A novice entrepreneur is looking for simpler ways of calculating with partners and customers, receiving funds without delay and additional costs, all this within the framework of the law. So, one of the pressing issues is the following: is it necessary to open a current account for an individual entrepreneur? The answer to it depends on the way of doing business, volume and other points. Let's consider its aspects in detail.
Work without r / s: is it possible?
Is it obligatory to open a current account for individual entrepreneurs? Not. This person has the right to conduct business without him. In accordance with the legal acts of the Central Bank, it is not the individual entrepreneur's responsibility to conduct operations exclusively in a non-cash manner. Therefore, with certain operations, you can avoid posting through banks.
Cash
The Central Bank of the Russian Federation issued a letter "On the implementation of cash settlements" No. 3073-U, which regulates the issues of maintaining cash in settlements. For example, individuals can use these funds in any volume.
But when conducting business for both legal entities and individual entrepreneurs, certain restrictions apply. There is a limit threshold for one operation for the amount that is set at 100 thousand rubles. If it is necessary to make a payment in excess of the limit, then the answer to the question of whether it is necessary to open a current account for an individual entrepreneur will be positive. True, you can use several methods to avoid this.
How to avoid the need to open r / s?
The restriction works as follows. If a businessman rents a room, the monthly cost of which is 25 thousand rubles, then he can at one time pay in cash the amount equivalent to the rent for 4 months, that is, 100 thousand rubles. However, if you need to pay six months in advance, the operation must be performed through a current account. Moreover, making payments in installments in cash also will not work, as it is made under one agreement, which provides for payment for six months.
The way out of the situation is as follows: divide the amount into parts that are less than 100 thousand rubles, and then conclude several contracts. But not all partners will be ready to sign a new contract every three months. In addition, in this case, the risks for the parties increase, since each of them can terminate the legal relationship after the expiration of the next contract.
Postings over 100 thousand rubles. without r / s
Is it obligatory to open a current account for an individual entrepreneur on a patent, USN, UTII and other special tax regimes, if it is necessary to make payments in excess of 100 thousand rubles? It turns out, no. There are goals for which these restrictions do not apply. These include the following:
- payment of wages;
- for the entrepreneur’s own needs;
- payment for raw materials, goods and services.
The same rule applies to accountable funds for conducting business.
Risks and limitations
At the same time, certain limitations and risks must be taken into account. For example, when selling goods and services exclusively in cash, the circle of potential customers narrows. Not every company is ready to pay in this way. Therefore, regardless of whether it is necessary to open a current account or not, in some cases individual entrepreneurs will have to do this in order to conduct business normally.If bookkeeping is carried out by professional financiers, they will not allow cash out due to the fact that this operation leads to a loss of 1.5 to 10% of the commission fee.
Another limitation is related to trade and procurement activities. If an individual entrepreneur needs to periodically purchase bulk quantities of goods, then constantly break down contracts into amounts below 100 thousand rubles. not only uncomfortable, but may also be unprofitable, as there is always a risk of higher prices in the future.
In addition, participation in public procurement tenders is often held in electronic format. Is it obligatory to open a current account in order to nominate myself? In this case, yes.
Thus, the lack of r / s leads to severe business restrictions. In principle, an individual entrepreneur can use his bank account to carry out the corresponding operation. However, this method is costly, and from a legal point of view, it is evaluated ambiguously.
Operations through a personal account
The Civil Code provides for the use of this account solely for personal purposes. Therefore, if a credit institution receives confirmation that a particular payment is made not for personal but for commercial purposes, it may refuse to transfer money.
For example, an individual entrepreneur receives funds for the provided service to a personal account. If the payment details indicate “payment for services”, then the bank’s security service may refuse to service the account to the individual entrepreneur, and block the last payment. Therefore, the answer to the question of whether it is necessary to open a current account may also depend on what information the counterparties and the businessman himself make in the purpose of the payment.
If you carefully read the agreement on opening a personal account, it will be said that the issued card is used solely for personal purposes, and commercial payments on it cannot be made.
In this regard, the law “On counteracting the legalization of proceeds of crime and the financing of terrorism” No. 115-ФЗ is also applied. This is the most serious legal liability that may come. The Central Bank of the Russian Federation and all other banks use it to block an account and refuse to open it.
Money Laundering Act
The provisions of law No. 115-FZ indicate the need to freeze accounts that transfer money received as a result of a crime, including a terrorist act. Despite the fact that lawyers criticize the legal act due to the lack of clear language and the presence of ambiguous concepts, banks can use it at any time to block the account. To return funds after freezing the account, you need to go through a multi-stage check, and often it ends with a negative result. In this regard, it is worth considering whether it is necessary to open a current account for individual entrepreneurs under the simplified tax system (or in another tax regime). Sometimes it’s better to pay small amounts for r / s service and be calm for the funds on it, than to put yourself at risk of being completely without money.
At the same time, banks are also in an ambiguous situation, since the Central Bank of the Russian Federation monitors the policies and activities of each financial institution. If the Central Bank is not listened to, the bank faces bankruptcy. As a result, such organizations are required to monitor all operations of both individuals and legal entities, and individual entrepreneurs. If small amounts are transferred to your personal account, the security service will not pay attention to this. But with regular receipts or transfers of large sums, sanctions may be imposed.
At the same time, the account is blocked, and the citizen is invited to come to the bank with the necessary package of documents to explain the origin of the money. If he cannot confirm the legality of their receipt, funds may be withdrawn.Is it necessary to open a current account for an individual entrepreneur at UTII or another special regime, if only small amounts are regularly posted? Not necessarily, as bank employees pay attention only to large amounts. However, using a personal account is inconvenient for other reasons.
Making payments without r / s: risks and inconveniences
In addition to the risk of individual entrepreneurs to remain without money, operations on a personal account may be disadvantageous for the following reasons.
- When transferring the amount from the personal account of an individual (IE), a commission of 1-10% is charged. You can get out of the situation if you transfer money from one personal account to another within the framework of one bank. In this case, no commission is charged. In this case, it is necessary to agree that the specific purpose of the payment does not indicate commercial goals.
- A payment option is also possible by transferring money from a legal entity to a personal card. But at the same time, serious risks appear for him. These amounts can be defined as remuneration to an employee for work under an employment contract. In this case, the IFTS will oblige to withhold from such payments personal income tax in the amount of 13%. Therefore, such transfers are best avoided.
- A situation may arise that will become disadvantageous primarily to the entrepreneur himself. In the absence of a current account, tax inspectors conducting a desk audit will check the personal account funds. If commercial payments are revealed, then the tax may charge a fee on all revenues. Then the entrepreneur will need to pay a larger amount of tax or go to court to prove the fact that it also reflected personal expenses.
This applies in particular to those entrepreneurs who operate under the “income minus expenses” tax regime, as well as the general system and the unified social tax. Is it obligatory to open a current account for individual entrepreneurs on a simplified account? Despite the absence of such an obligation, it is better to protect yourself from unnecessary expenses and penalties, having a special account for doing business.
Conclusion
Is it obligatory to open a current account for LLC? Yes, definitely. Should this be done by individual entrepreneurs? No no need. However, as can be seen from the article, in many cases p / s not only allows you to do business more successfully, but also makes postings safer.