The role of the tax on professional income in ensuring employment and legalizing the labor activity of the population
Research Article
Acknowledgments
The research was funded by the grant of the Russian Science Foundation No. 23–28–01690. URL: https://rscf.ru/project/23–28–01690/.
How to Cite
Zakharova K.A., Baburina N.A., Muraviev D.A. The role of the tax on professional income in ensuring employment and legalizing the labor activity of the population. Population. 2025. Vol. 28. No. 2. P. 171-182. DOI: https://doi.org/10.24412/1561-7785-2025-2-171-182 (in Russ.).
Abstract
The change in the Russian labor market structure in the modern conditions affect to a large extent the new employment forms and types formation processes, that enhances the need to increase the informal activities and self-employment transparency. Finding and developing adequate tools for reducing informal employment and legalizing labor relations problems are coming to the fore. The article is focused on promising tax regulation instruments, in particular, development of the tax on professional income in the Russian Federation, its role in stimulating entrepreneurial activity and involving self-employed people in legal business. The present state of the self-employed taxation system in the Russian Federation has been analyzed. On the basis of the study it was found that: 1) the new tax regime implementation in practice reduces the shadow economy growth; 2) despite the extending of the tax to professional income and the growing number of the self-employed, the tax revenues are at the level of no more than 0.23 per cent of the total state tax revenues; 3) the revenues share from the simplified taxation system decreases when the tax is extended to professional income; 4) the structure of the tax system is projected to change in relation to decrease in the tax revenues due to reduction of the tax rate for professional income tax, increase in the share of individual labor activity and decline in the role of small enterprises. In general, the prospects for the professional income tax development in the Russian Federation can be described as favorable. Based on the study results, the directions for improving the professional income tax in order to increase its efficiency and expand the taxable base are proposed.
Keywords:
professional income tax, legal labor, self-employment, entrepreneurial activity, population
References
1. Kanakova A. E. Predposylki vvedeniya i konstitutsionnyye osnovy naloga na professional’nyy dokhod [Tax on professional income: preconditions for introduction and constitutional fundamentals]. Vestnik Tomskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta [Tomsk State University Journal]. 2019. No. 446. P. 223–230. DOI: 10.17223/15617793/446/29 (in Russ.)
2. Bychkov D. G., Grishina E. E., Loktyukhina N. V., Feoktistova O. A. Preimushchestva i riski samozanyatosti i platformennoy zanyatosti [Strengths and weaknesses of self-employment and platform work in Russia]. Ekonomicheskaya politika [Economic Policy]. 2024. Vol. 19. No. 4. P. 60–83. DOI: 10.18288/1994-5124-2024-4-60-83 (in Russ.)
3. Zemtsov S. P., Tsareva Yu. V., Salimova D. R., Barinova V. A. Zanyatost’ v malom i srednem biznese v Rossii: v poiskakh faktorov rosta [Small and medium-sized enterprises in Russia: in search of employment growth factors]. Voprosy ekonomiki [Economic Issues]. 2021. No. 12. P. 66–93. DOI: 10.32609/0042-8736-2021-12-66-93 (in Russ.)
4. Kunitsyna N. N., Dzhioyev A. V. Zavisimost’ neformal’noy zanyatosti ot urovnya dokhodov naseleniya rossiyskikh regionov: uroki pandemii [Dependence of informal employment on population income in Russian regions: lessons from the pandemic]. Ekonomika regiona [Economy of Regions]. 2023. Vol. 19. No. 2. P. 437–450. DOI: 10.17059/ekon.reg.2023-2-11 (in Russ.)
5. Nesterenko Yu. N., Protasova E. A. Samozanyatost’ v Rossii: sostoyaniye i potentsial razvitiya [Self-employment in Russia: state and potential for development]. Narodonaselenie. [Population]. 2019. Vol. 22. No. 4. Р. 78–89. DOI: 10.24411/1561-7785-2019-00040 (in Russ.)
6. Arulampalam W., Papini A. Tax progressivity and self-employment dynamics. Review of Economics and Statistics. 2023. No. 2. P. 376–391. DOI: 10.1162/rest_a_01046
7. Smirnova E., Okhrimenko I., Zakharova A. Review of best practices in self-employment taxation. Public Organization Review. 2024. Vol. 24. No. 1. P. 299–314. DOI: 10.1007/s11115-022-00604-1
8. Dey S. K., Panda S., Sharma D. Determinants of behavior of payers of personal income tax: An empirical study from Indian context. Journal of Tax Reform. 2023. Vol. 9. No. 2. P. 262–277. DOI: 10.15826/jtr.2023.9.2.141
9. Safarov S., Abdurazzakova D. Flat tax system and heterogeneity of self-employment. Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies. 2022. Vol. 14. No. 2. P. 274–291. DOI:10.1108/JEEE-06-2020-0175
10. Tanchev S. Determinants of the proportional income tax revenue: A comparative assessment of Russia and Bulgaria. Journal of Tax Reform. 2022. Vol. 8. No. 1. P. 54–68. DOI: 10.15826/jtr.2022.8.1.108
11. Malkina M. Yu. Impact of the 2020 pandemic on revenue from various taxes in the Russian Regions. Journal of Siberian Federal University. Humanities & Social Sciences. 2021. Vol. 14. No. 7. P. 987–997. DOI: 10.17516/1997-1370-0778
2. Bychkov D. G., Grishina E. E., Loktyukhina N. V., Feoktistova O. A. Preimushchestva i riski samozanyatosti i platformennoy zanyatosti [Strengths and weaknesses of self-employment and platform work in Russia]. Ekonomicheskaya politika [Economic Policy]. 2024. Vol. 19. No. 4. P. 60–83. DOI: 10.18288/1994-5124-2024-4-60-83 (in Russ.)
3. Zemtsov S. P., Tsareva Yu. V., Salimova D. R., Barinova V. A. Zanyatost’ v malom i srednem biznese v Rossii: v poiskakh faktorov rosta [Small and medium-sized enterprises in Russia: in search of employment growth factors]. Voprosy ekonomiki [Economic Issues]. 2021. No. 12. P. 66–93. DOI: 10.32609/0042-8736-2021-12-66-93 (in Russ.)
4. Kunitsyna N. N., Dzhioyev A. V. Zavisimost’ neformal’noy zanyatosti ot urovnya dokhodov naseleniya rossiyskikh regionov: uroki pandemii [Dependence of informal employment on population income in Russian regions: lessons from the pandemic]. Ekonomika regiona [Economy of Regions]. 2023. Vol. 19. No. 2. P. 437–450. DOI: 10.17059/ekon.reg.2023-2-11 (in Russ.)
5. Nesterenko Yu. N., Protasova E. A. Samozanyatost’ v Rossii: sostoyaniye i potentsial razvitiya [Self-employment in Russia: state and potential for development]. Narodonaselenie. [Population]. 2019. Vol. 22. No. 4. Р. 78–89. DOI: 10.24411/1561-7785-2019-00040 (in Russ.)
6. Arulampalam W., Papini A. Tax progressivity and self-employment dynamics. Review of Economics and Statistics. 2023. No. 2. P. 376–391. DOI: 10.1162/rest_a_01046
7. Smirnova E., Okhrimenko I., Zakharova A. Review of best practices in self-employment taxation. Public Organization Review. 2024. Vol. 24. No. 1. P. 299–314. DOI: 10.1007/s11115-022-00604-1
8. Dey S. K., Panda S., Sharma D. Determinants of behavior of payers of personal income tax: An empirical study from Indian context. Journal of Tax Reform. 2023. Vol. 9. No. 2. P. 262–277. DOI: 10.15826/jtr.2023.9.2.141
9. Safarov S., Abdurazzakova D. Flat tax system and heterogeneity of self-employment. Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies. 2022. Vol. 14. No. 2. P. 274–291. DOI:10.1108/JEEE-06-2020-0175
10. Tanchev S. Determinants of the proportional income tax revenue: A comparative assessment of Russia and Bulgaria. Journal of Tax Reform. 2022. Vol. 8. No. 1. P. 54–68. DOI: 10.15826/jtr.2022.8.1.108
11. Malkina M. Yu. Impact of the 2020 pandemic on revenue from various taxes in the Russian Regions. Journal of Siberian Federal University. Humanities & Social Sciences. 2021. Vol. 14. No. 7. P. 987–997. DOI: 10.17516/1997-1370-0778
Article
Received: 21.10.2024
Accepted: 17.06.2025
Citation Formats
Other cite formats:
APA
Zakharova, K. A., Baburina, N. A., & Muraviev, D. A. (2025). The role of the tax on professional income in ensuring employment and legalizing the labor activity of the population. Population, 28(2), 171-182. https://doi.org/10.24412/1561-7785-2025-2-171-182
Section
FINANCIAL BEHAVIOR OF POPULATION





