Independent workers in Russia surpass 13 million mark
Russia is experiencing a significant increase in self-employment, with the number of self-employed Russians on the rise due to factors such as economic shifts, increased digital and freelance opportunities, and efforts to formalize informal labor sectors. This trend is apparent across various regions, with larger urban centers like Moscow and St. Petersburg having higher concentrations, but also notable increases in regional areas.
In response to this growing self-employed population, the Russian government has been adapting its tax framework to better capture income from professional activities. A special tax regime on professional income (Nalog na professional'nyy dokhod) has been implemented, offering simplified taxation compared to standard business taxes. Proposals for 2025-2028 focus on expanding the scope of this tax, improving compliance mechanisms, and possibly adjusting tax rates to balance revenue needs and encourage formalization.
Authorities also propose enhanced digital reporting and payment infrastructure to ease tax submission for self-employed persons. There is an ongoing debate on regional adaptations, with some regions piloting additional incentives such as reduced tax rates or social benefit packages to boost self-employment locally.
As of March 31, 2025, there were 13,021,255 self-employed citizens of Russia registered. In 2024, self-employed individuals in Russia paid 99.8 billion rubles in tax on professional income, which is 1.6 times more than in the previous year. Most of those working for themselves are concentrated in the fields of repair, auto, IT, and beauty.
In an effort to support this growing segment, the government has rejected a proposal to raise the income threshold for self-employed individuals within the "Tax on Professional Income" (NPD) experiment. The proposed maximum incomes for self-employed individuals were to be 3.6 million rubles in 2025, 3.8 million rubles in 2026, 4 million rubles in 2027, and 4.2 million rubles in 2028.
The highest number of self-employed is currently registered in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Krasnodar Krai, Novosibirsk, Moscow, and Tyumen regions. In 2023, the number of users of the tax on professional income increased by 39% - from 6.6 million to 9.3 million people.
Looking ahead, self-employed individuals may start receiving sick leave payments in 2026. The specific details of this solution for self-employed individuals living on the minimum pension have not been specified. Currently, there is a proposal to address this issue.
In the last 12 months, 8.3 million self-employed individuals, or 63.6% of the total registered, indicated that they had some taxable income from professional activities. On average, each "active" self-employed person paid 11.5 thousand rubles in the previous year. The Cabinet of Ministers issued a negative conclusion, extending the self-employed regime for incomes not exceeding 2.4 million rubles per year.
These users completed 3.4 billion orders per year, reflecting the dynamic and growing nature of Russia's self-employed population. Russia’s approach to formalizing emerging economic activities, such as commercial drone operations requiring proper licensing, reflects this broader regulatory trend for professional and self-employed sectors to be better integrated into formal economies.
The Russian government is modifying its tax framework, introducing a special tax regime on professional income (Nalog na professional'nyy dokhod) to cater to the increasing number of self-employed individuals. This tax system offers simplified taxation compared to standard business taxes.
In 2024, self-employed individuals in Russia paid 99.8 billion rubles in tax on professional income, which is a significant increase from the previous year, demonstrating the growing influence of self-employment in the Russian business sector.
