Legal consciousness of self-employed citizens

The article is based on the results of sociological research devoted to the study of the legal culture of various social and professional groups of the Russian population. The authors focus particular attention on the study of the legal consciousness of self-employed citizens as a category of workers engaged in entrepreneurial activities solely on personal participation. The results of the study fix a low level of legal consciousness among the self-employed. This category of citizens, as well as representatives of small business in general, expresses a tendency of violating the current legislation. They are more than other groups of workers loyal to tax evasion by citizens; more often tend to ignore the formalization of employment, thereby expressing readiness to work in the shadow environment. Such a state of affairs may indicate an imbalance in the interests of small businesses, including self-employed citizens, and the state, as well as the presence of signs of the lack of adequate legal regulation of this activity.