The effectiveness of cooperation with a counterparty depends, among other things, on how reliable it is and what its business reputation is in the business environment. Cases have become more frequent when the tax inspectorate has claims against an organization because it entered into a deal with an unscrupulous counterparty. As a result, expenses and deductions for transactions with it may not be taken into account by the Federal Tax Service, which increases the tax burden of a bona fide taxpayer.
In this regard, checking counterparties both before the start of cooperation and during the process is an objective necessity, allowing companies to protect themselves from claims from the tax inspectorate and additional financial expenses. You can check entities in various ways, which together allow you to get a complete picture reflecting the activities of a potential or existing counterparty.
When and why is a counterparty verification needed?
You need to check your counterparty in a wide variety of situations, for example, if:
- a transaction with him is carried out for the first time. When checking, you can detect suspicious aspects even before concluding a contract and protect yourself from possible problems in the future;
- the potential counterparty has recently registered. The new company does not pose any particular danger as a counterparty, but working with it can be fraught with a lot of different threats and risks;
- There are a lot of negative reviews about the counterparty. In some situations, negative information about a company may be spread by competitors or disgruntled employees. However, in most cases, it characterizes cooperation with the counterparty as unreliable and problematic;
- the counterparty works only on prepayment. In this case, the company may find itself paying the money under the contract, but not delivering the goods or performing the work.
Checking the counterparty reveals that the company does not fulfill its obligations under the contract, has problems with government agencies, is engaged in fraud or cash-out transactions, is at the stage of liquidation or bankruptcy, has debts on taxes and fees, is involved in legal proceedings, etc. The results obtained from assessing the activities of the counterparty will help protect the company from problems with the tax inspectorate, as well as loss of time and finances.
Court decisions
How to return money for an apartment if the contract was not concluded in accordance with No. 214-FZ
Intellectual Law: Protection of Copyright Works
Work without official registration
Gray sales schemes in new buildings
The case of an overdue loan: how to reduce penalties
How to return an illegally sold apartment
Methods for checking counterparties
The company can check counterparties in several ways, which include the following:
- Request legally significant documents directly from the counterparty.
As a rule, these include the charter, OGRN and TIN, copies of which can be provided at the conclusion of the contract. In addition, it makes sense to ask for an extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, as well as a certificate of no debt to the budget for taxes, contributions and fees.
Fig 1. Financial analysis of the counterparty’s enterprise in 1C: Counterparty
If a fairly large transaction is planned, you can also ask to provide information about the counterparty’s staffing levels, its property status, the cost of fixed assets, reputation in the business environment, and experience in the market. Such information will help confirm that the company has exercised due diligence and vetted its counterparty in advance. Please note that these documents are not required to be provided, but will allow you to confirm the seriousness of your intentions for the transaction.
The first group of documents makes it possible to establish how the counterparty generally conducts its activities and whether it has any serious problems in interacting with the state. The second group of documents is intended rather to ensure that the counterparty is able to fulfill its obligations under the concluded agreement.
Advice! When receiving an extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities from the counterparty itself, it is advisable to check the information on it posted on the Federal Tax Service website. Unscrupulous businessmen can falsify this document.
Use the Federal Tax Service service.
When using online services of the Federal Tax Service, you can obtain the following information:
- extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities or Unified State Register of Individual Entrepreneurs;
- about liquidation or bankruptcy of an organization;
- on the exclusion of an inactive company;
- about the absence of disqualified persons in the executive body of the company;
- about the discrepancy between the legal and actual addresses of the counterparty.
Important! A discrepancy between the legal and actual addresses of the counterparty is not a reason for refusing the taxpayer to apply for tax deductions. However, such a discrepancy, as well as the widespread nature of the legal address, may become grounds for exclusion of the counterparty from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities.
Check the file of arbitration cases.
This action will allow you to find out whether the counterparty is involved in any legal proceedings. This information makes it possible to determine how often the company is a plaintiff or defendant in court, as well as the nature of the claims.
- Find out if the counterparty is going through bankruptcy proceedings.
If the counterparty is at the stage of bankruptcy, then, naturally, there can be no talk of any cooperation with him.
- Check for a valid license.
If the activity is carried out by a counterparty without a valid license, then it is considered illegal, and the company itself is considered unscrupulous.
- Study the annual accounting (financial) statements of the counterparty.
This documentation can be obtained both from the counterparty itself and from Rosstat. Reporting will allow you to familiarize yourself with the company’s performance indicators and determine its financial capabilities to fulfill the terms of the contract.
Customer Reviews
Review by Rychnikova G.V. I express my gratitude to your employee Andrey Valerievich Ermakov for providing me with legal assistance.
I also express my gratitude to Diana Sumarokova for her polite and tactful customer service and the very pleasant atmosphere in your office.
Gratitude from gr. Moskovchuk V.G. I express my deep gratitude to lawyer Denis Yuryevich for the consultation and bringing the case to its logical conclusion. Legal documents were drawn up very competently and sent to court. The case is won. Hooray!!! Thank you very much!
Plaintiff: Moskovchuk V. G.
Gratitude from Plisetsky V.V. I would like to express my gratitude to Sergei Vyacheslavovich Mavrichev for his sensitive attitude and understanding towards clients. The issue was resolved within one day. I am very grateful to Sergei Vyacheslavovich.
Plisetsky V.V. October 19, 2018
Gratitude from gr. Voronova T.A. I express my gratitude to Yuri Vladimirovich for competent, highly professional advice on the issue of “Protection of Consumer Rights”, a clear explanation of my further actions in my situation, as well as gratitude to Olga Anatolyevna for her attentive and sensitive attitude towards visitors. I was glad to meet your agency!
Voronova Tatyana Anatolyevna
tel.
Letter of thanks
Gratitude from Busygin A.I. I express my gratitude to Vasily Anatolyevich Kavalyauskas for the qualified management of my case, competent advice and justification for the decision, which led to compensation of the stated claims.
Sincerely, Busygin Alexander Ivanovich
26.12.2017
Thanks to Stepanov D.Yu. from Shcherbakova T.I. I would like to express my deep gratitude to Denis Yuryevich Stepanov for the very competent, highly qualified handling of my difficult case of terminating a contractual agreement with a problematic developer, who repeatedly postponed the completion of construction and completely ignored our claims (from other legal companies). The claim and complaints of Denis Yuryevich put everything in its place quickly enough, saving us from the threat of penalties from the developer, who unlawfully included them in the contract. Good luck to you in defending our legitimate interests! Thank you!
Sincerely, Shcherbakova T.I. 04.12.2017
Gratitude from Ivanov I express my gratitude to Vasily Anatolyevich for the correct and competent legal assistance in solving my case. I wish you and your entire company prosperity and success.
With all my heart, V.V. Ivanov. 05/10/2018
Gratitude from Evgeniy N. I express my gratitude to Alexander Viktorovich Pavlyuchenko for the qualified management of my case, competent advice and informed decisions, which led to compensation for all claimed losses.
Sincerely, Evgeniy N., November 17, 2017
Gratitude from N.S. Khokhlov I am Khokhlov N.S. I express special gratitude to lawyer A.V. Pavlyuchenko who defended my consumer protection rights. I was pleasantly surprised by his professionalism, where he discovered the false address of my defendant registered in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, and also defended me, as I believe, from the unreasonable decisions of the trial judge. If I need legal assistance in the future, I will only turn to A.V. Pavlyuchenko.
N.S. Khokhlov December 12, 2017
What to pay special attention to when checking a counterparty
The following points can serve as special signals of a counterparty’s unreliability:
- the company refuses to provide copies of legally significant documentation, for example, the charter, TIN or OGRN;
- OKVED codes indicated in the extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities do not correspond to the actual activities of the counterparty;
- the number of OKVED codes exceeds a reasonable number, and at the same time they are quite diverse and relate to completely different areas of activity;
- there is information about the unreliability of the legal address or information about the director;
- the organization has no employees;
- the counterparty is often involved in legal proceedings;
- operations are carried out that are atypical for the activities of the enterprise;
- the company submits zero or loss-making reports;
- the counterparty has a serious debt on taxes and fees.
Important! If already at the initial stage there are serious doubts about the reliability of the counterparty, it makes sense to refuse to cooperate with him, even if he offers good conditions and prospects.
Electronic services for verifying a counterparty
To check a counterparty for reliability and integrity, you can use the following services:
- order an extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities on the Federal Tax Service website;
- order an extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate on the Rosreestr website;
- check information through the Transparent Business service;
- check the legal address for mass distribution;
- check the director for disqualification;
- find out the debt on taxes and fees or reporting;
- check inclusion in the register of small and medium-sized businesses;
- find out about bankruptcy through the Federal Register of Bankruptcy Information;
- check for exclusion from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities in the journal “Bulletin of State Registration”;
- search in the bailiff database;
- check in the file of arbitration cases;
- determine the validity of the license on the websites of licensing authorities;
- check the validity of the manager’s passport on the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs;
- check the validity of the power of attorney on the website of the Federal Notary Chamber;
- check the integrity of the counterparty on the government procurement website.
As you can see, checking a counterparty is a very labor-intensive task. You have to check more than 10 services. But, you can make everything much simpler!
1SPARK Risks is a service for assessing the reliability and monitoring of counterparties in 1C to make informed decisions on cooperation and reducing tax risks. With just one program you can check the counterparty in all sources of information:
Fig 2. Main sources of information 1SPARK Risks
