When applying for a job, you may encounter a situation where the employee is paid remuneration in two types - official salary and unofficial one. This situation often occurs in small and medium-sized businesses. However, the parties to such labor relations must understand that this situation is a violation of the law, and if there is a gray salary, then the employer may be liable, since he has the duty of a tax agent and an insured.

Let us consider what relates to such a salary in more detail.

Salary by “color”: what are the differences?

There are several concepts of salary by “color”:

• When an employee enters into a contract with his employer and the entire amount of the salary that is reflected in this agreement is paid to him, and the employer charges and pays insurance premiums and taxes in full from it, then we are talking about an official salary. It is also commonly called “white”.
• A situation may arise when an entity attracts employees without formalizing employment agreements with them. he pays in cash and, as a rule, “in an envelope”. Remuneration for individuals is unofficial, it is not recorded anywhere, and the company does not pay contributions from these amounts. Therefore, such a salary is also called “black”.
• In addition, there is the so-called “gray” salary, which assumes that the employer officially pays its employee a small part of the salary within the minimum established by law, and the rest is transferred to the employee unofficially in cash.

Important! From the first part, the employer will make all the deductions provided for by the norms (including for pensions to the Pension Fund), and for the second, no contributions will be paid.

Why is black wages bad?

It is important to understand that due to the fact that such a salary is unofficial, only the employer and the person receiving it know about its existence.

Since the employer does not pay contributions to funds from this remuneration, this period is not included in the employee’s length of service.

He will not be able to count on paid sick leave, unless, of course, the employer makes payments to him at his own expense. Which happens very rarely. The same situation arises with the accrual and payment of vacation pay. Many employers will not be able to arrange leave.

Attention! In most cases, it becomes impossible for an employee to obtain loans from banks, since the administration of the enterprise will never issue him a certificate with his real income.

Paying unofficial wages to employees can also have negative consequences for the employer. This event is a serious offense; if the competent authorities find out about it, the company cannot avoid serious sanctions.

Responsibility

It is important to understand that the payment of unofficial wages leads to liability in accordance with the law for both the employer and the employee.

For employee

An employee may be held responsible for receiving unofficial wages if:

• A company employee knows that his employer does not calculate insurance premiums and does not withhold personal income tax from the wages he receives. The rules of law establish that the employer must accrue wages and withhold personal income tax from wages. A situation may arise where a company employee does not know that the company administration is not doing this. Therefore, the employee has guilt and responsibility for “black” wages only if he is aware of non-transfers to the budget for them.
• It is possible to prove an agreement between the employee and the employer that the salary will be paid to him unofficially, and as a result of this, deductions and taxes will not be transferred to the budget.

Even if an employee receives an unofficial salary, he can submit a declaration in Form No. 3-NDFL by April 30 and pay all calculated amounts for personal income tax to the budget by July 15.

If he does not do this, the gray salary entails the employee’s responsibility in the form of penalties (1/300 of the rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation for each day of delay) and a fine for failure to submit a declaration in the amount of 5% for each month of failure to submit a report, but no more 30% of the amount of tax payable on it.

Attention! An employee may also face criminal liability, which occurs if the amount of taxes not paid to the budget for three years exceeds 600,000 rubles. In this case, he faces a fine of 100,000-300,000 rubles, forced labor for a period of one year, or imprisonment for one year.

For the employer

If a gray salary is paid, the employer's responsibility can be presented as follows:

• Administrative liability according to the Code of Administrative Offenses - for violation of the rules of accounting and reporting in relation to officials from 5,000 to 10,000 rubles, for repeated cases the penalty is 10,000 - 20,000 rubles or disqualification for a period of one to two years.
• If the salary is paid in an envelope, the employer is responsible in accordance with Articles 122 and 123 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation - the calculation and payment of a fine in the amount of 20% of personal income tax and insurance contributions not paid to the budget.
• Criminal liability according to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - an official can be fined in the amount of 100,000 - 300,000 rubles (possibly increasing to 500,000 rubles), forced labor for a period of up to two years, or administrative arrest for 6 months, imprisonment for two years.

One of the most important tasks of a commercial enterprise is efficiency, and as part of its solution it is necessary to pursue a policy of economy. Thus, every company tries to save on employee salaries, but here the balance between their level and savings is usually important, because the more qualified and valuable the employee, the higher his demands.

One of the common ways to save is black wages.

When paying it, there is no need to pay to the budget and various funds. And usually a considerable part of the funds goes there. Next, we will examine in detail what mechanisms exist to bypass these deductions, what the consequences of their use are for the employer and the employee himself, as well as what should be done to get your money. After all, the fact that the employer, if it has not been formalized, is not so easy to prove.

First, you should take a closer look at the phenomenon of unofficial payments: wages are divided into three types: “white”, “gray” and “black”, and then we will analyze each of them.

• White is completely official; all required payments to the budget and funds are made from it. If you get exactly this, then there are no problems on this side.
• The black one is issued bypassing official papers, this is called issuance “in envelopes,” thus indicating that the employer is hiding the very fact of payments from the tax service.
• Gray is a combination of the two previous types, that is, part of the earnings is paid officially, and the other is paid extra “in an envelope.” All statements indicate payments in one volume, but in reality they are made in another.

Sometimes the importance of the fact that wages are not formalized is underestimated by citizens. At the same time, they proceed from the fact that they pay on time, consistently, in the amount agreed upon - what more could you want? Moreover, those who receive a “gray” salary tend to turn a blind eye to the significance of manipulations with legislation, since it is formalized, and the difference between the formalized and the real one can be perceived as a kind of additional payment. But in both cases the responsibility is significant, and the risks are great.

Consequences for the employee

For employees to agree to this, gray and black salaries must have not only disadvantages, but also advantages. Let's look at them first:

• Since not everyone is able to find a job with decent pay, some have to make similar deals with the employer if this is required to increase their income. The fact is that reducing the tax burden allows the company to pay the employee more.
• The citizen himself will not have to pay at all if we are talking about a “black” salary, and will have to pay less if it is a “gray” one: still, 13% is not such a small saving.
• Unofficial income will not be taken into account.

But it is unlikely that these benefits themselves outweigh the numerous disadvantages, and therefore, as practice shows, first of all, the initiative comes from the employer, and the employees themselves are only forced to agree, being presented with a choice - either to accept this attitude without complaint, or to lose their job altogether. What are the disadvantages of unofficial payments?

• They can be terminated at any time, and unlike official payments, it will not be possible to recover compensation for this.
• If an employee gets sick, sick leave will be calculated based on his white salary - that is, he will receive less, or even nothing at all. The same applies to maternity leave, as well as subsequent ones.
• The same is with a pension - its size will be greatly affected by the fact of unofficial payments, because deductions from them do not go to the Pension Fund. You should always remember exactly this: the employer saves first of all directly on his employee, and the 50,000 paid unofficially should not be equal to the same amount that is paid officially.
• In the complete absence of official wages, there will be no work experience.
• If an employee has a low salary or no salary at all, he will have problems obtaining loans and visas.
• Social guarantees will be much lower, and it will become easier to fire an employee. If the salary is negligible, then all relations with the organization are not regulated by law at all and are in fact built solely on faith - the very first conflict, and the employee may lose his job without any additional payments.
• Do not forget about the responsibility of the recipient himself before the law - if contributions to the funds must be made by the employer, then personal income tax is paid directly by the employee, which means he will have to bear responsibility for non-payment.

Consequences for the employer

First of all, the initiative to pay wages unofficially comes from the employer.

The reasons for this are obvious: every company bears a serious tax burden and, in addition to the actual payments to its employees, must pay large amounts of money to the budget and funds. If the wages of its employees are lower, then these payments, calculated as a percentage of it, will also be lower. Therefore, there is a great temptation to reach an agreement with employees that at least part of the payment will be made to them, bypassing the supervisory authorities. Thus, the advantages will be as follows:

• Decline.
• Reducing social security costs for employees.

The list is small, but both points are extremely important. Flaws? If the fact of deliberate understatement or concealment of payments is revealed in accordance with Article 123 of the Tax Code, it will be necessary to pay 20% of the amount subject to withholding. The punishment would be completely ridiculous, but Article 5.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses also adds fines for violation of labor laws: from 1,000 to 5,000 rubles for an official and individual entrepreneur, from 30,000 to 50,000 for a legal entity.

However, these fines are not severe enough to deter employers from violating the law, and therefore further we will talk about what an employee should do if he is paid unprofitable wages or if they are no longer even paid at all.

What should the employee do?

Many citizens, having lost their jobs, did not receive the money they were due precisely because part of their wages or even all of them were paid bypassing taxes . Often they don’t even know where to start the proceedings in order to still return the money - and therefore we will start by covering exactly this.

Filing a complaint

You need to start by contacting government agencies designed to deal with such situations. First of all, this is Rostrud, that is, the Federal Service for Labor and Employment. You can make a personal appeal or apply through the official website of the service - https://www.rostrud.ru. In addition, a complaint can also be made to the prosecutor's office, tax and police - samples are attached to the article. Please note that the appeal can also be anonymous - although a personal one will have an effect faster, since those are the ones who are dealt with first. An inspection is usually carried out regarding the application, during which the employer will have to prove that he charges wages exclusively legally.

If a conflict arises with the employer, you can also file an application in court - this is usually done to prove the amount of money received. Proving this will not be so easy due to the fact that it was paid unofficially, but it is possible. Next, we will look at exactly how to prove that the salary was paid in an envelope.

How to prove the existence of an unofficial salary

Proving the fact of receiving some other payments, in addition to the “white” salary, is usually the most difficult.

It is best if the employee has the relevant papers, notes during conversations with the employer or accountant, and similar evidence, which can be used to clearly and unambiguously establish the fact of payments bypassing taxes and impose punishment. Testimonials from other workers and even recruitment advertisements promising higher wages than listed on the payroll will also help. But the court will be guided only by the totality of evidence. Filing a class action lawsuit will also help; other things being equal, it will be perceived by the court with more favor than a lawsuit from one employee.

Judicial practice

Plaintiff R.N. Abramov filed a claim against the Glavinstrument company for the recovery of unpaid wages, as well as corresponding compensation. The basis for the appeal was that the salary was not paid to the plaintiff in the full amount established.

The plaintiff himself did not appear in court, but his representative supported the demands. In addition, he added that the plaintiff previously worked at the Metalplast enterprise, which was then replaced by a new one, Glavinstrument. After its formation, the employees were told that since the enterprise had just been formed, they needed help, namely, to officially agree to a salary lower than before, but at the same time the rest had to be paid extra, bypassing taxation, that is, “in an envelope.” In the end, the plaintiff never received this unofficial part.

After presenting the case materials - payroll and pay slips, the court found a violation in terms of dismissal in the form of untimely payments. However, the court was critical of the amount of his salary indicated by the plaintiff. Witnesses confirmed the division of payments at the enterprise into “black” and “white”, but the plaintiff’s arguments about the amount of wages he was entitled to were never confirmed by concrete evidence.

The court ruled that the company had no debt to the plaintiff, since the calculation should be based on official documents. Thus, it was decided to satisfy the claim in part: to recover from the enterprise, as well as for the delay in its payment. The part about unpaid wages was refused, since the presence of this unpaid part was not recorded in official papers. Thus, the return of “black wages” if the employer refused to pay it is usually fraught with difficulties. The entire case can be viewed here.

Any citizen who has worked at least once in his life or is just getting a job knows that wages can be of two types: white and black.

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If the first is official, then the second is illegal, and the employer who pays it is simply deceiving both the state and his employee. However, there is another type of salary - gray.

What is it?

Gray salary is payments that consist of two unequal parts:

1. The smaller of them is usually paid in the form of a white salary. This means that all necessary accruals are debited from it.
2. The majority is given to the employee in the form of cash, just like cash.

Basically, this way of earning money can be obtained by working for a representative of a medium or small business. This is a great way for them to evade paying part of their taxes.

Most often, you can get to such an employer when looking for work in such areas as:

• construction;
• various areas of trade;
• manufacturing industries.

Legislation

Taxes are withheld from wages in accordance with Article 226 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

In addition, there are several more articles that regulate the conditions for providing certain payments to an employee, which may be less when applying the gray scheme:

• Art. 144 Labor Code of the Russian Federation - vacation pay;
• Art. 183 Labor Code of the Russian Federation and Art. 14 of Federal Law No. 255 - sick pay;
• Art. 178 and 181.1 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation - severance pay;
• Art. 10 of Federal Law No. 176 - pension accruals.

In case of tax evasion, the head of the organization may fall under tax liability, which is specified in Article 122 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, or criminal liability, in accordance with Article 198 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Gray salary

Gray wages are a great way for an employer to provide employees with more income by evading some tax payments.

At first glance, this scheme is very convenient and beneficial for both parties. However, if you look at it more carefully, things become not so tempting.

Conditionally legal forms

Employers have the opportunity to provide employees with a gray salary, and at the same time not hide its amount from the state.

There are several conditionally legal schemes for this. However, it is worth noting that their use often leads not only to a reduction in deductions, but also to closer attention from the tax authorities.

The two most commonly used schemes are:

1. Dividends. Large enterprises, whose net profit is significant, can pay their employees earnings in the form of dividends. In this case, it will be possible to get rid of some types of taxes. But we must immediately make a reservation that not all employees can be provided with this form of income.
2. Compensation. Another popular method is to pay the bulk of your earnings in the form of compensation for withholding wages. But it is worth clarifying that, according to the law, the amount of such payments is not subject to taxes and is equal to 1/300 of the refinancing, or the employer can assign it independently. Unscrupulous managers take advantage of this by prescribing large amounts of compensation in local regulations and employment contracts.

But even when using such seemingly legal schemes, employees are still exposed to risks. To protect employees as much as possible, the employer can enter into a civil contract with them.

In this case, each employee is represented as an individual entrepreneur, as a result of which all his earnings are taxed according to a simplified scheme.

Pros and cons

As already mentioned, a gray salary has a number of disadvantages for the employee. And there are quite a few of them, and most are due to the fact that official or white earnings are minimal.

So, if an employee is paid gray wages, then:

• the amount of sick leave and dismissal payments is reduced, and vacation pay is also reduced;
• in the event of a conflict with superiors, the employee can receive minimal compensation;
• It may be difficult to obtain a loan or credit, since only the white part of earnings can be indicated in the data.

But the main disadvantage of such work will become noticeable with the arrival of retirement age. The fact is that there are practically no personal income tax deductions from the minimum wage.

As a result, the Pension Fund does not accumulate the amount necessary to provide a person with a pension.

Unlike employees, there is only one disadvantage for a manager, and that is the threat that his actions will be discovered and he will be punished.

But it’s still worth highlighting one plus for the employee. Due to the fact that practically no tax deductions are taken from the income, his final salary becomes slightly higher. But once again it is worth recalling that a small increase in earnings in the future will turn into deductions from your pension.

Consequences

Almost all the consequences that await an employee who receives a gray salary are noted as disadvantages in the previous paragraph.

It is also worth noting that when receiving undocumented earnings, an employee is practically not protected in any way. And if the employer refuses, he simply will not be able to prove his right to the unpaid amounts.

The employer will also face certain consequences if it is discovered that he used a gray scheme.

The least punishment will be administrative liability. In the worst case, it may turn out to be criminal, followed by imprisonment.

Where to contact?

If an employee decides to defend his rights, he should contact three services:

• labor inspection;
• tax service;
• prosecutor's office

However, it is necessary to provide your personal information, since anonymous messages rarely lead to the desired result and can lead to harmful consequences.

In addition, you need to prepare evidence in advance that will support the employee’s testimony.

Responsibility

When a gray scheme is revealed, all parties who took part in it in one way or another face a certain responsibility. At the same time, it will concern not only managers.

In many cases, employees who received gray wages also come under attack from the tax authorities.

Employer

According to the Tax Code, in 2020 the employer faces administrative liability in the form of a fine.

Its amount will be 20% of the total amount that the manager did not pay for taxes.

In addition, there are penalties for non-payment of insurance premiums, which can reach up to 10 thousand rubles.

But if it turns out that the total amount of unpaid taxes has grown to large amounts, then the company’s management, in accordance with Article 199 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, may be brought to criminal liability.

In this case, three scenarios are possible:

1. Imposition of a fine of up to 300 thousand rubles.
2. Appointment of arrest or forced labor.
3. Imprisonment.

Employee

As for the employee, many believe that if a gray scheme is identified, he can “get away with it.”

However, do not forget that a citizen who receives income from which personal income tax was not withheld must independently declare his income. At the same time, he is obliged to pay at least 13% of their amount.

If this was not done, then the violator is given a fine of 5% of the amount of all unpaid taxes.

If an employee knowingly covered up for the employer or received particularly large sums in a shady way, then he faces criminal liability under Article 198 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

It may take the form of a fine ranging from 300 thousand to a million rubles. In extreme cases, the employee faces a prison sentence of one to three years.

What to do in case of non-payment?

If, upon receiving a gray salary, an employee suddenly notices that the amount of payments provided to him has been reduced to the amount of official earnings, then he can do the following:

1. Trying to wait until the salary increases, which is not the best idea.
2. Talk to your employer and try to normalize your earnings. This can be done by those who are satisfied with a gray salary.
3. File a complaint with the appropriate authorities.

The last option is the most correct, but at the same time the most difficult of those presented, due to the fact that it will be quite difficult for the employee to prove that he is right.

Where to complain?

Before applying anywhere, an employee must carefully study the Labor Code. From it you can deduct what payments are due in a particular case, and also indicate all possible types of white salaries.

After studying the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, an employee can file a complaint with the commission, which deals with resolving controversial situations in the labor sphere.

In addition, you can submit an application to the prosecutor’s office or the State Labor Inspectorate.

In addition, the employee has the opportunity to file a claim in court.

How to prove it?

It is extremely difficult to prove that an employer is using a gray payment scheme.

But if the employee still did not receive his salary, or other controversial situations arose, to prove the employer’s guilt you need to:

1. Determine whether there are witnesses.
2. Provide any recording or photograph that would allow you to prove the existence of a violation.
3. Provide financial statements of regularity of gray earnings.

The employee can also compare the level of his official earnings with those of other employers in the region. But it’s better to do this before employment. The employee also has the right to go to court.

Going to court

In order to go to court, an employee only needs to file a simple statement of claim. The document must indicate the claims, as well as the circumstances under which the employee was deceived.

Black wages are a type of wage paid to an informally employed worker. Earnings for the performance of work duties are given in person “in an envelope”; accordingly, the employer does not pay insurance contributions to the Pension Fund for it. Find out where to complain about black wages.

A gray salary is a type of income in which the employee, although officially employed, does not indicate the entire salary amount in the employment contract concluded with him. Usually the contract specifies a small part of the salary, and he receives the rest, as in the previous case.

Responsibility of the employee and employer for unpaid wages

The employer's responsibility for black wages in 2020 is established by Art. 122-123 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. Measures applied to management:

• Assignment to payment of an administrative fine. Its size is 20% of the tax that was not paid by companies or private entrepreneurs;
• Payment of a fine on the basis provided for in Art. 27 Federal Law No. 167 “On Compulsory Pension Insurance” of 2001. The amount of the sanction varies from 5,000 to 10,000 rubles.

Please note: Another measure of administrative liability may be applied to the employer - disqualification. It means that a citizen will not be able to hold leadership positions for a period of 1 to 3 years.

Responsibility for salaries in envelopes under Art. 199 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:

• Assignment to payment of a fine. Its size depends on the amount of debt, varies from 100,000 to 300,000 rubles;
• Involvement in forced labor. Their total duration can reach 2 years;
• Employer's arrest. The maximum period of arrest is 6 months;
• Imprisonment. By court decision, imprisonment for up to 2 years is possible.

The amount of the fine payable in accordance with the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation may be increased to 500,000 rubles if there are qualifying criteria.

In addition, liability is provided for an employee who knew that the employer did not pay taxes to the Federal Tax Service and insurance contributions to the Pension Fund on his salary. If an employee does not separately pay tax for himself, then he will be required to pay personal income tax and accrued penalties. For failure to submit an income tax return to the tax office, he is assessed a fine of 5% of the entire outstanding amount of debt.

Responsibility for accruing earnings below the minimum wage

Types of liability

The issue of administrative punishment of an unscrupulous employer is considered in accordance with Parts 1, 2 of Art. 23.1, 23.12 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation in the labor inspectorate or in court. In addition, if employees are paid wages below the minimum wage for more than two months, the head of the enterprise faces criminal liability.

Federal Law No. 82 “On Minimum Wages” of 2000 stipulates that an employee’s salary cannot be less than the established minimum wage. The obligation to comply with this provision is established by Art. 7 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, Art. 133 Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

The employer's responsibility for wages below the minimum wage is established by the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. So, if wages are accrued in a smaller amount than regulated by labor legislation, then management is held accountable under the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation:

• Assignment to payment of a fine. For companies and enterprises registered as legal entities. persons, it is provided in the amount of 30,000 rubles.
• When a salary is re-calculated below the minimum wage, the amount of the sanction increases (Article 5.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation).

Watch the video about the employer's responsibility in case of non-payment of wages or when the paid wages are “black” or below the minimum wage

Responsibility for non-payment of wages

Art. 145.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation regulates criminal liability for non-payment of wages for 2 or more months, if this is related to the personal interest of a person or his selfish intentions.

Measures applied under Art. 145.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:

• Assignment to payment of a penalty. Its amount is determined depending on the amount of debt to employees; it can range from 100,000 to 500,000 rubles;
• Seizure of earnings or other source of income of a convicted person for the last 3 years;
• Involvement in corrective labor for up to 3 years, deprivation of the opportunity to engage in certain activities for the same period.

Or its non-payment increases if the specified grounds become the cause of grave consequences. Thus, another punishment appears - imprisonment for a period of 2 to 5 years, accompanied by the inability to engage in a specific type of activity.

We are ready to answer any questions you may have - ask them in the comments

Salaries “in envelopes” are well known to the citizens of our country. There is a misconception that issuing money in this way is the domain of only small companies that do not represent anything. Sometimes circumstances are such that large organizations use cunning schemes for issuing conditionally legal pay to their employees. But even in this situation there are enormous risks for every employee. Let's consider what a gray salary is, the employer's responsibility and basic risks (see).

What is “gray salary”

The list of names that have received this type of salary is almost endless, but the fact remains: employers and employees who practice such activities are breaking the law! If the black salary is 100% unofficial, and the citizen does not even have official employment, then the gray salary is legal (according to papers), but in fact it implies responsibility for the fact that part of the money is given to the white one, and the rest to the black one. So we get such a mix of the official and unofficial parts.

What determines the “dullness” of a salary?

Tax payments from employees are carried out by the direct employer, because in accordance with the law, it is he who acts as a tax agent. However, the employee remains the taxpayer. Basically, the grayness of the salary depends on the level of profit received by the company. After all, if the size is large, not every enterprise will want to “share a tasty piece” with the state. Also, the grayness of the salary depends on the chosen tax regime and the general contribution policy. There are several factors that should alert employees and also make them understand that the salary is gray:

• the wage indicator is excessively low (less than in the entire market of the region and industry);
• the amount indicated in the statement is small in comparison with the minimum allowable salary;
• the salary of employees occupying low positions is higher than the salary of higher-ranking specialists.

Why do you need a gray salary?

This method of cooperation is most beneficial for the employer himself. After all, he pays part of the money “over the counter”, and accordingly saves on contributions, has the opportunity to increase employees’ salaries and, thus, attract more promising employees. If the salary is negligible, this approach can act as a tool for the employer to manipulate employees who are completely dependent on his will. But not every employee agrees to receive a salary “in an envelope”. This is due to the fact that today the number and scope of social guarantees offered by the state is constantly increasing, and citizens are interested in having the entire salary appear in the documentation, and not part of it.

Positive and negative sides of gray salary

Russians who work for hire have many reasons why they have to agree to offers that involve a mediocre salary.

• Problems with official employment;
• advantageous offers for working relationships;
• no need to pay taxes in full;
• presence of disability pension.

Industry experts believe that the willingness to work for “gray” money is also due to the mentality of citizens. The benefits for employers are clear. As for the disadvantages for the employee, they are also simple.

• Complete dependence on the employer and susceptibility to manipulation on his part;
• Reduced payments to your own pension fund, which makes the prospect of income in retirement not particularly rosy.
• lack of security, full guarantees and psychological discomfort.

For the employer, there is only one actual disadvantage of such work - if the tax authorities become interested in his enterprise, he faces serious liability.

According to paragraph 4 of Article 226 of the Tax Code, the tax agent who is responsible for withholding personal income tax from citizens’ income is responsible. By law, the employer undertakes to perform the tasks of a tax agent. Under Article 122 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, incomplete payment of fees due to a deliberate reduction in the size of the tax base, as well as other unlawful actions that violate the rights of employees, entail a fine amounting to about 20% of the amount of the fee that was not paid. If the tax base was deliberately reduced in order to evade payment to the state, this implies a fine of 40% of the unpaid tax amount. So, if a salary is given in an envelope, the employer’s responsibility is great.

It is also worth understanding that if a tax specialist has suspicions and receives evidence of the fact of payment of a gray salary, the Federal Tax Service will not ignore this. She immediately has a logical question: what income allows the company to pay salaries in envelopes. The employer’s responsibility also lies in the fact that he can be called to a departmental meeting and given a warning, and in the worst case, an on-site inspection can be organized. The consequences will also be reflected on certain employees - the manager, the chief accountant, and other financial workers.

According to Article 199 of the Criminal Code, evasion of tax payments entails criminal liability. If the violation is not serious, a fine of up to 300,000 rubles is imposed. Arrest for six months or imprisonment for up to two years may also be imposed. In this case, an employee who is a direct employer is deprived of the opportunity to engage in certain types of activities and hold certain positions for a certain time period.

Responsibility of the employee for receiving salary in an envelope

If an employee received income that does not require the employer to pay tax and did not declare it, he faces administrative liability. After all, according to the first paragraph of Article 228 of the Tax Code, the obligation to calculate personal income tax also falls on the shoulders of individuals, that is, employees. If the taxpayer has not submitted a declaration, then liability is assumed in the form of a fine amounting to 5% of the unpaid tax amount. According to the provisions of Article 198, deliberate tax evasion committed on a large scale involves a fine of up to 300,000 rubles and arrest for 4-6 months. or imprisonment for up to a year. Thus, the employee’s responsibility for receiving the salary in the envelope is also significant.

From the standpoint of the current law, the actions in question on the part of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs are unlawful and imply liability. And in 2017, amendments were made to allow for more strict and precise regulation of wages. Responsibility remains administrative, but in the case of handling particularly large sums, it can also acquire a criminal nature. In 2017, in order to impose a punishment on the employer, an employee can apply to the following authorities:

• tax services at the location of the company;
• Prosecutor's office.

As part of each appeal, structural units carry out a detailed check and deal with the final resolution of the issue. First of all, the employer is held liable on the basis of Art. 122 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Article 199 also implies criminal liability if the amount of taxes that have not been paid is 2,000,000 rubles. and more. Thus, the employer’s responsibility for the 2017 gray salary is significant.

Is it possible to whitewash a gray salary?

There are no legal ways to avoid paying taxes and still get out of the water clean, but there are several clues and loopholes in the law that will allow you to achieve the optimal result. For example, payment of required wages in the form of values ​​that are not subject to taxation and do not belong to the taxable base. These are incentives and financial assistance. The advantages are obvious: the employee receives the required salary, and the employer does not pay the full amount of taxes. But this method is not so widely used in practice.

Thus, a gray salary is a blow not only to the conscience of the employee and employer, but also to the budget. If such a financial crime is discovered, the tax authorities may issue significant fines. Therefore, both parties - the employee and the employer - are advised to think several times before risking their own money and freedom.

• Punishment in the form of criminal liability for tax evasion is rarely used in practice, only in 5% of court cases;
• According to statistics, 38% of people are ready to work “in the gray”, and 30% would flatly refuse to hide their income;
• In the ranking of professions that offer undeservedly high salaries, real estate agents are in first place.