The lawyer explained the consequences of limiting the work of the self-employed to one customer

From October 1, the self-employed will be able to perform work for a single customer through marketplaces and other digital platforms for no more than 60 hours per month for six consecutive months. The new restriction is aimed at identifying cases where civil law relations actually replace labor relations. Oksana Gorn, a business support lawyer, member of the Russian Bar Association, and lecturer at Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, told Izvestia about this on September 10.

According to the expert, exceeding the established limit itself will not automatically lead to the loss of self-employed status and will not entail special tax consequences for the contractor. The restriction specifically concerns the ability to provide services to one customer in the same volume. If the contract meets the criteria of an employment relationship, the digital platform will have to limit the further execution of such an agreement or transfer information to the tax authorities for verification.

Gorn noted that the main purpose of the innovation is to combat cases when companies register employees as self—employed in order not to pay mandatory contributions and not to provide labor guarantees.

"The resolution is aimed at identifying abuses on the part of the employer—client, and in case of detection of the ongoing execution of the contract, it is assumed that it should be retrained," the lawyer explained.

When retraining a relationship into an employment relationship, the main risks arise for the customer company. She may be charged additional insurance premiums, as well as required to perform the functions of a tax agent and transfer personal income tax for an individual. In addition, the employer will have duties provided for by labor legislation: providing leave, sick pay, and other guarantees in force in the organization. According to the expert, violation of such requirements can lead to fines and additional claims from regulatory authorities.

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At the same time, the self-employed does not automatically lose the right to apply the professional income tax (NAP) due to exceeding the limit. The main consequences are related to the inability to continue working with a specific customer on the same terms.

Horn noted that after reaching the limit, the company may consider working with the contractor in a different status, for example, as an individual entrepreneur. However, this does not exclude the risk of verification.

According to the lawyer, the Federal Tax Service (FTS) uses a unified approach when assessing relationships with the self-employed and individual entrepreneurs, if an individual actually performs the work. Therefore, a contract with an individual entrepreneur can also be reclassified into an employment contract if there are appropriate signs.

There are no changes in the tax regime for the self-employed themselves. However, he will have to take into account the limitations when planning cooperation with individual customers.

The expert stressed that the new rules do not apply to all types of activities, but only to 14 separate areas where the risks of replacing employment relationships with contracts with the self-employed are most common.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law according to which the self-employed can receive paid sick leave. The relevant document was published on the official Internet portal of legal information on December 15. The experiment will run from January 1, 2026 to December 31, 2028. It is noted that the right to pay sick leave will arise after six months of paying insurance premiums to the Pension and Social Insurance Fund (SFR), and it will be possible to join the system through the My Taxes mobile application until September 30, 2027.