On the topic, can an individual entrepreneur accept payments from clients to a regular account of an individual, and not to a settlement account opened for business activities?
What will help justify the use of a personal account?
During the discussions, it was advised to prepare a justification for the bank for the reasons for using a personal account:
- the main thing: there is no direct prohibition in law on the use of a regular account;
- the status of an individual entrepreneur does not exclude an individual from making transactions not related to business activities.
Is it dangerous?
Anyone who believes that an entrepreneur should not use a personal account refers to:
- problems with counterparty banks that refuse to transfer payment to an individual’s account;
- claims of your bank under Law No. 115-FZ on money laundering;
- claims from counterparties who, by transferring money to an “ordinary” individual, become tax agents;
- , according to which banks should not accept payments from business activities into a regular account. This instruction may even be referenced in the agreement for opening a personal account.
The agreement may directly prohibit the use of a personal account for business activities. If the bank finds out about such use, the account may be blocked, and the individual entrepreneur may be blacklisted by banks.
In paragraphs 2.2 and 2.3 it is actually directly written:
2.2. Current accounts are opened for individuals to carry out transactions not related to business activities or private practice.
2.3. Current accounts are opened for legal entities that are not credit institutions, as well as individual entrepreneurs or individuals engaged in private practice in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation, to carry out transactions related to entrepreneurial activity or private practice. Current accounts are opened for representative offices of credit institutions, as well as non-profit organizations to carry out transactions related to achieving the goals for which non-profit organizations were created.
The bank is not obliged to perform operations not provided for by law and banking rules. This is what the Civil Code says.
Art. 848 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. Account operations performed by the bank
The bank is obliged to perform for the client the operations provided for accounts of this type by law, banking rules established in accordance with it and business customs applied in banking practice, unless otherwise provided by the bank account agreement.
But the Central Bank's instructions are not law.
Conclusions
There is no direct prohibition in the law from using a personal account in the entrepreneurial activities of an individual entrepreneur.
But lately. And then unblocking the account is not so easy.
That is, for the very fact of accepting funds from counterparties into a regular account, no sanctions can be applied to individual entrepreneurs by law. But in practice the account is easily blocked. In addition, bankers are not required to explain the reasons for blocking accounts. And references to laws are of little help here.
Many individual entrepreneurs, who mainly work with small payments, accepting money from the public, operate without a bank account. And they are absolutely right. Not a single law of the Russian Federation obliges an entrepreneur to open such an account.
However, from time to time situations arise when an individual entrepreneur has to pay bills in cashless form. For example, an individual entrepreneur can rent premises from a legal entity or other entrepreneur who requires payment of rent by issuing an invoice and does not accept money through the cash register. Or an individual entrepreneur receives any goods from a supplier who works only on cashless payments. What to do in such a situation?
Paying a bill through a bank without opening a current account
Typically, an organization or entrepreneur issuing an invoice for non-cash payment indicates in it the details for crediting the payment. But this does not mean that you can simply come to the bank and top up the specified current account. Only the person to whom the account belongs has the right to do this. Others who wish to make payments to the account through the bank's cash desk using a receipt.
What do you need to pay an invoice through a bank cash desk? Come to the bank like any individual and fill out a receipt. In the “Purpose of payment” column, indicate: “Payment on invoice No...”. The last name, first name and patronymic of the entrepreneur are indicated as the payer. This is how entrepreneurs who do not have a current account pay taxes, transfer payments to extra-budgetary funds - and no problems arise with enrollment.
Attention. You should not additionally indicate an individual entrepreneur or individual entrepreneur. In this case, the bank teller may refuse to accept the payment. This is not entirely legal, since the provisions of Art. 845 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation does not talk about limiting the crediting of funds to the client’s account; the powers of banks to limit these rights are not provided for by law. However, internal instructions of the bank or an agreement with the client may create certain obstacles to the transfer of funds.
What is the maximum amount for a cash transfer?
Directive of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation dated October 7, 2013 N 3073-U “On cash payments” establishes a limit of 100,000 rubles for cash payments under one agreement.
At the same time, entrepreneurs often have a question: if a payment is made through a bank cash desk without opening a current account, can this be considered a cash payment.
Experts believe that these rules do not apply to banking operations, which include transferring funds without opening a current account. Therefore, in this way you can easily make a payment for any amount.
It’s another matter if the invoice is paid through the counterparty’s cash desk. Here, an amount exceeding 100,000 rubles, even paid in installments on different days, if it relates to payment for one contract, will be considered a violation and lead to a fine.
How to transfer an amount exceeding the cash transfer limit?
What to do if you need to pay to the counterparty's cash desk an amount exceeding 100,000 rubles under one agreement? There are only 2 options here:
- deposit money into a current account through the cash desk of any bank using a receipt;
- break the contract into parts so that in the end each payment does not exceed 100 thousand rubles.
First option definitely more convenient. After all, you can deposit the whole amount. However, when translating, each the bank takes its interest. And the amount of interest can be quite significant. And not everyone will decide to carry a large amount of cash with them.
Second option usually cheaper, since your own cash desk accepts payments without interest (if such a cash desk exists at all). However, you will have to come up with a justification to divide the contract into parts. For example, if the rent is high, there are recommendations to enter into a contract not for a year, but for a month. This way you can avoid paying large sums in cash. However, here we need a good trusting relationship between the tenant and the landlord, since monthly re-signing of the contract is fraught, firstly, with a sudden change in the terms of the contract, and secondly, with an unexpected refusal by both one and the other party without warning or any consequences. In addition, this creates a lot of additional paperwork: every month you have to draw up and sign a transfer deed for the premises.
Can an individual entrepreneur pay a bill from a personal card or personal bank account?
If an individual entrepreneur, under any agreement, must deposit money into the current account of a legal entity or another entrepreneur, he can use funds from his personal account or transfer money from his card, for example, through Internet banking. Specialist consultants do not see any obstacles to this.
This position is supported by the Resolution of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation dated December 17, 1996 N 20-P, the Determination of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation dated May 15, 2001 N 88-O, according to which, from the point of view of the law, it is impossible to distinguish between the funds of an individual entrepreneur into his personal and those which he uses to conduct business.
Therefore, having a bank card as an individual, an entrepreneur can pay any invoice issued to him using his personal funds, for example, through Internet banking or mobile banking. And this money will be credited in the same way to the current account of a legal entity or other entrepreneur.
Please note. This advice only applies to transferring money to a business account. If one individual entrepreneur pays a bill to another individual entrepreneur by transferring money to his personal bank account or card, problems with crediting may arise. The situation is twofold. Bank of Russia Instruction No. 153-I dated May 30, 2014 “On opening and closing bank accounts, deposit accounts, and deposit accounts” distinguishes between current accounts of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs opened for commercial activities and current accounts of individuals used for conducting settlement transactions.
At the same time, according to paragraph 3 of Art. 845 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the bank does not have the right to determine and control the direction of use of the client’s funds and establish other restrictions not provided for by law or the bank account agreement on its right to dispose of funds at its own discretion.
That is, if a payment from another individual entrepreneur arrives on a personal account or an individual entrepreneur’s card, and the purpose of the payment is invoice payment, the bank, on the basis of an agreement concluded with the client, may not accept such a payment if it suspects that it is related to the conduct of a business activities. It is especially risky if such operations are carried out regularly.
How to confirm expenses for deduction if the payment was made using a receipt through a bank cash desk?
If an individual entrepreneur works under the general taxation system or uses the simplified tax system of 15% (income minus expenses), then it is important for him to be able to confirm the expenses incurred, which reduce the tax base.
Sometimes the tax inspector has questions if the payment was made not from a current account, but through a bank cash desk. Here, you can justify the costs by indicating in the purpose of payment: “Payment on invoice No...”. If there is an agreement and the account itself, no problems will arise.
Thus, an entrepreneur (IP), without opening a bank account, can easily pay bills. There are at least 3 ways to do this:
- deposit money into the account at the counterparty's cash desk;
- pay a bill through the cash desk of any bank using a receipt as an individual;
- make a payment from a personal account or card via Internet banking.
Any of these payment methods will be completely legal, and the money will be credited to the bank account.
An individual, having received the status of an individual entrepreneur, can begin to conduct business activities. Legislation allows entrepreneurs to make payments in cash. But businessmen have a question whether it is necessary to open a current account for an individual entrepreneur.
Right to open an account
The right for an entrepreneur to open an account is provided for in Art. 11 Tax Code of the Russian Federation. An entrepreneur who has passed state registration has the right to open a current account in a bank of his choice under a bank account agreement.
In accordance with the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, banks open individual entrepreneur accounts only if the entrepreneur presents a certificate of registration with the tax authorities.
A bank that opens a current account without a certificate is subject to a fine of 20,000 rubles.
Documents for opening an account
To open a current account, an individual entrepreneur must submit to the bank:
- a document proving his identity;
- a card indicating the persons who have the right to manage funds in the account, and documents confirming the powers of these persons;
- patents (licenses) issued to an entrepreneur, if these patents (licenses) are directly related to the client’s legal capacity to enter into a transaction on the basis of which an account is opened.
If the entrepreneur is a foreign citizen, then in addition he needs to present a migration card and another available document that will confirm the legal right to reside in Russia.
You need to fill out an application at the bank and sign an agreement.
Refusal to open a current account for an individual entrepreneur
The bank will refuse to open an account for an entrepreneur if the entrepreneur does not provide:
- all necessary documents;
- or submits overdue documents;
- or submit documents executed improperly.
If a businessman has presented all the necessary documents, but the bank refuses to open an account, then the businessman can ask the bank representatives to demand an explanation. If such explanations seem unfounded to him, then he has the right to go to court.
Is it necessary to open a current account for an individual entrepreneur?
The right to open an account is expressly provided for by law. But the obligation to open is not directly established by law. Neither before registration nor after registration, government agencies have the right to require an individual entrepreneur to open a bank account.
But still, an entrepreneur will not be able to fully carry out activities without opening an account. Let's explain why.
Why should an individual entrepreneur open a current account?
An entrepreneur needs a current account to make non-cash payments. He has no right to use his personal account for business purposes. This is also prohibited by the agreement with the bank. Cashless payments will be needed:
- in transactions with legal entities;
- if the client, an individual, wishes to pay with a bank card;
- for mutual settlements with government authorities (for example, the tax office will be able to transfer the overpaid amount of tax only to the account);
- when concluding transactions for a large amount (over 100,000 rubles).
There may be other reasons that will sooner or later force an entrepreneur to open a bank account. An important point is that having an account with an entrepreneur increases the counterparty’s trust in the individual entrepreneur.
Settlements between LLC and individual entrepreneur
Settlements between individual entrepreneurs and LLCs can be made both in cash and by bank transfer.
Cash payments are made using cash registers. The conditions and procedure for using cash registers are given in Art. 4.3 of the Law of May 22, 2003 N 54-FZ.
How can an individual entrepreneur issue an invoice to an LLC?
Here is the general invoicing algorithm:
- The individual entrepreneur contacts the LLC and negotiates the terms of the transaction;
- The individual entrepreneur, having coordinated his requests with the LLC, issues an invoice for payment and sends it to the LLC (either by mail, or independently/by courier);
- The LLC makes the payment;
- The individual entrepreneur checks the translation and provides the service.
You can generate an invoice yourself. It states:
- IP details (including account details);
- LLC details;
- description of the service (list of goods), quantity, unit price and total amount.
Operating as an individual entrepreneur without a bank account is the right of an entrepreneur established by the norms of current legislation. The requirement to open a bank account, as well as to have a seal, is not put forward by the legislator in relation to businessmen who have registered themselves as individual entrepreneurs, that is, an individual entrepreneur may well carry out his activities without a bank account.
It should be noted right away that the lack of an account limits the actions of a businessman and prevents cooperation with large companies. If the financial turnover of the enterprise is insignificant, payments can be made in cash; accordingly, a bank account is not needed. To conclude larger transactions, you will still have to open a current account.
The article provides information about the advantages of a current account, as well as the procedure for opening it and the documents required to implement the procedure. In addition, you will be able to find out in what cases an entrepreneur may be denied the creation of an account.
The right to work without a current account: legal aspect
According to the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, individual entrepreneurs have the right to open a current account for doing business. Whether to take advantage of this right or not, each individual entrepreneur decides for himself. To make the right decision, you need to familiarize yourself with the benefits of having an account, as well as realistically assess the scale of the planned business.
Opening a current account is possible after completing all registration steps, since the basis for the procedure is a certificate of state registration of a person as an individual entrepreneur, confirming his tax registration. Only after presenting this document, bank employees have the right to perform the actions necessary to create an account.
Violation of the procedure established by law entails bringing the guilty person to legal liability. Thus, opening a current account without a certificate is the basis for bringing the financial institution that illegally implemented the procedure to administrative liability in the form of a fine.
Additional information! The amount of the fine is regulated by relevant regulations and currently amounts to 20 thousand rubles.
Our lawyers know answer to your question
or by phone:
Documents required to open an account
Individual entrepreneur current account- a bank account through which payments for goods and services are made, as well as other financial transactions necessary for the full functioning of the enterprise.
To open an account, an individual entrepreneur must collect and submit the following documents to the bank:
- passport of the person who registered himself as an individual entrepreneur. An individual entrepreneur is not a legal entity, therefore, to implement the procedure, he must provide an identification document. For individuals this is a passport;
- a card containing information about persons who have the right to manage money. placed on the opened account. Along with the card, you must submit documents confirming that these persons have the necessary powers;
- permits (patents, licenses) previously obtained by the businessman and related to the implementation of the procedure.
If the applicant is a foreign national, in addition to the standard package of documents, he must submit:
- migration card;
- a document indicating that the applicant has a legal right to stay in the territory of the Russian Federation.
Pay attention! After submitting the documentation, the applicant must fill out a corresponding application, which, in fact, is the basis for drawing up an agreement and performing actions aimed at creating a bank account.
When opening an account may be refused
It should be taken into account that in case of non-compliance with legal norms, the bank has every right to refuse to open an account.
Thus, the grounds for refusal may be:
- the package of documents provided at the request of the bank is incomplete;
- the information recorded in the documents does not correspond to reality. If a violation of this kind is discovered during a bank audit, the applicant faces not only refusal to open an account, but also prosecution;
- the validity of the documents, one of them, has expired;
- registration of documents does not comply with accepted norms and standards.
If the bank refuses to implement the procedure for reasons that are unclear to the applicant, the latter has the right to demand a written explanation of the refusal. If the bank cannot legally justify its actions or the specified reasons in any way violate the individual entrepreneur’s right to open an account, the applicant can go to court.
As the practice of entrepreneurial activity shows, on the one hand, the absence of a current account for an individual entrepreneur does not interfere with the conduct of business and is not a basis for bringing the entrepreneur to responsibility, on the other hand, it hinders its development.
The use of an entrepreneur’s personal account for non-cash payments related to business is prohibited by law. To perform these operations, you need to open a current account for an individual entrepreneur.
What are the benefits of having a bank account for doing business:
- a current account is necessary for concluding transactions with enterprises that have the status of a legal entity;
- having an account allows individual entrepreneurs to pay using a bank card;
- for making settlements between the entrepreneur and government agencies. For example, in the event of an overpayment of taxes, Federal Tax Service employees can transfer the overpaid funds to the businessman’s account;
- the lack of an account prevents the conclusion of transactions worth more than 100 thousand rubles.
In addition, a bank account is a demonstration of the entrepreneur’s “worthiness” and makes him more attractive to clients and counterparties.
The development of entrepreneurship is gaining momentum every day, and therefore the question of whether an individual entrepreneur is required to have a current account is very relevant.
It is known that an individual entrepreneur is the action of a sole manager, both in terms of conducting business and making a profit, and in terms of solving the most pressing problems and responsibility for mistakes. In addition, you will have to answer not only with the statutory funds spent on opening the business, but also with the available property (movable, immovable).
That is why an entrepreneur must be able to make the right and appropriate decision, weighing the pros and cons.
Becoming an individual entrepreneur in our country is not so difficult. It is much more problematic to obtain permission to conduct founding activities. To become an individual entrepreneur, it is necessary to collect and submit to the tax authorities the appropriate package of documentation.
Future or newly created individual entrepreneurs are concerned about many organizational and legal issues. One of them is the question of whether an individual entrepreneur is obliged to open a current account.
Current account: necessary or not?
According to the legislative side of the issue, there are no measures taken against those individual entrepreneurs who have not opened a bank account. This is some kind of request, recommendation or wish to business participants.
So, whether to open an account or not is the desire of the entrepreneur himself. It is important that before state registration the individual entrepreneur has the necessary package of documents. As a rule, it consists of:
- passports (original and photocopies);
- TIN certificates (original and photocopies);
- availability of an application for transfer to a light taxation system;
- applications for registration as an individual entrepreneur;
- presence of paid state duty;
- document - notification of opening a bank account in the name of an individual entrepreneur.
What does opening a bank account do?
Legislation allows individual entrepreneurs not to open a current account. This point remains at the personal discretion of the businessman. How can future entrepreneurs determine when opening an account is necessary and when it can be omitted?
So, opening an account is necessary in the following cases:
- Carrying out transactions worth more than 100,000 rubles. In other words, if non-cash payments by individual entrepreneurs to their counterparties or settlement transactions with clients are higher than this amount, then having a personal bank account is strictly necessary. The same applies when legal entities deposit an amount exceeding the specified amount into the individual entrepreneur’s account via non-cash payment.
- Having a bank account is mandatory if an entrepreneur plans or will make non-cash contributions to the Pension Insurance Fund. Another point of interaction with the Pension Fund or other funds of the Russian Federation is its registration with these authorities. An individual entrepreneur may not open an account, but transfer contributions by money transfer. The law allows this.
Do I need to open an account to obtain a seal for an individual entrepreneur?
To be able to obtain a stamp, an individual entrepreneur does not have to open a bank account.
There is no need to collect documents either.
Stamps are produced by private organizations, which do not care at all what the format of payment for services will be: cash or non-cash. Naturally, the company will need a passport, TIN certificate, as well as OGRNIP so that the data on them completely matches the imprint on the future seal. Therefore, this should be taken very seriously.
The bank has the right to require the individual entrepreneur to provide a seal, although this is an uncommon occurrence. However, you need to be prepared for any unusual situations.
What are the pros and cons of having a checking account?
First, it’s worth mentioning all the positive aspects for an individual entrepreneur who has a personal bank account:
- Unlike a legal entity, an individual entrepreneur does not need to pay the bank for cash management services. In addition, without a current account, there are no requirements for individual entrepreneurs in terms of depositing proceeds in cash to the bank. In addition, there will be no need to introduce restrictions on cash withdrawals. Thus, the work of individual entrepreneurs only with cash payments and only with physical counterparties completely eliminates the imposition of a limit on mutual settlements in cash.
- When an individual entrepreneur plans to interact financially with third-party individual entrepreneurs or firms, an advisable solution would be to open a payment line at a bank. This is beneficial not only for legal counterparties, but also for the individual entrepreneur himself: his client base will not include only those who accept and make cash payments. Moreover, cash payments are possible with a limit of 100,000 rubles. This is inconvenient for those whose transactions involve a large transfer amount. If there is no settlement line, then payments exceeding the limit will have to be “divided” in order to carry them out in accordance with the current limit.
- Having your own current account gives an individual entrepreneur the opportunity not to purchase and use cash registers if transactions are carried out only in cash. In addition, the payment line at the bank allows you to carry out financial interactions with counterparties more comfortably and transparently. This is all thanks to clear documentation of monetary transactions with the account.
- Opening a bank account will allow you to “protect” your finances from theft. You don’t have to worry that the safe will be broken into, because the money will be kept in the bank.
There is only one downside to opening your own bank account - the need to interact with a financial institution:
- visit it to control the receipt of funds and their movement;
- pay for bank services for settlement and cash services.
However, today you can reduce your visits to the bank by connecting to the Internet banking service, which simplifies the task of mutual settlements and control of funds.
Thus, it turns out that opening a personal bank account for an individual entrepreneur carries more positive aspects than inconveniences and disadvantages.
Is it possible for an individual entrepreneur to use a personal account for an individual?
According to the legislation of the Russian Federation, an individual entrepreneur does not have the right to use his personal current account for business purposes. However, this is also just a recommendation, meaning there will be no punishment.
Loading...
