital.

The status of a small enterprise is lost when the amount of income or the average number of employees exceeds the limit values ​​​​for three calendar years in a row (part 4 of article 4 of the Federal Law of July 24, 2007 No. 209-FZ). However, the company will be excluded from the register no earlier than July 1, 2019 (letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated August 23, 2016 No. SA-4-14/15480).

General table with criteria for small businesses for 2018

Criteria common to all
limit value average headcount employees for the previous calendar year	15 people for micro-enterprises; 16-100 people - for small businesses; 101–250 people – for medium enterprises1	clause 2, part 1.1, art. 4 Law of July 24, 2007 No. 209-FZ
Income for the year according to the rules of tax accounting will not exceed:	120 million rubles – for micro-enterprises; RUB 800 million – for small businesses; 2000 million rubles – for medium enterprises
Additional criteria for LLC
Total share of participation in the authorized (share) capital (share fund) of the organization2	No more than 25 percent owned3: - the state, subjects of the Russian Federation;	sub. "a" p. 1 h. 1.1 art. 4 Law of July 24, 2007 No. 209-FZ
	Not more than 49 percent belongs to: - foreign organizations;
Additional criteria for AO
Total equity interest2	Not more than 25 percent of voting shares are owned by: - the state, subjects of the Russian Federation; - municipalities; – public and religious organizations (associations); - charities and other foundations	sub. "e" p. 1 h. 1.1 art. 4 Law of July 24, 2007 No. 209-FZ
	Not more than 49 percent of voting shares are owned by: - foreign organizations; - organizations that are not small and medium-sized businesses

With taxation, they can count on state support in some areas of activity. Last year, the requirements that organizations and individual entrepreneurs must comply with as small and medium-sized businesses have changed. The 2017 criteria that determine whether an entity is a small business are contained in the updated provisions of the law of July 24, 2007 No. 209-FZ and the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of April 4, 2016 No. 256 on income limits. In our article, we will consider these criteria and how they are applied.

Law 209-FZ: criteria for classifying small businesses

Individual entrepreneurs, organizations, peasant farms, production and consumer cooperatives can be classified as small and medium-sized enterprises if they meet certain conditions and limits established by Law No. 209-FZ, and their income does not exceed the limits established by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 265. The system they use taxation does not affect this status in any way.

The main criteria for a small business are:

• the share of participation of other organizations in the capital (does not apply to individual entrepreneurs),
• last year's average number of employees (does not apply to individual entrepreneurs without employees),
• income for the previous year.

The first criterion for classifying an enterprise as a small business is share limit- does not apply to the following companies:

• JSC, whose shares belong to the shares of the innovative sector of the economy,
• organizations that put into practice the results of intellectual activity, the rights to which belong to their founders - budgetary, educational and scientific institutions,
• enterprises - participants of the Skolkovo project,
• organizations whose founders provide state support for innovation.

Such criteria for classifying as small enterprises, such as the number of employees and income from 08/01/2016. defined in a new way:

• instead of average population employees now need to take into account the average number, which does not include external part-time workers and employees under GPC agreements;
• revenue as an independent criterion for classifying an enterprise as a small business is no longer applied - now you need to take into account the total amount of the enterprise's income: revenue, non-operating income, the value of property received free of charge, dividends and other income listed in Art. 250 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. The income figure is taken from the tax return.

Small business criteria 2017 (table)

Criterion	Maximum value limit
	microenterprise	Small business	Medium enterprise
Total share of participation in the authorized capital of LLC: Russian Federation, constituent entities of the Russian Federation, municipalities, public, religious organizations, charitable and other foundations; Foreign legal entities, legal entities that are not small and medium-sized enterprises (clause "a", clause 1, part 1.1, article 4 of Law No. 209-FZ)
The average number of employees of individual entrepreneurs and organizations over the past year (clause 2, part 1.1, article 4 of Law No. 209-FZ)		up to 100 people
Income of individual entrepreneurs and organizations received over the past year (Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of 04.04.2016 No. 265)	120 million rubles	RUB 800 million	2 billion rubles

What criteria for small businesses does the Federal Tax Service apply in 2017

In 2016, the Tax Service created a unified register of small businesses, which can be found on the website of the Federal Tax Service. It is formed on the basis of data from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities and EGRIP, declarations, a report on the average headcount and other indicators. The tax authorities explained how the register will be formed taking into account the new criteria for classifying enterprises as small businesses in their letter dated 18.08.2016 No. 14-2-04 / 0870.

The category of a small business entity may change if, for 3 consecutive years, the threshold values ​​of the income criteria and the number of employees are higher or lower than the established ones. This means that the status of a small business entity will remain, even if the criteria for medium, small and micro enterprises are exceeded within a year or two years.

In 2016, individual entrepreneurs and organizations whose revenue and number of employees did not exceed the limits during 2013-2015 were recognized as small enterprises. The new criteria for classifying an enterprise as a small enterprise in 2017 are taken into account by the Federal Tax Service when it is included in the register of newly created individual entrepreneurs and organizations, and the first changes in the status of current small enterprises will occur only in 2019.

Small enterprises do not have to confirm their status if they are included in the unified register.

JSC - small enterprise (reference criteria)

The small business sector also includes joint-stock company if it complies with the requirements of art. 4 of Law No. 209-FZ. For a JSC, the criterion that determines belonging to a small enterprise is income, as well as the number of employees, corresponding to the same limits as for other organizations (clauses 2 and 3, part 1.1, article 4 of Law No. 209-FZ, Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated 04.04.2016 No. 265).

Mandatory audit: 2017 criteria for a small business

Should small businesses be subject to mandatory audits? According to the law of December 30, 2008 No. 307-FZ, the following are subject to mandatory audit (Article 5 of Law No. 307-FZ):

• all joint stock companies
• organizations whose revenue without VAT for the previous reporting year exceeded 400 million rubles, or the amount of assets on the balance sheet as of December 31 of the previous year exceeded 60 million rubles.

Small businesses that meet the criteria listed in 2017 are required to undergo an audit.

Benefits of SMEs

The criteria of 2017, if they are met, allow you to remain a small business indefinitely. This status gives individual entrepreneurs and organizations, in particular, the following benefits:

• application of reduced tax rates when using special regimes, if provided for by regional law,
• maintaining simplified accounting, using the cash basis, submitting simplified forms of balance sheet and a financial results report to the IFTS (except for small businesses subject to mandatory audit),
• until December 31, 2018, small businesses are not threatened by scheduled inspections oversight bodies: fire inspections, license control and others (Article 26.1 of the law of December 26, 2008 No. 294-FZ),
• receiving government subsidies, participating in government projects to support small businesses.

Small business in Russia enjoys special, intended only for him, benefits. The state is trying to reduce the tax and administrative burden of small businesses, receiving in return an increase in employment and a decrease in social tension. What does the definition of “small business entities” mean and who belongs to them in 2019?

A small business entity is a Russian commercial organization or an individual entrepreneur who is aimed at making a profit. Also included in this category are:

• peasant (farm) farms;
• production and agricultural cooperatives;
• business partnerships.

A non-profit organization, as well as a unitary municipal or state institution, is not a small business entity.

Who belongs to SMEs

The criteria for classifying small businesses in 2019 are established by the state. The main requirements, subject to which it is possible to classify a businessman as a small and medium-sized business (SME), relate to the number of employees and the amount of income received. Who is the SME, i.e. refers to small businesses, defines the law of July 24, 2007 N 209-FZ in article 4. Let's consider these criteria, taking into account innovations.

Thanks to the amendments made to Law No. 209-FZ, a greater number of enterprises and individual entrepreneurs can be classified as small businesses.

• The maximum allowable amount of annual revenue without VAT for the previous year for micro-enterprises increased from 60 to 120 million rubles, and for small enterprises - from 400 to 800 million rubles.
• The permitted share of participation in the authorized capital of a small enterprise of other commercial organizations, which are not subjects of small and medium business - from 25% to 49%.

But the allowable average number of employees has not changed: no more than 15 people for micro-enterprises and no more than 100 people for a small enterprise.

For individual entrepreneurs, the same criteria for dividing into business categories apply: by annual revenue and number of employees. If an individual entrepreneur has no employees, then his SME category is determined only by the amount of revenue. And all entrepreneurs working only on the patent system of taxation are classified as micro-enterprises.

The period during which a businessman continues to be considered an SME, even if he has exceeded the allowable limit on the number of employees or received revenue, has been extended. Until 2016 it was two years, and now it is three. For example, if the limit was exceeded in 2017, then the organization will lose the right to be considered small only in 2020.

What to do in a situation where the status of a small enterprise is lost due to the achievement of the previously existing limit of 400 million rubles, because it is lower than the current one? The Ministry of Economic Development believes that after the act of the Government of the Russian Federation dated July 13, 2015 No. 702 comes into force, such an enterprise can return the status of a small one if the annual revenue does not exceed 800 million rubles.

State Register of SMEs

Since mid-2016, the Unified Register of Small and Medium-Sized Businesses has been in operation. A list is posted on the portal of the Federal Tax Service, which includes all subjects of small and medium-sized businesses of the Russian Federation. Information about SMEs is entered into the register automatically, based on data from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, EGRIP and tax reporting.

The following mandatory information is publicly available:

• Name legal entity or full name IP;
• TIN of the taxpayer and his location (residence);
• the category to which small and medium-sized businesses (micro, small or medium enterprises) belong;
• information about activity codes according to OKVED;
• an indication of the presence of a license, if the type of activity of a businessman is licensed.

In addition, according to the application of a businessman belonging to small and medium-sized businesses, additional information can be entered in the register:

• about the manufactured products and their compliance with the criteria of innovative or high-tech;
• on the inclusion of an SME entity in partnership programs with government customers;
• on the existence of contracts concluded as a participant in public procurement;
• complete contact information.

To transfer this data to the Unified Register, you need to log in to the information transfer service using an enhanced qualified electronic signature.

After the formation of the official register, small businesses are no longer required to confirm with documents that they correspond to this status in order to participate in state support programs. Previously, this required the provision of annual accounting and tax reporting, a statement of financial results, and information on the average number of employees.

You can check the information related to small and medium-sized businesses, and their reliability, by making a request for information on the TIN or name in the Register. If you find that there is no data about you or they are unreliable, then you must send a request to the Registry operator to verify the information.

What gives the status of a small business entity

As we have already said, the state creates special favorable conditions for entrepreneurial activity for micro and small businesses, pursuing the following financial and social goals:

• ensure a way out of the shadow and self-employment of persons providing services to the population, employed small scale production working as a freelancer;
• create new jobs and reduce social tension in society through the growth of the population's well-being;
• reduce budget spending on unemployment benefits, health insurance and pensions for officially unemployed persons;
• develop new activities, especially in the field of innovative industries that do not require significant costs.

The easiest way to achieve these goals is to make the state registration procedure simple and quick, reduce administrative pressure on businesses, and reduce the tax burden. In addition, targeted financing in the form of non-repayable subsidies has a good effect on the activities of start-up entrepreneurs.

The main list of preferences for small businesses looks like this:

1. tax incentives. Special taxation regimes (STS, UTII, ESHN, PSN) allow you to work at a reduced tax rate. Since 2016, regional authorities have the right to additionally reduce taxes on UTII (from 15% to 7.5%) and on the STS Income (from 6% to 1%). On the simplified tax system Income minus Expenses, the opportunity to reduce the rate from 15% to 5% has existed for more than a year. In addition, from 2015 to 2020, individual entrepreneurs, first registered after the entry into force of the regional law on, have the right not to pay tax at all under the PSN and STS regimes for two years.
2. Financial perks. This is direct financial state support in the form of grants and gratuitous ones, issued within the framework of the all-Russian program, which is valid until 2020. Funding can be obtained to reimburse leasing costs; interest on loans and credits; to participate in congress and exhibition events; co-financing projects (up to 500 thousand rubles).
3. administrative benefits. This refers to such concessions as simplified accounting and cash discipline, supervisory holidays (limiting the number and duration of inspections), the ability to draw up fixed-term employment contracts with employees. When participating in public procurement, there is a special quota for small businesses - at least 15% of the total annual volume of purchases by state and municipal institutions are required to be made from them. When obtaining loans, government guarantors act as guarantors for small businesses.