Payment for website promotion services in terms of taxation

What are website costs?

From a legal point of view, based on Article 1261 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the site is nothing more than a computer program.
Therefore, creating a website for accounting and tax accounting purposes should be considered as creating a program. That is, an intangible asset (IMA). The cost of this intangible asset will consist of:

• the actual development (which can be done in-house or with the involvement of third-party specialists);
• website domain name registration;
• purchasing hosting (paying for the rental of space on the provider’s server where the site is hosted)

Further, following this logic, the remaining costs associated with the maintenance and use of the site, including promotion, will be considered as current costs associated with owning intangible assets.

Registering a website domain name

After completing the creation of the site, you must assign it a domain name and register it in the prescribed manner.

The domain name of a site is its unique name and address on the Internet (for example, the website of the Russian Tax Courier magazine is www. rnk. ru). The domain name is registered to ensure its uniqueness at the Russian Research Institute for the Development of Public Networks (RosNIIROS) or with registrars authorized by it. Services for registering a domain name are considered provided from the moment the information is entered into the domain name register.

The website domain name is not recognized as an independent intangible asset, since it is not the result of intellectual activity. But if the site is accounted for as an intangible asset, the costs of the initial registration of its domain name are included in the initial cost of the site (clause 3 of Article 257 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). After all, the initial cost of an intangible asset is defined as the amount of expenses not only for its acquisition or creation, but also for bringing it to a state in which it is suitable for use. Without registering a domain name, a website cannot function.

Primary means the registration of a domain name, carried out when creating a website. Typically it is valid for one year. Subsequently, the domain name must be re-registered annually. It does not lead to changes in the quality characteristics of the website and does not affect its initial cost.

The costs of renewing registration are included in other expenses associated with production and sales (subclause 49, clause 1, article 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). They are taken into account gradually during the validity period of the domain name registration specified in the relevant agreement (Clause 1 of Article 272 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). If the registration period is not specified in the contract, the organization distributes the costs independently.

Example 1

CJSC Fragment decided to place its own website on the Internet. The organization entrusted the development of the website to its specialists working under employment contracts. The work was carried out from February to March 2008. In April 2008, the company's website was posted on the Internet. The costs for creating the site were:

— programmers’ salary — 80,000 rubles;

— UST, insurance contributions to the Pension Fund and for injuries from the salaries of programmers — 20,960 rubles;

— depreciation of computers and other fixed assets that were used in the development of the site — 3,900 rubles;

— design layout of the website performed by a third party — 23,600 rubles, including VAT 3,600 rubles;

— initial registration of a website domain name — 2006 rubles, including VAT 306 rubles.

Exclusive rights to the site belong to CJSC Fragment, since the organization independently developed the site and the employment contracts with the employees involved did not provide for a special procedure for the transfer of these rights. In addition, the created site meets the requirements for intangible assets. Therefore, the company takes into account the developed website as part of intangible assets. The organization established its useful life as a general rule - ten years (120 months).

The initial cost of the site in tax accounting is 105,600 rubles. (80,000 rub. + 3,900 rub. + (23,600 rub. - 3,600 rub.) + (2,006 rub. - 306 rub.)). Amounts of unified social tax, insurance contributions to the Pension Fund and for injuries from programmers' salaries are not included in the initial cost of the site. They relate to other expenses associated with production and sales, and reduce the taxable profit of current periods.

Since the site was posted on the Internet in April 2008, JSC Fragment begins to accrue its depreciation in May. The amount of monthly depreciation recognized for profit tax purposes is 880 rubles. (RUB 105,600: 120 months).

When can website costs be taken into account under the simplified tax system?

To take into account the costs of a website under the simplified tax system, you need to be able to take into account the costs of a special regime. If the simplified tax system “income” is applied, nothing will be taken into account.

Therefore, further we will only talk about accounting for the costs of creating and promoting a website under the simplified tax system “income minus expenses”.

An important condition for accepting a site for registration as intangible assets on the simplified tax system is that the site meets the criteria set out in the letter of the Ministry of Finance dated February 26, 2018 No. 03-11-06/2/11967:

• Intangible assets must be depreciable. It will be necessary to determine the period during which the developed site software will be useful for calculating depreciation;
• The intangible asset (site) must be used in the main commercial activity. Of course, such use must be supported and made explicit. For example, if a company sells pet food, and the director runs a website for fans of vintage cars, it will be difficult to take into account the costs of an “automotive” website.

In what cases can website costs be written off as a lump sum? The answer to this question is in ConsultantPlus. If you do not have access to the K+ system, get a trial online access for free.

Accounting for the creation of an Internet site

Organizations use the Internet for a variety of purposes. Some people need it to receive this or that information, others to communicate with clients, others to advertise their own products. There are two ways to post information on the Internet about the activities of an organization, its products, as well as advertising of manufactured goods (works, services): by creating a web page or a website.

A web page is one page (in one window).

A website is many pages, with a certain structure, different sections, hyperlinks, and other features (forum, guest page, newsletters, galleries).

The page can be part of a website. And the site, in turn, can consist of one page.

The web page mainly contains information about the activities of the organization, its products, as well as advertising of the goods (works, services) produced. Creating a web page means placing a file or group of files pre-written in a specific format on the provider’s server.

The advantage of a web page is the low cost of its creation and maintenance. The development of design, layout, writing programs, updating information is mainly carried out by the organization's programmers, but much more often this work is performed by specialized companies.

Creating a website begins with developing the design, its structure, operating principle, and information arrangement. At the same time, the necessary software is selected. This is mainly done by professional web designers.

In the future, information and software can be maintained by the organization itself. Creating a website gives the organization more opportunities; it can host standard and specialized software, visual images of products, and price lists. This allows you to attract the largest number of customers.

After the work of web designers, it is necessary to create a domain name for the site, and it must be registered. After which the site must be placed on the Internet, the user must have access to the server on which the site is hosted.

Note!

An Internet site is an object of copyright, and it is at least a combination of two objects of copyright:

— computer programs that ensure its functioning;

— graphic solution (design).

Therefore, for tax and accounting purposes, as well as when determining the legal status of a site, it must be considered as a single object. This is due to the fact that the constituent elements of the site cannot perform their functions separately from each other.

Property rights to the site.

According to the Law of the Russian Federation of July 9, 1993 No. 5351-1 “On Copyright and Related Rights” (hereinafter referred to as the Copyright Law), in relation to objects of copyright, the author owns personal non-property and property rights.

Personal rights can belong only to the author, that is, they cannot be transferred by contract, while property rights can be alienated.

Property rights to an object of intellectual property can be transferred only under an author's agreement, as established by Article 30 of the Copyright Law. Within the framework of this law, in practice, the issue of transferring property rights to the website being created can be resolved by concluding an author’s order agreement with a specialized organization.

The agreement must indicate the specific property rights that the organization receives. In paragraph 2 of Article 31 of the Copyright Law there is the following wording:

«rights not directly transferred under the copyright agreement are considered not transferred.”

And paragraph 1 of Article 31 of the Copyright Law states that the section of the agreement devoted to the transfer of property rights must necessarily indicate the period and territory of use for which these rights are transferred. Otherwise, the agreement is considered concluded for five years, and the territory for the use of rights will be only the territory of the Russian Federation. Moreover, it is advisable to indicate in the contract that the transferred rights are used without limiting the territory. Then providing the ability to download and open the site to users located abroad will be legal. As for the period for which rights are transferred, it can be unlimited.

Exclusive (non-exclusive) rights to site elements.

If the author (and he owns the exclusive rights to use his development in any form) transfers exclusive rights to an organization, this means that only it can use them and has the right to prohibit their use by other persons, including the author himself. This is stated in paragraph 2 of Article 31 of the Copyright Law. If non-exclusive rights are transferred, then they can be used by the customer organization, other persons to whom the author (holder of exclusive rights) transferred the same non-exclusive rights, and the author himself. This is permitted by Section 31 of the Copyright Act.

What rights are transferred - exclusive or non-exclusive - must be stated in the contract. If there is no such indication, the transferred rights will be considered non-exclusive. This is established in paragraph 4 of Article 30 of the Copyright Law.

An organization can obtain exclusive rights to a website in another way. As follows from Article 14 of the Copyright Law, these rights will belong to her in the event that the site is developed by employees who are in an employment relationship with her. Of course, unless otherwise provided in the agreements between them and the organization.

Websites can be created for both production and advertising purposes.

The functioning of the site is ensured by a computer program. It is the main element on which the accounting of the site as a whole depends.

If an organization has acquired exclusive rights to use a software product, and they are properly documented, it accounts for the created website as an intangible asset in both tax and accounting.

Accounting for the costs of creating a website on the Internet.

Accounting for the costs of creating a website depends on whether the organization receives exclusive rights to these intellectual property objects (computer programs) or not.

An organization that acquires exclusive rights to a created website must have a document confirming the right to an object of intellectual property (certificate of official registration).

If an organization has acquired exclusive rights to use a software product, it accounts for the created website in accounting as intangible assets (hereinafter intangible assets) (clause 4 of Order of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated October 16, 2000 No. 91n “On approval of the accounting regulations “Accounting for intangible assets” "PBU 14/2000" (hereinafter referred to as PBU 14/2000).

The costs of creating a website will be the initial cost of this intangible asset. Moreover, this does not depend on who developed the site - employees of the organization or a specialized company. The costs of creating a website include expended material resources, third-party services, patent fees, remuneration of programmers, and the like. VAT amounts are not included in the initial cost.

The useful life of a website in accounting is determined based on the validity period of the patent, certificate and other restrictions on the terms of use of intellectual property.

If the useful life of the site cannot be determined, then, according to paragraph 17 of PBU 14/2000, it is taken equal to 20 years, but not more than the life of the organization.

In accounting, depreciation for a site is calculated from the 1st day of the month following the month in which it was accepted for accounting as intangible assets (clause 18 of PBU 14/2000). A website is accepted for registration upon completion of work on its creation, at the time it is posted on the Internet.

Example 1.

Programmers of a trade organization, as part of their official duties, developed software for the organization’s website. The employer received all exclusive rights to use the program for an indefinite period. Accounts it as an intangible asset. The useful life for accounting purposes is determined to be 60 months. This was confirmed by an order from the head of the organization.

The organization incurred the following expenses in connection with the creation of the website.

The salary of programmers for the entire period of website creation is 25,000 rubles.

Unified social tax accrued from the salaries of programmers - 5,333 rubles.

Insurance contributions for compulsory pension insurance – 3,500 rubles.

Contributions for compulsory social insurance against accidents at work - 100 rubles.

Depreciation of fixed assets involved in the development of the site is 3,000 rubles.

Material costs – 1,500 rubles (excluding VAT).

In accounting, operations to create a website are reflected as follows:

End of the example.
If an organization does not receive exclusive copyrights to a website, it should take into account the costs incurred in accounting in the same way as the costs of acquiring non-exclusive rights to use a software product. That is, as expenses for ordinary activities, in accordance with paragraph 5 of PBU 10/99, as other expenses.

However, in accordance with paragraph 18 of PBU 10/99, which enshrines in accounting the principle of temporary certainty of facts of economic activity, the costs in question must be included in deferred expenses.

According to the Chart of Accounts, initially the costs of creating a website are included in deferred expenses, reflected in account 97 “Deferred Expenses”. Such expenses can be written off as expenses evenly, in proportion to the volume of manufactured or sold products and in other ways during the period to which they relate (clause 65 of Order of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated July 29, 1998 No. 34n). In this case, they are included in expenses for ordinary activities during the period of use of the software product specified in the contract with the supplier, or (if there is no such indication in the contract or the software product was created by the organization itself) during the period established by order of the head of the organization.

The procedure for writing off deferred expenses is reflected in the accounting policies of the organization.

Accounting for the costs of a created website depends on whether it is advertising in nature or not. If it contains information of an advertising nature, then advertising costs can be accounted for in a separate sub-account “Advertising expenses”, opened to account 44 “Sales expenses”.

Example 2.

The organization Mega LLC entered into a copyright agreement with a specialized company to create an Internet site. For the development of the design, Mega LLC paid 21,240 rubles (including VAT - 3,240 rubles), for the software used for the site - 24,780 rubles (including VAT 3,780 rubles).

The terms of the agreement provide for the transfer of all exclusive rights to the site design for a period of five years without limiting the territory of use.

For the software developed for the site, Mega LLC received non-exclusive rights to reproduce, distribute and process without limiting the territory of use - also for a period of five years. Mega LLC received non-exclusive rights to the software, therefore, it cannot take the site into account as part of the intangible assets.

The accountant of Mega LLC makes the following entries:

End of the example.
The organization's expenses paid for updating the site are recognized in accounting as expenses for ordinary activities.

Example 3.

In July of this year, the organization incurred expenses to update the website intended for advertising purposes. The update is necessary to change the range of goods sold, as well as to establish trade discounts.

According to the agreement with the company carrying out the work to update the site, the cost of the work was 12,000 rubles (including 18% VAT - 1,831 rubles).

End of the example.
Tax accounting of expenses for creating a website on the Internet .

If an organization has acquired exclusive rights to use a software product, then the organization accounts for the created website in tax accounting as intangible assets.

According to Article 257 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, intangible assets acquired and (or) created by the taxpayer are the results of intellectual activity or other objects of intellectual property (exclusive rights to them) used in the production of products (performance of work, provision of services) or for the management needs of the organization.

For profit tax purposes, the initial cost of a website as an intangible asset is determined from the actual costs of its acquisition (creation) and bringing it to a state suitable for use, excluding VAT and excise taxes, except in cases provided for by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

Paragraph 5 of Article 270 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation states that expenses for the acquisition and (or) creation of depreciable property are not taken into account when determining the tax base for corporate income tax. You can only take into account the costs associated with creating a website by including them in the cost of this intangible asset and repay it by calculating depreciation.

The useful life of a website in tax accounting is determined based on the validity period of the patent, certificate and (or) other restrictions on the terms of use of intellectual property, as well as from the terms of use specified in the contract. If it is impossible to determine the useful life, then, according to paragraph 2 of Article 258 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the useful life is taken equal to 10 years, but not more than the life of the organization itself.

The organization's expenses for creating a website through which it sells its goods (work, services) comply with the requirements of Article 252 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation - are economically justified and aimed at generating income. For tax purposes, they are recognized as depreciation is calculated.

Moreover, if the site contains exclusively advertising information, then in this case, depreciation accrued during its use is classified as advertising expenses for profit tax purposes in accordance with subparagraph 28 of paragraph 1 of Article 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. As follows from paragraph 4 of the same Article 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, advertising expenses include, in particular, expenses for advertising events through telecommunication networks. Such expenses are not standardized. Consequently, the amount of accrued depreciation for the reporting (tax) period fully reduces the tax base.

Organizations using the accrual method recognize depreciation as an expense on a monthly basis, in accordance with paragraph 3 of Article 272 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation:

“Depreciation is recognized as an expense on a monthly basis based on the amount of accrued depreciation, calculated in accordance with the procedure established by Articles 259 and 322 of this Code.”

Organizations using the cash method - in amounts accrued for the reporting (tax) period only for paid-for depreciable property (subclause 2 of clause 3 of Article 273 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation):

“depreciation is taken into account as an expense in the amounts accrued for the reporting (tax) period. In this case, depreciation is allowed only for depreciable property used in production, paid for by the taxpayer. A similar procedure applies to capitalized expenses provided for in Articles 261 and 262 of this Code.”

According to paragraph 2 of Article 258 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, depreciation for the site is calculated from the 1st day of the month following the month in which it was put into operation. In this case, the moment of commissioning of the site is considered the moment of its placement on the Internet.

If the site is not an intangible asset, advertising expenses for income tax purposes include the costs of its creation, taken into account as expenses at a time or evenly depending on the period for which non-exclusive rights to the software are granted.

Creation of a website on the Internet, which contains information about the organization and its products; all costs of creating the website and its support are classified as advertising expenses. This position is also stated in the Letter of the Department of Tax Administration for the city of Moscow dated May 7, 2003 No. 26-12/25025. Moreover, it is necessary to separate costs that are taken into account at a time (website creation) and costs that should be taken into account during the term of the contract (website support).

Domain name registration.

Let us dwell in more detail on the issues of accounting for costs associated with assigning a domain name.

The website is assigned a domain name.

If an Internet user does not have his own website, then such a user will not have a domain name.

A domain name is assigned to a site without fail after the site is created. This name must be unique and must give an idea of ​​the name of the organization and the products that the organization produces. The autonomous non-profit organization "Regional Network Information Center" carries out mandatory registration of domain names. Domain name registration is the entry of information about the domain and its administrator into a central database to ensure unique use of the domain.

The validity period of domain name registration is one calendar year. At the end of the year, it must be extended for the next year and so on.

The procedure for registering and using a domain name is enshrined in the Law of the Russian Federation of September 23, 1992 No. 3520-1 “On Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin of Goods.”

Article 4 of this Law introduces a ban on the use by others of a trademark on the Internet, in particular a domain name. With this, the Law of the Russian Federation of September 23, 1992 No. 3520-1 “On Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin of Goods” solves a legal problem that has led to numerous legal disputes.

The essence of the problem is as follows. A domain name makes it easy to find the site you need on the Internet. The owner of a resource chooses a domain name in such a way that one can judge the name of his company, activity, product produced, and so on.

As we have already noted, those who want to create their own website on the Internet must register a domain name with the autonomous non-profit organization “Regional Network Information Center”. When registering, the name is checked for uniqueness in the database of already assigned names. Until now, no verification of the similarity of a registered domain name to any trademark has been carried out. After all, in Russian legislation there were no such restrictions on the choice of name.

As a result, foreign trademarks were often registered as domain names (Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Moscow District dated May 31, 2004 in case No. KG-A40/4075-04-P, Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Ural District dated July 8, 2004 in case No. F09-2072 /2004-GK).

The Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation tried to solve this problem (Resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated January 16, 2001 No. 1192/00). In their Resolution, the judges noted that today domain names actually serve as a trademark, allowing one to distinguish the goods or services of some business entities from similar goods or services of other entities. Therefore, the deliberate registration as domain names of well-known brands that do not contain a means of individualizing the subject as a participant in economic turnover, inherently leads to a violation of the rights of the owner of the trademark.

Now the ban on using someone else’s trademark as a domain name is clearly stated in paragraph 2 of Article 4 of the Law of the Russian Federation of September 23, 1992 No. 3520-1 “On Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin of Goods.”

Let's consider how to correctly take into account the costs associated with assigning a domain name and registering it with an organization that has created its own website on the Internet.

Although the legal nature of a domain is close to the nature of a trademark, the domain cannot be identified with a trademark, which is confirmed by judicial practice on the legality of using domains similar to trademarks.

A domain is neither a means of individualizing a legal entity, nor a means of individualizing any products (works, services), such as, for example, a trademark.

The main purpose of creating domains on the Internet is to differentiate different areas of the information space.

A domain name is also not a product of intellectual activity. Accordingly, the costs of registering a domain name cannot be considered expenses for the acquisition of an intangible asset, since they do not meet the conditions specified in paragraph 3 of PBU 14/2000.

These expenses, in our opinion, should be classified as expenses for ordinary activities in accordance with paragraph 5 of PBU 10/99 as other expenses, which should initially be taken into account as deferred expenses, and then (during the domain registration period, which , as a rule, is a calendar year) to be written off evenly as expenses for ordinary activities.

Note that a similar point of view is reflected in the Letter of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated March 26, 2002 No. 16-00-14/107 “On the actual costs associated with registering a domain name in ROSNIIROS”:

“In connection with the letter, the Department of Accounting Methodology and Reporting informs that in accordance with the requirements of the Accounting Regulations “Accounting for Intangible Assets”, PBU 14/2000, approved by Order of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated October 16, 2000 No. 91n, the registered domain name does not apply to intangible assets. Actual expenses associated with registering a domain name in RosNIIROS are recognized as expenses of the organization for accounting purposes.”

Thus, the actual costs associated with registering a domain name are recognized as expenses of the organization for accounting purposes.

For tax purposes, the costs of registering a domain name, in our opinion, should be classified as costs associated with production and sale as costs for information system services (SWIFT, Internet and other similar systems), in accordance with subclause 25 of clause 1 of Article 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

If an organization places advertising information on the website, then, in accordance with subparagraph 28 of paragraph 1 of Article 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, taking into account paragraph 4 of Article 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the costs are classified as other expenses associated with production and sales.

According to paragraph 4 of Article 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation:

"4. An organization's advertising expenses for the purposes of this chapter include:

expenses for advertising events through the media (including advertisements in print, radio and television broadcasts) and telecommunication networks;

expenses for illuminated and other outdoor advertising, including the production of advertising stands and billboards;

expenses for participation in exhibitions, fairs, expositions, for the design of shop windows, sales exhibitions, sample rooms and showrooms, production of advertising brochures and catalogs containing information about goods sold, work performed, services provided, trademarks and service marks, and ( or) about the organization itself, for the discounting of goods that have completely or partially lost their original qualities during exhibition.

The taxpayer's expenses for the acquisition (production) of prizes awarded to the winners of drawings of such prizes during mass advertising campaigns, as well as expenses for other types of advertising not specified in paragraphs two - four of this paragraph, carried out by him during the reporting (tax) period, for for tax purposes are recognized in an amount not exceeding 1 percent of the proceeds from sales, determined in accordance with Article 249 of this Code.”

Moreover, since the period during which an organization uses a unique domain name is defined in the agreement (usually a calendar year), the costs of its registration should be taken into account for tax purposes evenly over the specified period.

Thus, the registered domain name itself cannot be reflected in accounting as a separate object of intangible assets, since it is not the result of intellectual activity, as required when determining whether it belongs to intangible assets, paragraph 3 of Article 257 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and PBU 14/2000.

In this situation, two options are possible:

1) If the Internet site has just been opened, received registration documents as a software product, and the initial registration of the domain name has been carried out.

In this case, all costs associated with the assignment and registration of a domain name will be included in the initial cost of the site as an intangible asset.

Without a domain name, neither the organization nor third-party users will be able to use the site. In accordance with Article 257 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the initial cost of depreciable intangible assets includes all expenses for their acquisition and bringing them to a state in which they are suitable for use. Therefore, the costs of the initial registration of a domain name, without which the site cannot function, are taken into account in the initial cost of the intangible asset.

Example 4.

The organization has created a website on the Internet.

For the development of the site, under an agreement with a specialized organization, 29,500 rubles were paid, including VAT 18% - 4,500 rubles.

For the initial registration of a domain for a year, the organization paid the registrar company 1,180 rubles, including 18% VAT - 180 rubles.

The organization owns the exclusive right to this software package, which has properly executed documents.

The following entries will be made in the organization's accounting records:

End of the example.
2) If a domain name is re-registered.

The costs of domain name re-registration are recognized as current expenses of the organization. Domain name re-registration is carried out annually. It provides the organization with the opportunity to retain a specific name for its website on the Internet. Re-registration of a domain name does not lead to a change in the quality characteristics of the Internet site and therefore does not affect its initial cost.

The costs of re-registering a domain name for tax purposes are included among other costs associated with production and sales.

Organizations that determine income and expenses on an accrual basis reduce their taxable income monthly during the life of the domain name registration. But this is only true if the contract specifies the period for which registration is carried out. If such a period is not specified, expenses are taken into account at a time.

Organizations using the cash method also reduce taxable income either lump sum or monthly, depending on whether the registration period is specified in the agreement, but only if these expenses are paid.

For accounting purposes, expenses for the initial registration of a domain name are taken into account in the same manner as in tax accounting. They are included in the initial cost of the Internet site as intangible assets in accordance with paragraph 6 of PBU 14/2000.

The costs of subsequent re-registration of the site in accounting are included in deferred expenses. Such expenses, in accordance with paragraph 8 of PBU 10/99, are classified as other expenses for ordinary activities. They should be written off to cost accounts on a monthly basis.

Example 5.

The organization paid for the re-registration of the domain name for the next period (12 months) in the amount of 708 rubles, including VAT 18% - 108 rubles.

The following entries will be made in the organization's accounting records:

VAT of all conditions provided for in Articles 171 and 172 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.
End of the example.

Hosting services.

After creating a website and registering a domain name, an organization must enter into an agreement with the provider for hosting services (disk space rental). Providers, for a fee established by the contract, provide the organization with disk space on their server, permanently connected to the Internet, to host a website on it, and also provide site administration, including its technical maintenance and registration in various Internet search engines.

Thus, the organization is obliged to enter into a contract for the provision of paid services (hosting services) with an Internet provider.

In accordance with current legislation, a service is an action carried out on order and in many cases does not have a material result.

Let us remind you that organizations providing communication services are guided by the provisions of Chapter 39 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation “Paid provision of services”:

Consequently, the provision of communication services is carried out by the provider under a service agreement, under which, in accordance with Article 779 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the contractor undertakes, on the instructions of the customer, to provide services (perform certain actions or carry out certain activities), and the customer undertakes to pay for these services.

When concluding a hosting agreement, the provider does not represent the interests of communication organizations in relations with clients, does not carry out their instructions and does not receive remuneration from them. Consequently, the provider, when fulfilling an agreement for the provision of communication services, is not an intermediary between communication organizations and its clients - Internet users, therefore, the activities of providers to provide access to the Internet within the framework of a paid service agreement concluded with a client - Internet user are not qualified as mediation activities.

Accounting.

In accounting, hosting costs are included as other costs for ordinary activities.

After concluding a hosting agreement, the organization transfers a monthly fee for services to the provider, the costs of which are written off to account 44 “Sales expenses” in the month for which the hosting services were paid.

Tax accounting.

For profit tax purposes, expenses for hosting services are classified as other expenses related to production and sales.

If the information posted on the website is of an advertising nature, then these expenses are taken into account as advertising in accordance with subparagraph 28 of paragraph 1 of Article 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation:

“Article 264. Other expenses associated with production and (or) sales

1. Other expenses associated with production and sales include the following expenses of the taxpayer:

………

28) expenses for advertising produced (purchased) and (or) sold goods (works, services), activities of the taxpayer, trademark and service mark, including participation in exhibitions and fairs, taking into account the provisions of paragraph 4 of this article”;

If the information posted on the site is not of an advertising nature, then, according to subparagraph 49 of paragraph 1 of Article 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, costs for hosting services are included in other costs associated with production and (or) sales.

In accordance with subparagraph 3 of paragraph 7 of Article 272 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, expenses for hosting services are recognized in tax accounting on the date of settlements under the terms of concluded contracts, on the date of presentation of settlement documents to the organization, or on the last day of the reporting (tax) period.

“Input” VAT presented to the organization by providers is accepted for deduction in the generally established manner, subject to the requirements established by Articles 171 and 172 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

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Accounting for website development costs under the simplified tax system

As already mentioned, the creation of a website should be taken into account as the creation of intangible assets on the simplified tax system.

Since the Tax Code of the Russian Federation ties the tax accounting of intangible assets to the moment the object is reflected in the accounting records, we will start with the accounting system. In accounting, expenses will be reflected in the debit of account 08 in correspondence with the credit of accounts that record the cost of expenses incurred to create the site.

Dt 08 Kt 60 (76) – if the development was paid to third-party developers (or if the software was purchased for the site)

Dt 08 Kt 20, 26, 02.. and so on, if the development is carried out in-house

Dt 08 Kt 76 – costs for domain registration and purchasing hosting

Dt 08 Kt 60 (76) – other costs associated with the creation. For example, payment for legal advice on use in the process of creating copyright.

Dt 04 Kt 08 – NMA site put into operation

Tax accounting of expenses for creating a website under the simplified tax system

Tax accounting for the costs of creating a website - what will be included in the expenses for the simplified tax system - is prescribed in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

The Tax Code allows “simplified” people to take into account the costs of acquiring and creating intangible assets when calculating the simplified tax system (clause 2, clause 1, article 346.16 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Costs for the website can be taken into account from the moment it is reflected as intangible assets in accounting. In tax accounting, these expenses are written off during the year in equal shares (clause 2, clause 3, article 346.16 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). These expenses are reflected on the last day of the reporting period or year.

Important to remember! In order to accept site expenses as expenses under the simplified tax system, they must be actually paid.

For example:

Let third-party developers complete the site on a turnkey basis. The contract price was 100,000 rubles. The work was completed on 02/15/2021. Payment made 02/20/2021

02/15/2021 Dt 04 Kt 08 — 100,000 rub. website launched

02/20/2021 Dt 60 (76) Kt 51 - 100,000 rub. Required condition! Costs for website development, hosting, etc. paid to the developer (supplier)

You can write off expenses in equal installments throughout the year.

We determine the initial cost of the site

Intangible assets are classified as depreciable property. Their cost is repaid by calculating depreciation (clause 1 of Article 256 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

According to paragraph 3 of Article 257 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the initial cost of a website is defined as the sum of expenses for its acquisition (creation) and bringing it to a state in which it is suitable for use. It does not include VAT and excise taxes.

The cost of a website developed by the organization’s employees is formed as the sum of the actual costs of its creation. These include, in particular:

— expenses for remuneration of workers directly involved in the creation of the site;

— patent fees, registration fees and other payments related to the execution and registration of exclusive rights;

— expenses for services of third parties;

- material costs;

- other similar costs.

The initial cost of the site is not increased by the amount of unified social tax and contributions for compulsory social insurance against accidents at work and occupational diseases, accrued from payments in favor of the workers who developed the site. The fact is that the specified tax and insurance premiums reduce the taxable profit of the current period as part of other expenses (subclauses 1 and 45 of clause 1 of Article 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, respectively). In addition, other taxes and fees taken into account in accordance with the Tax Code when calculating income tax are also not included in the cost of the site.

The initial cost of a website ordered to a contractor is formed from the amount paid for development and the costs of the customer organization for installing the resulting software package, debugging, testing, etc.

Costs of website promotion under the simplified tax system

In most cases, when they talk about “promotion”, we are talking about the ongoing costs associated with owning the site itself (IMA). It is necessary to consider costs in essence and economic feasibility. And also by the presence of something suitable in the list of expenses for the simplified tax system in Article 346.16 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

For example, if a promotion is held on a ready-made website of an online store to popularize the site among customers, this is nothing more than an advertising campaign. Advertising expenses can be taken into account under the simplified tax system “Income minus expenses” (paragraph 2, paragraph 2, article 346.16 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). We remember about the condition of their mandatory actual payment in order to be accepted as expenses for the simplified tax system and take them into account (enter them into KUDiR).

Cost structure in subsequent months of promotion

After completing the initial refinement and SEO optimization of the site, work continues in five areas:

1. Monitoring and correcting emerging indexing and SEO optimization errors, monitoring search engine innovations and bringing the site into compliance with new requirements.
2. Increasing the number of website pages by adding and optimizing new products, product category pages and articles.
3. Posting materials and links on external sites. Working with reviews, aggregators, forums and question-and-answer sites.
4. Analysis of visitor behavior on the site and modification of pages to increase conversion and improve behavioral factors.
5. Analysis of promotion results, generation and implementation of ideas for increasing positions and targeted traffic.

What else to read: SEO website promotion: goals, strategies, stages and deadlines

RESULTS

It is possible to take into account software costs only under the simplified tax system with the object “income minus expenses” if the general conditions for recognizing expenses are met: the costs are economically determined and documented.
If the site meets the criteria for intangible assets and you own exclusive rights to it, consider the costs for it as expenses for intangible assets. You can find more complete information on the topic in ConsultantPlus. Free trial access to the system for 2 days.

How to calculate your budget for promotion

Website promotion does not yield results immediately. It is better to plan investments for at least a year, and preferably for three, taking into account all the costs and prospects.

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Investment calculations for an online store

Let's say that we are considering investments for a small online store. You can calculate investments for three years by making a forecast of the expected margin.

The achievable transition bar is involved in the calculations. The bar is derived from an analysis of competitors, resource traffic and other indicators. If the analysis shows that the expected conversion rate is too low, then it’s not worth investing in SEO.

Data for calculations:

• Duration - 36 months;
• the achievable level is 100 thousand transitions per month;
• conversion 1%;
• average bill - 5 thousand rubles;
• margin - on average 20%;
• fullfilment - 70%. This is order fulfillment: the ratio of orders that are filled to those placed.

Numerical data is chosen as an example; different companies may have their own indicators.

Let's multiply all the indicators. Taking into account the periods of ups and downs in the ranking, we multiply the achievable transition bar by a factor of 0.5 - in three years we will get approximately half.

36*100,000*0.5*0.01*5,000*0.2*0.7= 12.6 million rubles margin

It is reasonable to spend about ⅓ of this amount on SEO to attract these orders. The figure may vary depending on current goals, complexity of orders, and site theme.

If we can spend ⅓, that means 12.6/3/36=116 thousand rubles per month.

The acceptable monthly budget for SEO was estimated at 116 thousand.