Do I need a current account for an individual entrepreneur? Do I need a current account for an individual entrepreneur?

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After registration, a young businessman begins to think about how to conduct non-cash transactions. Let us study in detail whether it is possible for an individual entrepreneur to operate without a current account in a year.

Current account features

In accordance with the legislation, 4 types of recording of settlements were approved in the year:

• cash;
• through a card, savings book and other personal account options;
• According to Article 410 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, individuals can make settlements with counterparties.

An individual entrepreneur is allowed to operate without opening a current account. According to Article 23, paragraph 2, part 2 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, an individual entrepreneur has the right not to notify the tax and social funds about the opening of new accounts. But, looking at it from the other side, you can understand that this is a reason to check your cash flows.

The Central Bank regulates all banking activities of the country through instructions. Banks conducting operations related to cash flows in business risk being fined.

Why do you need to open a bank account?

Many beginning businessmen wonder whether an individual entrepreneur can work without opening a current account and how to do this in a year? A restriction has been established - the limit on cash payments should not exceed more than 100,000 rubles with one entrepreneur or legal entity. The legislation does not establish limits for remuneration of employees and settlements with individuals.

Let's give an example. An entrepreneur rented an office to carry out his activities. Payment costs 11,000 rubles, term - 11 months. The total amount of payments is 121,000 rubles. And this is more than the limit. Therefore, all payments must be made through the bank.

If the limit is not exceeded, then you can do without opening a PC. The question here is not about legislation, but more about whether it is convenient. In addition to wasting time in line, you will have to comply with the requirements of cash discipline. They are simplified for individual entrepreneurs, but there are still difficulties.

Pros and cons of having a current account

When operating as an individual entrepreneur without a current account, a number of difficulties arise. You have to pay for opening and maintaining a PC, approximately 1,000 per month. Not having an account saves up to 1,000 rubles monthly. This is where the advantages end. If an organization has an annual income of millions, then such expenses are invisible. You can pay tax at a bank without a current account using a receipt or a personal account. This is convenient for an organization with a low number of calculations.

Much more disadvantages:

1. A current account is considered a demonstration of the “worthiness” of an individual entrepreneur. All cash movements will take place without claims from the tax authorities. If all payments are made through drugs, it will be necessary to prove that entrepreneurial work is not carried out.
2. Without a PC, it will be difficult to carry out serious money transfers with legal entities. The bank may consider any receipt of a significant amount of money as wages or results of the entrepreneur’s activities.
3. Sometimes the bank prohibits cash movements related to business activities. If you ignore this point, the account will be closed.

There is another option - you can open 2 drugs. The first is for work, and the second is for personal needs. This is not prohibited by law.

Banks today compete very strongly with each other. Managing MS in this matter is no exception. An entrepreneur can always choose a profitable offer for himself. Some institutions provide a bonus: servicing the CCS is free.

On video: Opening a current account for an individual entrepreneur. How to open an individual entrepreneur account in a bank?

Consequences of using drugs in business

A personal account can be used in business. But although the provision of the Tax Code has lost force, the ban is in effect in some cases, so an individual entrepreneur can rarely function normally without opening a current account.

If you understand the law well, then the use of drugs when doing business is prohibited:

1. According to the instruction of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation N 153-I, banks are prohibited from conducting transactions through drugs related to entrepreneurship and private practice. If the bank considers the transaction to be related to business, it has the right to refuse.
2. Receipt of large amounts on a personal account - the bank will ask about the source. The goal is to combat the financing of terrorism and money laundering. Transfers may be stopped.
3. When transferring funds by legal entities and organizations to the account of individuals, the tax office may oblige the former to pay 13% income tax. Business partners are regarded as counterparties.
4. The tax office will require an explanation. For transfers of money by counterparties to individuals, justification is required. In this case, the justification is an agreement. The agreement was concluded not as with a legal entity, but as with an individual entrepreneur. It's difficult to explain.
5. The tax office will make attempts to oblige you to pay taxes on all your own funds as an individual entrepreneur.
6. If one of the OSNO, UST or STS modes is used, then confirmation of costs will be required. In this case, payment of expenses from drugs will not be considered tax. It is not possible to reduce mandatory payments.

On video: How to open a bank account?

Who is suitable for working without an individual entrepreneur's current account?

If transactions carried out by bank transfer are more than 100,000 rubles, then the RS must be opened for individual entrepreneurs per year. Some individual entrepreneur work may well do without a bank account. In this case, reporting will be carried out through KUDiR. It will be convenient to work if trade is carried out directly: market, sale of kvass, ice cream, seasonal souvenirs, home services. It is logical to conduct such types of activities through cash payments. Taxes are paid at Sberbank.

Entrepreneurs whose activities involve frequent movements of funds through non-cash payments are better off opening a personal account.

Refusal to open a PC threatens:

• many business partners will refuse to cooperate;
• inability to make payments at any time from anywhere;
• clients will not be able to pay for work by card or payment.

With frequent non-cash payments, it is easier to open a current account. You can do without MS if the type of activity allows it.

Starting your financial activities, an individual entrepreneur has the right to open a current account in any chosen bank. According to the law, such an action is not mandatory.

But those businessmen who decide to neglect this right, in the process of business activity, may be faced with the question of how to make payments to a partner and at the same time not violate cash discipline. In such a situation, having a current account may become a necessity.

How necessary for 2019

It should be immediately noted that in 2019, the procedure for opening a current account by an individual entrepreneur remained the same. An individual entrepreneur can enter into an agreement on a voluntary basis or in case of urgent need.

A current account performs an important economic function. It helps to separate personal money from financial resources received as a result of business activities.

In addition, documented receipt of revenue facilitates reporting and simplifies control over the fulfillment of contractual obligations.

Availability of bank details serves additional guarantee when concluding contractual relations with business partners. Cash turnover, which is reflected in the bank statement, can confirm the solvency of a businessman when receiving borrowed funds. The bank is most willing to issue loans to clients who have stable financial activity.

The need for a mandatory opening of a current account with an entrepreneur will arise only if settlements between counterparties under one agreement exceed the limited amount of 100 thousand rubles. Also, when paying for a large consignment of goods, large wholesalers prefer exclusively non-cash payments.

Due to the fact that plastic cards are often used when working with customers in retail trade, the need to open a current account is only growing every year.

Is it possible to use a personal account when doing business?

In business practice, many individual entrepreneurs use a personal bank account to store funds. This involves getting some economic benefit:

1. The fee for servicing an account opened for an individual is significantly less.
2. Restrictions on cash withdrawals are not as strict as when conducting transactions on a current account.

From the point of view of a bank client, in other respects these accounts are not much different from each other. It is also possible to credit funds from third parties to your personal account.

An entrepreneur has the right to pay tax payments and settle accounts with suppliers. In addition, for the convenience of clients, banks issue plastic cards for accounts, with which you can make remote payments through the bank-client system.

Some entrepreneurs use a deposit account in their commercial activities. But this is not always convenient, since this type of money storage has many restrictions and additional commissions when paying with third parties.

What are the risks of using a current account?

In accordance with the regulations of the Central Bank, current accounts and deposits of individuals can only be used to accumulate funds not related to commercial activities. For business, banks must open current accounts. But, despite this, no penalties are provided for the use of the account for other purposes by the financial institution.

Some banks, in order to provide additional control over the flow of funds, ask to indicate in payment documents a phrase stating that the transfer is not related to commercial activities, but such actions are illegal.

In turn, entrepreneurs are not always honest with the bank and when settling with a counterparty they do not disclose the real basis for the payment.

This behavior threatens IP some risks:

1. Firstly, a financial organization may delay the transfer of money if the counterparty indicated in the line the recipient “IP Petrov P.P.”, and not just “Petrov P.P.” The bank justifies this delay by saying that the name of the recipient does not match the owner of the current account and it is impossible to identify the payment.
2. Secondly, use may cause confusion among buyers, especially if the entrepreneur asks not to indicate individual entrepreneurs as recipients. It is quite possible that document flow prepared in this way will arouse interest among inspection authorities. Cash receipts in the name of an individual may be mistakenly accepted as the taxable base for income tax, as a result of which the tax office will charge fines and penalties, and funds will recalculate contributions.
3. Thirdly, if a situation arises when an entrepreneur needs to return erroneously transferred payments from the budget or fund, then this can hardly be done to the current account.

If the bank detects violations when using a personal account, the financial institution may terminate the agreement and close the account. Many banks warn their clients in advance in writing that it is prohibited to carry out transactions related to commercial activities on the current account.

When starting to choose a financial institution, you need to familiarize yourself with the reliability rating. This is especially true during periods of economic instability in the country, when banks’ licenses are often revoked.

It is also very important how long it takes the client to get to the bank branch. In this regard, it is necessary to select a financial institution based on territoriality.

An important fact is cost of cash management services, debited monthly from the account balance. Its size has a fixed rate, which can increase depending on the number of payment documents processed. The bank will also withdraw money for opening an account.

If the client is going to use the services of a client bank, then you should find out the prices for this service in advance. Some institutions set low rates to attract customers, which miraculously increase after a few months.

In order to optimize payments, an individual entrepreneur should be interested in the timing of money transfers. Reliable banks try to make transfers within 24 hours. This is especially true when taxes are transferred.

You need to choose a bank extremely carefully, since this institution financial safety of funds depends. When choosing, you can use the advice of friends and customer reviews.

More information about the need for a current account can be found in this video.

What documents will be required

Despite the fact that the packages of documents in all banks are different, there is a basic list that must be provided when opening a current account:

• passport of an individual entrepreneur;
• certificate of registration with the tax authority;

In addition to the above, the bank will ask you to fill out an application for opening an account, a detailed client questionnaire, a card with the right to sign and a cash settlement service agreement. If all the documents provided are in order, this procedure will not take much time.

The documents that the bank requests to open an account must be original. If necessary, the financial institution itself makes copies and certifies them. It is worth noting that some papers have a limited validity period. For example, an extract from the Unified State Register of Individual Entrepreneurs remains valid for 30 days. After this period, you will have to order a new document.

When signing the contract, you should carefully read all the clauses and familiarize yourself with the established prices. If in doubt, you should seek legal advice.

Some banks may ask an individual entrepreneur to put his stamp on it. Guided by the fact that an individual entrepreneur can conduct business without an official stamp, many entrepreneurs confirm contractual relations only with a personal signature.

Pros and cons of use in activities

From the point of view of economic feasibility, a current account can have either positive, so negative characteristics. After a thorough analysis of the benefits and costs, each entrepreneur individually decides whether he needs a current account or not.

The main advantages can be summarized as follows:

TO cons may include additional costs for cash management services, the need to visit a credit institution for collection and obtaining a statement. Also, if you have a current account, you must observe a certain discipline related to the storage of cash.

Obviously, there are many more advantages in this matter, therefore, in order to build civilized financial activity, it would be more expedient to open a current account and entrust the bank with control over money transfers.

How does an individual entrepreneur work without a current account? Details in the video.

Do you need to open a current account if you are registered as an individual entrepreneur? In 2017, legislation does not oblige small businesses to open a current account.

However, there are nuances to this issue. For example, if the settlement amount under one contract exceeds 100,000 rubles, you will have to make non-cash payments.

So is it possible to conduct business without a current account as an individual entrepreneur and how to do it correctly? You will find out the answer to this question from our article.

Can an individual entrepreneur work without a current account?

Regulatory acts do not prohibit entrepreneurs from running their business without opening a current account. If the activity, for example, is related to trading on the market, then maintaining an account will generally be unprofitable: you will have to spend a lot of time traveling to the bank.

Also, individual entrepreneurs with a patent that provide services to the public, in most cases, accept cash from customers, which in itself does not imply opening a current account. If an entrepreneur works with other counterparties and enters into official contracts, then as soon as the amount for the latter exceeds 100,000 rubles, he will have to open a bank account. This is a legal requirement.

For example, if an individual entrepreneur signed an agreement to rent premises on UTII, and the monthly amount of the service is 25,000 rubles, then after 4 months the cost under the contract will be 100,000 rubles. Therefore, from the 5th month you will need to open a current account, if this has not been done previously.

Individual entrepreneur on the simplified tax system with a rate of 15% is better to immediately open a bank account. Since this type of taxation depends on the expenses incurred by the entrepreneur, it would be better if they are reflected in the current account. Then the tax office will not have questions for you, and you will not overpay.

It is better to carry out settlements with individual entrepreneurs using a current account and other taxation systems. A bank account expands business opportunities. Many counterparties refuse to cooperate with individual entrepreneurs who do not have an account. Also, you don’t have to worry about your money: it is under the protection of the bank, and in addition, it is insured for up to 1,400,000 rubles.

The activities of individual entrepreneurs will be much simpler if payments are made non-cash. Using the personal account service, which is offered by almost all banks, you can pay taxes, make payments to extra-budgetary funds and using the details of business partners in a few minutes from your own office or even from home. And this saves valuable time.

So do you need a current account for an individual entrepreneur? If you want to develop your business, establish contacts with new contractors and are going to enter into contracts for large sums, then the answer is definitely “yes”.

Disadvantages of working without opening a bank account

Of course, you can work without a current account, but in this case you may encounter inconveniences. They are associated with the following nuances reflected in the table.

Find a profitable bank

Can I use a regular personal debit card?

Some entrepreneurs believe that payments can be made using a personal account opened for an individual.

Regulatory acts prohibit the use of a personal account for making commercial payments. There are separate accounts for individuals, and different ones for individual entrepreneurs. Therefore, acquiring the status of an entrepreneur deprives you of the opportunity to use a personal account. This follows from the Resolutions of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.

However, novice entrepreneurs still in some cases make payments through personal accounts. If the bank is interested in such a transaction (especially if there were many of them), then they may suspend your account. In this case, you will need to provide documents indicating the source of funds. And since your funds are a business product, the account will be closed. Sometimes re-opening an account with another bank can be problematic, since banks transfer information about similar clients among themselves.

Do I need a current account to open an individual entrepreneur?

To register an individual entrepreneur, you will need to provide a list of documents to the tax authority. However, the list of documents does not include a certificate of opening an account. This means that the procedure for registering an individual entrepreneur does not require opening an account.

You can first formalize your business, then work for some time without a current account (if the specifics of your activity allow it). After which you can get an account.

The main thing you need to know: an account is opened only after registering an individual entrepreneur, not earlier. When you receive documents from the tax office confirming your new status, then you can go to the bank.

By the way, after registering an invoice, you will not have to notify the tax authority and extra-budgetary funds about this. This responsibility has been transferred to banks, and therefore after opening an account you can safely start using it.

Favorable bank rates

How to pay taxes without a checking account

If you have not yet opened a bank account or do not plan to do so, then a natural question arises about paying taxes. Unlike LLCs, the requirements for individual entrepreneurs in this matter are much softer.

If you do not have a current account, you have the right to pay fees in cash or from the personal account of an individual. This is especially true when the turnover of your business is still small, and profits do not allow you to make mandatory payments. In this case, you can pay taxes from your own funds.

It is important to indicate here that you are paying payments specifically for individual entrepreneurs, so that there are as few questions as possible from the tax office to you. To deposit funds on your taxes, you will need to take a form with the details from the tax office, fill it out and submit it to any bank that provides transfer services. The operator may charge a commission for the operation.

Having a current account greatly simplifies this task. You can transfer funds directly from your account, without waiting in lines. To do this, just connect to online banking and create a payment template. The system will automatically generate a payment order each time using the previously entered parameters.

Let's consider whether a current account is needed for individual entrepreneurs in accordance with Russian legislation. Non-cash transactions are not inferior to cash in demand, so entrepreneurs have to open their own current account. Our material answers the most popular questions about current accounts for individual entrepreneurs: are they needed, can they use a personal one, how to open them, how to pay taxes without one.

Why should an individual entrepreneur open a current account?

Russian legislation gives individual entrepreneurs the right to open a current account (s/c) and use it in their work. Please note that this is a right, not an obligation. An individual entrepreneur without a bank account does not break the law, but it significantly complicates his life. You need to open an account for work transactions not out of fear of punishment, but for reasons of convenience:

1. Without a cash account, you cannot accept non-cash payments, that is, the entrepreneur himself will narrow the circle of his clients.
2. It will not be possible to conclude transactions with legal entities for an amount exceeding 100 thousand rubles. There is no limit for retail buyers.
3. A bank account makes it much easier to pay rent, utilities, and other recurring expenses. Without it, the individual entrepreneur is forced to spend time every month on trips to banks, to the landlord or payment terminals.
4. If an individual entrepreneur pays too much tax, the Federal Tax Service can return the money only to a bank account; the issuance of excess cash is not provided.
5. An entrepreneur with a bank account inspires more trust among government agencies, counterparties and clients.
6. Modern banks offer entrepreneurs accounting and tax reporting as a bonus for opening a bank account. This way you can save on an accountant and get rid of the need to delve into various declarations.

So, is an individual entrepreneur required to have a current account? The law does not oblige entrepreneurs to open bank accounts and use them in the course of their activities. This is one of the main differences between individual entrepreneurs and LLCs: a legal entity cannot operate without a bank account. But from a practicality point of view, it is much more profitable to open an account. Its maintenance does not require a lot of money (there are tariffs for only 300-500 rubles per month), but it provides the entrepreneur with the opportunity to work more modernly, more comfortably, and save time.

Working with a current account is much more convenient for individual entrepreneurs than with cash only

IP on the simplified tax system

The simplified tax system is the most popular form of taxation among individual entrepreneurs. It allows you to reduce the amount of reporting to a minimum, as well as the number of taxes paid. Like entrepreneurs under any other taxation regime, businessmen under the simplified regime open a current account only at their own request.

If an entrepreneur plans to provide services to legal entities, it will be more convenient to open an account. If, for example, you only trade retail, you can basically make do with cash payments. But in this case, you won’t be able to accept cards for payment. That is, entrepreneurs using the simplified system have the right not to open an account, but with it their work will become more modern and transparent.

Individual entrepreneur on UTII

Imputed tax is paid by entrepreneurs in certain fields of activity, and they must have less than 100 employees. Areas of work under UTII can be:

• retail trade;
• catering establishments;
• domestic services;
• veterinary medicine;
• production and installation of outdoor advertising;
• repair services;
• car washing and parking;
• accommodation services (hotels and hostels).

If you look closely at this list, it becomes quite obvious that in all cases, it may be more convenient for the client to pay by card. Therefore, despite the absence in the law of a requirement to open a personal account account on UTII, it is advisable to choose a bank with optimal conditions.

IP on a patent

Is it possible for an individual entrepreneur to work without a current account for patent taxation? As in previous cases, no one has the right to force an entrepreneur to open a bank account. Individual entrepreneurs on patents are engaged in:

• repair and tailoring of clothes and shoes;
• hairdressers, beauty salons;
• repair of household appliances;
• passenger and freight transportation;
• real estate renovation;
• excursions;
• funeral services.

This list includes an impressive number of activities, and can also be supplemented by regional authorities. Similar to UTII, most areas of patent work involve accepting payment from the client. People are now finding it more and more convenient to pay by card. Consequently, an entrepreneur who provides such an opportunity will be more in demand.

Without a current account, an individual entrepreneur will not be able to accept cards for payment.

Account opening procedure

Many modern banks offer current accounts to entrepreneurs. It is not necessary to use Sberbank; its conditions are far from the best. An entrepreneur must look at everything from the point of view of benefits and, together with the cash account, purchase additional bonuses. The most popular banks for individual entrepreneurs:

• Alfa Bank;
• Tinkoff;
• ModulBank;
• Dot;
• Raiffeisen.

Opening a business account is easy. Most banks offer to leave an application online. Next, the entrepreneur fills out an application and provides the bank with a registration certificate. Without a certificate, not a single bank will open a personal account account - otherwise he will be fined 20 thousand rubles. Therefore, you need to contact the bank only after completing registration.

Within 7 working days after opening a current account, an individual entrepreneur must report it to the tax service using form No. C-09-1. For late notification or lack thereof, you will have to pay a fine of 5 thousand rubles.

Is it possible to use a personal bank account?

Is it necessary to open a current account for individual entrepreneurs or can I use a personal one? The use of a personal account for business transactions is strictly prohibited. Previously, the Tax Code of the Russian Federation even had a corresponding article that directly excluded the possibility of accepting payment for the work of an individual entrepreneur to personal accounts. Now it has lost its legal force, but in fact continues to operate. An entrepreneur who tries to receive money from a business into his personal account will face an impressive set of unpleasant consequences.

Consequences of using a personal account

Troubles that await a businessman who decides to replace the account with a personal one, really quite a lot:

1. The bank's security service will consider constant cash receipts from various persons suspicious, regard them as business income and freeze the account until all circumstances are clarified.
2. A citizen whose personal account constantly receives funds from other citizens may be suspected of terrorism, concealment of income and other crimes.
3. It is not safe for counterparties to transfer money to a businessman’s personal account: the Federal Tax Service may calculate this as payment for labor and demand 13% as income tax.
4. The Federal Tax Service will consider all receipts to a personal account as business income and charge tax on them. That is, even if one of the relatives transfers money to the entrepreneur as a gift, inspectors will calculate tax on them as well. It will be very difficult to prove that this is a gift and not payment for work or services.
5. Individual entrepreneurs using the simplified tax system “income - expenses”, OSNO and Unified Agricultural Tax must confirm expenses to reduce the taxable amount. The Federal Tax Service will not count expenses from a personal account as business expenses and will not allow them to be taken into account to reduce the amount of payments.

Without a bank account, an entrepreneur will not be able to enter into transactions with legal entities exceeding 100 thousand rubles.

Problems in working without a current account

An entrepreneur without an account will only have problems with the law and the Federal Tax Service when he decides to accept payment for his work into his personal account. In all other cases, it is quite acceptable to work without an account. Acceptable, but inconvenient.

Firstly, Cards will not be accepted for payment. Given the popularity of cashless payments among clients and customers, it is inappropriate to limit demand to cash payments only. Secondly, It will not be possible to conclude transactions with legal entities for amounts exceeding 100 thousand rubles. Of course, many individual entrepreneurs do not need this, but it is necessary to remember this rule.

Thirdly, under the taxation regime, where expense accounting is required, it will be much more difficult to confirm them. R/s greatly simplifies this operation. In addition, many banks offer entrepreneurs to keep books and consider taxes as a bonus for opening an account. Missing the opportunity to simplify document flow so much is unprofitable.

How to pay taxes without RS

Every individual entrepreneur pays taxes. An entrepreneur with an account has the right to transfer funds from it. What do businessmen who work without a bank account do? There are several quite convenient working methods:

1. Payment from a personal bank account. You cannot accept payments into your personal account, but paying taxes from it is quite acceptable. This operation can be carried out on the website or through a mobile application in a few minutes. More conservative individual entrepreneurs contact the bank and fill out a transfer receipt. But in reality, the transaction receipt will remain even after the transfer through the application.
2. Payment by electronic money. If an individual entrepreneur uses the Russian electronic money services QIWI and Yandex.Money, you can pay taxes through them. Suitable for businesses whose activities are related to the Internet.
3. Bank transfer. The easiest way is to come to the bank and pay the tax through the cash register. Most likely, you will have to add a commission to the payment, and spend time going to the bank.

Conclusion

The law does not require Russian entrepreneurs to open current accounts. But practice shows that having a business bank account significantly simplifies the work of individual entrepreneurs: you can freely cooperate with legal entities, accept cards and calculate taxes faster. Many banks offer entrepreneurs accounting and tax documentation as a bonus to their account balance.

Open for business payments: with partners, customers, clients, for paying taxes and fees. You probably know that the money of an individual entrepreneur is not divided into personal and those received from the business. Can an individual entrepreneur work without a current account, since he is an individual and distributes his income as he sees fit?

If we talk about laws, it is not directly stated anywhere that an individual entrepreneur must open a current account. But at the same time, legal acts (orders, resolutions, instructions, regulations) contain rules that make it difficult for an individual entrepreneur to work without a current account. For example, cash payments between commercial entities under one agreement should not exceed 100,000 rubles.

Let's assume you have entered into an agreement with a counterparty for the supply of goods in batches. Each batch costs less than the established cash payment limit. Do I need a current account for this case? Yes, if the total amount of payments under the agreement exceeds 100,000 rubles. For example, these could be two lots of 58,000 rubles each, then the total transaction amount under one agreement will be 116,000 rubles, and this is above the limit.

For violation of the cash payment limit, a fine is imposed under Article 15.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. For an individual entrepreneur, the fine is not very large (from 4 to 5 thousand rubles), but for his partner-legal entity the sanction is 10 times larger (from 40 to 50 thousand rubles). Accordingly, if the contract amount exceeds the cash payment limit, the supplier is unlikely to take risks and will insist on payment by bank transfer.

Why working without a checking account limits your business

So, as we have already said, operating without a current account is possible, but you need to make sure that refusing non-cash payments does not limit the development of your business. What are the possible disadvantages here?

1. Limitation of payment types for buyers and clients. If your customers in your offline business can only pay with cash, then you may be losing about 20% of your revenue. Why is that? The fact is that in 2019, already every third purchase is paid by card, and according to banks’ forecasts, by 2020 the share of cash and non-cash payments will be equal.

Payments by card are becoming widespread, and not only because employees and pensioners are increasingly receiving money on their personal cards. We must not forget about the full-scale distribution of credit cards. A buyer who currently does not have free cash and would be happy to buy your product or service, but cannot pay for it. And if you accepted credit cards, the sale could take place. Card payments go through payment systems and acquiring banks, so an individual entrepreneur without a current account simply will not be able to activate the acquiring service.

If we talk about online payments, for example, with electronic money, from a phone balance, through a terminal and others, then there is simply no possibility for cash payments. Here you can add cash on delivery via Russian Post. In order not to stand in queues for each transfer received for your goods, it is much more convenient to accept such payments to a bank account under an agreement with the Post Office.

2. Cfalsehoods in settlements with partners. Even if the amount of your transactions with counterparties does not exceed 100,000 rubles, cash settlements may be inconvenient for both you and the other party. Moreover, due to the peculiarities of accounting, some partners require transfers from account to account, and not from an individual’s card.

3.Lack of access to grants, tenders, competitions, and procurement. In such situations, an individual entrepreneur without a current account is obviously limited; most often, he will not even be able to submit an application.

If we have convinced you of the benefits of non-cash payments, then the next question arises: do you need a current account for an entrepreneur who has an individual card or a current bank account? Why not accept payment from a buyer or client directly to your card, because it’s very convenient?

Risks of using a personal account or card in business

In fact, in the question of whether an individual entrepreneur can work without a current account and accept payments on his card, there are many implicit and risky nuances. On the one hand, all the money of an individual entrepreneur, including money earned in business, is his property. What difference then does it make to which account the buyer's non-cash payments will be received - to a bank account or to a personal account?

But on the other hand, there is Central Bank instruction No. 153-I, which prohibits transactions related to business activities on the current account. If you think that the Central Bank’s instructions are not the law and can be violated, then we recommend that you familiarize yourself with the risks of using a personal account for individual entrepreneurs in business.

1. Constant cash receipts into your current account or personal card arouse suspicion from the bank. You may be asked to explain the source of income, and if the explanations are unconvincing, then transactions on the account will be blocked.
2. When conducting a tax audit, an inspector may consider that income received into a personal account is not related to business activities, so they are taxed at a rate of 13%. If an entrepreneur works under a preferential regime, where the rate is lower, then the absence of a current account increases his tax burden.
3. If an individual entrepreneur provides services to commercial entities, then the customer may simply refuse to transfer payment to a personal account and not to a settlement account. The fact is that the tax inspectorate considers card payments to be confirmation not of business, but of civil law relations. That is, it can be recognized that the contractor provided services not in the status of an individual entrepreneur, but as an ordinary individual. In this case, the customer is obliged to pay insurance premiums for the performer, as well as withhold personal income tax from the remuneration and transfer it to the budget.
4. For entrepreneurs working under the tax regimes of OSNO, USN Income minus expenses, Unified Agricultural Tax, it will be difficult to prove the feasibility of expenses paid from a personal account. Accordingly, the tax base from which the tax is calculated will be larger.

Why entrepreneurs don't want to open a current account

There are two main reasons why individual entrepreneurs are in no hurry to open a current account:

1. Transparency of current account transactions.
2. The need to pay for cash management services.

If we talk about control of taxpayer income, then in Russia, as in many other countries, it is becoming ubiquitous. When conducting an audit of the activities of an individual entrepreneur, the tax inspectorate will still receive information from the bank about all the entrepreneur’s accounts, including personal ones. Well, the banks themselves are also actively carrying out financial control measures as part of the fight against the financing of terrorism and the receipt of illegal income.

In addition, refusal to open any bank accounts will not prevent the tax authorities from receiving information about the income of individual entrepreneurs through online cash desks. The use of cash register systems has become mandatory for almost all sellers since mid-2018 (except for individual entrepreneurs on PSN and UTII who sell independently and have received a deferment for another year). And from July 1, 2019, cash registers or automatic devices for issuing BSO are also required to be installed by those who provide services to the public.

Thus, the bulk of revenue for goods and services will very soon be fully controlled by the tax authorities, regardless of the type of payment (cash, card, electronic money, online payments, etc.).

As for the cost of opening and maintaining a current account, banks are actively attracting small businesses, even if their turnover is very small. The average cost of settlement and cash services for individual entrepreneurs in a large well-known bank does not exceed 1,000-1,500 rubles per month, and opening an account is often completely free.

In addition to banking services, clients are often offered bonuses from partners or additional free options, such as automatic preparation and submission of tax returns. And given that individual entrepreneurs, as individuals, are covered by the deposit insurance program, transactions with amounts up to 1.4 million rubles are absolutely safe. Even if the bank’s license is revoked, the money up to this amount will be fully returned by the Deposit Insurance Agency.