In the first half of 2026, more than 400,000 business entities – almost 200,000 companies and individual entrepreneurs each - switched to the automated simplified taxation System (ASN). At the same time, about 93% of them currently remain on standby, which demonstrates the high demand for the system. ASN is becoming not just an alternative for microbusiness, but a strategic tool: it removes routine from entrepreneurs, frees them from insurance premiums and maintains a predictable tax burden.
The record-breaking scale of business transition to automated control systems has become one of the most noticeable phenomena in the business market in 2026. As of January 1, 2026, there were only 827 legal entities and 158,675 sole proprietors on the administrative Register, but already in the first half of the year (from January 1 to July 1, 2026) an increase of 2.6 times was recorded – this clearly demonstrates the rapidly growing business interest in the regime. According to SPARK-Interfax, from January 1 to July 1, 2026, 203,209 companies and 203,682 individual entrepreneurs switched to the automated simplified taxation system. At the same time, at the moment (07/13/2026), 189,377 organizations and 193,830 sole proprietors continue to apply the regime – the retention rate of participants remains high, which indicates the demand for the system. In total, by the middle of July 2026, the number of participants in the AUSN reached 433,513, including 192,528 companies and 240,985 individual entrepreneurs. The industry structure of the participants reflects a focus on microbusiness with relatively simple accounting and a high proportion of non-cash payments. The leading companies are from the trade sector (retail and wholesale – about 38.7%), construction (about 9%), services (HoReCa, hotels, repairs, personal services – about 6%) and transport (about 5%). Geographically, Moscow and the Moscow region, St. Petersburg are the most active‑St. Petersburg, the Republic of Tatarstan and the Krasnodar Territory. This is due to both high business activity and a well-developed infrastructure for non-cash payments and CCT.
At the same time, the overall picture of the state of the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) sector looks ambiguous: against the background of the rapid interest in the AGN, there is a decrease in the number of legal entities and at the same time a steady increase in the share of individual entrepreneurs. According to the Federal Tax Service, in the first half of 2026, the number of legal entities in the SME segment decreased by 7.9% (to 2,022.7 thousand), and by 5.2% year–on-year. At the same time, the number of individual entrepreneurs increased by 7.8% year-on-year, reaching 4,589,8 thousand. As a result, the share of sole proprietors in the total number of SMEs increased to 69.4% (in mid-2025 it was 66.6%). The total number of SMEs in the first six months of 2026 decreased by 3.3% to 6,612.4 thousand, although an annual increase of 3.5% is recorded.
Against this background, mechanisms that allow businesses to save resources and reduce costs are particularly valuable. One of these tools is the Automated Simplified Taxation System (AGS), an experimental regime designed to simplify the lives of microenterprises and individual entrepreneurs.
The Federal Tax Service assumes that the Federal Tax Service independently calculates taxes based on data from cash registers, bank statements, and the taxpayer's personal account. An entrepreneur does not need to submit tax returns, 6‑personal income tax and calculations for insurance premiums: the system takes over this work. Among the key advantages of the insurance policy are VAT exemption for income up to 60 million rubles, as well as the absence of the need to pay fixed insurance premiums for oneself (for sole proprietors) and insurance premiums for managers and employees (for legal entities). The only exception is a small fixed contribution for injuries – about 2,959 rubles per year. At the same time, the state undertakes to ensure all social guarantees for employees. At the same time, the rates are higher than on a regular tax system: 8% for the "Income" object and 20% for "Income minus expenses" (with a minimum tax of 3% in the second case).
The growing popularity of the ACS is explained by a combination of factors. The tax changes of 2026 played a key role: on a regular tax system, the income threshold for VAT exemption was reduced from 60 to 20 million rubles, which significantly increased the tax burden for some businesses. Under these conditions, the USN retained the limit of 60 million rubles. excluding VAT, it has become a significant argument in favor of the transition for companies with revenues of 20-60 million rubles. An equally significant factor remains the reduction of the administrative burden: for microbusiness, which often operates without a full–time accountant, the ability not to manually calculate contributions and not to fill out declarations is a significant advantage. The transition mechanism itself provides additional flexibility: existing companies can switch to the USN or NAP not from the beginning of the year, but from the first day of any month – it is enough to submit a notification before the last day of the previous month. Finally, the geography of the experiment contributes to the expansion of coverage. Initially, the AUSN operated only in four pilot regions: Moscow, the Moscow and Kaluga regions, and the Republic of Tatarstan. Since 2025, a phased expansion of the experiment has begun: 63 more regions have joined it over the year. By 2026, the regime is already available in 89 regions of the Russian Federation, including new territories.
Despite automation, automated payment systems are associated with a number of significant limitations and risks: the regime allows no more than 5 employees, and if this limit is exceeded, the right to use automated payment systems is lost; all payments must be made exclusively through authorized banks, and salaries can only be paid in cashless form; in addition, an entrepreneur cannot rely entirely on automation – it is required check the data regularly in the personal account of the Federal Tax Service, since errors in transmitting information from the bank or the cashier (for example, getting into the database of transit transactions or losing data from the KKT) can lead to incorrect tax calculation.
For the government, the AGA is a tool for formalizing microbusiness and increasing the transparency of payments. Automation of accounting helps to reduce the risks of tax violations and simplify control over compliance with legislation.
For businesses, the regime is becoming a way to adapt to new tax realities. In the context of a reduction in the number of legal entities and an increase in the share of sole proprietors, such tools help entrepreneurs maintain predictability of the tax burden and minimize routine.
However, the AFS remains an experimental mode, which will last until December 31, 2027, and after the experiment is completed, its parameters may be revised. Now, for many microenterprises and sole proprietors, especially in trade, services, and e‑commerce, the AFS is a way to keep the tax burden predictable and minimize routine.
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