Lawyers on the Week's Key Legal News for Advertising

In the attorney's assessment, the criterion is 'more of a formal tool for identifying potentially employment-based relations than a reliable indicator': the number of hours does not reflect the nature of the parties' interaction. Employment relations can exist even with fewer hours.

Regularity itself creates a blocking risk. If a self-employed person provides services to one client through a platform for more than 60 hours monthly for six months, the platform is obliged to apply restrictions — regardless of whether the client shows signs of being an employer. At the same time, the restriction does not mean automatic recognition of the relations as employment.

To continue cooperation in the usual format, clients, according to Ustin, 'will likely have to abandon the use of digital platforms and switch to direct interaction with contractors'. But a change of format alone does not eliminate the risk of the relations being reclassified as employment.

Marketplaces as tax controllers

The government has prepared amendments to the Tax Code: the Federal Tax Service (FTS) will be able to suspend sellers' sales on marketplaces upon detecting tax violations. The bill was submitted to the State Duma in late September. Platforms will be required to identify risks — incomplete or untimely payment of taxes, fees, and insurance contributions — post a risk notice in the seller's personal account, and transmit data to the FTS. Sellers will be given 30 days to provide rebutting documents.

'Information exchange with tax authorities is already underway, including the transfer of information in the form of contracts with partners and pickup points, and reconciliation statements,' comments Dmitry Beresten, senior lawyer and head of the corporate practice at 'Afonin, Bozhor and Partners'. Since 2025, a pilot project has been in effect: marketplaces identify signs of business splitting and send information to tax authorities. In the lawyer's view, the proposed functions are the result of an experiment that allows the FTS to strengthen control without expanding its staff.

Before the amendments are adopted, Beresten advises sellers with multiple legal entities or sole proprietorships to check their declarations and accounting reports, make sure responses to FTS requests within the pre-audit analysis have been submitted, and assess the business-splitting criteria (FTS Letter dated 16.07.2024 No. BV-4-7/8051@). The basis of defense is a business purpose for separating the business. Risk areas also include unlawful use of the patent system, VAT errors under the simplified regime, unlawful self-employment status, and incomplete revenue reporting: from January 1, 2027, automatic data exchange between banks and the FTS on cash flows will come into effect, especially when annual amounts exceed 2.4 million rubles.

Paramount and children's advertising

Paramount has failed to settle a class action in California. Several families accuse the company and the Pluto TV streaming service of transmitting data about children's viewing through Google and Microsoft tracking pixels, after which targeted ads were shown to them. The federal court will continue hearing the case.

'The party responsible for the pixel is the pixel's owner, unless the agreements between the companies state otherwise,' explains Olga Baryshnikova, managing partner at Legal in Media. According to her, a streaming service does not need users' names: services match data from various sources and build segments. In this case, the children watched content in the kids section, so they were offered ads for toys and children's premieres — but 'adult' advertising also got through.

The lawyer emphasizes: if a platform designates a section as being for children, all content must match the age category. 'There are cases in Russia related to age labeling. The Federal Antimonopoly Service regularly fines for targeted advertising and integrations by bloggers if they violate the law 'On Advertising',' Baryshnikova adds.

More legal analyses — in the regular program 'Delo v Reklame' (The Advertising Case).