Article 266 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Expenses for the formation of reserves for doubtful debts (current version)

In the practice of entrepreneurship, one has to be both in the role of a lender and in the role of a borrower. In the first case, situations occur when partners, for one reason or another, do not repay the debt on time or do not fulfill their financial obligations at all. However, such financial situations must still be reliably reflected in the organization's accounting and financial records. A special reserve is created for this purpose.

Is it necessary to create a reserve for doubtful debts on advances issued ?

Let's consider the principles of forming this type of reserve, methods of accounting for it, accounting entries accompanying this process, as well as the nuances of write-off.

Doubtful debts and provisions for them

For a reliable financial reflection of the organization’s receivables in the accounting documents, a so-called reserve for doubtful debts is created. To define this concept, you first need to understand what doubtful debt is.

doubtful if they are unlikely to be repaid in full, as evidenced by the following factors:

• violation by a partner of deadlines for paying off debt;
• obtaining information about serious financial difficulties of the debtor partner;
• absence of any additional guarantees (collateral, deposit, surety, bank guarantee, retention of any property of the counterparty, etc.)

FOR YOUR INFORMATION! Debt reflected in the debit of any accounting accounts, including 60, 62, 72, as well as issued as a loan under subaccount 58-3, may become doubtful.

Doubtful debts are identified based on the results of the inventory of current accounts:

• on loans;
• for goods and/or services sold;
• payment for work performed;
• in some cases - for advances issued to suppliers.

How to use the reserve for doubtful debts ?

In order to correctly reflect this type of debt on the balance sheet, a special type of reserve is created, which is intended to serve as an estimate for accounting. This means that the amount of debt must be reflected in the balance sheet by subtracting from it the funds allocated to the reserve. The content of expenses or income must necessarily display:

• creation of such a reserve;
• its increase;
• reduction of funds.

NOTE! The reserve created for doubtful debts is included in the expenses that are deducted for taxation, therefore, it is financially beneficial for organizations from the point of view of tax accounting to form and take into account the reserve.

If, in accordance with civil law, the obligation is terminated...

...due to the impossibility of its execution
According to paragraph 1 of Art. 416 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, an obligation is terminated by the impossibility of performance if it is caused by a circumstance for which neither party is responsible.

Impossibility of fulfillment as a basis for termination of an obligation must occur due to objective circumstances, for example, a fire that destroyed all the debtor’s property and led to the impossibility of fulfilling his obligations.

A debt to an organization may also be owed by a citizen, and the impossibility of fulfilling the obligation by the latter may be due to his death. In accordance with Art. 418 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation , an obligation is terminated by the death of the debtor if fulfillment cannot be carried out without the personal participation of the debtor or the obligation is otherwise inextricably linked with the personality of the debtor. Thus, for profit tax purposes, a citizen’s debt may be considered uncollectible due to the death of the debtor, except in cases where the obligation is transferred to the heirs by way of succession ( Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated September 28, 2009 No. 03‑03‑06/1/622 ) .

...based on an act of a state body

Clause 1 of Art. 417 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation establishes: if, as a result of the issuance of an act of a state body, the fulfillment of an obligation becomes impossible in whole or in part, the obligation is terminated in full or in the relevant part. The parties who suffered losses as a result of this have the right to demand compensation in accordance with Art. 13 and 16 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation .

Such legislative and regulatory acts of state authorities and local governments are laws, decrees, resolutions, orders, regulations.

...in connection with the liquidation of the debtor organization

General provisions on liquidation. Liquidation of a legal entity entails its termination without transfer in the order of universal succession of its rights and obligations to other persons ( Clause 1 of Article 61 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation ).

In accordance with this article, a legal entity may be liquidated:

• by decision of its founders (participants), including in connection with the expiration of the period for which the legal entity was created, with the achievement of the purpose for which it was created ( clause 2 );
• by court decision in the cases provided for in paragraph 3 ;
• as a result of declaring a legal entity bankrupt ( clause 6 ).

According to paragraph 9 of Art. 63 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the liquidation of a legal entity is considered completed, and the legal entity is considered to have ceased to exist after information about its termination is entered into the Unified State Register of Legal Entities in the manner established by Federal Law No. 129-FZ [2].
An organization has the right to recognize a debt as bad and include its amount in expenses when calculating the income tax base after making an entry in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities on the exclusion of a legal entity - the debtor from the register ( Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated March 25, 2016 No. 03-03-06/1/16721 ).

Documentary evidence of the liquidation of the debtor organization can be an extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, the procedure for obtaining which is established by Art. 6 of Federal Law No. 129-FZ ( Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated March 25, 2016 No. 03-03-06/1/16721 ).

At the same time, information about the liquidation of a counterparty posted on the official website of the Federal Tax Service cannot be used as the only documentary evidence of expenses in the form of the amount of bad debt written off ( Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated February 15, 2007 No. 03‑03‑06/1/98 ).

Liquidation by decision of the tax authority. Tax authorities have the right to exclude an inactive legal entity from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities in the so-called simplified procedure.

So, in accordance with Art. 64.2 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation is considered to have actually ceased its activities and is subject to exclusion from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, a legal entity that, during the 12 months preceding its exclusion from the said register, did not submit reporting documents provided for by the legislation of the Russian Federation on taxes and fees, and did not carry out transactions on at least one bank account. Such a legal entity is called inactive. The exclusion of an inactive legal entity from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities entails legal consequences provided for by the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and other laws in relation to liquidated legal entities.

Thus, an organization can write off as tax expenses the debts of a legal entity that has actually ceased its activities in the manner prescribed by Art. 266 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation , from the date of exclusion of this person from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities ( letters of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated March 25, 2016 No. 03-03-06/1/16721 , dated January 23, 2015 No. 03-01-10/1982 ).

Termination of the activities of the individual entrepreneur. An extract from the Unified State Register of Individual Entrepreneurs on the termination of the activities of an individual entrepreneur is not a sufficient basis for recognizing the debt as bad for the purposes of calculating income tax ( Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated September 16, 2015 No. 03-03-06/53157 ).

That is, if the debtor of the organization is an individual entrepreneur, it should remember that in order to apply the provisions of paragraph 2 of Art. 266 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the concept of “liquidation of an individual entrepreneur” is not identical to the concept of “liquidation of an organization.” In other words, after making an entry in the Unified State Register of Entrepreneurs about the termination of a citizen’s activities as an individual entrepreneur, he loses the right to engage in entrepreneurial activities. However, at the same time, he continues to bear property liability to creditors as an ordinary citizen. Despite the fact that an individual has lost the status of an individual entrepreneur, his debt has not gone away and the creditor organization, when calculating the income tax base, will not be able to take into account his debt in expenses on such a basis as the liquidation of an individual entrepreneur.

For tax purposes, it is safer for an organization to take into account the receivables of individual entrepreneurs as bad debts for other reasons, for example, after the statute of limitations has expired.

Write-off of accounts receivable for counterparties declared bankrupt. In accordance with Art. 2 of the Bankruptcy Law [3], bankruptcy proceedings are understood as a procedure applied in a bankruptcy case to a debtor declared bankrupt in order to proportionately satisfy the claims of creditors.

The court's recognition of a debtor as bankrupt entails its liquidation ( Clause 1, Article 65 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation ).

The basis for making an entry in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities about the liquidation of the debtor is the ruling of the arbitration court on the completion of bankruptcy proceedings. From the date of making an entry about the liquidation of the debtor in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, bankruptcy proceedings are considered completed ( clauses 3 , 4 of Article 149 of the Bankruptcy Law ).

The receivables of an organization declared bankrupt, in respect of which a bankruptcy management procedure has been introduced, cannot be classified as uncollectible until the completion of bankruptcy proceedings, provided that the creditor has declared his claims in the prescribed manner and is included in the register of creditors.

Thus, the debt of an organization in respect of which a bankruptcy procedure is being carried out, included in the register of creditors’ claims, cannot be recognized as uncollectible for profit tax purposes and is not taken into account in expenses when forming the tax base until the completion of bankruptcy proceedings ( letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated December 11, 2015 No. 03‑03‑06/1/72494 , dated 03/04/2013 No. 03‑03‑06/1/6313 ).

Situations are possible when only part of the receivables is included in the register of creditors' claims for a particular counterparty. At the same time, a bankruptcy procedure was carried out in relation to this counterparty and it was excluded from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities. In this case, the organization has the right to write off the entire amount of debt. This conclusion follows from established arbitration practice.

Thus, in the Resolution of the FAS VSO dated September 24, 2008 in case No.  A33-16514/07-F02-4677/08 it is noted: the fact that the debt was not included in the register of creditors’ claims in full does not affect the possibility of classifying a bad debt as non-operating expenses[4].

If bankrupt debtors had joint and several debtors. According to paragraph 1 of Art. 322 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation , a joint obligation (liability) or a joint claim arises if the solidarity of the duty or claim is provided for by an agreement or established by law, in particular, if the subject of the obligation is indivisible.

Clause 2 of Art. 323 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation establishes that a creditor who has not received full satisfaction from one of the joint and several debtors has the right to demand what was not received from the remaining joint and several debtors. Joint and several debtors remain obligated until the obligation is fully fulfilled.

If an organization has entered into an agreement with a counterparty that provides for joint and several obligations and joint and several debtors, then if the main debtor is declared bankrupt (an arbitration court ruling has been made to complete bankruptcy proceedings, the debtor organization is excluded from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities), it cannot recognize the debt under the obligation as uncollectible and, therefore, take it into account in expenses for tax purposes ( Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated April 12, 2012 No. 03-03-06/1/194 ).

Legislative documents

State regulation of issues related to the reserve for doubtful debts is regulated by the following legislative acts:

• Tax Code of the Russian Federation (Part 2) dated August 5, 2000 No. 117-FZ, as amended, entered into force on March 1, 2015;
• Regulations on maintaining accounting and financial statements in the Russian Federation, approved by Order of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated July 29, 1998 No. 34n;
• Accounting Regulations PBU 4/99 “Accounting Statements of an Organization”, approved by Order of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated July 6, 1999 No. 43n;
• Order of the Ministry of Finance dated June 13, 1995 No. 49 (as amended on November 8, 2010) “On approval of the Methodological Guidelines for the Inventory of Property and Financial Liabilities”;
• Accounting Regulation 21/2008 “Changes in estimated values”, approved by Order of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated October 6, 2008 No. 106n.

In what cases is it necessary to restore the provision for doubtful debts in accounting?

How is the created reserve used?

The allowance for doubtful debts is used to cover losses from bad debts.

According to the letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated November 24, 2017 No. 03-03-06/1/77995, at the expense of this reserve it is necessary to write off debts that are recognized as bad, even if they did not participate in its formation.

But the Resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court dated June 17, 2014 No. 4580/14 reflects a different position: if the debt did not participate in the formation of the reserve for doubtful debts, then if it is recognized as bad, it is directly taken into account as part of non-operating expenses. Following this position allows the taxpayer to take into account the amount of bad debts in expenses without reducing the created reserve. Moreover, the reasons why a reserve for debt was not formed are not important.

In addition, the taxpayer has the right to choose the method of accounting for bad debt in expenses, for which a reserve was not formed, since accounting for bad debt at the expense of a reserve, and not as a loss, does not lead to an understatement of the tax base for income tax.

How to create a reserve for doubtful debts

The specifics of creating and disposing of a reserve for doubtful debts are not clearly regulated by law. Organizations must independently develop appropriate provisions and consolidate them in internal regulations. In this case, it is necessary to take into account the generally accepted features of the regulation of a company’s financial reserves.

1. Basis for creation - for this type of reserve they will be the results of the inventory of receivables carried out on the last reporting day.
2. The amount of reserve contributions is determined separately for each defaulter (analytical accounting of doubtful debts). At the same time, the solvency of each partner is taken into account (real financial prospects and opportunities for full or partial repayment of debt).
3. Method for creating a reserve can be chosen by the organization independently based on the specifics of its activities and the nuances of the debt itself. There are three possible ways to create a reserve fund for doubtful debts:
   interval - the amount of reserve contributions is calculated every billing period (month, quarter) by calculating a percentage of the debt amount, which may vary depending on the degree of delay in payment;
4. expert - the amount of debt that will not be paid on time is assessed separately for each debtor, this will be the amount of reserve contributions;
5. statistical – data on bad debts is taken into account for several reporting periods for different types of debt.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION! The organization must record the chosen method and features of calculation in its accounting policies. For each type, you need to specify the appropriate conditions. For example, for the interval method, the accounting period and the percentage of deductions must be indicated (not necessarily the same as that used in tax accounting); for an expert – criteria for the debtor’s solvency, etc.

Determination of the maximum amount of reserves before and after 2017

Let's look at how "1C: Accounting 8" edition 3.0 reflects operations on the formation of reserves for doubtful debts, taking into account the latest changes in tax legislation.

Example 1

Before starting work, the user must configure the accounting policies and tax accounting parameters. For the example under consideration, in the contract card with the customer, it is necessary to indicate the payment period under the contract, as shown in Figure 1.

To reflect sales transactions in the 1C:Accounting 8 program, edition 3.0, the standard accounting system document Sales (act, invoice) (Sales section) with the type of transaction Services is used.

In order for the buyer's debt to be automatically included in the calculation of reserves, in the Settlements form (accessed via the hyperlink of the same name from the sales document form), the Account of settlements with counterparty attribute must take the value 62.01 or 76.06.

As of November 30, 2015, doubtful debt amounts to RUB 150,000.00, but its period of occurrence does not exceed 45 calendar days. Therefore, the routine operation Calculation of reserves for doubtful debts for November does not make any movements in the registers. The indicator Provisions for debts in the information register of the Share of write-off of indirect expenses is also not calculated.

But as of December 31, 2015, the debt period is already in the range from 45 to 90 calendar days, therefore, when performing the operation Calculation of reserves for doubtful debts for December, the reserve is calculated and the accounting entry is generated:

Debit 91.02 Credit 63 - for the amount of the reserve, the value of which is RUB 75,000.00. (RUB 150,000.00 x 50%).

For tax accounting purposes for income tax, amounts are entered into special resources of the accounting register:

Amount NU Dt 91.02 and Amount NU Kt 63 - for the amount of the reserve, taking into account the limitation, the value of which is RUB 70,000.00. (700,000.00 x 10%); Amount PR Dt 91.02 and Amount PR Kt 63 - for a constant difference, the value of which is RUB 5,000.00. (RUB 75,000.00 – 70,000.00).

The document Regular transaction with the type of operation Calculation of reserves for doubtful debts, in addition to movements in accounting and tax accounting, also creates an entry in the periodic register of information Calculation of reserves for doubtful debts, reflecting information about doubtful debts and accrued reserves in accounting and for profit tax purposes.

To document the calculation of the accrual and adjustment of the reserve for doubtful debts, you need to generate a statement of calculation for the routine operation.

It can be done:

• from the context menu of the routine operation Calculation of provisions for doubtful debts;
• Click the Help-calculation button from the Month Closing processing form;
• from the Operations section -> Closing the period by clicking on the References-calculations hyperlink and selecting the Provisions for doubtful debts option.

The Certificate-Calculation of Provisions for Doubtful Debts report can be generated by separately displaying accounting indicators, tax accounting indicators or accounting indicators with permanent and temporary differences (Fig. 3). Indicators are selected in the report settings, which can be accessed by clicking the Show settings button.

Rice. 3. Certificates of calculations of reserves for doubtful debts

Please note that in the Certificate of calculation of reserves for doubtful debts according to tax accounting data, column 4 reflects the share of recognition of expenses taking into account the standard, which is calculated when performing the regulatory operation Calculation of shares of write-off of indirect expenses and is recorded in the indicator Provisions for debts of the information register Shares of write-off of indirect expenses.

When performing the routine operation Calculation of income tax for December, which is included in the Closing of the month processing, a permanent difference leads to the recognition of a permanent tax liability in the amount of RUB 1,000.00.

In the income tax return for 2015 (approved by order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated November 26, 2014 No. ММВ-7-3 / [email protected] ), the amount of contributions to the reserve (RUB 70,000.00) is reflected in the total amount of non-operating expenses for line 200 of Appendix No. 2 to Sheet 02.

2016 is coming. As of March 31, 2016, the debt period already exceeds 90 calendar days, so the amount of the reserve is determined as 100% of the amount of doubtful debt and amounts to RUB 150,000.00. This means that in accounting the reserve must be adjusted upward.

In tax accounting, the maximum amount of contributions to the reserve is already calculated based on 2016 revenue, therefore, the amount of the reserve, taking into account the limitation, should not exceed RUB 25,000.00. (RUB 250,000.00 x 10%).

The previously accrued reserve must be adjusted downwards, and the difference is included in non-operating income.

Thus, in the first quarter the tax base increases by the amount of the restored reserve.

When performing the operation Calculation of provisions for doubtful debts for March, the following accounting entry is generated:

Debit 91.02 Credit 63 – for the amount of the increase in the reserve (RUB 75,000.00 = RUB 150,000.00 – RUB 75,000.00).

For tax accounting purposes for income tax, amounts are entered into special resources of the accounting register:

Amount NU Dt 63 and Amount NU Kt 91.01 - for the amount of the restored reserve (45,000.00 rubles = 70,000.00 - 25,000.00 rubles); Amount PR Dt 91.02 and Amount PR Kt 63 - for a constant difference (RUB 75,000.00); Amount PR Dt 63 and Amount PR Kt 91.01 - for a negative constant difference (- 45,000.00 rub.).

When performing the routine operation Calculation of income tax for March, which is included in the Closing of the month processing, permanent differences lead to the recognition of a permanent tax liability in the amount of RUB 24,000.00.

Until the end of 2016, the amount of the reserve in accounting remains unchanged (RUB 150,000.00). In tax accounting, the reserve is adjusted upward on a quarterly basis as revenue increases.

When performing the operation Calculation of provisions for doubtful debts for December 2016, the following accounting entry is generated:

Debit 63 Credit 91.01 - for the unspent amount of the reserve created last year and added to income (RUB 75,000.00); Debit 91.02 Credit 63 - for the amount of the reserve added to expenses (RUB 75,000.00).

For the purposes of tax accounting for income tax, amounts are entered into special resources of the accounting register (the reserve is accrued up to the maximum amount, permanent differences are reflected).

Thus, as of December 31, 2016, after performing the operation Calculation of reserves for doubtful debts, the amount of the reserve is:

• RUB 150,000.00 — in accounting;
• RUB 100,000.00 (RUB 1,000,000.00 x 10%) - in tax accounting.

In the income tax return for 2016 (approved by order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated October 19, 2016 No. ММВ-7-3 / [email protected] ), reserves for doubtful debts are reflected as follows:

• the amount of restored reserves (45,000.00) is reflected in the total amount of non-operating income on line 100 of Appendix No. 1 to Sheet 02 of the declaration;
• the amount of contributions to the reserve (RUB 75,000.00) is reflected in the total amount of non-operating expenses on line 200 of Appendix No. 2 to Sheet 02.

With the onset of 2022, the procedure for calculating the maximum reserve amount in tax accounting changes. Since there was no revenue in the first quarter of 2017, the maximum amount of the reserve is determined as 10% of 2016 revenue.

Thus, the amount of the previously accrued reserve is not restored and remains RUB 100,000.00. In accounting, the reserve also does not change, so the routine operation Calculation of reserves for doubtful debts for March 2022 does not generate entries, but only makes an entry in the information register of the same name.

As can be seen from Example 1, the amendment introduced by Federal Law No. 405-FZ of November 30, 2016 to paragraph 4 of Article 266 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation significantly improves the situation of the taxpayer, since during the reporting periods the taxpayer will not have to increase the tax base at the expense of restored reserves.

Accounting for reserves – accounting or tax?

The features of creating a reserve for doubtful debts in accounting and tax accounting differ significantly, since these types of accounting have different purposes. Let's compare the rules specific to accounting and tax accounting regarding the reserve.

1. Mandatory creation. In accounting, such a reserve is required, since it is required by paragraph. 1 clause 7 of the Accounting Regulations. If an organization uses the accrual method for tax accounting, then the accountant himself decides whether to create such a reserve for tax accounting or not (this right is reflected in clause 3 of Article 266 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
2. Characteristics of deductions. Accounting defines reserve contributions as “other expenses,” and for tax accounting they must be taken into account among non-operating expenses.
3. Interpretation of the doubtfulness of debt. For accounting purposes, any debt that is not repaid on time or in full is eligible for compensation as a reserve, but for tax purposes, only late payment for goods, services, and work can be recognized as such.
4. Determining the amount of deductions . For accounting, the priority of establishing the size remains with the accountant (taking into account the characteristics of the debt), and for tax accounting the sizes are clearly defined by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.
5. The total size of the reserve fund . In accounting it is not limited, and in tax accounting it cannot be more than one tenth of revenue.

Do provisions for doubtful debts count as estimated liabilities ?

The debtor-citizen is declared bankrupt

From 01/01/2018 in clause 2 of Art. 266 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation , a new paragraph has appeared [5], according to which bad debts (debts that are unrealistic for collection) are also the debts of a citizen declared bankrupt, for which he is exempt from further fulfillment of creditors’ claims (considered repaid) in accordance with the Bankruptcy Law .
According to paragraph 6 of Art. 213.27 of this law, the claims of creditors that are not satisfied due to the insufficiency of the citizen’s property are considered repaid, except for the cases provided for by this law.

After completing settlements with creditors, a citizen declared bankrupt is released from further fulfillment of creditors’ claims, including claims of creditors not declared when introducing the restructuring of the citizen’s debts or the sale of the citizen’s property (release of the citizen from obligations) ( Article 213.28 of the Bankruptcy Law ). Based on the results of consideration of the report on the results of the sale of the citizen’s property, the arbitration court issues a ruling on the completion of the sale of his property.

That is, if there is a debt to an organization of an individual and this person is declared bankrupt and released from obligations (including obligations to it), the organization has the right to take this debt into account when calculating the taxable base.

Let us note that before introducing this amendment, the Ministry of Finance insisted that there were no grounds for recognizing a debt as bad (uncollectible) for profit tax purposes on the basis of a court decision of an arbitration court on the completion of the sale of the property of a citizen declared bankrupt. In his opinion, acts of courts are not considered as acts of state bodies for the purposes of applying the Civil Code of the Russian Federation ( letters dated July 13, 2017 No. 03-03-06/2/44740 , dated May 23, 2017 No. 03-03-06/2/31460 ) .

Conditions for the formation of the reserve

The decrees, orders and letters of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation define a number of conditions necessary to comply with when creating a reserve fund for doubtful debts.

1. This fund can be created as a result of settlements with legal entities and individuals - buyers for purchased goods, services or paid work. Advances paid to suppliers are not included in reserve amounts.
2. After creating a reserve, the management and/or accounting department of the organization must constantly monitor the dynamics of debts, since their status may change, and the reserve fund must reflect the actual state of affairs (analytical approach).
3. In accounting, a debt can be recognized as uncollectible according to the regulations of Art. 266 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation (as for tax accounting). Otherwise, there is no limit on the timing and size of the reserve fund for debts.
4. If the question arises about which accounting procedure to apply for reserve assets, accounting or tax, you should be guided by the following factors:
   if the discrepancies relate to a temporary difference in the correlation of debt terms (for accounting this is a complete non-repayment within 45 days after the expiration of time restrictions), then the difference will lead to the deposition of tax assets, that is, deductible time intervals for certain amounts of funds (clause 8, 11, 14 PBU 18/02, approved by Order of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated November 19, 2002 No. 114n);
5. if the amount of deductions to the reserve fund for accounting exceeds the 10% barrier established by tax accounting, then the company will operate with permanent financial differences (clauses 4, 7 of PBU 18/02, approved by Order of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated November 19, 2002 No. 114n).

How is the inventory of the reserve for doubtful debts ?

What is doubtful debt?

The reserve for doubtful debts is created in accordance with Art. 266 and 313 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. A doubtful debt is a debt to a taxpayer that:

• not repaid within the terms established by the agreement;
• is not secured by collateral, surety, or bank guarantee.

A reserve can be formed only in relation to accounts receivable that arose in connection with the sale of goods, performance of work, and provision of services.

It does not matter whether the receivables are confirmed by the counterparty or not. In other words, the presence of a reconciliation report with the debtor on the date of creation of the reserve is not necessary for inclusion of the corresponding debt in the calculation of the reserve (Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated July 26, 2006 N 03-03-04/1/612). It is possible to take into account the debt when creating a reserve, even if there is interdependence with the debtor (Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Moscow District dated 03.08.2010 N KA-A40/8149-10, FAS of the Ural District dated 07.07.2009 N F09-4588/09-S3).

For tax purposes the following debts are not considered doubtful:

1. by prepayment, if the supplier has not shipped the goods (Letters of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 06/30/2011 N 07-02-06/115, dated 06/17/2009 N 03-03-06/1/398, dated 10/07/2005 N 03-03 -04/1/257, Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the West Siberian District dated 02.08.2007 N F04-5218/2007(36844-A67-37);

2. on penalties for violation of the terms of the contract (Letters of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated September 23, 2010 N 03-03-06/1/612, dated March 19, 2010 N 03-03-06/2/52);

3. under commercial loan agreements (Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated May 6, 2011 N 03-03-06/1/283);

4. under loan agreements and agreements for the assignment of claims (Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated May 12, 2009 N 03-03-06/1/318, Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Moscow District dated March 26, 2010 N KA-A40/2553-10 in case N A40- 95723/08-98-494 (Determination of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated 02.08.2010 N VAS-8816/10 refused to transfer this case to the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation).

Reflection of the provision for doubtful debts in accounting

Since contributions to this reserve are the dynamics of the estimated value, they must be reflected on the balance sheet at a certain frequency. They are included in the expenses of the period in which changes in the movement of assets in this reserve were observed. Therefore, data on the state of the reserve must be contained in each accounting report (Article 15 of the Federal Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402).

We carry out accounting

Provisions for doubtful debts should be reflected in debit 91 “Other income and expenses” and credit 63 “Provisions for doubtful debts”.

We carry out bad debt

If a debt that was previously listed as doubtful is recognized as uncollectible, its reserve will be written off in debit 63 “Provisions for doubtful debts,” which corresponds with account 62 “Settlements with buyers and customers” or 76 “settlements with various debtors and creditors.” If the amount of bad debt is greater than the reserve for it, it will have to be written off as debit 91 “Other expenses and income.” If a debt has been written off for which the statute of limitations has expired, it must be kept for 5 years in off-balance sheet account 007 “Debt of insolvent creditors written off at a loss” in case the debtor’s solvency returns and the possibility of repayment becomes available.

We make partial payment

If payment is received from the debtor for doubtful debts with the formed reserve, at least partially, this affects the dynamics of funds in the reserve in a positive direction, which must be reflected as a recovery in debit 63 “Provisions for doubtful debts”, correspondence with account 91 “Other income and expenses."

We carry out the unused reserve

If the reserve could not be used before the end of the accounting year that follows the one in which the reserve was created, then this amount on the balance sheet should be added to the financial results for this year under debit 63 “Provisions for doubtful debts”, credit 91 “Other” income and expenses".

Posted as tax obligations

If only mandatory accounting of reserves is carried out, and tax accounting is not carried out, then permanent taxable differences must be recognized as tax liabilities, reflecting them in debit 99 “Profits and losses” and credit 68 “Calculations for taxes and fees”.

Examples

EXAMPLE 1 . Based on the results of the quarterly inventory, the organization revealed doubtful debts in the amount of 12 thousand rubles. according to payments for goods sold. A reserve of 100% was created for this debt. On the date the reserve is created, the accounting records will contain the following entry:

• debit 91-2, credit 63 – 12,000 rub. – a reserve for doubtful debt has been created.

After some time, the debtor company repaid part of this receivable in the amount of 7 thousand rubles. The posting on the date of deposit will be as follows:

• debit 63, credit 91-1 – 7,000 rubles. – the provision for repaid receivables was restored.

EXAMPLE 2 . The organization previously recognized a doubtful debt in the amount of 10,000 rubles. A reserve of 7 thousand rubles was created for it, which was then replenished to 100% of the debt amount. After the expiration of the statute of limitations, this debt was recognized as uncollectible and written off at a loss. Let's look at the transactions (each for its own date of a particular operation):

• debit 91-2, credit 63 – 7,000 rub. – a reserve for doubtful debt has been created;
• debit 91-2, credit 63 – 3,000 rub. – additional provision for doubtful debt has been accrued;
• debit 63, credit 76 – 10,000 rub. – bad debts are written off against the reserve.

Reflected in the balance sheet

To reflect doubtful debts in the balance sheet, line 1230 is intended. It reflects the amount of debts minus the reserve created for them.

Creation or additional accruals to the reserve take place on line 2350 of the financial report (“Other expenses”).

Separately, the balance on account 63 “Provisions for doubtful debts” is not displayed in the balance sheet; the total amount of accounts receivable is simply reduced accordingly.

The statute of limitations for the debt has expired

As follows from the Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated November 16, 2010 No. 03-03-06/1/725 , for the purposes of applying the rule on writing off bad debts, the concept of a limitation period, as well as the reasons for interrupting this period, are regulated by the civil legislation of the Russian Federation.
Let us recall certain norms of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation dedicated to this period:

– the statute of limitations is the period for protecting the right under the claim of a person whose right has been violated ( Article 195 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation );

– the general limitation period is set at three years ( Article 196 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation );

– its course begins from the day when the person learned or should have learned about the violation of his right ( clause 1 of article 200 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation ), and ends in the corresponding month and day of the last year of the period ( clause 1 of article 192 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation );

– the running of the limitation period may be interrupted by the obligor’s performance of actions indicating recognition of the debt. After the break, the limitation period begins anew; the time elapsed before the break is not counted towards the new term ( Article 203 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation ).

At the same time, the Civil Code of the Russian Federation does not specify which specific actions of the obligated person interrupt the course of the period. Their approximate list is given in paragraph 20 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation dated September 29, 2015 No. 43 . Such actions may include, but are not limited to:

– recognition of the claim;

– a change in the contract by an authorized person, from which it follows that the debtor acknowledges the existence of a debt, as well as the debtor’s request for such a change in the contract (for example, a deferment or installment plan);

– act of reconciliation of mutual settlements, signed by an authorized person.

For example, as noted in the FAS Resolution UO dated 01.02.2013 No.  F09-150/13 in case No.  A71-4334/2012 , the signing of an act of reconciliation of mutual settlements by the debtor indicates the recognition by the latter of the amount of debt reflected in the reconciliation act, therefore, the calculation of the period of claim prescription must be carried out from the date of signing of the last reconciliation act.

As follows from the Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated November 25, 2008 No. 03‑03‑06/2/158 , the expiration of the limitation period in the manner established by the Civil Code of the Russian Federation is a sufficient basis for recognizing a debt as bad (unrealistic for collection) regardless of the fact that the creditor applies to court. Thus, the organization has the right to write off the debt on the specified basis, even if it did not take measures to collect the debt.

In practice, situations are possible when an organization goes to court, which recognizes the existence of a debt from the counterparty, but the latter never repays this debt. In this case, the organization does not have the right to qualify the “debtor” as uncollectible after the expiration of the limitation period. The Ministry of Finance has repeatedly given such explanations in its letters.

Clause 2 of Art. 266 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation does not provide for a special procedure for recognizing as bad debts to a taxpayer that are payable by the debtor on the basis of a court decision that has entered into legal force. Due to the fact that the creditor has exercised the right to judicial protection of the claim, it is impossible to recognize this debt as bad on the basis of the expiration of the statute of limitations ( Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 08/13/2012 No. 03-03-06/1/408 ).

In Letter No. 03‑03‑06/1/19566 , the financiers indicated: a debt subject to collection through enforcement proceedings may be considered uncollectible for corporate profit tax purposes if the impossibility of its collection is confirmed by a decision of the bailiff on the completion of enforcement proceedings as specified in paragraph. 2 p. 2 art. 266 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation on grounds, or in the event of liquidation of the organization in the prescribed manner.

These reasons will be discussed further.

The right to tax accounting of reserves for doubtful debts

It is not necessary to reflect doubtful debts and provisions for them in tax accounting. But if the accounting department deems it necessary to do this, this right is ensured and regulated by Art. 266 Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

For tax purposes, the definition of doubtful and bad debt is no different from accounting purposes. We discussed the difference in detail above. The procedure for creating and changing the reserve for the following debts differs:

• if the debt period exceeds 3 months, then the amount of the reserve will be fully equivalent to the amount of the debt;
• if the debt payment is overdue for a period of 45 to 90 days, only half of the amount can be deposited into the reserve;
• Before the debt is 45 days overdue, changes to the reserve are not permitted.

For each doubtful debt, analytical records must be constantly maintained for a prompt response in the event of a change in the financial situation of the debtor.

NOTE! In tax accounting, the reserve for doubtful debts can be used exclusively to cover losses on written-off bad debts.

The impossibility of debt collection was confirmed by a bailiff

According to para. 2 – 4 p. 2 tbsp. 266 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, bad (uncollectible) debts are also recognized as debts, the impossibility of collection of which is confirmed by a decree of the bailiff on the completion of enforcement proceedings, issued in the manner established by Federal Law No. 229-FZ [1], in the event of the return of the writ of execution to the recoverer under on the following grounds:
it is impossible to establish the location of the debtor, his property or to obtain information about the availability of funds and other valuables belonging to him in accounts, deposits or deposits in banks or other credit organizations;

the debtor does not have any property that can be foreclosed on, and all measures taken by the bailiff that are permissible by law to find his property were unsuccessful.

Thus, a taxpayer who has a receivable can classify it as uncollectible if one of the above circumstances occurs ( letters of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 02/09/2017 No. 03-03-06/1/7131 , dated 11/14/2016 No. 03-03-06/ 1/66459 ).

If the debtor has two or more debts to the organization under different agreements, while one of them has a court decision on its collection and the bailiff has confirmed the impossibility of establishing the whereabouts of the debtor and there is no property on which collection can be imposed, then the question arises: can Is it possible to include in non-operating expenses as of the date of the decision the amounts of all existing debts of this debtor, including those for which there is no court decision? The Ministry of Finance believes that it is possible to take into account expenses for tax purposes only that specific debt in respect of which there is a decree from the bailiff on the completion of enforcement proceedings (see letters dated July 21, 2015 No. 03-03-06/2/41683 , dated 12.08 .2013 No. 03‑03‑06/1/32519 ).