Into the mud as a legal entity: Russians have become twice as likely to be caught in economic violations

Russians are increasingly being held accountable for economic violations, from running a gray business and trading without registration to problems with cash registers, labeling, and permits. In 2025, the number of citizens punished for such violations has almost doubled to 509 thousand, Izvestia found out. Those who regularly sell goods, provide services at home, rent out housing, or trade online without the necessary registration are at risk. At the same time, the fines themselves may be relatively small, but the main risk is associated with additional taxes, penalties and possible reclassification of violations in criminal cases. The growth is associated with stricter control by the authorities, and some entrepreneurs are retreating into the shadows due to rising taxes. The threat of illegal business is described in the Izvestia article.

What can I get a fine for?

In 2025, 3.3 million administrative cases of economic violations were initiated in Russia. This is almost a quarter more than a year earlier, according to the June data from Rosstat, which was studied by Izvestia. The total amount of fines imposed reached 13.5 billion rubles.

Photo: TASS/Alexey Zotov

Citizens were most often held accountable — 509 thousand people, which is 1.8 times more than in 2024. Another 371 thousand violators were officials, their number increased by 22%. The number of legal entities fined increased 1.6 times and reached 272 thousand. The most noticeable growth occurred among entrepreneurs without legal entity formation, including sole proprietors: there were 2.3 times more of them — 219 thousand.

The main part of the cases fell on the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Federal Tax Service — 1.5 million and 760 thousand, respectively. Izvestia sent inquiries to the agency and the tax service.

Microenterprises and the self-employed are most often subject to inspections, said Ekaterina Kosareva, managing partner of the VMT Consult agency. According to her, some of them hide their income by accepting cash, transferring money to personal accounts, or not using a cash register. Another scheme is the informal hiring of employees: for the tax service, such a business looks like the work of one person.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Polina Violet

Those who provide services at home or work without an official outlet are also at risk: pastry chefs, beauty specialists, tutors, repair and decoration specialists. Violators, according to the expert, are most often attracted for work without registration, lack of a license or education, violations of sanitary rules and illegal trade.

Yaroslav Kabakov, Director of Strategy at Finam IC, identified similar risk groups. According to him, violations are often recorded by beauty experts, tutors, builders, carriers and landlords. Claims are usually related to illegal business, violation of trade rules, work without permits, cash discipline and labeling of goods, the expert noted.

The main danger for such citizens is not the fine for illegal entrepreneurship itself, which is usually small, but additional taxes, fees, penalties and interest, Yaroslav Kabakov added. With particularly large amounts, the case may turn into a criminal case.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Korotaev

At the same time, the number of economic crimes is also growing. In January-May 2026, law enforcement agencies identified almost 60,000 such cases, 5.3% more than a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs (the editorial board has reviewed them). The damage amounted to 231.3 billion, and 73% of cases are serious.

Why do people commit more and more economic violations

The increase in the number of detected violations in the economic sphere is primarily due to increased control accuracy, said Natalia Milchakova, a leading analyst at Freedom Finance Global. According to her, banks, law enforcement agencies and the Federal Tax Service have become better at recording the gap between a person's official income and real cash flows. For example, if large amounts are regularly credited to the card, and a citizen does not have a job, self-employed status, or sole proprietorship, this may raise questions from inspectors.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Alexander Kazakov

Another reason is the deterioration of the financial situation of some citizens and small businesses, said Yaroslav Kabakov from Finam. Against the background of declining incomes, rising costs and tax burden, some people go into the shadows: they continue to work, but without registration, cash register and reporting.

In addition, in conditions of budget deficit, the supervisory authorities are increasing their focus on collecting fines, Ekaterina Kosareva from VMT Consult added. At the same time, legislation regarding illegal entrepreneurship is being tightened. So, since June 2025, the fine for failure to provide a notification or work without it has increased from 3-5 thousand to 7-12 thousand rubles.

The main damage from illegal business is borne by the budget, Natalia Milchakova emphasized. According to various estimates, the government may lose from 3 to 11.4 trillion rubles a year due to gray employment and salaries "in envelopes". For bona fide companies, this also creates additional risks: they have to compete with players who can keep lower prices by avoiding taxes.

Risks remain for consumers, the expert noted. When contacting illegal craftsmen, carriers, or landlords, citizens are less protected: as a rule, there are no contracts, it is more difficult to prove poor-quality services, and in some cases damage to health or property is possible.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Andrey Erstrem

An increase in the number of detected violations can give the budget additional revenue if part of the business comes out of the shadows, Yaroslav Kabakov believes. But the effect is not guaranteed: excessive pressure, according to him, can push entrepreneurs to cash payments and even more closed work.

The growth of economic violations shows that some small businesses and citizens are becoming less and less compliant with legal rules. The government sees more gray incomes and is trying to return them to the legal field, but fines alone will not solve this, experts are sure. If working officially is too expensive and difficult, people will go deeper into the shadows. Therefore, getting a business out of the gray zone depends not only on control, but also on how simple and profitable the legal conditions become.