HR Department: massive tax evasion schemes by recruitment agencies revealed
Massive schemes of tax evasion by recruitment agencies in the registration of employees for Detsky Mir, Perekrestok, Lenta, Sportmaster and other large networks and companies have been revealed. As Izvestia found out, recruitment agencies "saved" 3.4 billion rubles on VAT and income tax when selecting employees. They received such claims from the Federal Tax Service. The staff was actually leased to the business in violation of the law. Since 2024, 28 court decisions on tax penalties have already been issued.
What tax avoidance schemes were used by recruitment agencies
The Federal Tax Service (FTS) has revealed large-scale violations of legislation in the field of recruitment, revealing tax evasion schemes worth billions of rubles. According to the arbitration courts, recruitment agencies working with large retail chains, logistics and industrial companies used "technical companies" in their calculations to obtain unjustified VAT deductions. It was to the recruitment agencies that the Federal Tax Service had questions.
According to the analytical agency Risk Control, 28 court decisions have already been issued in these cases since 2024. The total amount of additional charges, including fines and penalties, exceeded 3.389 billion rubles.
Thus, after an on-site inspection of the Federal Tax Service in April 2024, the recruitment agency Leader of Groups was charged more than 159 million rubles and fined 38.5 million rubles. The company provided movers, cashiers, cleaners and other personnel to Detsky Mir, Thunder, Agrotorg, Perekrestok trading house, MVM, Nestle Russia, Lenta, Sportmaster and others, the court decision notes.
It also says that the agency used seven "technical" firms with no history or business reputation, but affiliated with Leader Group.
The Ninth Arbitration Court of Appeal, when analyzing the 2-personal income tax certificates, found that the majority of employees were re-registered from one "technical" organization to another in order to save on taxes, as well as to withdraw part of the funds from legal circulation, its decision says.
The recruitment agency challenged the claims of the Federal Tax Service, but lost two court instances. In September, his next complaint will be considered by the Court of Cassation.
Similar charges were made by the Federal Tax Service to the recruitment agency Euro Pro, which selected personnel for large industrial enterprises: United Wagon Company (UWC), Tikhvin Wagon Building Plant (TVSZ JSC), Tikhvinspetsmash JSC, Tikhvinkhimmash JSC, Neva-Metal JSC, Severstal-Vtorchermet LLC and others.
Following the inspections, the Interdistrict Federal Tax Service in St. Petersburg accused Euro Pro of creating a fictitious document flow with counterparties. The goal was to obtain unjustified tax benefits. As a result, as reported in the court's decision, the organization did not pay VAT in the amount of more than 744 million rubles. For the formation of tax deductions, 18 "technical" firms were used, through which, according to the 2-personal income tax certificates, funds were spent in significantly large amounts.
The Federal Tax Service made similar claims to the recruitment agency Master-Staff Group, which collaborated with companies such as Thunder, Celta and Leroy Merlin Vostok. According to the court's decision, the agency attracted 102 dubious counterparties to "optimize finances." As a result, the tax service added 234 million rubles of VAT and income tax to the company, as well as a fine of 15 million rubles. The agency challenged the decision of the Federal Tax Service and lost in June to the court of first instance, but appealed.
"Recruitment agencies offer services for the rapid provision of necessary personnel," Alexey Kozhevnikov, head of the Risk Control analytical agency, told Izvestia. — They supply shift workers, security guards, cashiers, movers, workers for logistics centers and warehouses, as well as unskilled employees for industrial enterprises.
Large organizations do often turn to private recruitment agencies, and for good reason.: This saves time and provides access to a wide base of candidates, the Severstal press service told Izvestia.
"However, our company uses this approach to a limited extent, mainly to search for highly specialized experts," they noted.
They added that Severtal fully fulfills all obligations to the state, including in the framework of paying taxes for its employees.
"We use the services of such agencies in cases where there are not enough employees or one-time services are needed, for example, when a sharp increase in the load on stores is expected due to promotional events," Timofey Goncharuk, public relations manager at Lenta Group, told Izvestia. — We pay companies for services, and they settle accounts with their employees on their own.
The customer cannot influence this process, since the contractor is responsible for the registration and employment of employees. All settlements with the Leader Group company were completed two years ago, Lenta told Izvestia.
"An employee has the right to choose a method of employment — independently or through the services of private agencies, and the employer has the right to use the services of agencies to search and select employees," the Rostrud press service told Izvestia. — But in case of violation of labor legislation, private agencies are subject to the same measures as all employers.
In addition, the legislation prohibits the substitution of civil law employment relations. This means that if an employment relationship actually develops between an employee and an employer, then they should be formalized in this way, and not in a civil law contract (GPH), the federal service said.
According to Rostrud, more than 1,100 private employment agencies are currently registered in Russia.
Izvestia sent requests to the Federal Tax Service, recruitment agencies and their customers.
Why companies benefit from the services of recruitment agencies
— In the decisions of the arbitration courts, we see only a small fraction of what is happening on the market. This is usually no more than 5-10% of the total number of violations, since many schemes do not come to the attention of the competent authorities," lawyer Mikhail Prediger told Izvestia.
"Tenants" are not interested in how employees are employed "on the side." In turn, the recruitment agency does not always register people properly. GPH contracts are often used, with individual entrepreneurs or through the mechanism of the self-employed, the expert notes.
— In the schemes uncovered by the Federal Tax Service, employees were employed by large companies or factories, and contracts were signed with dubious companies. Apparently, citizens did not even realize that they were registering in other legal entities where there are no social benefits and other things, like bona fide large employers," Margarita Khomenko, managing partner of the Compliance Elements Center for Compliance Solutions, lawyer, told Izvestia. — Such "false" employment may violate the rights of employees, for example, in terms of meeting work schedules (possible overwork, fines, and so on).
According to Mikhail Prediger, people will not receive sick leave payments, pension contributions and seniority are being reduced, there is no occupational safety in hazardous industries and even paid leave. This is beneficial for customers, as they do not need to pay taxes for employees and transfer social security payments, and third-party partners handle all personnel, accounting and legal issues, Margarita Khomenko added.
"This reduces the cost of maintaining staff, as well as eliminates legal risks when hiring foreigners," she notes.
Agencies help to save on the payroll, that is, on one of the main components of the expenditure side of any enterprise, said Alexey Kozhevnikov from Risk Control.
"This is convenient for some officials, but embedding recruitment companies in relationships with employees often results in the substitution of civil law employment relations," he said.
People get jobs in a warehouse, store, or factory, but they are registered in a place they don't understand and it's not clear how, the expert emphasized.
— The more unformed employees there are, the more profitable it is, — said Mikhail Prediger. — Employers are reducing staff costs, there is no need to pay personal income tax (13%) and insurance premiums (at least 30%).
The expert believes that the lack of strict controls and the economic attractiveness for employers have made recruitment agencies and their schemes popular in the labor market. If you look at job search websites, you can see a sufficient number of such ads, he added.
As for employees whose rights have been violated, he said, they rarely go to court due to lack of funds to pay for legal services and uncertainty about the positive outcome of the case.
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