Accounting info. Accounting info Making changes to the tax code
Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the taxpayer must independently fulfill the obligation to pay the tax, unless otherwise provided by the legislation on taxes and fees. This meant that you could not remit personal taxes for a relative or friend, or one company could not pay taxes for another. In practice, it was a common situation when a company, for one reason or another (for example, its current account was seized) did not have funds to pay the tax authorities. But at the same time, the head of the company, an individual, has no legal grounds to pay taxes for the company. As a result, both the company and the budget suffer.
To take advantage of the preferential right, this category of citizens must notify the tax authority in accordance with the rules established by clause 7.3 of Art. Tax Code of the Russian Federation. That is, self-employed citizens who are not individual entrepreneurs and who provide services to an individual for personal, household and (or) other similar needs without the involvement of hired workers, must register for taxation at their place of residence (place of stay - if the individual does not have a place of residence in the Russian Federation) .
List of controlled transactions
From 10/01/2017, the rate of accrual of penalties for organizations will be determined based on the period of tax debt (clause “b”, clause 13, article 1, clause 7, article 13 of the Law):
- if the period of arrears is less than or equal to 30 calendar days, for each day of delay 1/300 of the refinancing rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation in force on that day will be charged;
- if the debt is not repaid within the specified period, then from the 31st calendar day, penalties from organizations will be charged double, that is, the rate will be equal to 1/150.
The changes will affect only legal entities; for individuals and individual entrepreneurs everything will remain the same.
In addition, it will be possible to return interest paid in connection with the decision to cancel the VAT refund. During the audit, the tax inspectorate may decide to cancel a previously made decision on VAT refund in an expedited manner. In this case, the taxpayer is required to return the amount received as compensation, taking into account interest (Clause 17 of Article of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
If the taxpayer subsequently confirmed his right to receive VAT, the paid interest was not returned to him. According to paragraphs. "c" clause 14, paragraphs. "b" clause 15 of Art. 1, Art. 13 of the Law, the rules for the return or offset of overpaid tax payments contained in Art. , Tax Code of the Russian Federation, now also apply to the return or offset of interest paid in accordance with clause 17 of Art. Tax Code of the Russian Federation.
VAT
The amendments introduced by the Law affected a number of rules governing the procedure for calculating VAT.
Zero VAT rate
From 01/01/2017 to 31/12/2029, services for the transportation of passengers and luggage by public railway transport in long-distance traffic will be levied at a zero rate of VAT. Also, until 01/01/2030, the benefit in terms of services for transporting passengers by rail in suburban traffic is extended (Article 7 of the Law).
To confirm the validity of the right to apply a zero rate and tax deductions, the company must submit to the tax authority a register of unified transportation documents for the transportation of passengers and baggage, defining the transportation route, indicating the numbers of transportation documents, points of departure and destination, the date of provision of services, the cost of services for the transportation of passengers and luggage (clause 5.3 of Article of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation as amended by the Law).
VAT restoration for subsidy recipients
Currently, in the case of receiving subsidies from the federal budget for reimbursement of costs associated with payment for purchased goods (work, services), as well as for reimbursement of costs of paying tax when importing goods into the territory of the Russian Federation and other territories under its jurisdiction, the amount of VAT subject to restoration in the amount previously accepted for deduction (clause 6, clause 3, article 3 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). If the subsidy was actually received from the regional budget, then the company has no obligation to restore VAT previously accepted for deduction.
According to the innovations, from July 1, 2017, recipients of regional and local subsidies are required to restore VAT (if the amount of the subsidy received includes VAT). Restoration of tax amounts is carried out in the tax period in which the amounts of subsidies provided were received (clause 6, clause 3, article 3 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, as amended by the Law).
Excise taxes
The new list of excisable goods includes (clauses 15-17 clause 1 of Art. Tax Code of the Russian Federation as amended by the Law):
- electronic nicotine delivery systems (better known in practice as electronic cigarettes and vapes);
- liquids for electronic nicotine delivery systems (liquid containing liquid nicotine in a volume of 0.1 mg/ml, intended for electronic cigarettes and vapes);
- tobacco (tobacco products) intended for consumption by heating.
The new list applies from 01/01/2017. In addition, an increase in excise tax rates on some excisable goods is envisaged (clause 1 of Art. Tax Code of the Russian Federation). The table below shows excise tax rates for the above products as an example.
Property tax
The law introduces a new art. The Tax Code of the Russian Federation, which transfers property tax benefits in relation to movable property accepted for registration as fixed assets from 01/01/2013 to the jurisdiction of the subjects. Such property is exempt from taxation, with the exception of movable property registered as a result of:
- reorganization or liquidation of legal entities;
- transfer, including acquisition, of property between persons recognized as interdependent according to the rules of paragraph 2 of Art. Tax Code of the Russian Federation (clause 25 of Art. Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
Starting from 01/01/2018, tax benefits specified in clause 24 (in terms of property located in the Russian part of the Caspian Sea bottom) and clause 25 of Art. The Tax Code of the Russian Federation are applied on the territory of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation if the corresponding law of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation is adopted. This means that now regional authorities will determine whether to introduce such a benefit or not. Given the current economic situation and budget deficit, it is unlikely that such a benefit will be introduced in many regions.
There have been a number of major changes in tax law since the start of this year.
We will tell you what taxpayers can expect, what taxes will be abolished, and also find out which laws will, on the contrary, tighten the procedure for paying tax contributions for individuals and legal entities.
New in the payment and collection of taxes from January 1, 2019
Let us announce what amendments have been introduced:
- The body that controls and registers insurance premiums is now the tax service (Federal Law No. 243).
- The declaration must be submitted in electronic format only. An ordinary paper document will not be counted (Federal Law No. 130).
- Any citizen can transfer insurance payments, regardless of who or what organization is responsible for transferring funds.
- The tax service has the right to fine a Russian if he has not provided information about his real estate or transport for which he should have paid taxes. The citizen will have to pay 20% of the fine, and also contribute 200 rubles to the budget for late or non-submission of documents (Article 126 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
- We approved the rules according to which the transfer of funds for insurance should be reported.
- When filing reports on business trips, you will now have to write off taxes from the new established daily allowance amounts. In Russia their size is more than 700 rubles, abroad – above 2500 rubles.
New in VAT
There were two changes in federal legislation:
1. Federal law No. 401 came into effect, which was considered on November 30, 2016
According to it, the guarantee period from the bank for reimbursement of value added tax has changed. It is known that it was increased by 2 months. Now The warranty period is 10 months.
Of course, you can get a tax refund without a guarantee from a banking organization. But - only if over 3 years its size amounted to more than 7 billion rubles. Such taxes include excise tax, profit tax or mineral extraction tax.
Please note, taxes that were paid for the transportation and movement of goods across the border of the Russian Federation are not taken into account.
2. Federal law No. 244 came into force
It applies to foreign individuals and organizations that carry out their business activities via the Internet. The so-called Google tax will be regulated by Article 174.2 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.
It provides:
- Payment of value added tax on the following types of activities: sales of electronic books, games, pictures, music and other audiovisual works, programs.
- Tax registration of a foreign person or company.
- Contact and interaction of the organization with the tax service through the personal account of the tax website.
- Possibility of conducting desk audits.
Please note that they pay attention to registration and execution of transactions on the territory of the Russian Federation - and beyond its borders.
For example, if a buyer lives in the Russian Federation and purchases goods from Russia, then the foreign organization pays tax. If the buyer lives outside the Russian Federation and formalizes a purchase and sale transaction abroad, then the foreign organization may not pay tax.
They also look at the open personal account attached to the organization.
For example, a banking organization is registered in the Russian Federation, which means that a foreign entity will pay taxes.
Changes in personal income tax in 2019
The following amendments came into effect:
- It is necessary to report to the tax office using a new declaration form.
- The Law “On Independent Assessment of Qualifications” No. 238, approved on July 3, 2016, came into force.
- We introduced a social tax for those who conducted an independent assessment. According to Article 219 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the amount of payments cannot be more than 120 thousand rubles per year. That is, if you paid 150 thousand for undergoing this procedure, then only 120 thousand will be returned to you in the first year, and the remaining 30 thousand in the second year.
- The fee for conducting such an independent assessment is not subject to personal income tax (Article 217 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, Federal Law No. 251).
- Income received by a citizen from participation in bonus programs is not taxed (Federal Law No. 242).
- Tax will not be written off from income received by a Russian from the provision of any household, personal services, or work without registration as an individual entrepreneur (Federal Law No. 401).
News about corporate income tax in 2019
The innovations concern Chapter 25 of the current Tax Code:
- The organization's doubtful debts have increased. Now they cannot exceed 10% of the proceeds. The past and current reporting periods are considered, that is, the amount of debts has become twice as large (Article 266 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
- They approved a doubtful debt that may arise in excess of the amount of the counter obligation (Federal Law No. 401, Article 266 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
- The amount of the transferred loss cannot be reduced by more than 50% (Article 283 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, Federal Law No. 401).
- The 10-year limitation on loss carrybacks has been removed. It became possible to transfer the amount of losses to all subsequent years (clause 2 of Article 283 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Previously there was a limited period of 10 years.
Tax rates have changed: for transferring funds to the federal budget - 3% (instead of 2%), for regional budgets - 17% (instead of 18%). The general rate has not changed – 20%. Regional authorities have the right to reduce rates. In 2017-2020, rates cannot be lower than 12.5%.
These changes can be found in Article 284 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.
- Expenses may include funds spent on conducting an independent assessment (Article 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
- New circumstances have been approved when debt is considered controllable. You can find out about them in articles 105.1 and 269 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.
- The amount of controlled debt will be determined taking into account all the obligations of the defaulter (Article 269 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
- It was prohibited to recharge interest on controlled debts (clause 4 of Article 269 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
- A new OKOF was introduced and the classification of funds associated with depreciation groups was changed.
Changes to the simplified tax system in 2019
The main amendments concern Chapter 26.2 of the Tax Code:
- We increased the amount of income for those who use the special regime. Now this limit reaches 150 million rubles. (Article 346.13 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation)
- The limit of residual funds for any companies on the simplified market is 150 million (Article 346.12 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
- With the onset of the new year, more organizations will be able to switch to the “simplified” system. The main condition is that the amount of income for 9 months is no more than 112.5 million rubles. From 2018, this limit will be 90 million rubles. (Article 346.12 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
Unified tax on imputation from January 1, 2019
The deflator coefficient taken into account when calculating the imputation tax will remain the same. It will be 1.798.
This is stated in Order No. 698 of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, adopted on November 3, 2016.
Organizational property tax
The news concerns every region of the Russian Federation. Now the authorities will independently determine whether legal entities will have benefits related to movable property.
It is known that if regional authorities do not have time to take advantage of or refuse the benefit in the current year 2017, then in 2018 they will not be provided with such an opportunity (Article 381.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
Insurance contributions for pensions, sick leave, benefits
Amendments were made to Chapter 34 of the Tax Code:
- We increased the maximum base for social insurance payments due to illness or maternity to 755 thousand rubles, for payments to pensioners - 876 thousand rubles. The change was spelled out in Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 1255, approved on November 29, 2016.
- Legal entities will need to provide reporting on funds that are not taxed or paid taking into account benefits (Federal Law No. 401). This didn't happen before. Now the requirement can be put forward during a desk audit!
Insurance contributions for compulsory social insurance against industrial accidents and occupational diseases
There are two innovations in this area:
- The FSS itself determines the risk class. This is the case when the company does not confirm its main activity, then the class is taken into account according to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities. This is stated in the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 551, adopted on June 17, 2016.
- It was decided to leave the previous tariffs at which the contribution for injuries is calculated (Federal Law No. 419). The organization has the right to choose the profit class itself, because the type of activity of the company and the required benefits and allowances depend on it.
Other tax changes in 2019
Let's note some more important amendments:
- The KBK budget classification codes required for paying tax contributions have changed. A detailed list can be found in Order of the Ministry of Finance under number 230n, it was approved on December 7, 2016.
- We have approved new deadlines for filing personalized reports. Now the report should be submitted not on the 10th, but on the 15th of each month following the reporting month. In addition, information submitted quarterly as part of RSV-1 will now have to be submitted annually to the pension fund. The change came into effect when federal law number 250 came into force.
Significant changes in tax legislation in 2019:
- VAT increases by 2%. Now it will be 20%.
- The tax on movable property is abolished.
- Contribution benefits under the simplified taxation system are cancelled. Until 2019, for certain types of activities, contributions from employee salaries were 20%. From 2019, these benefits are cancelled. A general rate of 30% will apply to all.
- For individual entrepreneurs, contributions to compulsory pension insurance will increase. Instead of 26,545 rubles, they will be 29,354 rubles.
- A taxation system is being introduced for self-employed citizens in Moscow, Tatarstan, Kaluga and Moscow regions. Tax rates will be 3 and 6% when working with individuals or legal entities, respectively.
Starting from 2017, the Russian tax system may undergo dramatic changes. Already, the President of the Federation has instructed the government to develop draft legislative initiatives that should directly relate to the country’s tax system.
This means that perhaps they will “come” to the state new taxes from 2017, and what they will be, you can find out from this article.
Tax innovations
There has long been a rumor among experts that the law, which comes into force on January 1, 2017, will return the previously abolished unified social tax. But its calculation will be slightly changed. If previously the tax was calculated on a regressive basis, then for the New Year a progressive calculation is expected.
What's the difference? With regressive calculation, deductions of this tax to the budget depended on the “downward” growth of wages. This means that the higher the salary indicated in the declaration, the lower the amount of deductions. This decision allowed many enterprises to enter the “white” zone, due to the fact that the tax burden was reduced due to the demonstration of high wages.
It followed from this that a percentage of 26% was set for a small salary, and 10% for a large salary. Even based on the principle of fairness, everything was quite balanced: the employer paid the tax, not the employee.
The introduction of a progressive calculation system may entail a massive shift of wages into the “black” or “gray” zone. In addition, the labor market and labor relations throughout the country may be radically reformatted. The tax rate (presumably) will be 30%, and this is a significant amount of a salary of 800 thousand rubles. Note that this figure is a clear indicator of what the ruble exchange rate will be in future years.
Projected tax collection
The tax truth has been developed over centuries and it lies in the fact that it is better to take small amounts from everyone than to rip off one and bypass another. As practice shows, they tried to implement this idea in different ways. For example, the smoke tax applied to heated premises. If there were two chimneys in the house, this means “two smokes,” and accordingly, the fee was charged at two rates.
Experts argue that revenue collection does not need to come into conflict with yield regulators when the more you earn, the more you have to pay. And each progressive scale assumes the implementation of this principle, thereby introducing differentiation using coefficients.
Today, the problem of executability is relevant, when many enterprises are developing various tools in order to avoid paying established taxes. But, despite all this, there are bodies that are ready not only to charge and demand payment of the required amounts, but also capable of developing effective tools for real collection, including arrears.
In our country, a paradox has long been established: it is possible to conduct a minimal inspection and, if an error is detected, to insignificantly fine the culprit. But when the tax authorities get down to business, the employer cannot evade it - they dig deep, find big mistakes and force them to pay serious sums.
Therefore, many experts expect that it will be the same tax service employees with their well-developed executive and control apparatus that will control the compliance process. It is assumed that they will be vested with special powers and will become responsible for fees to the Pension Fund, social insurance, and other types of taxes.
This system has another side to the coin. Experts argue that employers, instead of going into the shadows, will decide to bypass all “tax barriers” in a legal way, for example, by inviting employees to become subjects of companies providing services. This will lead to an increase in the number of individual entrepreneurs in the labor market. Simply put, Russia risks becoming a state with a large number of small businesses, especially in the service sector.
Opinions of deputies regarding the new tax system
Not all representatives of the State Duma are delighted with the proposed changes that will affect the tax system in 2017. As Andrei Makarov, the current chairman of the State Duma Committee on Budgets and Taxes, said, such a strategy will lead to the impoverishment of the people and a social revolt.
The outrageous fact for employees of the Ministry of Finance was that they propose to tax even amounts from the sale of property. But Anton Siluanov (Minister of Finance) is confident that such a decision will fill the gaps in the country’s budget and will slightly calm down the owners of several types of property at once.
Let us remind you that in Russia there is no personal income tax on property that has been in use for more than 3 years. The number of property items does not affect this law. Siluanov said that many citizens abuse such benefits, as a result of which the “shadow” business is growing. That is why the Ministry of Finance insists that the tax on personal income from the sale of property will be returned.
Garbage tax from 2017
In addition to the above-mentioned tax innovations, the country's leadership proposes establish a garbage tax starting in 2017. A corresponding column will appear in receipts for utility bills, and Russians will be forced to pay the state certain amounts for household waste.
The amount of the new tax for each region will be established separately. It is indicated that the tax amount will be less for sorted waste. All tax revenues are intended to be transferred to the regional waste management operator.
Please note that the amount of tax will not depend on the area of housing, but on the basic tariff for solid waste management services and the amount of garbage per person.
But regional authorities can regulate the amounts of such deductions themselves, and they may have to pay for the actual number and volume of garbage containers. The cost of the tariff is expected to depend on the volume of waste production that is subject to burial and incineration. This means that the smaller their number, the lower the fee.
As soon as a single tariff is approved (this should happen before January 1, 2017), a single operator will be determined with which organizations will have to enter into an agreement.
How expedient such innovations will be, time will tell. We can only hope that the authorities will be able to provide thoughtful arguments for their actions and that the improved tax system will not worsen the lives of ordinary citizens.
The State Duma, at a plenary meeting on November 17, 2016, adopted in the third final reading bill No. 11078-7 “On amendments to parts one and two of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation”, aimed at implementing certain provisions of the main directions of tax policy developed Ministry of Finance of Russia. The document was introduced by the Russian Government and in its original version contained 44 pages and about 20 amendments to the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. By the second reading, the document already has 101 pages, thanks to the amendments that deputies and officials made to it.
At the initiative of the Ministry of Finance, changes will be made to various chapters of the two parts of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, for the most part they provide for an increase in the tax burden or other measures aimed at replenishing budgets at all levels. However, at the initiative of the President of the Russian Federation, an increase in the income limit for entrepreneurs on the simplified tax system was introduced into the bill. In addition, officials intend to allow taxes to be paid for third parties, as well as to exclude interest-free loans between Russian residents from the list of controlled transactions. Let's look at each of the positive or negative changes in more detail; unfortunately, there are many more of the latter. But it should be noted that some of the initial ideas of the Ministry of Finance were rejected during the second reading.
1
Penalty for non-payment of taxes
The Ministry of Finance in the original version of its bill proposed increasing the amount of penalties that violators of tax payment discipline must pay. For organizations and entrepreneurs with arrears to the budget, officials proposed establishing a fine of 1/150 of the Central Bank refinancing rate, starting from 31 days of delay. The deputies softened this measure and excluded individual entrepreneurs from the document, for which the current fine of 1/300 of the refinancing rate will remain. Whereas, legal entities will still have to get used to the new size of sanctions.
The authors of the bill recalled that, according to the law and meaning, the penalty is compensation for the costs the state incurs due to late payment of taxes, fees and insurance premiums. In the current version, the penalty is disadvantageous to the state, but beneficial to organizations, since it is not punitive in nature. Not paying taxes on time and using this money as credit sometimes turns out to be more profitable than taking out a bank loan. After all, according to experts, a penalty in the amount of 1/300 of the refinancing rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation allows defaulters to receive loans from the state budget at a rate of 12.17% per annum. An increase in penalties for legal entities to 1/150 of the refinancing rate will force them to pay 24.44% per annum for tax arrears. The difference is obvious. However, for most individual entrepreneurs the new rates would be unaffordable, so their deputies have regretted it for now.
2
Desk audits of insurance premiums
The second amendment to the Tax Code is not pleasant for taxpayers; it is aimed at strengthening fiscal control over insurance premiums, which from January 1, 2017 will be administered by the Federal Tax Service of Russia. The Ministry of Finance proposed, and the deputies supported, that when conducting a desk tax audit of the calculation of insurance premiums, the territorial tax authority will be able to request from the organization paying insurance premiums all information and documents that confirm the validity of reflecting amounts not subject to insurance premiums and the application of reduced insurance tariffs contributions.
This means that when checking unified calculations for insurance premiums, which in 2017 all policyholders-employers will begin to submit to the Federal Tax Service, tax authorities will request from them additional documents and explanations for all calculations, which will indicate the amounts of sick leave and other benefits. Accountants will have more work to do, because every request from the Federal Tax Service must be answered.
3
Excise taxes will increase
The State Duma approved an increase in excise taxes on fuel, tobacco and wine. In addition, deputies introduced a new excise tax on electronic cigarettes. Thus, excise taxes on wine have doubled. For wines with a protected geographical indication or protected designation of origin (except for sparkling wines), as well as wines made without the addition of rectified ethyl alcohol, excise taxes from January 1, 2017 will be 18 rubles per lita instead of 9 rubles. Excise taxes on mead, cider and poire have also been increased - from 9 to 21 rubles per liter.
On gasoline of the fourth and fifth classes, excise taxes will increase by 800 and 2,700 rubles, respectively - to 13,100 and 10,130 rubles. per ton from January 1, 2017. The price for diesel fuel will contain an excise tax of 6,800 rubles per ton. For tobacco products, the excise tax rate in 2017 will be 4,800 rubles per kilogram of heated, pipe, smoking, chewing, snuff and hookah tobacco. At the same time, in the period from 2017 to 2019, the excise tax will increase annually by 1%. From 2017, manufacturers and importers of electronic cigarettes will also have to pay excise duty. For 1 milliliter of nicotine-containing liquid, the rate will be 10 rubles, and one electronic cigarette will become at least 40 rubles more expensive.
4
Tax guarantee and interest-free loans
9
Tax benefits
Benefits for movable property accepted by organizations for registration as fixed assets from January 1, 2013 will be established by regional authorities, although they will have such a right only from January 1, 2018. If a constituent entity of the Russian Federation does not want to adopt a regional law on such a benefit, then taxpayers will not receive it. Considering that there is a lack of funds in regional budgets, businesses will have to wean themselves off this benefit on property tax for legal entities.
In addition, the bill establishes VAT preferences in the form of a zero rate for services for the transportation of passengers and luggage by public railway transport in long-distance traffic. This benefit will be valid until January 1, 2030. In addition, deputies extended the zero VAT rate on services for transporting passengers in electric trains until January 1, 2030. Also, the zero VAT rate will remain until 2019 for air transportation to Crimea. In addition, from January 1, 2017, all services directly related to the Russian stage of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship are exempt from VAT. Deputies exempted from personal income tax income in the form of prize money for Paralympic athletes, as well as benefits for combat veterans.
10
Tax exemption for self-employed citizens
The Tax Code will include provisions according to which self-employed citizens who provide services to others in raising children, housekeeping, and caring for the elderly will be exempt from personal income tax for two years. To do this, they will have to register with the territorial body of the Federal Tax Service and decide on their business by the end of 2018. They can receive individual entrepreneur status, pay personal income tax at the rate of 13%, or cease operations. The right to expand the list of activities is reserved to regional authorities.
In order for all these amendments to take effect, the bill must be approved by the Federation Council and signed by the President of Russia. Considering that most of the initiatives in the document came from the highest echelon of power, we can confidently say that everything that we talked about in this review will be approved and will begin to take effect. You can check how ready you are for tax innovations with the help of a special document compiled based on this bill.
Federal Law of July 18, 2017 No. 163-FZ “On Amendments to Part One of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation” (effective from August 19, 2017).
Article 1
Include in part one of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation (Collected Legislation of the Russian Federation, 1998, No. 31, Art. 3824; 1999, No. 28, Art. 3487; 2003, No. 22, Art. 2066; No. 23, Art. 2174; No. 27 , Art. 2700; 2004, No. 27, Art. 2711; No. 31, Art. 3231; No. 45, Art. 4377; 2005, No. 45, Art. 4585; 2006, No. 31, Art. 3436; 2007, No. 1 , Art. 28; 2008, No. 48, Art. 5500, 5519; 2009, No. 30, Art. 3739; No. 52, Art. 6450; 2010, No. 31, Art. 4198; No. 48, Art. 6247; No. 49 , Art. 6420; 2011, No. 1, Art. 16; No. 27, Art. 3873; No. 29, Art. 4291; No. 30, Art. 4575; No. 47, Art. 6611; No. 49, Art. 7014; 2012 , No. 27, Art. 3588; No. 31, Art. 4333; 2013, No. 9, Art. 872; No. 26, Art. 3207; No. 30, Art. 4081; No. 44, Art. 5645; No. 52, Art. 6985; 2014, No. 14, Art. 1544; No. 45, Art. 6157, 6158; No. 48, Art. 6660; 2015, No. 1, Art. 15; No. 10, Art. 1393; No. 18, Art. 2616; No. 24, Art. 3377; 2016, No. 7, Art. 920; No. 18, Art. 2486; No. 27, Art. 4173, 4176, 4177; No. 49, Art. 6844) the following changes:
1) add Article 54 1 with the following content:
"Article 54 1. Limits for the exercise of rights to calculate the tax base and (or) the amount of tax, fee, insurance premiums
1. A taxpayer is not allowed to reduce the tax base and (or) the amount of tax payable as a result of distortion of information about the facts of economic life (the totality of such facts), about objects of taxation that are subject to reflection in the tax and (or) accounting or tax reporting of the taxpayer.
2. In the absence of the circumstances provided for in paragraph 1 of this article, for transactions (operations) that have taken place, the taxpayer has the right to reduce the tax base and (or) the amount of tax payable in accordance with the rules of the relevant chapter of part two of this Code, subject to the following conditions being simultaneously met:
1) the main purpose of the transaction (operation) is not non-payment (incomplete payment) and (or) offset (refund) of the tax amount;
2) the obligation under the transaction (operation) was fulfilled by a person who is a party to the agreement concluded with the taxpayer, and (or) a person to whom the obligation to perform the transaction (operation) was transferred under the agreement or law.
3. For the purposes of paragraphs 1 and 2 of this article, the signing of primary accounting documents by an unidentified or unauthorized person, violation by the taxpayer’s counterparty of the legislation on taxes and fees, the possibility of the taxpayer obtaining the same result of economic activity when performing other transactions (operations) not prohibited by law cannot be considered as an independent basis for recognizing a taxpayer’s reduction of the tax base and (or) the amount of tax payable as unlawful.
4. The provisions provided for in this article also apply to fees and insurance premiums and apply to payers of fees, payers of insurance premiums and tax agents.";
2) Article 82 shall be supplemented with paragraph 5 as follows:
"5. Proof of the circumstances provided for in paragraph 1 of Article 54 1 of this Code, and (or) the fact of non-compliance with the conditions provided for in paragraph 2 of Article 54 1 of this Code, is carried out by the tax authority when carrying out tax control measures in accordance with Sections V, V 1, V 2 of this Code."
Article 2
1. This Federal Law comes into force after one month from the date of its official publication.
2. The provisions of paragraph 5 of Article 82 of Part One of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation (as amended by this Federal Law) apply to desk tax audits of tax returns (calculations) submitted to the tax authority after the date of entry into force of this Federal Law, as well as on-site tax audits and inspections of the completeness of calculation and payment of taxes in connection with transactions between related parties, decisions on the appointment of which were made by tax authorities after the date of entry into force of this Federal Law.
The president
Russian Federation
V.Putin
As a result of the changes, provisions on unjustified tax benefits were added to the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, defining situations when the taxpayer does not have the right to receive a tax deduction and or expenses to be taken into account for tax purposes, even if there are “formally correct” primary documents.
The manifestation of an unjustified tax benefit in 2017 and earlier may be expressed as
- in unfair competition in the tax sphere;
- cooperation with one-day companies, offshore companies;
- erosion of the tax base;
- unjustified use of tax breaks, benefits, etc.
- According to the aforementioned resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Arbitration Court of Russia dated October 12, 2006 No. 53 “On the assessment by arbitration courts of the validity of a taxpayer receiving a tax benefit,” an unjustified tax benefit arises when a tax liability is reduced through various actions, the composition of which is not exhaustive.
You can talk about receiving an unjustified tax benefit in 2017 if:
- The right to receive it is not documented.
- Tax officials proved that the information in the submitted documents:
- incomplete;
- are not true;
- contain contradictions.
That is, the generally accepted principle applies: a tax benefit is justified until the contrary is proven. In essence, the new rules are about combating aggressive methods of optimizing the tax burden, which lead to:
- non-fulfillment or incomplete fulfillment of obligations to pay taxes;
- obtaining the right to a tax refund – refund/credit.
What's new
The concept of “unjustified tax benefit” has been regulated since 2017 by the provisions of Article 54.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation “Limits for the exercise of rights to calculate the tax base and (or) the amount of taxes, fees, and insurance contributions.” In particular:
- Reducing the tax base and/or tax payable by misrepresenting information is expressly prohibited:
- about the facts of economic life (the totality of such facts);
- about objects of taxation that are subject to reflection in tax and/or accounting and tax reporting.
- In the absence of the facts listed above, for transactions/operations that have taken place, the payer may reduce the tax base and/or the amount of tax in accordance with the provisions of the relevant chapter of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, subject to the following conditions being simultaneously met:
- 1) the main purpose of the transaction/operation is not non-payment/incomplete payment and/or offset/refund of tax;
- 2) the obligation under the transaction is fulfilled by the party to the agreement concluded with the taxpayer and/or the person to whom it was transferred by virtue of the agreement or law.
- 3 Due to the above, the following cannot be considered as separate grounds and as an unlawful reduction by the payer of the tax base and/or the amount of tax payable:
- signing of the “primary document” by an unknown or unauthorized person;
- violation of tax laws by the counterparty;
- the ability of the payer to obtain the same economic result when performing other transactions and operations not prohibited by law.
- fees;
- contributions to extra-budgetary funds;
- fee payers;
- payers of insurance premiums;
- tax agents.
- What documents should an individual entrepreneur have?
- Accounting for individual entrepreneurs - rules and features of independent reporting under different tax regimes Primary documentation for individual entrepreneurs
- Accounting for individual entrepreneurs: features of accounting in individual entrepreneurs?
- How to privatize an apartment, everything about privatization List of documents for privatization of an apartment