Taxation and Social Insurance for Employees of Online Platforms: Comparison of Russian and International Experience

Abstract

The issue of online platforms’ employment is topical due to the emergence of questions of application of labor law, taxation and social insurance to such persons providing services via platforms. The purpose of this article is to develop recommendations regarding the regulation of relations arising between the platform and its employee in Russia, including the application of labor and business legislation, taxation and social insurance of such persons, taking into account the comparison of the legal regulation in Russia and in foreign countries. The methodology of the work is based on a comparative legal analysis of legal documents in foreign countries (Spain, Great Britain, Italy, France) and Russia. One of the international trends in the regulation of employment on online platforms is the application of labor laws to regulate the relationship between the employee and the platform, or the introduction of a special status of a “quasi-employee” with the provision of platforms with certain obligations to ensure the employment rights of employees. In Russia, the legal status of platform employees is not defined, it is not defined, e.g. whether a person is an employee, an entrepreneur, or a legal entity. For tax purposes, platform employees are usually self-employed (professional income taxpayers), so the article compares the approaches to taxation of such employees in Russia and in foreign countries. Furthermore, the selfemployed in Russia cannot pay social insurance contributions; the article discusses the approaches of foreign countries to social insurance of the self-employed, as well as the issue of the emergence of platforms’ obligations for social insurance of their employees, considering the application of labor law to the activities of those platforms.

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