Imputed income is the minimum amount that an entrepreneur should strive for

How do you think, is it possible to pay tax on income that you do not actually get? It turns out that it is possible, moreover, this duty is confirmed by law. But how can this be? In order to deal with this circumstance, it is necessary to understand the meaning of such a term as imputed income. This is a potentially possible amount of money that a taxpayer can receive in the form of income by engaging in a certain type of activity (a complete list of all types can be found in the Tax Code, article No. 2). It is calculated on the basis of a combination of factors affecting the entrepreneur's receipt of income and is the basis for levying the relevant tax.

The amount of imputed income is not actual (real), but potential, which is imputed to be received for a particular type of activity. In fact, this is a compulsory value, with which in any case the tax will be taken. And if you can not achieve it, then you should think about whether it is worthwhile to engage in this type of business. In this case it is assumed that if your real cash inflow is lower than the imputed income, this indicates the ineffectiveness of this type of activity and the need to take some measures (increasing the income or closing / selling the enterprise).

The criteria that are taken into account for calculating such a value can be the following: the number of employees, square meters of the room, productivity, the flow of consumers, and others. Thus, physical indicators (established "from above") are evaluated, and not actual performance results.

The single tax on imputed income is a relatively "young" phenomenon in the Russian tax system. It was adopted in 2000 and retains its strength to this day. The reasons for introducing such an indicator were explained as follows: for each type of activity there is an average amount of money that an entrepreneur can earn per month. And the activity will be considered effective (profitable / expedient) only if it is possible to achieve this "basic amount of income". It is worth to clarify that the tax is paid from this imputed value, adjusted for a number of coefficients. These include parameters such as the dynamics of profitability, adjusted for changes in the financial system of the Russian Federation (K1); Territorial coefficient (K2).

The amount of imputed income, calculated taking into account K2, is the most approximate to the real profitability and reflects the conditions of the activity of a particular enterprise in a particular region. It is this ratio that shows the priorities of local authorities regarding the support of individual business segments, the provision of benefits to various categories of entrepreneurs, etc. Although it significantly complicates the process of calculating the tax base. The formula by which it is defined looks like this:

VD = BD * (N1 + N2 + N3) * K1 * K2, where

VD is, of course, imputed income. DB - basic income, taking into account physical indicators (N1 / 2/3) and adjusted for coefficients (K1 / 2). More details about each of them, used in the case of an entrepreneurial activity, can be found in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

Thus, when planning to engage in a particular type of business, one should take into account the imputed income calculated for it. This will allow you to understand how much you should be guided by creating a business plan and try to exceed it by embarking on the actual implementation of your project.