The white salary. Official and unofficial salary

Many people know such a thing as a white salary. We heard about the black and gray. Some people do not know these phrases, but they know for sure about the existence of salaries in envelopes. In our life, such a color division of wages has come in quite a long time. Therefore, I want to understand well such schemes in order to understand what and how it works.

general characteristics

The white salary is one that is officially paid. It is necessary to understand in more detail which components are included in it, and then to raise issues related to unofficial payments. Such an unusual name has nothing to do with the color of bills or coins, it was given a salary because it passes, as it should, on all documents, is official until the last coin. List of documents in which it is reflected:

- Regulations on remuneration of labor;

- employment contract;

- The order of acceptance to work;

- other official documents.

During the receipt of the white salary, the employee has the opportunity to trace how exactly all the accruals, allowances and deductions have been made.

Legislative fundamentals

It should be noted that in the laws there is not a word about a white, gray or black salary. The employer establishes an officially determined pay, which must be agreed upon with the trade union of the enterprise and spelled out in the documentation relating to the internal activities of the firm, company or organization. The way in which the salary will be paid, as well as the form and timing of payments at the enterprise, is usually established by the employer himself, so is regulated by the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. The employer is obliged to observe only two conditions:

- he has no right to pay wages of a smaller size than the minimum wage;

- Periodicity of payment of salaries should be once in a fortnight.

It should be noted that the official salary represents the income of an individual. The Tax Code of the Russian Federation requires that the amount of income tax that is 13-30% is necessarily deducted from it. Only after the withdrawal of this payment, all other deductions are levied from wages.

Composition of official salary

Depending on what form of payment is practiced for enterprises, or for a particular post or profession, the monetary funds are paid to pay employees. Payment of labor can take one of two forms: time or piecework.

Time payment

So, we can consider the case when the enterprise is working with a system of time labor payment. In this case, the white salary is formed from the salary established by a particular employee, the premium. The salary is paid in full, if the time norm calculated for the employee is fully worked out. The bonus can be considered as a percentage of the salary or in the form of a fixed value. In each case, everything depends on the employer. As the main document in this form of mutual settlements, the time sheet is used .

Piece-work payment

In this case, the payroll is calculated in accordance with the norms that were worked out by the employee, this can be the provision of a service or a unit of some product. Naturally, this form of payment can be used where the amount of work performed can be estimated in units or pieces. This principle can also be applied to the payment of a premium, that is, to consider whether the norm has been met, whether there was a marriage, whether some special indicators were achieved while working, and so on.

Wage composition

Typically, the salaries of employees are composed of several positions:

- Salary - takes into account the time that the employee worked out in practice, or the rate that he performed in the production of products;

- The premium;

- District coefficient, if it is used;

- the allowance given for experience, academic degree, honorary title and others. Very often artists and teachers receive various extra charges;

- vacation, if the employee is sent on leave;

- payment in accordance with the sick leave sheet - during the billing period the employee must be on the disability sheet and have time to hand over the closed hospital to perform the accruals.

The organization may well provide for some other payments.

The order of payment

If a white salary is used, that is, it is charged and paid, then the enterprise's accounting department deducts all required deductions, including income tax, takes into account bonuses received by the employee, benefits, surcharges, and also makes necessary documentation properly. The employee can see all the accruals and deductions for each item on the settlement sheet.

The management of the enterprise establishes the terms of payments, at the same time, their frequency should be no less than half a fortnight. Choose the leaders and the form of payment, it can be the accruals through the cashier's office or transfer to the bank card used by the employee. Salary in the envelope is not carried out in such ways, but is issued to the employee personally.

In the event that the non-payment of wages is 15 days or more, the payees have the right, which is legally confirmed, temporarily do not perform their work duties, do not attend their workplace until the full payment of the prescribed part of the salary. In this case the employer is obliged to pay also days of idle time.

The employee has the right to resign at his own will, if there is a fact of wage delays. At the same time, the head must not only sign the application, but also pay in full with the employee on the day of his dismissal. Salary in the envelope does not provide such opportunities. However, this list of rights is not given to all categories of workers. Law enforcement officers and civil servants can not apply such measures to the employer who is delaying payment, in accordance with the law. All other categories can.

Unofficial salary

It is already clear that the official payment is called white, and the informal payment can be considered gray or black. This form is considered to include such forms of payment for employees who do not pass through the documentation of the enterprise in whole or in part. Often employees are given a salary in envelopes. Responsibility for this in the end will be borne by both parties, since both are violators of the laws. Cash in a white envelope is hidden from prying eyes, so all transactions are unofficial.

It is necessary to understand what is the salary in the envelope, what is included in it, how it is paid and at the expense of what exists.

What is the gray salary?

This phenomenon can be considered on a rather eloquent example. Imagine that the employee got a job at a certain enterprise for some very insignificant job, which has a very small salary. The salary of this employee, as well as his functions as a result, do not completely correspond to those stated in the documentation. For this discrepancy in the work performed, the employer pays him a monthly supplement to the official salary, which is drawn up according to all rules, a certain amount (its size depends on the situation), without a sheet or some other records, directly in his hands, that is, in cash. In this case we are talking about the very "gray" salary.

This option is often practiced by employers in order to reduce tax payments. There are situations when an enterprise is urgently required to an enterprise with a well-defined qualification, but for him there is no post in the staffing table. It is rather difficult to urgently enter the required post, and sometimes it is completely impossible. In this case, the "gray" salary is the only option. An employee is issued for any vacant position, and he performs the functions exactly those that are expected of him. Salary and taxes in this case will be very different from those that should be in reality, since he receives the missing part of payments in the "envelope".

The scheme of payment of gray wages in the form of dividends

There is also such a scheme of payment of gray wages. Each employee of the company has the opportunity to purchase a certain part or several shares of the company, which he is obliged to sell to the company in case of dismissal. All this is spelled out in the employment contract. The official average salary of an employee, which is often found to be minimal, comes to him on the card or he gets it at the checkout, and most of the money is given to him in the form of dividends. As a result, a gray salary is obtained, which is hidden under good cover.

Tax authorities usually inspect all documents of joint stock companies, in addition, the content of labor contracts, the shares of each and the frequency of payments at the enterprise. Dividends are traditionally paid not every month, but once a quarter. In addition, very often in the decisions of meetings of joint stock companies, you can find a lot of inaccuracies and errors that help in identifying the fact of payment of gray wages, provide an opportunity to convict employers of illegal activities.

What is the advantage of gray wages?

As a result of using such schemes, people's salaries become gray, which is beneficial not only to the employer himself, but also to the personnel who receive them. And there are quite a few reasons for this. Reducing the tax burden brings benefits to both parties:

- the size of the income tax deducted from the salary is reduced, which is connected with the taxation of a smaller part of the salary;

- the amount of alimony paid is also reduced, since only the official salary is used for the calculation. The size of the retained part does not usually exceed 20% of the total earnings.

Everything allows us to say that black and white wages are two sides of our current situation. Most employers find a balance between them by switching to gray wages.

The essence of black wages

Often employers try so hard to reduce tax payments that they hire employees without their formal registration. At the same time, there is no need to conclude an employment contract, to make entries in the work book, even if it is in the company at the request of the management. In this case, wages are paid exclusively in envelopes. The amount of payments can vary from minimal to fairly high. For example, the minimum wage in Moscow now is 15,000 rubles.

The implementation of such financial transactions requires the employer to make certain efforts in the form of double-entry bookkeeping: the unaccounted revenue goes to the black salary. This option is considered convenient for entrepreneurs who deal with the sales of goods, transportation, that is, those business areas in which there is a constant turnover of cash. In the future, it goes to pay salaries in envelopes.

There is such a scheme and in real estate offices. Officially, only a few real estate agents can be issued, and the remaining eight to nine work without any clearance and receive interest from the transaction. This salary is just black.

Another option may be the following: when a front company opens, which immediately after the black payments is closed, and the employer, it turns out, legally made the transfer of money for payment.

What is the danger of unofficial wages?

There are cases when, for example, a worker under documents is paid a minimum wage in Moscow, and the rest he agrees to accept in an envelope.

In this case, he risks losing a number of payments, among which:

- social and vacation payments;

- a pension accrued in accordance with official contributions to the Pension Fund;

- other payments, which are guaranteed by labor legislation with a salary that is officially received.

And for workers who completely receive a black salary, the risk will be even greater. Such a person can not count on a whole set of payments, including hospital, holiday, maternity leave, and others. And if the employer for some reason decides to fire an employee, then he can do it without paying him severance pay, as well as wages for the already worked-out period. Or just at any time stop paying your employees money. For the employer who practices the payment of salaries in envelopes, it is not terrible that in case of a disputable situation, employees will appeal to the court. This is not just useless, and sometimes even dangerous.

How do they disclose payments of black salaries?

Employees of the tax service quite easily discovers the fact that the company has unaccounted for employees. To do this, you need to calculate the number of employees who are in the workplace, and then compare the result with the figures of the official staffing table. It is clear that no one will work without payment, so you can draw conclusions about the existence of the fact of payment of black wages. To confirm this documentary, it is enough to come with a check without warning, and to make an exception at the enterprise of the documentation and files that the accounting department manages. Salary in this case will be as in the palm of your hand, so you can find out all the circumstances as detailed as possible.

Dokazuemost in court

If wages are paid in black, then this is a serious offense. In the event that there is any disagreement between the employer and the employee, the latter believes that it is useless to apply to the court, since he will not be able to prove anything without having official documents. However, even with such a payroll scheme, it is difficult to prove, but it is possible. As evidence, records can be used for a dictaphone, announcements in the newspaper by the employer, evidence of other employees, etc.

Problems due to gray wages

The most important drawback of this method of mutual settlement for the employee is that he will not receive in full those payments that are guaranteed by the state, or generally remain without money, if for some reason the employer stops issuing the salary in the envelope. And it does not matter what kind of average salary it was. An employee who receives a salary unofficially automatically falls under criminal liability as a tax evader. This is especially true for significant amounts of non-payment.

For all of the above reasons, if you choose a white salary you are more interested in, either gray or black, think well of all the consequences of such a decision.