Legal entities and individual entrepreneurs are under state (municipal) supervision of the relevant bodies, which have the right to conduct inspections at enterprises. And in order to be prepared for visits from supervisory authorities, organizations and businessmen should know the most important thing about the inspection plan for 2017. More about this in our review.

Definition and varieties

Verification is a series of measures that ensure control over the work of individual entrepreneurs and legal entities. As a general rule, its main task is to clarify the following points:

• compliance of the activities carried out with the law, as well as existing rules and standards in this area;
• compliance of goods (produced or sold), works and services with legal requirements and standards.

There are several types of checks. You should know their features before considering master plan inspections for 2017.

Criterion	Variety	What they check	Who is being checked?
Location Scope of inspection	Documentary (cameral is one of its varieties)	Information about status, rights and obligations, their implementation	Conducted in relation to individual entrepreneurs and legal entities
	Visiting	Information about employees, buildings, premises, equipment, goods, works or services, etc.
Method of organization	Planned	Compliance mandatory requirements and compliance of data on the legal entity entered into state registers
	Unscheduled	Compliance with requirements in relation to the activities carried out, compliance with existing instructions of supervisory authorities to prevent negative consequences of life and health, environment etc.

Each test has its own characteristics. They differ in places and methods of implementation, objects and subjects.

Note that for outside scheduled inspections The work of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs requires special grounds. At the same time, such audits, of course, are not included in the plan (for example, posted on the website of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation).

But scheduled inspections are carried out in accordance with pre-drawn up plans for each region of Russia. Moreover, they draw up a project in advance. Afterwards it is agreed upon and adjusted if necessary. And then they further affirm.

But Law No. 272-FZ of July 3, 2016 came into force. He made changes to Labor Code RF. Namely, to Article 360. Now to carry out unscheduled inspection regarding violations of labor legislation and other acts affecting the labor situation of the population, it is possible after receiving State Inspectorate labor by any means of information about them. Even if the information came from the media.

Such a check can be initiated, for example, in the event of signals of the following violations:

• employees receive wages below the established minimum wage;
• workers' salaries are delayed;
• failure to comply with safety rules at the enterprise, an employee was injured, etc.

Moreover: this law allows for an unscheduled audit even without a complaint from an employee of the enterprise.

When an organization is included in a future inspection plan

Law No. 294-FZ Plan for conducting inspections of organizations and individual entrepreneurs in 2017.”

Regional supervisory authorities send projects for future inspections against business representatives to the prosecutor's office of their constituent entity of the Russian Federation. Deadline: September 1 current year. After this, they are reviewed and adjustments can be made. Then the plans are returned again to the supervisory authorities. Only after this they are approved, and then sent no later than November 1 to the prosecutor's office.

Carrying out an inspection on a general basis is permissible if 3 years have already passed since:

• subject registration;
• completion of the previous planned audit;
• start of work of the company, individual entrepreneur.

Wherein new check possible earlier than 3 years after the end of the previous one, if we are talking about:

• unscheduled audit;
• scheduled inspection, but with other reasons for conducting it.

But this rule does not apply to enterprises and individual entrepreneurs working in the educational, social and healthcare sectors. There may be more inspections over 3 years.

How should the inspection be carried out?

For all types of inspections, the procedure for conducting them and preparing the necessary documentation is set out in Law No. 294-FZ.

The basis for conducting an inspection may be an order or instruction on behalf of the head or his deputy of a municipal or state control. Such a document must indicate the type and form of verification.

As a general rule, controllers must be notified of a scheduled audit 3 days before it begins. In this case, they must send a copy of the documentary basis for the inspection.

After all control activities fill out the act according to the established template. One copy of it remains at the enterprise.

Checks not included in the plan

Please note that the legislation on scheduled inspections does not apply in some cases. For example, the list does not include currency and tax control.

Inspections regarding accidents resulting in death or disability of workers are also not included in the annual inspection plan. But this is for objective reasons.

Specially for the magazine “Financial Director”, tax specialist law firm"Turov and Partners" Natalya Bryleva described a step-by-step methodology for preparing for tax audits in 2017.

What will tax officials look for during a tax audit in 2017? A checklist that will help you prepare for business audits.

Priority directions tax policy Russian Federation for 2016 and the planning period of 2017 and 2018 are to prevent an increase tax burden and a simultaneous increase in tax revenues to the budget. In this regard, tax audits will not only become less frequent - they will be comprehensive and meticulous. Moreover, inspectors now have even more tools for collecting reasons for conducting tax audits. So, what will tax authorities look for in 2017 during business tax audits?

Are all enterprises registered and registered with the funds?

The first thing they check during a tax audit is whether all enterprises are registered. If stamps, forms, or forms of non-existent companies are used, this will be qualified under Article 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation as “Illegal entrepreneurship”, the maximum penalty is 5 years in prison. From January 1, 2017, tax officials will take over the functions of monitoring the correct calculation and timely payment of insurance contributions to the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation, the Social Insurance Fund and the Federal Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund. Now such control will be carried out by general rules conducting tax audits and regulated by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. But periods that expired before 2017 will be checked according to the old rules by the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation and the Federal Social Insurance Fund of the Russian Federation. As part of on-site inspections, tax officials will check both the payment of taxes and insurance premiums. It is expected that insurance premium collections will increase due to the transfer of such powers to the Federal Tax Service, since tax authorities have long developed a method for collecting tax arrears, including through intimidation (see how to prepare for a tax audit).

Have you or your employees created “leftist” companies in the last ten years?

During a tax audit in 2017, there are risks of applying Articles 173.1 “Illegal formation (creation, reorganization) of a legal entity” and 173.2 “Illegal use of documents for the formation (creation, reorganization) of a legal entity” of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The maximum penalty under 173.1 is up to 5 years in prison.

During tax audits, inspectors will look for signs of cashing out through shell companies

Cashing out Money, in addition to charges of tax evasion under Articles 198, 199, falls under Article 3 of Law 115-FZ. This is fraught with careful scrutiny for involvement in extremism and terrorist financing. And here they will probably begin to apply Articles 174 and 174.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Legalization of funds ... obtained by criminal means”, the maximum penalty is up to 7 years in prison. And here the tax authorities will be helped by the ASK VAT-2 system, which has already been in use for a year.

Please note that companies that are required to file a VAT return electronic form, when carrying out desk audit will be able to submit explanations to the tax authorities only in electronic form (clause 3 of Article 88 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). When providing explanations on on paper they will not be considered submitted. Another mechanism for tax officials to take advantage of the inattention of businessmen and failures in computer technology to collect a fine for unlawful failure to report information to the tax authority in the absence of signs tax offense, provided for in Art. 126 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Fine in the amount of 5 thousand rubles. collected in case of failure to submit ( late submission) to the tax authority for explanations when the updated tax return is not submitted on time (clause 1 of Article 129.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

In addition, now, if the taxpayer has not connected to electronic document management, banks are allowed to suspend an organization’s operations on its bank accounts and transfers of its electronic funds.

Are there any facts of artificial overestimation? purchase prices(inflated cost) of products (raw materials, supplies)

It is difficult to detect artificially inflated purchase prices during a tax audit in 2017, but if the tax authorities succeed, the company faces at least liability for Tax Code. The rest will depend on the amount of unpaid taxes. Increased tax penalties for non-payment of taxes as a result of the use of non-market prices between related parties come into effect during audits controlled transactions totally agree tax periods, starting in 2017 (more about related parties in tax legal relations).

Is it all yours? wage, are the wages of your employees, and other income of you and your employees legal, and are taxes and insurance premiums paid on them in full?

A difficult violation to prove. Since when resolving cases of payment of convertible salaries to employees in judicial procedure, the arbitrators take into account only specific amounts of “gray” salaries, from which additional contributions can be calculated. If an employee says that his employer once paid him about 3,000 rubles. cash, then such testimony will not be accepted in court. However, tax authorities will try to hold the company accountable under Article 199.1 of the Criminal Code “Failure to fulfill obligations tax agent“Up to 6 years of imprisonment and, of course, arrears, penalties, fines.

Illegal unlicensed programs

A favorite topic of operatives and investigators during tax audits both this year and in 2017. Article 146 of the Criminal Code – up to 6 years with a fine of half a million.

How to prepare for the 2017 tax audit. Checklist

I advise businessmen to independently assess the risks of bringing their company to tax liability before a tax audit.

The minimum checklist should contain:

1. Check the presence of folders and documents in them using the following blocks:
   • bank documents;
   • cash documents;
   • contracts;
   • personnel documents;
   • general documents (constituent documents, rent, utilities, others);
   • documents for fixed assets and intangible assets;
   • Books and magazines.
2. Take all bank statements.
3. Take any bank statement for any day.
4. Take any transaction shown on your bank statement.
5. Request all documents for this operation. Go through the entire chain of movement of documents and money related to this operation: agreement, invoice, invoice, delivery notes, sales receipts, and so on - see absolutely everything source documents along this chain.
6. If this was an operation for the purchase of office equipment, check the physical presence of office equipment, passports for it, invoices or sales receipts, invoices, invoices, commissioning certificates, accounting entries, depreciation, and so on.
7. Then check the statements. I recommend checking your reporting to the state for the last three years.
8. Make sure that the reports are physically available, that they are connected to each other, and that there are documents confirming payments to the state.
9. Check other documents: move around the office from one workplace to another, take the first document you come across on the table, ask: “what is this?”, “Where should it be?”, and have the employee name it, put it in its place or throw it away trash can if not needed.
10. Write down all the shortcomings so that you can later create a program to eliminate them. Additionally, invite an experienced accountant (not an auditor, there are reasons for this) and let him check the reporting and maintenance of registers.

Be sure to check that each enterprise (IP) you use in business meets the criteria of integrity and independence. Collect a basic package of documents to confirm the verification of the counterparty: request copies of constituent documents, passports of the company's top officials, seal impressions and sample signatures, etc.

Find out whether your company is included in the Federal Tax Service's on-site inspection plan for 2018, where to see the list of organizations for tax audits in 2018, what criteria are publicly available. Find out if your organization is subject to any other inspections.

Tax inspection plan for 2018

Two types of audits can be carried out in relation to taxpayers - desk and on-site. In the inspection plan for 2018 tax office Both organizations and individual entrepreneurs can be included.

Scheduled tax audits of legal entities for 2018 according to TIN

The Concept of the planning system for on-site tax audits states that this is an open process. However, a clear procedure for determining the plan and schedule of on-site inspections of the Federal Tax Service for 2018 for open access No. The organization will not be able to legally find the list anywhere and find out if it is on it. Let us clarify once again that tax authorities do not publish a schedule of planned tax audits of legal entities for 2018 by TIN.

A document with a list of organizations subject to tax control in 2018 is a closed document for official use. It is not officially published anywhere.

Important! During audits, tax authorities require complete information about counterparties. You can create a dossier on any partner. It’s free and takes only 1 minute. Just find a company by INN, name or OGRN and create a dossier on the counterparty.

Lists of organizations for tax audits in 2018 are publicly available

It is worth noting that the tax service on its website published a plan and schedule of on-site inspections of the Federal Tax Service for 2018 in relation to organizations carrying out state-regulated activities.

You can familiarize yourself with this list of scheduled tax audits on the official website of the Federal Tax Service of Russia. The purpose of such inspections will mainly be to verify compliance with licensing requirements for certain types of activities.

How can I find out whether there will be an on-site tax audit in 2018 and whether there will be any changes to the audit rules? There is a way to help you calculate the likelihood that you should expect a visit from inspectors this year. We will talk about this below.

How to find out whether there will be an on-site tax audit in 2018

Taxpayers can independently assess the likelihood of an on-site tax audit in 2018 using the criteria approved. by order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated May 30, 2007 No. MM-3-06/333@.

The document provides 12 points for self-assessment risks:

1. Tax burden is below the industry average
2. Losses in accounting or tax reporting over several tax periods
3. The share of VAT deductions for the last 12 months exceeds 89%
4. Expense growth is greater than income growth
5. Pay average monthly salary below the industry average for the subject
6. For special regime holders: repeated approaching of indicators to limits that deprive them of the right to apply special tax regimes.
7. For individual entrepreneurs: reflection of the amount of expenses as close as possible to the amount of income received for calendar year.
8. Agreements with counterparties-resellers or intermediaries without reasonable economic reasons
9. Lack of explanations and answers to requests from tax authorities
10. "Migration" between tax authorities
11. Deviation of the level of profitability for a given field of activity according to statistics
12. Maintaining financial economic activity with high tax risk.

The last criterion is directly related to the verification of counterparties. Thus, tax authorities will consider that a company is conducting risky activities if they do not discover:

• personal contacts of the management of the supplier company, a scan of the passport, documents confirming his authority;
• information about the actual location of the counterparty;
• available information about the supplier (contractor’s dossier), work on comparison of contractors;
• information about the registration of the counterparty in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities.

The more criteria a taxpayer fulfills, the greater the likelihood that he will be included by the Federal Tax Service Inspectorate in the plan and schedule of on-site tax audits of the Federal Tax Service Inspectorate in 2018.

Questions about the reasons for ordering on-site tax audits and the frequency of their conduct never cease to worry taxpayers. How to find out whether auditors will be interested in the activities of a business entity and whether an on-site audit will begin in relation to it in the near future? How are organizations selected for inspections? Are there criteria for such selection?

To help taxpayers, regulatory agencies regularly issue clarifications regarding these issues. Based on them, the author of the article reveals some of the subtleties of the procedure for selecting organizations to conduct on-site tax audits against them.

Tax Code of the Russian Federation on on-site inspection.

By virtue of paragraphs. 2 p. 1 art. 32 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the responsibility of tax authorities includes monitoring compliance with legislation on taxes and fees, as well as regulatory legal acts adopted in accordance with it. One of the forms of such control is in relation to an economic entity, the right to carry out which is expressly enshrined in paragraphs. 2 p. 1 art. 31 Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

The procedure for conducting on-site inspections, the timing and frequency of their conduct are regulated by Art. 89 Tax Code of the Russian Federation. According to paragraph 5 of this article, tax authorities do not have the right to conduct two or more on-site audits on the same taxes for the same period, just as they do not have the right to conduct more than two on-site tax audits in relation to one taxpayer during a calendar year (for with some exceptions).

The Ministry of Finance in Letter No. 03-02-08/7955 dated February 14, 2017 emphasized that the main task of tax control is maintaining a balance of interests of the state and business. On the one hand, the pressure on conscientious taxpayers is reduced, timely and in in full fulfilling obligations to the budget, and on the other hand, the inevitability of punishment is ensured for those who deliberately evade paying taxes and violate tax laws.

One of the main goals of fiscal officials today is to conduct the optimal number of on-site tax audits. For this purpose, a timely system of tax control and administration is constantly being improved, which is built on the basis of analytical work that predicts risks and takes into account the specifics of the financial and economic activities of taxpayers.

Selection of candidates for inspection.

On-site inspections are not carried out in a continuous manner. The inspectorate, by analyzing information about the activities of the taxpayer, selects candidates that interest it. The result of the analytical work being carried out is the inclusion of taxpayers in the plan of on-site tax audits. The financial department recalled this in Letter dated February 15, 2017 No. 03-02-07/1/8547.

Officials also point out that the main document used in the analytical work of tax specialists is the Concept of the planning system for on-site tax audits, approved by Order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated May 30, 2007 No. MM-3-06/333@ (hereinafter referred to as the Concept). It defines 12 tax risk criteria by which selection is carried out.

Why do you need self-analysis?

It is important that risk criteria can be used by taxpayers themselves, along with the tax authorities, in order to assess their activities and clarify tax obligations, without waiting for an on-site tax audit (Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated February 21, 2017 No. 03-02-07/1/10004). These criteria are publicly available.

For your information.

Risk criteria are posted on the Federal Tax Service website (www.nalog.ru) and are regularly updated. The Federal Tax Service recommends that each taxpayer read the information posted on the website to independently assess the risks.

The calculation of the tax burden does not include VAT on goods imported into the territory of the Russian Federation, customs duties, as well as the amount of paid insurance premiums (letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated January 11, 2017 No. 03-01-15/208, Federal Tax Service of Russia dated March 22, 2013 No. ED -3-3/1026@).

The tax burden indicators calculated in this way are compared with industry average values ​​(shown in Appendix 3 to the Concept).

It is important that the calculation of industry average tax burden values ​​in the Concept was made by the Federal Tax Service taking into account personal income tax revenues. The agency explains: the indicator is calculated as the ratio of all taxes paid by an organization, including those for which it acted as a tax agent, to revenue (on the Federal Tax Service website in the “Frequently Asked Questions” section posted financial advice on the question: how is the “tax burden” criterion used in accordance with the Concept of the planning system for on-site tax audits calculated?).

The Concept does not specify for what period the this indicator. The Federal Tax Service makes calculations for the calendar year. Consequently, for the purpose of comparability of the indicators under consideration, when calculating an organization’s tax burden, it is also advisable to use the ratio of taxes paid and income received for the year.

The tax burden is considered low by inspectors if its value is less than the average for the relevant industry.

Note.

If the tax burden of an organization is below its average level for business entities in a particular industry (type economic activity), then an on-site inspection may be scheduled for him.

Let us give examples of calculating the tax burden of an organization located on OSNO and an individual entrepreneur using the “simplified tax system” for comparative analysis them with industry values.

Example 1.

The organization operates in the field of chemical production. Revenue for 2016 is 90 million rubles. The amount of taxes paid was 10 million rubles. The organization also withheld and transferred personal income tax from payments to employees in the amount of 250 thousand rubles.

The tax burden for business entities operating in the field of chemical production is 4.2%.

The tax burden of the organization is 11.4% ((RUB 10,000,000 + RUB 250,000) / RUB 90,000,000 x 100%), which is significantly higher than the industry average (11.4% > 4.2%) .

In this case, the risk of the inspectorate becoming interested in the taxpayer’s activities is extremely minimal.

Example 2.

Individual entrepreneur operates in the restaurant business. Income received for the year, according to data tax accounting, equal to 12 million rubles. At the end of the year, the merchant paid a single tax on the simplified tax system in the amount of 720 thousand rubles. Personal income tax for hired workers is transferred in the amount of 100 thousand rubles.

In the restaurant and hotel industry, the industry average tax burden is 9%.

0 rub.) / 90,000,000 rub. x 100%), which is significantly higher than the industry average (11.4% > 4.2%).

The tax burden of an entrepreneur is 6.8% ((RUB 100,000 + RUB 720,000) / RUB 12,000,000 x 100%).

Consequently, the tax burden of a businessman is less than the industry average (6.8%< 9 %). В таком случае налогоплательщику не избежать вопросов со стороны контролеров и дальнейшего предпроверочного анализа финансово-хозяйственной деятельности с целью включения в план выездной проверки.

If the salary is below the industry average.

Tax risks, as noted above, include the payment of wages by employers below the industry average in the region, as well as the conduct of business activities using tax evasion schemes. This is also noted in the Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated February 14, 2017 No. 03-02-08/7955.

How and where can I get information about statistical indicators of the average wage level by type of economic activity in a city, region or in a whole subject of the Russian Federation? You can refer to such sources as:

Fiscal officials abandoned total control and moved to control based on risk criteria, which is based on comprehensive analysis financial and economic activities of the taxpayer.

As stated in the Concept, priority for inclusion in the on-site inspection plan are those entities in respect of which controllers have information about their participation in tax evasion schemes or schemes for minimizing tax liabilities and (or) the results of an analysis of the financial and economic activities of the taxpayer indicate alleged tax offences.

Systematic independent analysis by the taxpayer of its financial and economic activities allows for a timely assessment tax risks and clarify your tax obligations. And if the performance indicators assessed according to the criteria named in the article differ from those established by the Federal Tax Service, then it is advisable to provide explanations to the tax authorities (on your own initiative or at their request), and if there is such a need, adjust your tax obligations in an updated declaration, which should be accompanied by an explanatory note note. In this case, we do not recommend ignoring communication with controllers.

Circumstances indicating that the taxpayer has received an unfounded tax benefit, are specified in the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated October 12, 2006 No. 53. A number of schemes for building financial and economic activities using a chain of counterparties without the presence business purpose is given in the appendix to the Order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated May 30, 2007 No. MM-3-06/333@.

If documents are lost as a result of force majeure (fire, flooding, damage, etc.) but not restored, tax authorities will also have every reason to include the taxpayer in the on-site audit plan.

The calculation of the indicator for the main types of economic activity is given in Appendix 3 to the Concept.

Posted on the website of the Federal Tax Service of Russia www.nalog.ru in section. "FAQ".

Information about the addresses of Internet sites of Rosstat territorial bodies is posted on the Rosstat website (www.gks.ru).

Information about the addresses of Internet sites of the Federal Tax Service departments for the constituent entities of the Russian Federation is posted on the Federal Tax Service website (www.nalog.ru).

Form explanatory note is given in Appendix 5 to the Concept.

Tax audits are necessary to control the payment of mandatory tax amounts entrepreneurs, identifying and eliminating violations. Tax service controls the correctness of calculations and timely payment.

The implementation of tax audits is simplified. Non-standard control methods are being introduced.

Changes in tax policy in 2020

Tax policy plans for 2020 include increasing tax revenues to the budget without allowing an increase in the tax burden. There are more tools for obtaining arguments for the need for inspections.

Administration and reporting on contributions have changed significantly. The rules for calculating some taxes have also undergone changes.

Administration of insurance payments

Tax authorities control the payment of insurance contributions to the Social Insurance Fund, Pension Fund, and Federal Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund.

The calculation is provided monthly, no later than the 30th day of the current month (for the previous month). Payment is due next month before the 15th.

From January 1, 2017, payers whose total income for 9 months did not exceed 90 million rubles. If in a year it does not exceed 120, work in the simplified tax system will continue. The maximum residual value of funds under the conditions of transition to the simplified tax system should not exceed 150 million rubles.

At zero tax rate

Used for main gas pipelines and gas production. This also includes the development of mineral resources, subsoil, helium production, facilities capital construction. The full list of objects has been approved by the Government of the Russian Federation.

In incentive payments

One-time incentive payments for sports projects are not subject to taxes, namely, for prize-winning places in the Olympic, Deaflympic, and Paralympic games to participants and their coaches (specialists involved in preparation).

What do these changes mean for taxpayers?

Pros for taxpayers:

1. Reducing the deadline for filing objections based on the results of examinations and other events. Its length has been reduced to 10 working days from the completion of the controversial event.
2. The authority of the inspectorate to require additional information on tax benefits. In addition to supporting documents, the provision of explanations on problems of property and transactions in the field of benefits may be initiated. This information must be provided within 5 days. All explanations regarding VAT are accepted only in in electronic format. Paper versions of declarations are unacceptable. Penalties are imposed for failure to provide an electronic version of a document.
3. More frequent verification of the reliability of the Unified State Register of Legal Entities. Moreover, all complaints and claims (for example, from a competitor) are considered. Based on received signals, additional checks are initiated and carried out within a month. Any suspicion that the company or its legal address arouses suspicion. For example, several legal entities are registered at one address. During the verification of doubtful information, the tax control has the right to suspend the registration of the company. But this should last no more than a month. Upon confirmation of availability false information The business reputation of the manager and the entire company is damaged.

What will be checked more often in 2020

1. Registration, registration. Operating a company without registration is classified as “illegal business” (faces up to 5 years in prison).
2. Legality of income and full payment of taxes on it. Salaries and other income of employees are taken into account. The presence of “gray” salaries is revealed, although these violations are difficult to prove. When calculating additional contributions, only specifically identified amounts are taken into account.
3. Creation of “left” companies. If you illegally create a legal entity and use documents for this purpose, there is a risk of imprisonment for up to 5 years, and for cashing financial resources through shell companies – up to 7.
4. Artificially inflating costs and purchasing prices. In 2020 there is an increase tax sanctions for the use of non-market prices.

Types of checks

Inspections are represented by desk and field inspections, scheduled and unscheduled.

Cameral

Held in tax authority using data tax returns. It is legal to check documentation if (Article 88 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation):

• the declaration states tax for budget reimbursement;
• the organization has submitted an application for a tax reduction, an increase in the amount of losses 2 years after the first declaration;
• a number of inconsistencies or contradictions have been discovered;
• claimed use of tax benefits.

If violations are detected based on the results of a desk inspection, an on-site inspection may be initiated.

Visiting

To avoid stressful situations, you must always be prepared for such meetings. The information may come from the counterparty, tax inspector. The database is closed to public access.

On-site inspections involve a thorough examination financial statements with the possibility of subsequent sanctions (from fines to arrest). There is no way to know about an upcoming visit in advance. But for 2020, tax authorities are required to carry out an on-site audit based on the results of a desk audit if there are any shortcomings.

Stages of implementation:

1. Documentation analysis. It is carried out on the territory of the organization (enterprise) with preliminary notification and presentation of an official ID. Procedures: request for documentation, obtaining necessary explanations, inspection of territories, removal of necessary financial documents. The duration of the check should not be more than 2 months. An extension of up to 4 months is eligible in the following cases: the object is one of the largest taxpayers, force majeure circumstances.
2. Summing up the results with a report. The report compiles the tax base, analyzes identified violations, and makes recommendations for correcting them. If necessary, additional taxes are assessed and sanctions are imposed.

What do tax authorities want to find first? If previously the search priority was unreasonable expenses for additional charge profits and VAT, now a search for undeclared revenue has been added. Even complaints from employees dismissed from the organization are considered. The courts often side with the tax authorities.

Suspension and extension

An audit of taxpayers (on-site or desk) may be suspended in the following cases:

• implementation of counter verification;
• removal of necessary documents;
• carrying out the examination.

An extension can be implemented for many reasons:

• if the taxpayer is one of the largest;
• according to available information from various sources about tax violations;
• in the event of a force majeure emergency (fire, flood, etc.);
• in the presence of separate divisions at the company;
• failure to provide requested documents on time;
• due to other circumstances.

The duration of a standard on-site inspection is two months (can be increased to 4-6).

Scheduled and unscheduled tax audits

Scheduled inspections are carried out mainly once every three years. The company is notified about them no later than three days in advance. But there are also unplanned ones. They can be carried out by Rospotrebnadzor in places of public catering and sale of medicines.

The table shows situations, which may cause the initiation of unscheduled tax control in 2020.

What is a signal to check (reasons for control)	What violations are expected?
Reducing the tax burden in relation to the industry average (by 10% and below)	There is a suspicion of tax savings
Lack of active communication during the conclusion of the contract, violation of the rules for its execution, lack of reliable information about the location of the areas	Interaction with counterparties that cause suspicion (mistrust)
Exceeding the rate of increase in expenses over income	Assumption of underestimation of income, overestimation of expenses
Continued losses	Discrepancy between losses and increased sales revenue
Low employee salaries (10% below the industry average)	Suspicion of payments “in envelopes”
The dubiousness of contracts with existing intermediaries	Suspicion, for example, of manipulation with a product that simply could not be produced in a given volume at a given time. Inconsistency of the indicated material resources factual data, another.
Change of location	Special delay to correct identified violations
Inconsistency with the industry average level of profitability	Underreporting

Common measures taken by tax officials to find information and evidence are following:

1. Interviewing counterparties (employees under the contract) and all possible witnesses.
2. Fining witnesses for failure to appear.
3. Visiting witnesses, if they fail to appear when called, at home with drawing up a protocol and recording it on video.
4. Using the capabilities of the local inspector in searching for witnesses, interrogating him in order to obtain information.
5. Search for an informal approach, alternative sources, use of photos, audio, video recording facts, which since May 2016 are eligible as evidence in court.
6. Searching for information and evidence on the Internet, in the 2-NDFL database, on requests from banks, the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate, the Russian Federation.
7. Seizure of material evidence (hard drives, computers) in the presence of police.
8. Using call printouts cellular communications and social telephone surveys.

Advice on the best options for a director’s behavior in the event of an audit may be as follows::

In 2020, enterprises will be included in the tax audit plan in the following cases:

1. If the amount of violations is above 10 million rubles.
2. In case of gross violations or complete disregard of tax reporting requirements.
3. If the organization is included in the plan for 2020 based on the results of a desk audit.
4. At zero balance, initiating the liquidation process.
5. When you become one of the largest taxpayers.
6. On behalf of law enforcement agencies.

Responsibility based on results

The inspectorate has the right to apply to entrepreneurs legal entities tax liability sanctions. Some documents may be transferred to the police department to initiate a criminal case. The degree of punishment depends on the violations identified and the conditions that aggravate or mitigate them.

Removal of tax liability is expected in following cases: when the statute of limitations has expired, not guilty of a tax-related offense. Eliminate guilt natural disasters, force majeure, execution of written instructions from regulatory authorities.

The list of mitigating and aggravating conditions is reflected in Article 112 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Tax liability does not guarantee exemption from criminal or administrative charges.