Expenses for business trips according to the Tax Code of the Russian Federation are classified as other expenses. An order to send an employee on a business trip confirms the production nature of the expenses. And in order to take expenses into account in the profit base, they must be justified and supported by documents. Among travel expenses, a significant part consists of travel expenses to the place of business trip and back.
These travel expenses can be confirmed by the employee's report, to which the travel documents are attached. If the air ticket is in electronic form, then you can confirm the costs of its purchase with an itinerary receipt, which indicates the cost of the flight, and a boarding pass.
Boarding pass
So, if an air ticket was purchased in undocumented form, then you can confirm the costs of its purchase with an itinerary receipt on paper, which indicates the cost of the flight. The receipt should be accompanied by a boarding pass confirming the flight of the accountable person on the route specified in the electronic ticket (see letters of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 08/17/2018 No. 03-03-07/58432, dated 01/09/2017 No. 03-03-06/1/80056 and etc.).
Upon check-in, the passenger is issued a boarding pass, which indicates the initials and surname of the passenger, flight number, departure date, boarding deadline for the flight, boarding gate number and seat number on board the aircraft. This is stated in paragraph 84 of the Federal Aviation Regulations “General Rules” air transportation of passengers, baggage, cargo and requirements for servicing passengers, shippers, consignees” (approved by order of the Ministry of Transport of Russia dated June 28, 2007 No. 82). The boarding pass confirms the fact of the flight.
The itinerary receipt and boarding pass are strictly accountable documents. This is indicated in paragraph 2 of Order No. 134 of the Ministry of Transport of Russia dated November 18, 2006, which establishes the forms of electronic passenger tickets and baggage receipts in civil aviation.
As a rule, confirmation that the employee has actually used air transportation services is a security stamp on the boarding pass.
If this stamp is not available, then the flight must be confirmed in another way.
What to do if you lost your boarding pass
Serious worries are observed among passengers who, just before boarding a flight, discover that they have no boarding pass, which was lost due to certain circumstances.
How to act in such a situation:
- do not panic, try to calm down, which will allow you to find the right solution to the problem;
- return to the reception desk and report any difficulties encountered to the specialist involved;
- A company employee will quickly issue a duplicate on a similar form upon presentation of your passport.
Passengers who contact the check-in desk employee with this problem no later than 15 minutes before departure can recover a lost boarding pass and avoid being late for their flight. We also suggest that you familiarize yourself with how to obtain a boarding pass at Vnukovo, Sheremetyevo, and Domodedovo.
If the loss is discovered at the very last moment, the passenger will not be able to fly on the plane according to the purchased tickets. The airline may offer a flight on the next flight of a similar destination, although the passenger will have to buy plane tickets again at his own expense. The carrier may refund compensation for an unused air ticket, but not in full.
In some cases, they meet the passenger and delay the departure of the plane for several minutes until a re-boarding pass is issued for the flight. Such delays are possible only on direct scheduled flights and only at the discretion of the carrier company.
The departure time of connecting flights is not rescheduled, as due to the delay of the first plane, passengers may be late for transfer to another aircraft at the transit point.
Help from the airline
An airline certificate can serve as a supporting document for travel expenses in many cases - from the case of a lost printed boarding pass to the absence of a security stamp on it.
The boarding pass is issued to the passenger by the carrier, regardless of through whom the ticket was purchased.
As a document confirming air travel expenses for profit tax purposes, a certificate containing the information necessary to confirm the flight issued by the air carrier or its representative can also be accepted (see letters of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated May 18, 2015 No. 03-03-06/2/ 28296, dated 06/07/2013 No. 03-03-07/21187, etc.). After all, the boarding pass itself is issued by the air carrier. Therefore, the certificate can be issued either by him or his representative. But please note that an agency certificate will be sufficient confirmation of the fact of the flight only if the representative has the authority to issue such certificates on behalf of the airline.
What does this mean for the taxpayer?
The company needs to request confirmation from the agency of authority to issue certificates of travel on behalf of the airline (for example, an agency agreement). If it is not authorized to issue flight certificates, then such a certificate cannot be a confirmation of the completed flight. In this case, the organization must contact the carrier directly.
What to do if the boarding officer is lost
Within three days after returning from a business trip, the employee must prepare an advance report and attach a ticket and boarding pass to it.
This opinion is shared by both officials (letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated September 1, 2016 No. 03-03-07/50992) and the courts (for example, the decision of the Moscow Court of Justice dated December 26, 2014 in case No. A40-160188/2014). But different things happen, and often employees either lose their boarding passes or, out of ignorance, simply throw them away. What should an accountant do?
The employee must be asked to obtain a certificate from the airline. In it, the carrier will indicate all the details of the passenger who completed the flight. Help is paid. You need to check with the airline how much it costs. The employee will bear the costs.
This scheme is confirmed by the Ministry of Finance in a letter from the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated May 18, 2015 No. 03-03-06/2/28296. If there is no certificate, the financial department clarifies that expenses cannot be recognized.
Other documents?
If the employee does not have a boarding pass with an inspection stamp or a certificate from the airline, he can submit to the accounting department other documents that in one way or another confirm the fact of the air flight. This is stated in the commented letter.
Indeed, according to paragraph 1 of Article 252 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, for profit tax purposes, expenses may also have indirect documentary evidence. Including a customs declaration, a business trip order, travel documents, a report on the work performed in accordance with the contract. The possibility of accounting for expenses for the purchase of an electronic air ticket if they have indirect confirmation was confirmed by the Ministry of Finance earlier (see, for example, letters of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 04/02/2014 No. 03-03-RZ/14597, dated 09/07/2007 No. 03-03 -06/1/649О).
At the same time, there were also less “loyal” conclusions. Thus, in the absence of a boarding pass or a certificate confirming that the employee has used the air ticket purchased for him, travel expenses will not be taken into account for income tax purposes. In such a situation, they do not comply with the provisions of Article 252 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation regarding the need for proper documentary evidence of expenses incurred (see letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated May 18, 2015 No. 03-03-06/2/28296).
Therefore, in our opinion, in order to reduce the risk of claims from the inspection, in the absence of a boarding pass or individual details in it, it is safer to confirm the costs of the flight with a certificate issued by the air carrier or its representative.
Tax expert B.L. Swain
No boarding pass and expense tracking
The official position formed to date regarding the necessary documents confirming the travel expenses of a seconded employee is expressed in the following Letters of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated December 18, 2017 N 03-03-RZ/84409, dated October 20, 2017 N 03-03-06/ 1/68721, it is said: Thus, if an air ticket is purchased in non-documentary form (electronic ticket), for the purposes of corporate income taxation, documentary evidence of these expenses is the route/receipt of the electronic document (air ticket) and the boarding pass. Letter of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated 01.09.2016 N 03-03-07/50992: Considering that the boarding pass is an integral document when checking in for a flight, documentary evidence of the fact that the accountable person has consumed the air transportation service is not only an air ticket, but also a boarding pass. The purchase of an air ticket in documentary or non-documentary form cannot in itself serve as documentary evidence of the fact of using the air transportation service. Thus, the documents confirming the costs of purchasing an air ticket are: - itinerary/receipt of an electronic air ticket on paper - a boarding pass with a security stamp
If the boarding pass is lost by a posted employee, then in this case the official recommendations of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation are as follows: Letter of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated January 13, 2012 N 03-03-06/1/11: Considering that the boarding pass is issued by the air carrier, in case of its loss, a certificate containing The information necessary to confirm the flight, issued by the air carrier or its representative, in the opinion of the Department, can be accepted as a document confirming the expenses of the air flight for the purposes of corporate income taxation
A similar opinion was expressed in other Letters of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated 05/18/2015 N 03-03-06/2/28296, dated 06/07/2013 N 03-03-07/21187, dated 02/27/2012 N 03-03-07/6, dated 01/13/2012 N 03-03-06/1/11, dated 09/21/2011 N 03-03-07/33, dated 05/18/2015 N 03-03-06/2/28296, which is that in the absence boarding pass or certificate from the air carrier, travel expenses to the place of business trip and (or) back cannot be taken into account for profit tax purposes, as they do not comply with the provisions of Art. 252 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation regarding proper documentary evidence of expenses incurred. If you lose your boarding pass, you must obtain a certificate from the air carrier containing the information necessary to confirm the flight. Such a certificate can be accepted as a documentary basis for accounting for flight expenses for corporate income tax purposes. The air carrier can issue this certificate only within a month after the flight, in addition, it is paid.
True, there is an opinion expressed in other Letters of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated 04/14/2014 N 03-03-07/16777, dated 04/02/2014 N 03-03-RZ/14597, dated 09/07/2007 N 03-03-06/1/ 649, Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation for Moscow dated June 20, 2011 N 16-15/ [email protected] that the current legislation does not establish a specific list of supporting documents confirming the expenses associated with the employee’s travel to the place of business trip and back. Therefore, in case of loss of a boarding pass by a seconded employee, the fact of the flight can be indirectly confirmed by an order to send the employee on a business trip, hotel accounts, or marks from the customs authority about crossing the border of the Russian Federation. In addition, the list of supporting documents can be determined by a collective agreement or local regulations approved by the head of the organization.
Thus, if a traveling employee loses his boarding pass, then the best action to confirm the fact of the flight would be to apply to the airline to obtain a certificate confirming the flight. A different decision may lead to disputes with tax authorities.
Sincerely, Greshkina Alla
How to confirm expenses for an e-ticket
The Federal Tax Service explained how, for income tax purposes, the costs of purchasing an electronic air ticket when sending an employee on a business trip are documented.
In a letter dated April 11, 2019 No. SD-3-3/ [email protected] , the department explains that in 2019, the rules for air transportation of passengers, baggage, and cargo (Order of the Ministry of Transport dated June 28, 2007 No. 82) were supplemented with new standards (order dated January 14, 2019). .2019 No. 7).
The updated rules establish the passenger’s right to remote electronic check-in for a flight. When registering a passenger electronically, the passenger, at his choice, is given the right to:
- print your boarding pass yourself;
- obtain a paper boarding pass at the airport or at check-in points located outside the airport;
- use an electronic boarding pass.
The boarding pass contains the passenger's initials and surname, flight number, departure date, flight boarding deadline, boarding gate number and seat number on board the aircraft. If necessary, the boarding pass may additionally contain other information.
In this regard, the Federal Tax Service clarifies that if an air ticket is purchased electronically, then the supporting documents confirming the costs of its purchase are:
- route/receipt of an electronic document (air ticket) on paper, which indicates the cost of the flight;
- boarding pass confirming the flight of the accountable person on the route specified in the electronic ticket.
In this case, the boarding pass, including an electronic one, received during electronic check-in for a flight, must contain the relevant details confirming the fact that the accountable person has consumed the air transportation service. For example, this attribute may be an inspection stamp.
If there is no inspection stamp on the printed electronic boarding pass, the taxpayer must confirm the fact that the accountable person consumed the air transportation service in another way.
If it is impossible to obtain a screening stamp on the boarding pass, the organization may submit a certificate issued by the air carrier or its representative containing the information necessary to confirm the flight.
In a situation where none of the above documents can be submitted, the organization has the right to justify the consumption of air transportation services with any other documents that directly or indirectly confirm the fact of using the purchased air tickets.
BUKHPROSVET
A business trip is a trip by an employee by order of the employer for a certain period of time to carry out an official assignment outside the place of permanent work. When an employee is sent on a business trip, he is guaranteed to retain his place of work (position) and average earnings (Article 167 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).
In this case, the employer is obliged to compensate the employee:
- travel and rental expenses;
- additional expenses associated with living outside your place of permanent residence;
- other expenses incurred by the employee with the permission or knowledge of the employer.
