What is a desk tax audit? Deadline and results

Tax reporting must be submitted on time and compiled without errors: this axiom is firmly known to both novice entrepreneurs and experienced “bisons”.

To ensure that tax laws are strictly observed, every document submitted to the tax office is automatically checked. This mandatory verification of submitted reports is called desk verification .

All firms, organizations and private entrepreneurs are constantly subject to this type of tax control: it is not surprising that a large number of questions arise about this process and its consequences. This article will try to answer many of them.

Classification of desk checks:

Strictly according to the law

Tax control, one of the forms of which is a desk audit, is based on the provisions of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. The legislative basis for the various aspects of this procedure are contained in the following paragraphs and articles of the Tax Code:

provision on tax control – clause 1 of article 82, clause 1 of art. 87 NK;
the purposes of the desk audit – clause 2 of Article 87;
what initiates such a check – clause 2. Art. 88;
about the deadlines associated with the “camera room” procedure – clause 2 of Art. 6.1, paragraph 2 of Article 88;
on the specifics of giving explanations based on the results of an inspection – clause 1 of Article 31;
on identifying errors in reporting that need to be corrected – clause 3 of Article 88;
on verification of the updated declaration – clause 9.1 of Art. 88;
on the report based on the results of the inspection - clause 1 of Art. 100.

FOR YOUR INFORMATION! The provisions regulating the responsibility of the manager for failure to appear at the tax office when called to give explanations are contained not in the Tax Code, but in the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (Part 1 of Article 19.4).

How is a desk audit carried out?

A desk audit is carried out at the tax office without visiting the company.
No special solution is needed for desk verification. It begins already when receiving reports: with checking the company’s details, calculations of advance payments, tax declarations (contributions).

The calculation of the period for conducting a desk audit of a declaration or calculation and supporting documents attached thereto begins from the day the tax return (calculation) is submitted to the tax authorities.

The company has the right to submit all documents to the inspection both electronically via telecommunication channels and on paper. Sheets of documents submitted in paper form must be numbered and bound in accordance with the requirements approved by the Federal Tax Service of Russia. Documents compiled electronically can be submitted through the taxpayer’s personal account. They must be certified by an enhanced qualified electronic signature of the person being verified or his representative (Clause 2 of Article 93 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Next, we examine the information in the reporting itself. Inspectors check:

“arithmetic” and interconnection of indicators;
correct application of tax rates, contribution rates, benefits.

Then the inspectors compare the reporting data with indicators for previous years, with information about you from other sources and with data for other similar companies. This is done in order to identify suspicious companies - candidates for on-site inspection.

The duration of the desk audit is three months from the date of submission of the tax return (calculation).

What and how are they checked?

Each document that an entrepreneur submits to the INFS - calculations, declarations, VAT and personal income tax reporting, etc. - is subject to desk verification.

NOTE! There is no warning about this form of control; it does not require special permission from either the entrepreneur or the head of the tax office. This is a “camera chamber” - routine, but inevitable.

The check is performed automatically. All your tax reporting is entered into the database. When new information arrives, the indicators are automatically verified:

with similar indicators for other periods;
with indicators of the same time period, but for different fees;
with accounting reports.

The calculated ratios should approximately correspond to the control ones, which the Federal Tax Service does not keep secret. All control tax ratios are given on the website of the Federal Tax Service in the sections “For Legal Entities” and “Individual Entrepreneurs”, specifically. In the headings for this or that tax.

IMPORTANT! Before sending any reports to the tax authorities, the taxpayer can first check the control ratios of the indicators himself, using a special option that is available in many computer accounting programs.

Grounds for conducting a desk tax audit

The basis for conducting a desk audit is the declaration (calculations) submitted by the taxpayer, documents submitted, for example, on reporting.

In other words, a desk audit is a check of documents that are at the disposal of the tax office and it begins when the documents reach the tax authority. For example, desk tax audits are carried out when individuals return personal income tax, or when organizations apply for a VAT refund.

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In what cases is it necessary to write an explanatory note?

If the automated check reveals a number of inconsistencies, the tax authorities will demand an explanation from the entrepreneur. This can happen in the following cases:

the declaration contains contradictions with other information. Which the Federal Tax Service has;
the income tax return shows the tax loss;
the updated declaration contains a lower tax amount than the primary version;
certain benefits are prescribed;
taxes relate to the use of natural resources;
the reporting states a VAT refund.

All these points will need to be explained, about which the entrepreneur will be notified by the tax authorities in one of the following ways:

in person (the request is presented against signature);
by registered mail;
by email.

NOTE! If you received a request in electronic form, you must confirm its receipt within 6 days. Otherwise, in another ten days you risk finding yourself with a blocked current account.

After receiving the request, you have 5 days to prepare and provide explanations in any form. An entrepreneur can:

Submit an updated declaration, but a new audit awaits it.
Provide explanations in writing (for some taxes, the Federal Tax Service recommends certain forms, but the entrepreneur is not obliged to use them exclusively).
If you are summoned, you must appear at the tax office and give an explanation in person. If you fail to appear, management risks a fine of 2-4 thousand rubles. for failure to comply with the requirements of the tax authority.

Checking the taxpayer's accounting documentation. Registration of results of on-site tax audits

During an on-site tax audit, inspectors examine all documents related to the calculation of taxes and fees.

The following are subject to verification: constituent documents, certificate of registration with the tax authority, tax returns, accounting documents, agreements (contracts), certificates and licenses to carry out activities, general ledger, cash book, order journals, payment documents, bank and cash registers documents, invoices, sales book, purchase book, analytical, synthetic, tax accounting registers, turnover sheets, inventory, advance reports, invoices for the release of material assets, orders on accounting policies, primary accounting documents, shares, bonds and others securities, title documents for land and vehicles, as well as other documents necessary for the calculation and payment of taxes.

During inspections of primary documents and records in accounting registers, two methods are used: continuous and selective.

Any business transaction must be formalized by a primary document (invoices, invoices, acts of work, cash receipts and expenditures, payment orders, etc.).

During the audit of the taxpayer's accounting documentation, the following is checked:

a) complete elimination of violations of the rules for accounting for income and expenses, accounting for taxable items, as well as other violations of the legislation on taxes and fees;

b) compliance of the indicators reflected in tax returns with the financial statements, taking into account their adjustments for tax purposes;

c) compliance of the tax and financial reporting indicators of the organization, which are important for the correct calculation of the tax base, with the data of synthetic and analytical accounting. For these purposes, the indicated indicators are compared with the balances and turnover of the general ledger accounting accounts, with similar indicators of synthetic accounting registers;

d) completeness and correctness of reflection in accounting of financial and economic transactions affecting the formation of the tax base. Credit turnover on synthetic accounts reflected in the general ledger is studied, attention is drawn to atypical correspondence of accounts or the discrepancy between the correspondence of accounts and the content of business transactions, reflection of the corresponding transactions in accounting down to the primary accounting document that can confirm the reality and legality of this operation;

e) the compliance of tax and accounting reporting data, synthetic and analytical accounting with primary accounting documents is monitored;

f) the correct application of prices for goods (work, services) for tax purposes in transactions between interdependent persons, in commodity exchange (barter) transactions, in foreign trade transactions, as well as in other transactions, in cases provided for in Article 40 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation;

g) the validity of the application of tax rates and benefits provided for by law, the correctness of calculation of the amounts of taxes payable.

Violations of tax legislation are mostly associated with forgeries in primary and other accounting documents. When examining a single accounting document, formal, arithmetic and regulatory checks

Counter checks provide high efficiency

from persons associated with the activities of the taxpayer being audited.

The subject of a counter-inspection is the documents of organizations acting as counterparties of the taxpayer being inspected, in order to determine the fact of a certain transaction.

Counter checks

are carried out in cases where there are grounds to assume that products (goods) received in transactions with other persons, proceeds from the sale of products (goods, works, services) and other funds have not been recorded, and that repayment of mutual claims, barter results and other non-monetary assets have not been reflected in the sales accounts of offsets operations, operations on the assignment of rights of claim and in other similar cases.

Documents are requested from the counterparties of the taxpayer being inspected, the purchase of products (goods) from which or the shipment of products (goods) to whom was carried out according to documents drawn up in violation of established requirements (with corrections, erasures, vague, unclear signatures, seals, stamps of organizations, etc. .), without concluding agreements in writing, etc. The person to whom the request for documents is addressed is obliged to send or issue them to the tax authority within five days. Violation of this obligation by an organization is punishable by a fine of 10 thousand rubles (clause 2 of Article 126 of the NKRF).

If the inspectors identify facts of tax violations, they take all necessary measures to form a legislative evidence base for these facts and ensure their documentary confirmation (copies of documents are taken).

In addition to requesting documents, when conducting tax audits, tax authorities have the right to demand explanations from the person being audited. The obligation of the person being inspected to give explanations on issues of interest is provided for in subparagraph 7, paragraph 1, article 23 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Explanations regarding the information of interest to the inspector are drawn up in writing. The explanation may be accompanied by relevant documents (invoices, invoices, orders, decisions of the general meeting, etc.).

During an on-site tax audit, inspectors examine documents (including information stored electronically) and documents that are the basis for conducting currency transactions.

The end of an on-site tax audit ends with a certificate , which the inspector is required to draw up on the last day of the audit. The certificate records the subject of the audit and the timing of its implementation, then it is handed over to the taxpayer or his representative (clause 15 of Article 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). After the certificate is issued, the inspection is considered completed, and as part of this inspection, inspectors can no longer return to the enterprise. In addition, it is from the date of the certificate that the deadlines for drawing up the act, considering the audit materials and imposing sanctions by the tax authority will be counted.

In accordance with paragraph 1 of Art. 100 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation , based on the results of the GNP, within 2 months from the date of drawing up the certificate of the conducted GNP, the tax authority must issue an on-site tax audit report . An on-site tax audit report is always drawn up; a decision based on the results of reviewing the audit materials is made only if a tax violation is detected (Article 101 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

The form and requirements for drawing up the GNP act are approved by Order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated December 25, 2006 N SAE-3-06/ [email protected] Thus, according to clause 1.12 of Appendix 6 to this Order, the GNP act is drawn up in two copies, one of which is kept in the tax office authority, the second is handed over to the taxpayer (authorized representative) in the prescribed manner. The on-site tax audit report is signed by the tax inspector and the head of the business entity in respect of which the audit was carried out (his representative). If the latter refuses to sign the act, a corresponding entry is made in it (clause 2 of Article 100 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

When participating in an inspection of internal affairs bodies, three copies of the report are drawn up. In this case, one copy is sent to the internal affairs body whose employees participated in the inspection.

The act is drawn up on paper in Russian and must have continuous page numbering; unspecified blots, erasures and other corrections are not allowed. It should consist of three parts: introductory, descriptive and summary.

The introductory part of the on-site tax audit report provides general information about the audit being carried out, the inspectors and the taxpayer being audited.

It reflects: the number of the inspection report, the full and abbreviated name of the organization being inspected or the name of the individual entrepreneur; date of signing the act; the names of the persons who conducted the inspection, their positions; an indication of the issues covered by the audit and other general information. The information listed must be identical to that specified in the decision to conduct the inspection.

The descriptive part of the on-site tax audit report contains a systematic presentation of documented facts of tax offenses identified during the audit, and the circumstances associated with these facts that are important for making the right decision based on the results of the audit.

If, during the inspection, violations of the current legislation that are not classified as tax offenses are revealed (violations of the procedure for conducting cash transactions and working conditions with cash, violations of currency legislation, etc.), they are also reflected in the descriptive part of the act.

The content of the descriptive part of the on-site tax audit report must meet the following requirements.

Objectivity and validity

. The facts reflected in the act must be carefully verified. The report should not contain subjective assumptions of the inspectors that are not confirmed by properly collected evidence.

Completeness and complexity

reflection in the act of all significant circumstances related to the facts of tax offenses.

Clarity, conciseness and accessibility of presentation

. The wording contained in the act must exclude the possibility of ambiguous interpretation. The audit materials are presented briefly, clearly, clearly and consistently.

Systematic presentation

. Violations identified during the audit should be grouped into sections, paragraphs and subparagraphs in accordance with the nature of the violations and the types of taxes, the non-payment of which these violations affected, in the context of the relevant tax periods. Facts of homogeneous violations can be grouped into tables and presented in the annex to the act. Each of these applications must be signed by the inspectors, as well as by the head of the organization being inspected or the individual entrepreneur or their representatives.

If, before the taxpayer learned about the appointment of an on-site tax audit, he made changes to the tax return and also paid the missing amount of tax and penalties, then these changes must be taken into account by the tax inspectorate when preparing the on-site tax audit report.

The final part of the on-site tax audit report (conclusion) contains:

information on the total amounts of unpaid and overpaid taxes identified during the audit, broken down by type of tax and tax period, as well as information on other facts of tax and other offenses established by the audit; proposals from inspectors to eliminate identified violations;

conclusions of inspectors about the presence of signs of a tax offense in the actions of the taxpayer.

Attached to the on-site tax audit report are, in particular:

· the decision on the basis of which the inspection was carried out;

· a copy of the request to the taxpayer to submit documents necessary for verification;

· certificate of inspection performed;

· materials of counter checks; expert opinion and protocols of interrogation of witnesses, and other materials relevant for making the right decision based on the results of the audit.