The legislation provides for certain limits within which participants in civil relations are to exercise their rights. Subjects can enter into transactions, sign contracts, observing the requirements of regulatory enactments. 
Key elements
In legal theory, 4 mandatory components are distinguished:
- Terms (content) of the transaction.
- Subjects
- Transaction Form.
- The subjective part (expression of will and its external expression).
In the absence of at least one element or non-compliance of the components with the requirements of the law, the transaction shall be considered invalid. The criteria by which this is established are recorded in Art. 170 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. Void and contested agreements fall into this category. The invalidity of the latter shall be established in court. Void - imaginary and feigned transactions - are considered null and void from the moment they are completed. They do not require a court decision. 
Imaginary and feigned transactions: comparative description
Not always legal relations, which enter into entities, comply with the law. In some cases, to "mask" an agreement, a "covering" agreement is concluded. A sham transaction involves the parties entering into certain legal relations. However, the real interactions of the participants do not coincide with the content of the agreement. At imaginary deal the parties only formally (on paper) enter into legal relations.
Specificity
A sham transaction covers the one that the participants should have concluded. The parties do not draw up a valid legal relationship for various reasons. A sham transaction is always void. It does not entail any legal consequences. In this case, the covered agreement can be both null and void. In the event that it does not contradict the legislative requirements, the court, in recognizing the transaction as feigned, shall re-qualify the legal relations of the entities.
For example, it is established that in reality the parties entered into a gift agreement, but not a sale. Transactions of the same type made on conditions that differ from those agreed upon by the parties act as a kind of feigned. For example, during the sale of an apartment for 1.5 million rubles. the participants included in the contract a condition that the price of real estate is 1 million (so as not to pay tax). In this case, the covering transaction (with a price of 1 million) is feigned and, therefore, void. A cover agreement (with a value of 1.5 million) is considered valid. 
Typical examples
A mock deal is quite common in practice. In some cases, citizens do not even assume that they enter into void contracts. Many believe that there is nothing wrong with indicating on paper a few other conditions different from the actual ones. The most common transactions are:
- Counter purchase and sale of residential space instead of a barter. In this case, a sham transaction allows you to get a tax deduction, which is due in such cases.
- Sales instead of giving. In such situations, the donee seeks to evade tax.
- By issuing a power of attorney to drive a vehicle instead of making a purchase and sale transaction. In this case, the covering agreement simplifies the procedure for selling the car, and saves on the payment of the fee for re-registering the car in the traffic police.
All listed transactions are considered void (illegal). If they are challenged in court, they will be determined to be invalid.
Imaginary deal
As mentioned above, it is accomplished only formally. In fact, the parties do not want legal consequences characteristic of such agreements. Nevertheless, this does not mean that the subjects enter into such legal relations always without any purpose. Quite often, through the execution of such transactions, the participant (or all parties at once) intends to achieve a certain illegal result. A typical example is the donation or sale of property to prevent its confiscation in favor of the state or on account of debt. In reality, the owner does not want the object to be transferred to another person, but seeks to avoid responsibility. His purpose in this case is illegal. 
Consideration Features
In court proceedings, attention is focused on the question of whether the actual fulfillment of the terms of the agreement occurred or not. If, for example, a requirement has been submitted to establish the imaginary contract for the donation of living space, then the fact of transferring the property to another person’s ownership should be established, and whether the original owner continues to use the property, whether the contract is renewed in the name of the donee, does he expenses for payment of utility bills and so on.
