Self-employment as a tool to reduce unemployment in the period of crisis

The Russian economy is currently in a difficult situation, the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic is different from all that happened before - it is a shock-type crisis associated with quarantine policy. Today, the coronavirus pandemic has a negative impact not only on small, medium and large businesses, but also affects the category of self-employed citizens. The article examines the problems of self-employment of the population in Russia; legislation defining the legal status of the self-employed. The measures of state support for the self-employed are considered. Conclusions are made about the possibilities of the population to have a legal additional source of income, being payers of the "tax on professional income".