Court Clarifies Rules for Legal Use of Self-Employed Workers in Business
The Arbitration Court of the Ural District canceled additional assessments of social contributions imposed on a company for engaging a driver and a secretary as self-employed contractors (Case No. A60-28456/2024).
The court found the arrangements lawful, noting the absence of employment relationship indicators since:
• the contractors had no fixed working hours or employment functions;
• they were paid for specific results, not time worked;
• their interaction with the company was occasional and not subject to internal regulations;
• the taxpayer provided reasonable economic justification for engaging self-employed contractors, considering the nature of the services.
NB: This case is an exception. Courts generally side with the tax authorities and replacing employees with self-employed contractors under civil contracts remains a high-risk business strategy.