In relation to the popular Instagram blogger Valeria Chekalina (ler_chek) and her husband, a criminal case was opened on laundering money obtained by criminal means (part 4 of article 174.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), the Moscow prosecutor's office reports . This is the second case against the couple, who were previously accused of tax evasion.
According to investigators, in April 2022, Valeria and Artem Chekalin exchanged 133 million rubles for foreign currency, which was income received through tax evasion for the third and fourth quarters of 2020. Then this money was transferred from one bank account to another, in order, according to the investigation, to hide their origin. Under the article on money laundering, Chekalin faces up to seven years.
Earlier in March, Chekalina was charged with tax evasion in the amount of more than 311 million rubles in 2020-2022, her husband was accused of complicity. Telegram channel 112, close to the security forces, reported that three more of her relatives (mother, brother-in-law and his wife), as well as Artem Chekalin’s business partner, Roman Vishnyakov, were being checked for involvement in Chekalina’s criminal schemes.
The Telegram channel also claimed that the Federal Tax Service would soon begin a large-scale check of the "stars" of the Internet. In particular, the tax authorities allegedly became interested in the income of the author of the "Marathon of Desires" Elena Blinovskaya, the founder of the business club "Transformer" Dmitry Portnyagin and the wife of rapper Dzhigan Oksana Samoilova.
How bloggers pay taxes
Bloggers with hundreds of thousands and millions of followers can earn substantial sums and are legally required to pay taxes on them. Usually bloggers make money by selling ads, as well as collecting donations from subscribers. Another way is the sale of goods and training courses (usually this is associated with “personal growth”, esotericism or sports).
If a blogger is not registered as an individual entrepreneur, he must pay a standard personal income tax (PIT) of 13%, if income exceeds 5 million rubles per year, the rate rises to 15%.
To pay less, you need to register as a self-employed or individual entrepreneur. In this case, you can apply to the tax service for a simplified taxation scheme. The self-employed pay 4-6% depending on the source of income (that is, whether they are paid by individuals or legal entities). In the case of an individual entrepreneur, there are two options: you can pay 6% of income, or you can choose the “income minus expenses” rate and pay 15% of net profit.
However, it should be borne in mind that self-employment can only be used with an annual income of no more than 2.4 million rubles. For individual entrepreneurs, there is also a limit, which can change from year to year. So, in 2023 the limit is 188.5 million rubles, and in 2020 it was 150 million rubles.
As the Moscow department of the UK reported, Valeria Chekalina was registered as an individual entrepreneur and used a simplified taxation system, but her earnings exceeded the established limit. Instead of switching to the usual tax payment scheme, in accordance with the law, the blogger decided to hide the “extra” money by transferring it to individual entrepreneur accounts registered to her husband and other relatives.
How much do Internet stars earn
In 2020, Valeria Chekalina entered the Forbes list dedicated to Russian Instagram bloggers who earned the most from advertising. According to experts of the magazine, ler_chek, whose blog is dedicated to beauty, sports, healthy lifestyle, family and motherhood, earned $ 610 thousand in a year. This rating was headed by Ksenia Sobchak ($1.48 million), the top three also included singer Polina Gagarina ($890 thousand) and TV presenter Ida Galich ($850 million).
In 2021, Forbes included four popular bloggers in its list of "50 Most Successful Stars in Russia". The richest of them was Nastya Ivleeva, who earned $ 2.7 million in a year. She was followed by Valentin Petukhov (Wylsacom, $ 2.2 million), Yuri Dud ($ 1.8 million) and Danya Milokhin ($ 1.5 million)