Features of accounting for advertising expenses within the framework of the simplified tax system

The concept of "advertising"

First, let's define the terms and concepts.

Advertising means information disseminated in any way, in any form and using any means, addressed to an indefinite number of persons and aimed at attracting attention to the object of advertising, creating or maintaining interest in it and promoting it on the market (Clause 1 Article 3 of Law No. 38‑FZ).

Accounting for the main operations of a travel agency: postings

The procedure for recording travel agency transactions depends on what scheme is used when paying remuneration to the agent: (click to expand)

• the agency independently deducts the amount of income from the proceeds;
• income comes from the operator after funds from clients are transferred to him.

Below we will look at accounting for each of the above schemes using examples.

Example No. 1. On 02/12/16, an agreement was concluded between the travel agency “Labyrinth” and the tour operator “Perfect” for the sale of the tourism product “Venice Spring”. The cost of the product is 102,450 rubles, the reward for “Labyrinth” is 12,580 rubles. Under the terms of the agreement, “Labyrinth” transfers to “Perfect” the amount received from the tourist, minus its own income.

On 03/15/16, the client purchased the “Venice Spring” tour from the Labyrinth agency at a price of 115,030 rubles. (RUB 102,450 + RUB 12,580).

03/18/16 “Labyrinth” transferred to “Perfect” the amount of income minus its own commission. The accountant of “Labyrinth” made the following entries in the accounting:

Example No. 2. On 08/20/16, an agreement was concluded between the travel agency “Minotaur” and the tour operator “Around the World” for the sale of the tourism product “Autumn in Greece”. The cost of the product is 122,040 rubles, the reward for “Minotaur” is 14,710 rubles.

Under the terms of the agreement, Minotaur transfers the full amount received from the tourist to Around the World, after which the operator pays Minotaur a commission.

On 10/02/16, the client purchased the “Autumn in Greece” tour from the Minotaur agency at a price of 136,750 rubles. (RUB 122,040 + RUB 14,710).

10/05/16 “Minotaur” transferred the entire amount for the tour to “Around the World” (RUB 136,750). “Minotaur” received a reward from “Around the World” on 10/11/16. The accountant of “Minotaur” made the following entries in the accounting:

Tax accounting rules

“Simplers” have the right to take into account the costs of advertising manufactured (purchased) and (or) sold goods (work, services), trademark and service mark (clause 20, clause 1, article 346.16 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Advertising expenses are recognized as expenses in the manner prescribed by Art. 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation (see also Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated December 17, 2019 No. 03‑11‑11/98698).

As mentioned earlier, a feature of the recognition of advertising expenses when applying the simplified tax system is the standardization of some of them. In other words, part of the advertising expenses is accepted for tax accounting in full, and the rest - in an amount not exceeding 1% of sales revenue (clause 4 of article 264, clause 20 of clause 1, clause 2 of article 346.16 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation ).

Results

Only single tax payers with the object of taxation “income and expenses” can recognize advertising expenses when calculating the single tax. Non-standardized expenses can be taken into account when calculating the single tax in the full amount of paid advertising costs, and normalized expenses can be taken into account only within 1% of the revenue received and advances received in the reporting period.

About the nuances of reflecting expenses and the requirements for expenses, read the article “Accounting for expenses under the simplified tax system with the object “income minus expenses” " .

Sources:

• Tax Code of the Russian Federation
• Law “On Advertising” dated March 13, 2006 No. 38-FZ
• PBU 10/99, approved. by order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated May 6, 1999 N 33n

You can find more complete information on the topic in ConsultantPlus. Free trial access to the system for 2 days.

Which expenses are regulated and which are not?

In paragraph 4 of Art. 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, advertising costs are divided into two types - normalized and non-standardized.

For ease of perception, the contents of this paragraph are presented in the table.

Advertising expenses (clause 4 of article 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation)

Financiers believe that standard advertising costs should include, for example, the following costs:

• to pay for services for placing information about goods (works, services) sold by the company in catalogs of retail chains;
• to send advertising SMS messages;
• for the placement of billboards in the subway.

Confirm your consumption

It is necessary to carefully store documents containing information about money paid for advertising. The tax authorities may require proof of expenses. If the company fails to do this, the tax will be assessed additionally. A fine will also be imposed. If the funds for advertising are significant, then the documents must be prepared especially carefully.

For each operation a set must be generated:

1. Contract. It indicates the type of advertising being purchased. Details. This document is optional, but the information in it will clearly indicate which advertising you have paid for.
2. Certificate of completion of work, which confirms the fact of completion of work. List the services provided in detail. If the contractor fails to submit a report, save email correspondence, especially those letters that contain confirmation. It is better to print it out and notarize it.
3. Proof of payment: cash receipt and bank statement.

The procedure for recognizing standard advertising expenses

Non-standardized expenses are fully taken into account when calculating the “simplified” tax.

Standardized items are taken into account in an amount not exceeding 1% of sales revenue, calculated in accordance with Art. 249 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. The advertising expenditure standard is calculated based on revenue on an accrual basis from the beginning of the year.

Under the simplified tax system, all income according to Art. 346.17 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation are accounted for on a cash basis, and for the purposes of rationing advertising expenses, this provision is preserved. That is, revenue must be calculated taking into account received advance payments.

If standard advertising expenses exceeded 1% of revenue in one reporting period, then excess expenses can be taken into account in the next reporting period, and so on until the end of the year. Indeed, under the simplified tax system, income and expenses are calculated on an accrual basis (clause 5 of article 346.18 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). However, expenses that exceed this limit at the end of the year cannot be transferred to the next year.

Thus, the company has the right to take into account all advertising expenses incurred in the tax base.

Travel agency accounting

A tourist voucher is a mandatory integral part of the Agreement on the sale of a tourism product. This is a Strict Reporting Form (SRF). Filled out in 2 copies, one each for the tourist and the Travel Agency. In what cases is it necessary to use CCT? In the case of issuing BSO, you do not need to use cash register equipment (CCT).

This provision does not apply in cases where the client has made an advance payment (advance payment) for the trip. In case of receiving an advance for a trip, the client must be issued a cash register receipt. If the Travel Agent sells other, non-tourist products to clients, for example, booking air tickets, it is impossible to work without the use of cash register systems.

Mandatory preparation of an Agent's Report on the sale of vouchers. The travel agent is obliged to submit to the Tour Operator the Agent's Report on the sale of the tour. The Report calculates the remuneration. This document is signed by the head of the Tour Operator.

Possible terms of remuneration for a travel agent

When concluding an agreement for the provision of paid services, the income of a travel agent, subject to taxation, is formed in the usual manner as the difference between the sale price to a tourist and the purchase price of the service from a tour operator, taking into account other sales expenses (with a simplified tax system of 15%) or as the entire cost of sale (with a simplified tax system of 6 %).

For an agency agreement concluded between the final buyer and a travel agent, the travel agent's income (his agency fee) will be the difference between the amount received from the buyer and the amount paid to the tour operator. Depending on the chosen tax base, the entire amount of remuneration will be subject to tax (STS 6%) or reduced by sales expenses (STS 15%). A mandatory requirement for such an agreement will be the preparation of an agent’s report reflecting the amount of his remuneration, which must be signed by the end buyer.

For a sample of such a report, see the material “Sample Agent Report under an Agency Agreement.”

With an agency agreement, according to which the travel agent acts on the instructions of the tour operator, the amount of the travel agent’s remuneration, from which tax will be charged according to the rules of the selected tax base, largely depends on the conditions included in the agreement. Options for this reward may be:

• The tour operator pays a fixed amount of remuneration for each tourist product sold, regardless of its actual cost.
• The size of the travel agent's remuneration is determined as a percentage of the cost of the tourism product. Here it will be necessary to clarify which one, since the real cost of a tourist product can be changed due to a discount, an additional increase in price or exchange rate difference (if the cost is indicated in monetary units).
• The remuneration is calculated according to a special algorithm, which is given in the contract.

Special clauses in the contract are required in situations where sales are allowed at a discount or at a price higher than that offered by the tour operator. The right to such a sale must be included in the contract. A minimum acceptable selling price may be specified. But in any case, it is necessary to establish at whose expense the discount is being made, and who will be the recipient of the additional income.

The discount can be achieved through:

• tour operator income;
• travel agent fees;
• income of both of them, which requires defining in the contract the procedure for distributing the discount between them.

When sold at a higher price, the additional income can become income:

• tour operator,
• travel agent,
• both of them.

In the latter case, the agreement must specify the principle of distribution of additional income. If there is no such clause, then it must be divided equally between the parties to the agency agreement (Article 992 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

Thus, the final amount of a travel agent’s remuneration under an agency agreement depends on its terms and consists of the agent’s remuneration itself (letter of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated March 30, 2012 No. 03-11-06/2/50) and additional income (letter of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated November 18, 2009 No. 03-11-06/2/244). Other amounts related to the fulfillment by a travel agent of the instructions assigned to him by the tour operator are not included in the travel agent’s income (letter of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated September 4, 2013 No. 03-11-11/36394).

All calculations regarding the final amount of remuneration under the agency agreement concluded between the travel agent and the tour operator must be present in the travel agent’s monthly report provided to the tour operator. In accordance with them, both parties determine the actual amount of their income. For the tour operator, it will be equal to the entire amount of receipts from the final buyer. At the same time, the tour operator will also see in the report the amount of its expenses for this income. The expense will be equal to the amount of remuneration due to the travel agent. For a travel agent who is on the simplified tax system, the income subject to tax of 15 or 6% will be his agency fee.

The contract must also include a condition on how the travel agent will receive remuneration from the tour operator:

• deducting its amount from the cost of the tourism product received from the final buyer;
• directly from the tour operator after transferring to him the entire cost of the tourism product received from the final buyer.

With the simplified tax system, which involves accounting for income and expenses using the cash method, the date for determining the income on which tax will be calculated depends on this condition.