Entities of entrepreneurial activity, according to the legislation of the Russian Federation, can be both individual citizens and entire commercial companies, while being a legal entity. In addition, entrepreneurial activity in Russia can be carried out by residents of foreign states, stateless persons, as well as enterprises engaged in foreign investment.
Any Russian citizen who has reached the age of majority has the right to own property and dispose of it, at its discretion, to create all kinds of organizations and, of course, engage in entrepreneurial activity.
It should be noted that citizens, as business entities , can engage in entrepreneurship, not being legal entities, but simply registering as private entrepreneurs. Business entities , regardless of their status, carry out their activities in accordance with the same legal standards. Citizens who are engaged in entrepreneurship without forming, at the same time, a legal entity, are called small business entities.
The status of an entrepreneur obliges the individual who has received it to be fully responsible for his debts to the budget and private creditors. Those citizens who are unable, for whatever reason, to pay off their debts to creditors, may be declared bankrupt on the basis of a relevant court decision. After this procedure, they lose their status as an entrepreneur. Debts to creditors are returned from the property of the person declared bankrupt and are collected in a certain sequence. First of all, debts related to causing harm to the health and life of citizens, as well as child support are paid.
As business entities, except for individual individuals, commercial companies often act, all of which are aimed at profit from the results of their work. The following forms of entrepreneurial activity are :
- By type of partnerships: full partnerships and limited partnerships.
- By types of companies: joint-stock companies, companies with additional responsibility and limited liability companies. Joint-stock companies can be both open and closed.
In addition, there are also subsidiaries, which are a continuation of the main structure and are dependent on it. Commercial organizations also include cooperative enterprises, state and municipal institutions.
Those organizations that, being a legal entity, are not engaged in profit-making from their activities, are called non-profit. Organizations of this type include consumer cooperatives, religious or public associations funded by charity.
Entities of entrepreneurial activity may be recognized as a legal entity if they possess property that is either in their personal property or in economic jurisdiction (another option is in operational management). A legal entity has four legal characteristics:
- Organizational unity.
- Separated property.
- The ability to speak in court on your own behalf.
- Independent property liability.
In conclusion, it should be noted that the boundaries between the concepts of an individual and a legal entity are often arbitrary and determined, within the framework of existing legislation, separately for each case. So, for example, assigning the status of a legal entity to any “organization” does not mean that a whole collective of citizens is hidden behind this name. A business company, theoretically, can be created by one person, provided that the relevant documents are correctly drawn up.