How to close an individual entrepreneur in 2021: step-by-step instructions

Grounds for closing an individual entrepreneur

The grounds for closing an individual entrepreneur can be divided into two categories:

1. By the decision of the entrepreneur himself. If for some reason an individual entrepreneur no longer wants to run his own business, he can close it. To do this, you will have to pay off all debts, fire employees and complete the necessary documents.
2. By decision of the government authority:

• Tax Service - tax authorities do not yet have such powers, however, as of September 1, 2020, changes to the legislation come into force. The Federal Law “On Amendments...” dated November 12, 2019 No. 377-FZ will supplement the Law “On State Registration...” dated August 8, 2001 No. 129-FZ with Article 22.4, which gives the Federal Tax Service the right to exclude an entrepreneur from the Unified State Register of Individual Entrepreneurs if he does not submit reporting period for 15 months or more and at the same time has an outstanding tax debt.
• Court - an appropriate decision is made, for example, if an individual entrepreneur cannot pay off his debts on his own, and therefore the court declares him bankrupt.

If the individual entrepreneur remains in debt to the budget

The step-by-step instructions given above talk about how to liquidate an individual entrepreneur only in the context of legal formalities.

Compliance with this procedure does not relieve the former entrepreneur from the obligation to pay mandatory payments. Therefore, along with registration actions, it is advisable to pay debts on taxes and contributions. Of course, it is quite possible to close an individual entrepreneur with debts to the Pension Fund in 2022; this will not affect registration actions in any way. The same applies to tax debts. Requirements to pay tax payments or submit a certificate from the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation about the absence of debts at the time of termination of the entrepreneur’s status will be illegal.

However, you should not think that the fiscal authorities will forget about you due to the termination of your activities. After all, although the individual himself has ceased to be an entrepreneur, he is still obliged to pay off the budget. Therefore, it is better to pay off the debt as soon as possible, without waiting for fines and summons to court.

How to prepare for the closure of a sole proprietorship

To close an individual entrepreneur, you need to put things and documents in order - the tax office will exclude the enterprise from the Unified State Register of Individual Entrepreneurs only if it has no outstanding debts. Before contacting the Federal Tax Service you need:

1. Make a decision to terminate activities as an individual entrepreneur. It is not necessary to document it - the law does not contain any instructions in this regard.
2. Within a month from the date of the decision to abolish the individual entrepreneur, transfer information about the employees of the enterprise to the territorial office of the Pension Fund (you will have to fill out forms SZV-M, SZV-STAZH and SZV-TD).
3. Notify the employment service about the upcoming dismissal of employees due to liquidation (at least two weeks before dismissal - clause 2 of article 25 of the law “On Employment...” of April 19, 1991 No. 1032-1) and warn the employees themselves about this ( no less than two months before dismissal - Part 2 of Article 180 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).
4. Calculate the amount of insurance premiums for employees and pay off underpayments (if any). The calculation and form 6-NDFL are submitted to the tax office.
5. Send an application for deregistration to the territorial office of the Social Insurance Fund, as well as copies of orders for the dismissal of employees (subparagraph 3, paragraph 3, article 6 of the federal law “On Mandatory...” dated July 24, 1998 No. 125-FZ). In addition, you will need to fill out form 4-FSS.
6. Close your bank account.
7. To deregister an online cash register (if you registered it) - to do this, you need to submit a corresponding application to the tax office.
8. Pay contributions to the Pension Fund and Social Insurance Fund for yourself, submit tax returns and other reports, pay taxes.
9. Prepare a package of documents necessary to close an individual entrepreneur and submit them to the Federal Tax Service.

All of the above actions need to be performed only if you have employees. If there are no employees, you skip steps aimed at interacting with funds.

ConsultantPlus has many ready-made solutions, including the article “Beware, the individual entrepreneur is closing.” If you don't have access to the system yet, sign up for a free trial online. You can also get the current K+ price list.

Calculate and dismiss employees

If the individual entrepreneur acts as an employer, then when closing it is necessary to comply with the requirements of the law on the protection of employee rights:

Employment service notification

This is a requirement of the law, not the Labor Code, since the state controls the situation with the number of unemployed. Therefore, the entrepreneur is obliged to inform the Employment Service about the reduction of employees. This must be done 2 weeks before dismissal. The law allows you to submit a notice in free form. The document indicates the position, qualifications, specialty and salary.

Employee warning

By law, the organization warns the employee about layoffs 2 months in advance, but this rule does not apply to individual entrepreneurs. Therefore, it is important to secure this point in advance in the employment contract. For example, set a deadline of 2 weeks.

Then an order is issued to terminate the employment contract. To do this, it is easier to use the standard form No. T-8.

The order must state the grounds for dismissal. They usually use clause 1. part 1 of Article 81 of the Labor Code: “Termination of an employment contract due to termination of the activities of an individual entrepreneur.” The order is shown to employees against signature. Experts do not recommend dismissing employees at will: there is a threat that the employee will sue and challenge the legality of the dismissal.

Then they make a note about the dismissal in the work book and employee card. On the last working day, employees are given a certificate of experience SZV-STAZH, a certificate of income 2-NDFL, a work book and a certificate STD-R, if the employee requests.

And most importantly, employees must be paid wages, compensation for unused vacation and other accruals under the employment contract.

What documents will be needed

To close an individual entrepreneur, you will need the following documents:

1. Application for registration of termination of activities as an individual entrepreneur, drawn up in form P26001. We will tell you how to fill it out below.
2. A document confirming payment of the state duty (it only needs to be paid if you submit documents directly to the tax office on paper).
3. A certificate from the Pension Fund stating that you have provided them with information about the insured persons (needed only if you have employees). You don’t have to submit the certificate - in this case, the tax authorities will make a request to the Pension Fund on their own.

Stages of closing an individual entrepreneur in 2022

Step-by-step instruction

You can entrust the liquidation of an individual entrepreneur with debts to a lawyer or go through the procedure yourself. The algorithm of actions for terminating activities through the Federal Tax Service is as follows.

STEP 1.

Prepare documents for filing with the Federal Tax Service:

• statement P26001
• duty payment receipt
• passport.

You can fill out an application on form P26001 in writing on paper, or electronically through your Personal Account on the Federal Tax Service website or on State Services. To send documents online, you will need an electronic signature (EDS).

To submit documents by mail, you must have form P26001 certified by a notary. When applying in person to the Federal Tax Service or the MFC, you do not need to notarize the P26001 form, since the citizen’s identity is checked using his passport.

STEP 2.

Pay the state fee for liquidation of the individual entrepreneur. In 2022, its size is 160 rubles. Payment can be made through a bank, or you can generate a receipt on the Federal Tax Service website.

If you send documents electronically online, there is no state fee required!

STEP 3.

Submission of documents for liquidation of individual entrepreneurs:

• in person at the tax office or MFC,
• send by mail,
• online. You can send documents through your Personal Account on the Federal Tax Service website; here you will need an electronic signature.

Upon receipt of documents, a receipt is generated. It is issued in person or sent to your Personal Account.

A citizen with the status of an individual entrepreneur can refuse to engage in business at any time

But it is very important to close the IP correctly. It is necessary to submit reports, even if you have unpaid taxes, contributions and loans. You can then write off these debts through personal bankruptcy proceedings. But it is important not to have debts to the employees of individual entrepreneurs - they will not be written off in bankruptcy.

STEP 4.

Obtaining documents on a closed individual entrepreneur. Registration of termination of activity with the Federal Tax Service takes 5 working days. On the 6th working day you can receive a USRIP entry sheet. It will indicate the termination of the business.

You can receive the USRIP record sheet on paper with a live seal in person through the tax office or MFC, or entrust this to a representative by proxy. It is also possible to send the registration sheet by mail.

If you have debts, you need to follow these step-by-step instructions. Tax authorities are required to deregister an individual entrepreneur from the Unified State Register of Individual Entrepreneurs, even if he has a debt to the budget.

Terminating the status of an individual entrepreneur with debts through bankruptcy is more difficult, but the purpose of bankruptcy is to get rid of debt obligations and stop accruing interest and penalties.

Bankruptcy of entrepreneurs is carried out in the same manner as for individuals. If a citizen has property to be sold, it will be sold to pay off debts. After settlement with creditors, outstanding obligations are written off. By decision of the Arbitration Court to declare an individual bankrupt, the entrepreneur will be excluded from the Unified State Register of Individual Entrepreneurs.

Tax period upon liquidation

Tax reporting for the current year when closing an individual entrepreneur is submitted according to special rules. This must be done no later than 5 days after termination of activity. If this deadline is violated, the citizen will be charged a fine, even if the business is already closed.

Timing for closing an individual entrepreneur

If liquidated by a voluntary decision through the tax office, the entire procedure will take 5 working days

.

The duration of bankruptcy will be from 7 months. You can learn more about when it is better to close your individual entrepreneur status before bankruptcy from our specialists.

Filling out an application on form P26001

The application form for liquidation of individual entrepreneur R26001 is unified - it is fixed by order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated August 31, 2020 No. ED-7-14 / [email protected] The new form is valid from November 25, 2020. It can be filled out on a computer or by hand - in black ink, legibly and without corrections. The application indicates the applicant's phone number and email address - the result of the application to the tax office will be sent to it. Section 3 of the form does not need to be filled out - tax officials will do this when they receive the document.

You can see and download the form and sample of such an application in our material.

When can they refuse to close an individual entrepreneur?

Such cases are spelled out in Article 23 of the Federal Law of 08.08.2001 N 129-FZ “On State Registration of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs”.

You will be denied closure of an individual entrepreneur if you have not submitted all the documents for closure, submitted them to the wrong tax office, did not have the documents certified by a notary when necessary, the document was signed by an unauthorized person, etc.

In this regard, it is better to deregister the cash register or close the current account after you learn about the positive decision to close the individual entrepreneur.

Payment of state duty

In accordance with sub. 7 clause 1 art. 333.33 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the amount of the state duty that must be paid when closing an individual entrepreneur is 160 rubles (20 percent of the amount of the fee charged when registering an individual entrepreneur; its amount is 800 rubles). You can save money by submitting documents not on paper, but via the Internet - in this case you will not have to pay (subclause 32, clause 3, article 333.35 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

The payment document must be attached to the application in form P26001 - the tax office will accept (clause 3 of Article 333.18 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation):

• payment order with a mark of execution, if paid by non-cash method;
• bank receipt if paid in cash.

A receipt for payment can be generated on the Federal Tax Service website - to do this, use the “Payment of state duty” service.

Important nuances

A receipt for payment of the state fee (RUB 160) must be attached to the application (on a paper clip or stapler). If the closure of an individual entrepreneur is carried out in person, and the signature on the completed form is placed in the presence of a tax inspector, then you do not need to use the services of a notary.

The processing time for the application is no more than five working days from the date of application. You can find out about the status of a specific application online through the website of the federal tax service. A valid tax return is required. It is necessary to submit it, even if it is zero. But the legal subtlety of this point is that this can be done both before filing an application to close an individual entrepreneur and after.

Methods for submitting documents

Documents are submitted to the tax office at the place of residence. You can find the inspectorate that services your address on the Federal Tax Service website. You can transfer documents in different ways:

1. By visiting the tax office in person or by submitting documents through a representative (in this case, you will need to issue a power of attorney in the name of the representative and have the entrepreneur’s signature on the application certified by a notary).
2. Through the MFC - also in person or through a representative.
3. Through a notary. He can certify the application with his electronic signature and submit it for consideration via the Internet (paragraph 3, paragraph 1, article 9 of Federal Law No. 129). The service is paid - it is better to check the cost with the notary himself in advance.
4. By mail. The documents must be sent by a valuable letter with a list of the contents and a notification of delivery to the addressee.
5. Through a special service on the Federal Tax Service portal. To close an individual entrepreneur through the taxpayer’s personal account, an electronic signature will be required. You can use an account from the State Services portal.
6. Through the portal "State Services". This is another way to close an individual entrepreneur online - go to the portal and fill out the registration form.

Payment via MFC

Services for paying the state fee for closing an individual entrepreneur are provided by a network of MFCs opened in Moscow and other cities of the Russian Federation. Pre-registration on the official website will help you avoid wasting time in queues.

On the appointed date and time, you must go to the MFC with your passport and TIN. An employee of the center will perform the operation to pay the state duty. The procedure will take no more than ten minutes.

Documents can be sent to the MFC by mail if the entrepreneur does not have enough time to visit the authorities.

Do I need to visit foundations?

If the entrepreneur had employees, after the closure of the individual entrepreneur he will have to notify all the funds to which he made contributions.

Thus, information about employees who worked for the individual entrepreneur must be transferred to the Pension Fund within a month from the date of the decision to close (paragraph 5, paragraph 2, article 9 of the federal law “On Individual..." dated 04/01/1996 No. 27-FZ ). If this is not done, it will not be possible to close the individual entrepreneur through the tax office - the tax authorities will reject the application for liquidation (see, for example, the resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Central District dated November 26, 2012 in case No. A14-745/2012).

After the dismissal of the last employee and registration of the fact of closure of the individual entrepreneur, an application for deregistration with the Social Insurance Fund is submitted to the tax office. Copies of the order(s) on termination of employment contracts with employees must be attached to it. Within 14 days from the date of receipt of the documents, the FSS will deregister the former entrepreneur (subclause 3, clause 3, article 6 of Federal Law No. 125).

How to close an individual entrepreneur in Elba

Elba will help you submit a declaration under the simplified tax system and calculate insurance premiums after the closure of the individual entrepreneur.

In the "Details" section, scroll down to the bottom of the page. Check the box “I closed the individual entrepreneur and know the closing date.” Indicate the date when you closed the individual entrepreneur - according to the state register entry sheet that was given to you by the tax office.

Then, in the “Current tasks” section, complete tasks on insurance premiums and reporting. They will be generated taking into account the date when you closed the individual entrepreneur.

The article is current as of 01/21/2022

Results

So, in order to close an individual entrepreneur, you need to put the documents in order and fire the employees (if any).
After this, you can contact the tax office - in person or online. An application to close an individual entrepreneur is considered within five days. If an entrepreneur has no outstanding debts, information about the enterprise will be excluded from the Unified State Register of Individual Entrepreneurs. You can find more complete information on the topic in ConsultantPlus. Free trial access to the system for 2 days.

What to do before writing an application

Before filling out the document, you need to pay the state fee for closing. It is 160 rubles.

If employees work for an individual entrepreneur, then it is necessary to notify them of the closure at least two weeks in advance. Preferably in writing. Otherwise it will be a violation of labor laws.

You also need to decide on how to submit your application. You can submit it to the local authority of the Federal Tax Service in paper form, by mail or electronically. But this cannot currently be done through the Public Services portal. The tax authority has its own website and a corresponding section in it. You can submit an application to close an individual entrepreneur there, but to do this you need to have your own digital signature. If there is no electronic seal, then you will have to do it the old fashioned way, in paper form.