Strategies of the Self-Employed Population in the New Conditions of Governmental Regulation

The aim of this work was to study how the new conditions of state regulation (special tax regime "Tax on professional income") affected the self-employed population. The study analyzes theoretical approaches to describing self-employment as an element of the informal economy. The earlier existing approaches of the state on interaction with the self-employed population are characterized, the history of the development and features of the new state policy in relation to the self-employed, expressed in the introduction of a special tax regime "Tax on professional income", is described. The quantitative component of the phenomenon of self-employment in Russia, on which the state is oriented, is assessed, and the tax effect of this policy is analyzed in the context of the regions of the Russian Federation. To determine and characterize the strategies of the self-employed population under the new state regulation, interviews were conducted with representatives of the self-employed population, as well as with their employers. The factors influencing the motivation of self-employed to register or not to register, remaining in the "shadow", have been identified. On the basis of the Thomas-Kilman conflict model, an adapted model of the types of strategies of interaction between the state and the self-employed has been developed. Four main strategies of the self-employed have been identified: the strategy of cooperation with the state, the strategy of being in the "shadow", the strategy of registration for the sake of formal status, and the strategy of forced registration.