Let's understand the terminology
Paragraphs 13 and 15 of Article 2 of the Federal Law of July 27, 2006 No. 149-FZ “On Information, Information Technologies and Information Protection” state:
- website on the Internet - a set of programs for electronic computers and other information contained in an information system, access to which is provided through the Internet information and telecommunications network using domain names and (or) network addresses that allow identifying sites on the Internet.
- domain name is a symbol designation intended for addressing sites on the Internet in order to provide access to information posted on the Internet.
In other words, a site is a “place” on the Internet that is defined by its own “address”, has its own owner and consists of web pages that are perceived as a single whole. An Internet site as a collection of visually perceptible pages and controls is created using certain commands and thus is a visual representation of a computer program as a collection of these commands. Therefore, in accordance with Article 1261 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the site can be considered as a computer program.
...a site is a “place” on the Internet that is defined by its own “address”, has its own owner and consists of web pages that are perceived as a single whole...
From the point of view of civil law, a website as a set of computer programs, databases and works of graphics and design is classified as objects of copyright and is subject to legal protection (subclauses 1, 2, 3, clause 1, article 1225, paragraph 7, 13 p 1, paragraph 2, paragraph 2, Article 1259, paragraph 2, Article 1260, Article 1261 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). The exclusive right to the result of intellectual activity created by creative work initially arises with its author. In this case, this right can be transferred by him to another person (clause 3 of Article 1228 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).
A domain (domain name) is the name (address) of your website on the Internet, which consists of a unique combination of characters (Clause 15, Article 2 of Federal Law No. 149-FZ).
The domain name must be registered with the Russian Research Institute for the Development of Public Networks (RosNIIROS) or with registrars authorized by it. Re-registration of a domain name is carried out, as a rule, annually and provides the organization with the opportunity to retain the specific name of its website on the Internet.
Hosting is a service provided on a regular basis for placing an organization’s website on a provider’s server that is permanently connected to the Internet.
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).
We reflect the creation of the site in accounting
Accounting for exclusive rights
In accounting, the procedure for accounting for the costs of creating a website depends on whether the organization recognizes its intangible assets or not.
If an organization has acquired exclusive rights to a website or its individual parts that are capable of independently generating income, then in accounting they should be taken into account as part of intangible assets (IMA) when fulfilling the requirements of clause 3 of PBU 14/2007 (approved by Order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated December 27 .2007 No. 153n), in particular, if the object is intended for use for a period exceeding 12 months and is capable of bringing economic benefits to the organization.
An intangible asset is accepted for accounting at its actual (initial) cost determined as of the date of its capitalization (clause 6 of PBU 14/2007).
If an organization develops a website independently, then in accounting the initial (actual) cost of the website will be the costs of paying the organization’s employees, as well as the amount of insurance premiums accrued from the wages of employees participating in the creation of intangible assets.
If the development of the site was entrusted to a third-party organization and it transfers exclusive rights to it, then the initial cost of the intangible assets will be the amount of costs for developing the site under an agreement with the developer organization.
Also included in the initial cost of intangible assets are other expenses directly related to the acquisition and creation of an intangible asset and providing conditions for using the asset for the intended purposes (clauses 8 and 9 of PBU 14/2007). For example, the cost of the initial registration of a domain name should be taken into account in the cost of intangible assets. After all, as already mentioned, a website cannot function without a domain name.
...quite often a website is created for an indefinite period, depreciation for such intangible assets is not accrued in accounting...
Looking ahead, we will say that the initial cost of intangible assets will be formed similarly in tax accounting (clause 3 of Article 257 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 02.02.2011 No. 03-03-06/1/55, dated 03.25.2011 No. 03-03-06/1/173).
The cost of intangible assets is repaid by calculating depreciation over their useful life (clause 23 of PBU 14/2007).
For intangible assets with an indefinite useful life, depreciation is not accrued in accounting (clause 23 of PBU 14/2007).
In this case, the useful life is the period expressed in months during which the organization expects to use intangible assets to obtain economic benefits (clause 25 of PBU 14/2007). It is determined based on (clause 26 PBU 14/2007):
- the validity period of the organization’s rights to the result of intellectual activity and the period of control over the asset;
- the expected life of the asset over which the entity expects to receive economic benefits.
The organization must annually check the useful life and method of calculating depreciation for intangible assets. If the period of use of the site changes significantly and/or if the calculation of the expected flow of future economic benefits from its use changes significantly, the useful life and/or method of determining depreciation should be changed accordingly.
In practice, quite often a website is created for an indefinite period; therefore, its useful life cannot be clearly established; accordingly, depreciation for such intangible assets is not accrued in accounting. But every year the organization must consider the presence of factors indicating the impossibility of reliably determining the useful life of a given asset (clause 27 of PBU 14/02007). And in case of termination of their existence, i.e. after the emergence of data on the period of use of the site, intangible assets can be depreciated.
In this case, as well as in the case of revision of the useful life of intangible assets, the resulting adjustments are reflected in accounting and financial statements as changes in estimated values (clauses 27, 30 PBU 14/2007, clauses 2, 3, 4 of the Accounting Regulations “ Changes in estimated values" (PBU 21/2008), approved by Order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated October 6, 2008 No. 106n.).
In accounting, costs associated with the acquisition of objects that will subsequently be accepted for accounting as intangible assets are taken into account in account 08 “Investments in non-current assets”, subaccount “Acquisition of intangible assets”. The generated actual (initial) value of intangible assets is written off from account 08 to the debit of account 04 “Intangible assets”.
Depreciation is reflected in the credit of account 05 “Amortization of intangible assets” and the debit of cost accounting accounts 20, 26, 44, etc.
Tax accounting of intangible assets
In tax accounting, the conditions for recognizing intangible assets are almost the same as in accounting.
However, in tax accounting, unlike accounting, a restrictive criterion is provided for recognizing an object as depreciable property: the initial cost of the object must be at least 40,000 rubles (clause 1 of Article 256 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, Letter of the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation dated November 24, 2011 No. ED -4-3/19695).
According to the Ministry of Finance of Russia, if the costs of creating a website amounted to an amount less than the cost of depreciable property (less than 40,000 rubles) (clause 1 of Article 256 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation), then such a site is not recognized as an intangible asset, and the costs for it are written off at a time the composition of other expenses associated with production and sales (clause 1 of Article 256 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
For your information
The site can be used in activities aimed at generating income, but does not meet the criteria for intangible assets. This occurs in the following situations
• useful life is less than 12 months (Letter of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated July 21, 2010 No. 03-03-06/1/480); • the organization received exclusive rights only to certain elements of the site that cannot function independently, for example, only to the site design.
In these cases, the costs are taken into account as other expenses:
• as expenses for the acquisition of computer programs and databases under contracts with the copyright holder (clause 26 of article 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation); • or as periodic payments under a license agreement for the use of rights to the results of intellectual activity (subclause 37, clause 1, article 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation); • or as other expenses associated with the acquisition or creation of a website (subclause 49, clause 1, article 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
If advertising information is posted on the site, then these costs are taken into account as advertising expenses (subclause 28, clause 1, article 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
Intangible assets are classified as depreciable property (Clause 1, Article 256 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
The organization begins to calculate depreciation on the 1st day of the month following the month in which the site was put into operation (clause 2 of Article 259 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). In this case, the commissioning date is the moment the site is posted on the Internet.
The useful life of an intangible asset is determined based on the validity period of the patent, certificate and (or) other restrictions on the period of use of intellectual property objects, as well as on the basis of the period stipulated by the relevant contracts.
If the useful life cannot be determined, depreciation rates are established based on a useful life equal to ten years, but not more than the period of activity of the taxpayer (clause 2 of Article 258 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
However, there is a special rule for computer programs and databases. For such objects, the taxpayer can establish the useful life independently, but this period cannot be less than two years (clause 2 of Article 258 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
If there are no exclusive rights to the site
If the exclusive rights to the site are not transferred, then in this case the organization receives intangible assets for use and such rights are taken into account on an off-balance sheet account in an assessment determined based on the amount of remuneration established in the agreement.
In this case, payments for the granted right to use the results of intellectual activity, made in the form of a one-time payment, are reflected in accounting as deferred expenses in account 97 “Deferred expenses” and are subject to write-off as expenses for ordinary activities of the current period during the validity period of the license agreement (paragraph 2, clause 39 PBU 14/2007, clause 65 of the Regulations on accounting and financial reporting in the Russian Federation, clauses 5, 7, 19 of the Accounting Regulations “Expenses of the organization” PBU 10/99, approved by the Order Ministry of Finance of Russia dated May 6, 1999 No. 33n).
Periodic payments, calculated and paid in the manner and within the terms established by the agreement, are included in the expenses of the reporting period (paragraph 2, paragraph 39 of PBU 14/2007, paragraphs 5, 7, 16, 18 of PBU 10/99). These expenses are reflected in the debit of cost accounting accounts 20, 26, 44, etc. in correspondence with the credit of the account of settlements with the copyright holder (account 76) (Instructions for using the Chart of Accounts).
In tax accounting, if there are no exclusive rights to a website, the costs of its creation will be taken into account as part of other expenses associated with production and sales (subclause 26, clause 1, article 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). The Russian Ministry of Finance believes that these expenses should not be taken into account at the same time. When applying the accrual method, they are written off in the following order (Letter dated August 31, 2012 No. 03-03-06/2/95):
- if, under the terms of the agreement for the acquisition of non-exclusive rights, a period for using computer programs is established, expenses related to several reporting periods are taken into account when calculating the tax base evenly over these periods;
- if the terms of the agreement for the acquisition of non-exclusive rights cannot determine the period of use of computer programs, then the expenses incurred are distributed taking into account the principle of uniform recognition of income and expenses. In this case, the taxpayer in tax accounting has the right to independently determine the period during which these expenses are subject to accounting for profit tax purposes.
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
Website domain name registration, technical support and hosting services
As we have already said, in accounting and tax accounting, the cost of the initial registration of a domain name can be taken into account in the cost of intangible assets, since without it the site cannot be used to create it.
Expenses for re-registration of a domain name are recorded in account 97 “Deferred expenses” and are written off in accounting and tax accounting evenly over the period for which it is extended. If such a period is not specified, expenses are taken into account at a time (clause 65 of the Regulations on accounting and reporting in the Russian Federation, subclause 49, clause 1, article 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, clause 1, article 272 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, Letter dated January 17, 2007 No. 20-12/004121).
As for the costs of paying for hosting services and technical support of the site, these types of expenses are reflected in accounting as part of expenses for ordinary activities (clause 5 of PBU 10/99). For the purposes of taxation of profits of this type, expenses are classified as other expenses related to production and sales (subclause 49, clause 1, article 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). If information is posted on the website for advertising purposes, then these expenses can be taken into account as advertising (subclause 28, clause 1, article 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, Letter of the Federal Tax Service for Moscow dated January 17, 2007 No. 20-12/004121) .
Rimma Skorohvatova
, tax consultant at the First House of Consulting “What to do Consult”, for the magazine “Moscow Accountant”
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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.
