Currently, domestic experts do not find unanimity in their opinion on what the concept of “black” accounting includes.
Some of them classify wages “in an envelope” as “black” accounting. Others - all cash that is not officially accounted for. Still others believe that in addition to cash, it takes into account unofficial liabilities and assets, that is, goods, debts, fixed assets, and the like.
The purpose of “black” accounting is obvious: employees try to hide income from taxation, while hiding the income of not only the enterprise itself, but also its employees, the most striking example is salary “in an envelope”.
The maintenance of “black” accounting is entrusted to experienced and responsible employees who enjoy the trust of management.
Features of “black” accounting
The most common economic and financial processes of “black” accounting are the sale of goods, services and work for cash without being reflected in accounting, raising cash without being reflected in accounting, storing and receiving unaccounted goods and materials, using fixed assets without being reflected in accounting.
Accounting for “black” accounting - hiding profits and revenues from tax authorities, managing financial flows not indicated in accounting, paying and accruing salaries “in an envelope.”
According to experts, about half of economic and financial transactions in Russia are carried out “under the table.” Most organizations and enterprises involved in production, construction, trade, and also working in the service sector cannot operate without “black” accounting.
Technologies for maintaining “black” accounting are similar to official technologies. She uses the concepts in the same way: credit, debit, expense and receipt, double entries, capitalization, balance, write-off, reporting and inventory. But “black” accounting data is intended only for use within the enterprise; not everyone has access to this data.
Due to the use of “black” accounting, the financial structure of an enterprise acquires characteristic features and differs from the financial structure confirmed by documents.
Very often on television, in the media, on Internet resources and in conversations of ordinary people, you can come across such an expression as “black accounting”. It is not easy for some people, who for various reasons are far from legal and economic categories, to understand the essence of this concept.
Let's try to figure out what meaning this phrase carries and what it is in real life.
What is black accounting?
Enterprises can have different forms of ownership. Some employ a thousand people, while others employ only five. However, they all carry out some kind of activity, only in different areas and volumes.
Accounting for all illegal business transactions, the ultimate goal of which is to hide income from the state and understate taxes paid, is black accounting. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a salary “in envelopes”, the use of unaccounted for fixed assets, the purchase of goods without documents, the provision of services without covering them with the appropriate papers, one way or another, shadow schemes will affect all areas of accounting in the enterprise. Any of these actions, even partial or complex, is considered black bookkeeping at the enterprise.
The difference between black and white accounting
Understanding the difference between regular accounting and illegal accounting is quite simple. Normal accounting implies full compliance between the transactions performed (trade, rent, provision of services, etc.), their reflection in the primary documents of the enterprise, further periodic summing up and displaying them in the relevant reports, as well as the submission of relevant documents and declarations to the tax service. And, of course, timely payment of the required amounts to the budget. 
Illegal accounting is not much different from white accounting in the way it registers transactions. The whole difference is that white and black accounting are conducted for completely opposite purposes. The end result of the latter is the concealment of the real income of the enterprise and underpayment of taxes to the state. That is, black accounting is not reflected in any official reports. In this way, quite large sums of money can be hidden from the state, which is a serious violation of the law.
Who's leading?
Illegal accounting is handled differently at different enterprises. Naturally, there are no regulatory documents regulating its maintenance, because black accounting itself is legally unlawful. The owner decides how to keep such records at the enterprise.
Some managers do this personally, jotting down notes in notepads or notebooks. This kind of management is practiced in companies where the turnover is quite small and there are few people.
In larger companies, this work is entrusted to the chief accountant, who, in parallel with white accounting, also handles black accounting. 
In really large enterprises, this task is generally handled by a separate person. Most often this is some trusted management representative or relative.
Place of reference
Data on illegal transactions are compiled and stored in different places, again, depending on who is conducting them and the volume of transactions performed.
If the director is doing this, then everything can happen right in his office.
When the chief accountant maintains parallel white and black accounting, all transactions and data confirming them are located in his office. 
If the volume of illegal activity is large, and black accounting is the diocese of an individual employee, then most often all this is located in a separate office, sometimes very carefully disguised as some kind of utility room. Other employees of the enterprise may not even realize that double accounting exists in the company.
Features of automated accounting
Basically, black bookkeeping in a company is not limited only to paper records. An automated accounting system is also used very effectively.
For example, in the special 1C program, black accounting is carried out quite successfully by many companies. Accountants and programmers come up with various options that they think will be able to deceive inspectors and hide the presence of illegal accounting at the enterprise. Many people succeed in this for the time being.
Some create a separate virtual enterprise in the configuration and conduct all illegal operations on it. Others maintain a parallel database that is stored on removable media, hoping that when inspectors appear in the office, they will have time to quickly remove the removable disk with the program from the computer and hide it. There are many options. However, all of them are sooner or later revealed by law enforcement officers.
Why is black accounting needed?
Why are such tricks needed? Why do people deliberately commit such offenses and also record them on media? Isn't it easier to just keep white books and sleep peacefully? Or not store any data that might be discovered?
The answers to these questions are simple. Of course, it is easier and more correct to do everything according to the law. However, for many, banal greed prevails over the fear of committing an offense. A business owner wants to hide his income from the state in order to avoid paying taxes to the budget. However, he does not trust any of his subordinates. Therefore, you have to write down all the transactions performed so as not to get confused.
The situation is even worse if the company has several co-founders. All of them may suspect each other of fraud and the desire to make money at the expense of other partners, but they still do not want to pay taxes in full. So, in order to control each other, among other things, they have to have a person who does the black bookkeeping.
Responsibility
However, very often, in pursuing their mercantile interests and chasing more and more money, business owners and enterprise managers forget: concealing the real financial condition of the company from the state is what black accounting actually is. The responsibility for this is very great. And it is not only administrative, but also criminal. Punishments may be imposed in the form of:
- fines;
- arrests;
- imprisonment;
- restrictions on holding a certain position;
- prohibition of carrying out any activity.
If the conspiracy of a group of persons is proven, the consequences will be more dire, since this is an aggravating circumstance. And we must not forget about the ruined reputation of the company and the refusal of many clients to work with it later (even if they manage to save the company and get away with a fine).
The good news is that in recent years there has been an increasing trend towards maintaining exclusively white, transparent accounting at an enterprise, and illegal shadow schemes are becoming relics of the past and only push good specialists and possible business partners away from cooperation.
Who has not heard that there is double-entry bookkeeping, or double entry in accounting?
Any entrepreneur knows that in order to quickly receive some important piece of paper, win a tender for the supply of goods, or simply win the favor of an official or client, you need to contact the right person in the right way. And there is nothing to do here empty-handed.
Gifts, presentations, dinner at a restaurant or other joys of life that cannot be documented under any circumstances. Or there are no documents.
Responsibility for maintaining black bookkeeping
But there is an expense. Therefore, some kind of mutual aid fund is needed. Therefore, “black cash desks” or “test money” appear and the phenomenon of “black accounting” has spread.
One friend, having received an invitation to work as an accountant in a large company, discovered that there were two accounting departments at the enterprise. “Black accounting” and “White accounting”. There's even furniture of the appropriate color so that people don't get confused.
However, not every enterprise can afford such a luxury (to maintain a whole staff of employees who keep unofficial accounting).
Maintaining black bookkeeping is usually entrusted to an experienced and trusted employee. In most cases, a separate room is provided in which a panic button or other danger warning system is installed.
How to double-entry and not get caught?
This is not a task for the faint of heart. If a company employs a large number of personnel and uses gray salary payment schemes, then only the lazy, deaf and blind at the same time do not know that salaries are issued in envelopes.
And any of the employees who receive a “converted” salary, or who do not receive it, or who did not receive this salary because they decided to cut it, is able to call somewhere (the tax office or the labor committee). The call will be processed by the relevant authorities.
Someone may object that if there are not many employees, if they are all happy with everything, how can the authorities know that the company is conducting double-entry bookkeeping?
But everything lies on the surface and when checked it becomes more than obvious.
Here are just some of the signs that the enterprise “has everything” and “everything is in order”:
- transfer of an employee to a new position with a decrease in earnings,
- reduction in earnings without a justified reason,
- discrepancies in salary data in the 2-NDFL certificate and in the free-form certificate issued to obtain a loan from a bank,
- a large difference in the salary level (for example, from 40,000 rubles to 100,000 rubles) in a published vacancy announcement.
In order to prove that the salary in envelopes was issued, the inspection authorities can interview witnesses and take into account the testimony of witnesses, including former employees.
What happens if the tax office proves that salaries are issued in envelopes?
Yes, absolutely nothing.
It will recalculate taxes based on industry average wages and impose a fine. And for the director, it is a criminal offense to conceal taxes.
Payroll is just one of the topics where double-entry bookkeeping is common.
Owners and managers especially do not like to pay VAT and income tax. Therefore, they come up with various expenses (endless ongoing repairs of everyone and everything, the purchase of various materials, various marketing and consulting services).
Sometimes company managers resort to this technique:
- allocate several structural divisions into separate companies and enter into contracts with these companies for the provision of services (it maintenance, cleaning, marketing).
- The cost of services is, understandably, overpriced. In fact, the services are provided by the same full-time employees, only they are already full-time personnel of another company and the cost of their services is several times higher than the previous level of salaries of these workers.
- In addition, for the parent company these services are justified expenses, confirmed by primary documents.
The technologies for maintaining “black accounting” are the same as in “white accounting”.
The same concepts and terms are used: balance, receipt, expense, reporting and inventory.
To be fair, it is worth remembering that more and more often entrepreneurs express a desire to “bring all accounting “to the white” rather than rack their brains over the question: How to keep black accounting and be sure that the tax office will not detect a catch.
In our country, it is very difficult to conduct a legal business and fulfill all the duties assigned to entrepreneurs by the state, especially taking into account the increased tax burden from 26 to 34% in terms of taxes and contributions that are levied on employee salaries. Such a heavy financial burden forces many organizations to operate at a disadvantage, which in itself is prohibited by the current legislation of the Russian Federation, so it is not surprising that entrepreneurs are trying to save money on paying wages using various schemes.
The use of so-called “gray” schemes for optimizing taxes levied on wages is beneficial only to the employer. Employees have their payments deducted to social funds reduced, which affects the size of their future pensions, is reflected in temporary disability benefits, etc., but they are silent because they receive a significant part of the salary, and even in full “in an envelope” " In turn, the state receives less money into the budget, making attempts to return the money due from defaulters. In addition, tax officials know well what schemes are used and how to deal with them.
Salary in an envelope
Perhaps the most familiar and common method of tax evasion is the payment of wages in “envelopes”.
"Double" accounting and tax audits
However, there are only two ways to form a financial base for payments. This is unaccounted revenue that is used by companies operating in the retail trade and which have a cash flow. The second method is cash withdrawal using so-called “shell companies”, which is suitable for companies that do not rely on cash in the process of doing business. The fact that many entrepreneurs choose this option is evidenced by the growth of “fly-by-night companies,” which in itself harms the economy. Knowing these schemes for more than twenty years, tax officials are fighting against wages in “envelopes” using the testimony of dissatisfied employees, tracking shell companies and conducting on-site tax audits, the basis of which may be complaints from disgruntled employees against the employer. At the same time, the testimony of employees becomes the main evidence in the case, along with the seized and, if necessary, recovered files from the hard drives of computer system units containing information about double-entry bookkeeping. In addition, job advertisements submitted to the Internet or the media mainly contain information about the real level of salaries in the company, which can be easily compared with those indicated in the financial statements. The following facts also speak about the payment of wages in “envelopes”:
- the salary of workers retiring is several times higher than the salary of those who work in a similar position, but are not going to retire;
- the average salary of company employees is several times lower than the subsistence level or several times less than the average salary in the industry. Both data are well known to tax officials, so conclusions can be drawn;
- if the salary of newly hired employees is several times less than at the previous place of work, especially if the place of work was changed after the entry into force of Federal Law N 212-FZ, which increases taxes from 26 to 34%.
Summarizing what has been said, it is worth noting that paying salaries in “envelopes”, although convenient and profitable for employers, is very risky due to the high detection rate of such violations.
Payment of “black” wages
The payment of “black” wages is very similar to the previous scheme, with the exception of the absence of contractual relations with employees. There is only a verbal agreement between the employee and the employer. As a rule, unskilled workers who receive wages in their own hands work under this scheme. In order to identify companies using a “black” wage payment scheme, tax officials only need to come to the company or site, count all the people working in it and compare the resulting number with the number of officially concluded employment contracts. In addition, this scheme is not only easily revealed and proven, but is also completely illegal.
Registration of individual entrepreneur
In terms of its prevalence among employers, this scheme ranks second, despite its novelty. When using it, the employer obliges all employees to register as individual entrepreneurs, after which they resign of their own free will and conclude not an employment contract, but a civil law contract with their previous employer. Often such schemes are used by large companies that work with regional representatives of their own products or services. As a rule, for individual entrepreneurs working for their own benefit, the tax burden is much lower and does not affect the previous employer, so all payments are made in compliance with the laws. To identify companies operating under the “form an individual entrepreneur” scheme, employee testimony is used. As a rule, tax officers file a claim in court to reclassify civil contracts into employment contracts, which they are not always successful. The reason for the court's refusal to satisfy the claim may be a reference to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, which protects freedom of entrepreneurial activity, and therefore does not prohibit citizens registered as individual entrepreneurs from concluding civil contracts with various contractors. Including with your former employer. Evidence for the court, indicating, first of all, an attempt to evade taxes that are levied on official wages, is the testimony of workers who registered as individual entrepreneurs under duress, because the civil law contracts concluded between them and the former employer are essentially labor contracts. However, registering as an individual entrepreneur and working under a civil contract with a former employer is not always an illegal scheme.
Financial institutions and insurance companies
One of the most complex schemes for evading payroll taxes is to disguise employee salaries as any payments, for example, for deposits, for an insured event, etc., by concluding appropriate agreements with financial institutions or insurance companies. At the same time, tax officials are trying to prove that all payments are wages, based both on the testimony of employees and on concluded agreements providing for the payment of equal amounts with enviable frequency.
Dividend payment
Another old and frequently used tax evasion scheme is the payment of dividends, in which the employees of an organization become its shareholders, and therefore supplement the minimum wage with dividends. Moreover, in case of dismissal, the employee is obliged to sell his share to his organization. To identify companies operating under the “dividend payment” scheme, tax officials rely on documents evidencing the payment of dividends. They are often forgotten to formalize them properly. In addition, the employment contracts of companies that replace wages with the payment of dividends contain an indication of the obligation to sell their share of the company in the event of an employee’s dismissal. In addition to the documentation, the application of this scheme is evidenced by the frequency and size of payments. In no case can dividends be paid once or twice a month, and their size must strictly correspond to the employee’s share. To combat the dividend scheme, the state strengthened control over these payments, allowing them to be used in strict accordance with such regulations as the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and the Federal Laws “On Joint Stock Companies” and “On Limited Liability Companies”.
Outsourcing
Rather than being a tax avoidance scheme, outsourcing represents an opportunity to save on taxes by reducing personnel costs. In this case, one company can enter into a civil contract with another company, under which it transfers, for example, accounting or tax accounting to the first company.
Since a civil contract in outsourcing is understood as a paid provision of services, it is extremely difficult to recognize it as a labor contract, except in cases where a subsidiary acts as a third-party performing company. Only in this situation can tax officials file a lawsuit to re-qualify the agreement. However, it will be difficult to find evidence and win the case unless the customer company makes some mistake when drawing up a civil contract or does not apply its own local regulations to the employees of the executing company.
Using one of the above tax evasion schemes or using another technique is not always justified, since it carries the risk of imposing penalties and jeopardizes not only the image of your company, but also its entire activity.
S.V. Makovskaya, columnist for the Federal Financial Information Agency
Accounting specialists who know that there is a sin behind their company often have to hide documents. Indeed, recently inspectors have been “covering up” more and more unscrupulous companies. Where is the best place to store the “black cash register”?
The main thing is caution in everything
Experts from the Moscow Accountant magazine conducted a survey that showed that the majority of metropolitan accountants work with questionable documents. About half of them keep financial papers right at their workplace, hoping for something to happen in Russia, and the other half hides them.
To the question: “Where do you store documents that should not be seen by inspectors?”, most accountants refused to answer by phone or email. It’s clear: precautions are never superfluous. Therefore, we had to meet everyone in person and away from the offices in which they work. Accountant Valentina Dorskaya:
– Five years ago I got a new job in a commercial company. This was a so-called unofficial holding, since accounting was carried out simultaneously for nine companies. The old accountant's affairs were in terrible disarray. The safe was replaced by an ordinary bedside table, which was closed with a paper clip. All nine stamps with pads and ink for each company, a cash register and promissory notes were kept there. And on the rack were neatly arranged folders with orders, contracts and constituent documents for all companies.
In addition, the accountant's office was located opposite the entrance to the office, next to the elevator. And the door didn’t have a key, so anyone could get into the accounting department. And there was no protection on the computer!
The consequences may be more expensive
Of course, such carelessness is not in vain.
“My accountant kept all the documents at work,” said the director of a small store. Vasily Izotov. – In one box there were employment contracts with real salaries and orders for appointment to a position where the official salary was entered. One day, the tax inspector came and found the papers. The accountant had to be fired after this incident. She was unable to protect the company from fines and penalties. Although it would have been enough to simply hide the contracts in another place! We had to increase official salaries. And everyone lost from this: both me and the employees, whose salaries immediately decreased due to the 13% income tax.
The inspectors themselves say that recently they are “covering up” more and more companies that use criminal documents and seals. Thus, the head of the legal department of the Federal Tax Service for the Moscow region Vadim Begunov said that most often ordinary employees reveal the secrets of their employer:
– Where the “black accounting” lies is recognized immediately. As a rule, if a company violates the law, then it is least prepared for inspection. Therefore, the situation when tax inspectors come to a company, and in one box there are both seals and contracts for different companies, occurs quite often. Although some accountants resort to various tricks if they have something to hide.
The tricks that accountants use to hide criminal information are worthy of a separate discussion. For example, an accountant of a Dmitrov company Anna Oganovskaya stores all seals and basic financial documentation in his own apartment:
– The computer on my desk is a distraction. I work on a laptop and carry it to work from home. If an unexpected check comes, I’ll put it in my bag - and no one will force me to open it. Several identical accounting programs are installed on the laptop. Access to them is password protected. One version is intended for open reporting. Her label is in the most visible place. Several others are closed for public viewing - there I have real reporting on companies. And if someone tries to crack the password, the program will automatically destroy all data. To do this, we hired a special system specialist who did all this.
Valentina Dorskaya I solved my problem in a different way:
– I forced the boss to take to his home all the documents not related to the main company, but he carried those that were constantly needed for work in the trunk of the car. I transferred all the information from my computer to a portable hard drive. Every evening I put it in the safe and took the key home.
Hide your money
Experts advise thinking over a strategy for storing questionable documents even before the arrival of tax inspectors or law enforcement officers. After all, if inspectors find them during an inspection, they will have to answer the question of what it is and where it came from. After all, a lot will depend on your words: the fate of the company, the accountant, the general director.
The lawyer, general director of the company “Modern Law” spoke about how they hide documents from inspectors of capital companies. Vladlen Labzenko:
– Practice varies. For example, one director stores all the computers on the next floor. He rents a small room on behalf of another company. Only he and the chief accountant know about this. The rental agreement is official and has nothing to do with his company. If inspectors want to inspect that office, they will need to have a resolution to inspect that enterprise. This method is used by many companies.
Other entrepreneurs and accountants keep such things at home. They typically work out of the office one or two days a week. A search of a home is possible only on the basis of a court decision; without it it is impossible to enter.
Someone subleases part of their office (for example, an office or a room) to another company. All documents are stored in it, and a sign is hung on the door stating that this is another company, and a large lock. When inspectors ask about the room, the company shows the sublease agreement. This option is the most risky, but in practice it also occurs.
– Some people hide documentation in secret drawers, which are then walled up in the walls; they make secret safes behind paintings and in aquariums. Do these tricks help?
– Believe me, if a criminal case has been opened against the boss or chief accountant, there is no use in hiding anything. Neither walls, nor ceilings, nor tables, nor baseboards will help - they will find everything. Experienced investigators know where, what and how to look. You won't be able to hide things on your body either. As one investigator told me: “As part of a search, we have the right to examine absolutely everything, right down to the natural recesses of the human body.”
However, keep in mind: if relations with controllers take place outside the framework of a criminal trial, they do not have the right to search employees and their personal belongings. Therefore, if you are asked to open your purse or closet, you can safely refuse. The inspectors themselves will not go into the closet, as this will actually be an illegal search. There is very serious liability for exceeding official powers (Article 286 of the Criminal Code).
And further. If you don't know what to say or write in your explanation, refer to Article 51 of the Constitution, which states: no one is obliged to testify against himself, his spouse and close relatives. It’s a pity that in a stressful situation, entrepreneurs and accountants always forget about this, no matter how much you teach them.
– Many people store contracts and orders not for their company on the computer...
– This is generally a sore subject for companies. Now law enforcement services are equipped with technology no worse than entrepreneurs. Therefore, some companies use the following security methods. Firstly, on the required computers in the office they indicate the name and surname of the employee who works on it, and make the inscription: “Personal computer of employee so-and-so.” If it is confiscated, the owner of the car will only need to make a note in the protocol that this is a personal computer and all the information in it has nothing to do with work. Secondly, such data is stored with the possibility of its rapid destruction or concealment. For example, one of our clients works with information on a flash drive that hangs on a cord around his neck. If someone comes into the office, he quickly takes it out, and the disk ends up under his clothes.
There are many different technical means by which companies protect information (for example, remote servers). It all depends on the possibilities. I even heard that servers are located on a submarine in the Arctic Ocean. Wireless technologies are also used. For example, they put a server in a room located above the office, and no one will find it - because there are no wires from the computer. Although sometimes there are comical situations: one of the clients walled up the server in the wall, but did not think to hide the wires from the computer. The police followed the wires and found everything.
- Vladlen, what advice can you give to accountants who have received an audit and have a notebook with “black accounting” on their desk?
If something like this did happen, then in no case can one say that this has anything to do with the company, its financial and economic activities. Of course, there is no need to openly refuse to give an explanation, so as not to provoke inspectors and not cause conflict situations. Write in the explanation that this is a nest egg from your husband, expenses of the family budget. Whatever! One of our clients said that he was mentally ill and, so that he would not go completely crazy, doctors advised him to constantly make some kind of calculations.
Remember, under no circumstances should you admit that you have committed an offense. Once there was such a case. Police officers came to the company with a test purchase. Not only did the seller accept the dollars and did not knock out the cash receipt, but when inspecting the office, the inspectors found on the chief accountant’s desk a notebook on which was written in large letters: “BLACK CASH”. They demanded that the chief accountant write an explanation, threatening him with criminal liability for refusing to testify. She succumbed to the provocation and wrote the following in her explanation: “I usually keep the book “Black Cash” at home. But today the general director asked to bring it to work in order to carry out some dubious operations. Understanding the criminal nature of my activities, I repent and ask you not to bring me to criminal responsibility.” I wanted the best, but it turned out as always. I “distributed” it to everyone: myself and the general director. A group of persons, a preliminary conspiracy.
A sincere confession is the shortest way to prison! If you don’t know what to write in the document that the inspectors give you to sign, write: “I have read the document, but essentially disagree.”
In addition, under no circumstances should you give in to threats. Up to 90 percent of all inspections occur within the framework of administrative relations. But searches (including personal ones) and liability for refusal to testify are provided for only within the framework of criminal proceedings. And many threats are nothing more than intimidation and psychological impact on you. Let me remind you once again about Article 51 of the Constitution.
So if you do “black accounting” and keep stamps and invoices, then do it competently and accurately.Since the beginning of the year, the burden on the wage fund has increased. To escape taxes, some companies go into the shadows. But it would be wrong to talk about a repetition of a situation that once took place. Now organizations are using new methods - creating a “black cash register”. Irina Golova I learned how companies manage to keep illegal actions secret.
Traditionally, “black cash” is associated with crime: corruption and drug trafficking, terrorist financing and raider takeovers. In fact, most companies go to create a secret cash register mainly in order to stay afloat. Cash not taken into account for taxation is both an opportunity to pay wages on time and to increase funds invested in business development. Often there is an urgent need to give a bribe to this or that official or to pay a kickback for large and permanent orders. If just a few years ago law enforcement agencies reported an increase in legally operating companies, today trade unions are increasingly reporting a massive departure of organizations into shadow business. A considerable percentage of business entities have returned to double-entry bookkeeping, while in every possible way maintaining their “whiteness” for regulatory authorities. Lawyer Maria Senina spoke about common schemes for handling unaccounted cash.
Signed - and off your shoulders
What signs can be used to determine whether an organization has a “black cash register”? The first bell is the salary “in envelopes”. In order to pay it, the company must have a source of income hidden from the eyes of regulatory authorities. The second is service organizations, which often exist to cash out funds. The third is the so-called mutual aid funds, when supposedly the employees themselves organize a “bank” to store savings “for a rainy day.” In fact, such mutual assistance initiatives serve as a way to store banknotes in the company’s office without the risk of exposure.
“Dead souls” are listed in the company, but do not actually work. The very real wages accrued by him are the organization’s cash, which it can use for its own purposes. Of course, for such employees you have to pay all the deductions, but at the same time the income tax is reduced.
There are two ways to manage the black cash register. In the first case, the company takes responsibility for organizing an accounting system hidden from taxation: it builds schemes with “dumpster” companies through which it cashes out funds; withstands the risks associated with verification activities; produces seals of dubious companies and stores them in a secluded place; is looking for workers who will do reporting for “one-day jobs”.
But you can’t come to an agreement with everyone, and one day the whole truth will come out, especially if the tax authorities put pressure on the counterparty. And the heads of partner firms are capable of passing off a company with a “black cash register”, trying to save their own business. Therefore, many choose the second path - to transfer all the hassle associated with cashing out and “illegal” reporting, so to speak, “outsourced”.
Let's see this using the example of a furniture manufacturing company. She purchases wood from one enterprise, upholstery fabric from another, and assembles finished products from components herself. Such an enterprise negotiates with the factory that sells the material and sets its own terms of cooperation: the finished product will cost 20 percent more, but this premium will include funds that the factory management will have to return to its coffer in cash. The inflated cost includes all costs for withdrawing funds from a non-cash form, maintaining records, even taxes. What happens? The organization cashes out funds practically legally and always has them at hand. And most importantly, she is clean before the law, no illegal actions can be seen behind her. There is no need to hide cash, because often the counterparty also acts as a bank for storing these same funds. They are collected when they are needed, for example, monthly, since the company’s employees need to pay the “gray” part of their wages.
The risk of liability is transferred to the partners, but you need to be confident in them. It is not difficult to find reliable counterparties; they themselves are often interested in such working conditions. What do they see as their benefit? In general, placing a large enough or standing order for the supply of materials will ensure stability for the factory. There is no need to search for a buyer every month to keep your business afloat. In addition, the enterprise can use cash for its own purposes, including for the development of production. To do this, she delays the process of cashing out funds or even agrees with the business partner that the money, if it is not needed at the moment, can be kept for some time by the counterparty. Sometimes quite large organizations become such partners in the “back office”, taking on all the dirty work. It is their big name that they hide behind in order to remain above the suspicion of tax authorities, and even in that “extreme” case when a control event becomes inevitable.
The demand for dead souls is not falling
Among the almost legal ways of running a “black cash register” is the use of fictitious lists of employees. People from the close circle of management are “hired” to work, since they are very active and interested in such a deal, since it is desirable for a narrow circle of people to know about illegal “schemes”. Most often these are housewives or pensioners who do not work, but want to continue their work experience and not interrupt contributions to the Pension Fund.
Although “dead souls” are listed in the company, they actually did not work in it and do not work. And the salary accrued by him (and, of course, is quite real) is precisely the organization’s cash, which it can use for its own purposes. Of course, for such employees you have to pay all the necessary contributions and deductions, but they reduce income tax, and therefore, the costs of cashing out and taxes are proportionate. In order not to store cash and not arouse suspicion among regulatory authorities, “salary” receipts vary according to the needs of the organization.
For this purpose, an agency agreement is used, in which remuneration depends on production. Thus, you can adjust and receive in real money the amount that the company needs at the moment.
When working “openly” with a “black cash”, you need a good financial director who will be able to calculate the benefits of a particular scheme, and most importantly, take into account the risks. What attracts companies to the use of “dead souls”? Tax authorities do not show much interest in them, so outwardly the organization retains all the signs of a conscientious payer, since it regularly pays taxes on all cashed funds.
Unofficial holding
Not least in the “popularity rating” of companies wishing to have a “nest egg” for a rainy day is the scheme for creating a network of service organizations. In this case, the accountant, trying to “have cash on hand,” has to be creative, supposedly “signing” contracts with “clients” for the provision of various services.
Quite large organizations become partners in the “black cash”, taking on all the “dirty” work. It is with their big name that they hide behind in case of suspicion by tax officials and if a control event is planned.
So, let's return to a familiar company - a furniture manufacturer. Wanting to “maintain decency”, that is, to remain for the tax authorities in the category of “conscientious taxpayer” and not take on an extra sin (dubious transactions), this factory creates a service organization - a “garbage dump”.
During this “fly-by-night”, the head structure transfers the goods for processing at a bargain price, say, 100 rubles per unit of product. In fact, the transaction is completed only according to documents, and production is carried out by the same head enterprise for the production of furniture. The funds are not supported by specific work; they are transferred for nothing and end up in the hands of the managers of the parent company.
Most often, such a “fly-by-night” is a trading organization whose cash limit is significantly higher than that of one that produces goods. You can withdraw a million rubles from her account, while in a conventional production structure all payments are made in non-cash form. After cashing out the funds, the “dumpster” is simply abandoned, because it becomes obvious that close attention will be focused on it and that it is dangerous to deal with it.
The use of individual entrepreneurs for cashing out funds is also popular. Moreover, the “creation” of an entrepreneur can be done by the organization itself or by taking “in share” those businessmen who are already working in the market. Fund withdrawal services are provided even by individual entrepreneurs who conduct legal activities and are engaged in the production of goods or provision of services. They use the remainder of the limit for the passage of funds through accounts for cashing out, receiving interest from this.
There is no evidence
Recently, the schemes for organizing the “black cash register” have become so ideal that it is impossible to find traces of illegal activity at the enterprise. Cash is withdrawn only if it is needed. For this purpose, there are mechanisms that allow you to vary the size of the amounts. It is much more difficult with “production costs” - documents, stamps, computer programs. In this sense, accountants have also become smarter. If previously all the “evidence” remained at the workplace (at best, hidden in a safe) or was taken home by accounting specialists or organizational leaders, today companies have really learned to cover their tracks.
Remote employees serve as a kind of “safe” for companies with “black cash”. No one sees them and most often no one has even heard of them. “Hidden reserves” communicate only with the head or accountant of the organization and keep records of the “black cash register”, keep documents and seals. If it is necessary to work with programs that store data on unaccounted amounts in the office, managers do not skimp on organizing a remote server located on another floor, and for access they use modern and reliable methods of cryptographic protection. Everything suggests that companies have little by little learned to be “white” by relying on “black money.”
Many years of experience in communicating with law enforcement agencies, who have learned to find documents for shell companies, stamps of shell companies, programs in which “black cash” is maintained, and money hidden in the office, have yielded results. Accountants of organizations pass on the secrets of concealing income unaccounted for taxation by word of mouth and structure their activities in such a way that it is almost impossible to suspect them of crimes. And even if the inspectors have a shadow of doubt about the integrity of the organization, this still needs to be proven.
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