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- Fathers and children: Federal Tax Service to strengthen control over family companies
Fathers and children: Federal Tax Service to strengthen control over family companies
Against the background of the government's policy of whitewashing the economy, the Federal Tax Service has focused on family companies. The tax service intends to check related enterprises more thoroughly — now inspectors will closely look for signs of fragmentation, especially when the benefits for SMEs are used by firms of relatives or companies with a common owner or director. An alarming note will appear in the service's business assessment service if, for example, spouses turn out to be the directors of two companies. This may scare off customers and attract additional tax authorities' attention to the company. At the same time, most of the small and medium—sized enterprises in the country are family-owned. Izvestia figured out how not to fall under suspicion and prove its good faith.
Who will be subject to increased control
In 2026, the authorities intensified the fight against gray schemes. The whitewashing of the economy has become one of the main guidelines of the Federal Tax Service, said the head of the service, Daniil Egorov. The tax service pays special attention to business fragmentation — when one company turns into several firms or sole proprietors only on paper in order to preserve benefits and pay less taxes.
For a family business, this topic is especially painful. A husband and wife, parents and children can indeed run different businesses, but this does not make them violators. At the same time, the family model is very common: according to the assessment of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, which was cited by Alexey Krylov, an expert of the Chamber's Council on financial market and investments, a tax consultant, 74% of SME representatives belong to it — these are 4-5 million entrepreneurs.
Now the Federal Tax Service suggests taking family ties into account when evaluating a business. According to the August draft order reviewed by Izvestia, a special mark may appear for a group of companies run by spouses, parents and children, brothers or sisters. Several businesses with a common director or owner will also attract the attention of the tax service.
However, kinship alone is not enough. The new rule will only affect groups in which at least one firm has enjoyed benefits for small and medium-sized businesses over the past three years (for example, reduced insurance premium rates). Simply put, the Federal Tax Service will look for cases where a single case could be specifically divided between close people so that each organization pays less. An ordinary company where a husband and wife work together does not meet this criterion. The change may start working from October 2026, according to the draft.
This information will appear in a special service of the Federal Tax Service for evaluating the company, where you can get an official certificate of the state of the business. The tax service takes data from reports and its databases, and then evaluates the organization's finances, taxes, salaries, number of employees, and availability of resources. The entrepreneur can challenge the completed statement if he finds an error.
The mark itself does not mean that the company has already been recognized as a participant in an illegal scheme. It will not lower the final score and will not entail an automatic fine, the draft says. But questions from customers and partners are still possible. The Federal Tax Service plans to use the service in government and corporate procurement, Timur Shinaliev, deputy head of the service, said at the WEF on September 3. Therefore, a suspicious entry may complicate the search for contracts or partners.
The new criterion will indicate a possible unjustified use of benefits if there is an SME with a reduced insurance premium rate in the group of interdependent organizations, the press service of the Federal Tax Service explained to Izvestia. The mark will be a reference, will not affect the assessment of the business, and by itself will not lead to a review or request for documents. Companies need it to assess tax risks, the service stressed.
The difference between a family case and a scheme is clearly seen in examples from judicial practice. The three SibproektNII companies, run by the couple, operated under the same brand, shared employees, a website, and equipment. The courts decided that the proceeds were distributed between them for the sake of tax savings. But the court supported the Koelgamramor group, controlled by the Chebotarev family. Each company had its own licenses, managers, employees, and accounts. These cases are not related to the new FTS mark, but they show that kinship can be a reason to take a closer look at business, although in itself it does not prove a violation of the law.
Before that, the authorities gave businesses the opportunity to voluntarily abandon fragmentation. The tax amnesty allows you to get rid of additional charges, penalties and fines for violations in 2022-2024, if you abandon this practice in 2025-2026. To do this, entrepreneurs can combine their activities in one company, merge legal entities, or switch to a common taxation system.
How to protect yourself from suspicion
The scale of the changes may be significant, says Evgeny Pantaziy, a member of the Russian Bar Association and lawyer at Leges Bureau Law Firm. There is no exact data on the number of companies that will fall under the new criterion. However, in the study "Sberbank Live" in 2026, 39% of the surveyed SME representatives called their business a family business. Most often, such enterprises operate in the trade and consumer sector, followed by construction, repair, IT, logistics and manufacturing.
There are many family-owned companies in agriculture, added Yulia Kovalenko, Deputy Head of the Higher School of Economics of Moscow Plekhanov Russian University of Economics. Relatives may be responsible for different stages of work — growing, storing, processing, packaging, and selling products. This division is often related to the complexity of the processes, rather than the desire to reduce taxes, the expert emphasized.
It is still unclear how many enterprises will be affected by the changes: there is no open data on the scale of illegal crushing, said Natalia Milchakova, a leading analyst at Freedom Global. At the same time, the Federal Tax Service estimates that the share of businesses using such schemes may exceed 10%.
The very relationship of the leaders does not prove violations, Evgeny Pantaziy emphasized. The Federal Tax Service evaluates the whole picture: whether organizations have common management, employees, premises, cash desks, accounting departments, and customers, and whether revenue is redistributed between them. The main question is whether firms operate independently or only portray individual businesses in order to save on taxes. If everyone has their own employees, resources, contracts, expenses and a business goal, family ties should not become evidence of fragmentation, the lawyer explained.
It is necessary to combat artificial schemes, but they should not be confused with ordinary family business, says Alexey Krylov from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Handing over a business to children or the creation of several independent companies by relatives is a normal practice.
The FTS mark by itself does not mean an inspection, fine, denial of credit or suspension from purchases, Evgeny Pantaziy specified. But it may attract the attention of the tax service, the bank, the customer or the partner. Then the business will have to provide explanations and submit documents, and if it turns out that the fragmentation really took place, then the enterprises will face additional charges and sanctions.
Conscientious businessmen will probably have to confirm the independence of their companies, Natalia Milchakova believes. Arguments can include different types of activities, separate offices and warehouses, own managers and accountants. However, legally operating companies can also come under suspicion. Therefore, the analyst suggests first sending them a warning and giving them a month to explain, and only then taking action.
The Federal Tax Service should explain in more detail when the mark will lead to increased control, Yulia Kovalenko believes. Experts believe that excessive pressure on small businesses can hit regions: such enterprises create jobs and support small towns and districts.
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