In accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation, inspectors of the Federal Tax Service are entitled to initiate on-site inspections of enterprises. These measures require a fairly detailed study of the company for compliance with the requirements of the tax legislation of the Russian Federation. What sources of law govern the conduct of field audits? What is the procedure for this procedure?
What is an inspection of the Federal Tax Service?
Field tax audits are among the main activities of the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation. This procedure is governed by the provisions of Art. 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, other federal laws, as well as by-laws, letters and explanations of departments related to the activities of the Federal Tax Service.
A field tax audit is a procedure that complements a desk audit. In general, it represents a visit by inspectors of the Federal Tax Service to the territory of a taxpayer organization. It is organized with the aim of checking documents and other significant circumstances of the company meeting the requirements established by the legislation of the Russian Federation.
We study the basic rules of the relevant events established by Art. 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and other regulatory sources, in more detail.
The basic rules of field inspections of the Federal Tax Service
An inspection of the Federal Tax Service is carried out on the basis of a decision signed by the head of the territorial structure of the tax service. The inspectors taking part in it are also appointed by a separate local legal act - such are the requirements of paragraph 1 and paragraph 2 of Art. 89 of the Tax Code. As we noted above, the event in question is usually held on the territory of the taxpayer. But if its provision is not possible, verification is carried out in the building of the territorial division of the Federal Tax Service, to which the company is assigned.
Inspectors of the Federal Tax Service during the event under review may request all documents related to taxes from the taxpayer or his counterparties. If necessary, tax authorities are entitled to take an inventory of the assets of the company and inspect its premises. In accordance with paragraph 4 of Art. 89 of the Tax Code, inspectors of the Federal Tax Service can verify documents only for 3 years preceding the one in which the inspection was initiated.
The measures under consideration cannot be carried out on the same types of taxes in the same year more than 2 times. In addition, the Federal Tax Service may initiate only 2 field inspections during the year. If the company is reorganized or liquidated, then an on-site audit can be initiated against it at any time, regardless of previous events of this type. The subject of the study of the company also does not matter. However, in this case, inspectors have the right to investigate a period that does not exceed 3 years before the year in which the Federal Tax Service decided to conduct an audit. The duration of the event in question, as a rule, does not exceed 2 months - such are the provisions of paragraph 6 of Art. 89 of the Tax Code. But if necessary, the inspection period can be increased to 4 months. As an exception, up to 6.
Upon completion of the audit, a document is compiled and transmitted to the taxpayer - it records information about the event.
The purpose of the field inspection
Let us consider in more detail what, in fact, is the purpose of the event in question. In accordance with paragraph 4 of Art. 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, an on-site inspection is generally organized in order to establish the correctness of the calculation and payment by a company of certain taxes. In the provisions of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, other grounds for holding the corresponding event may be prescribed.
Most often, the Federal Tax Service initiates an on-site inspection if it was not possible to establish unequivocally in the process of the desk office that the company is correctly complying with the requirements of the tax legislation of the Russian Federation, while there are suspicions that there are some miscalculations in its work. An on-site audit can be appointed in order to study in detail the sources of tax and accounting, other documents that are not generally examined during desk verification.
What decisions can be made following an audit?
As soon as a tax audit, regulated by Art. 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, completed - the inspectors of the Federal Tax Service draw up a special act that reflects the results of the event. The document may contain a decision to hold the company liable for violation of the tax laws of the Russian Federation or to refuse to impose any sanctions on the company.
In the first case, the inspectors must reflect in the act all the circumstances of the offense with reference to real documents. The source, fixing the results of the audit, also reflects taxpayer liability measures. It can be fines and penalties.
In turn, if the act reflects the decision of the inspectors of the Federal Tax Service not to impose sanctions on the verified enterprise, it should also be motivated by certain circumstances. The act containing the sanctions must specify the period during which the taxpayer can appeal the decision made by the inspectors by contacting a higher tax authority.
Field inspection content
Let us consider in more detail what constitutes, in fact, the verification procedure - in accordance with Art. 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, what is its content. First of all, as we noted above, the head of the territorial structure of the Federal Tax Service makes a decision on conducting an on-site audit with respect to a particular company. This document should reflect:
- name of the territorial structure of the Federal Tax Service;
- number and date of the document;
- name of the audited company;
- her TIN;
- gearbox;
- reporting period for which verification is carried out;
- types of taxes, the correctness of the calculation and payment of which will be studied by inspectors;
- FULL NAME. tax service specialists involved in the audit.
The decision must be signed by the head of the Federal Tax Service. Inspectors of the Federal Tax Service, arriving in the territory of the audited organization, present the appropriate document to the director of the company. If the employees of the Federal Tax Service do not have permission with themselves, or if they cannot confirm their identities, then the head of the enterprise will have the right to prevent them from entering the company. If everything is in order with the document reflecting the decision of the Federal Tax Service, the director of the company confirms by signing the fact of familiarization with it.
If the head of the audited organization refuses to allow inspectors of the Federal Tax Service to the site, even though the tax authorities have all the documents in order, then representatives of the Federal Tax Service draw up a separate act about this. Based on this document, the head of the Federal Tax Service may subsequently apply to law enforcement agencies to resolve the issue with access to the taxpayer. Moreover, if the company did not allow inspectors to conduct an on-site inspection, the Federal Tax Service has the right to make decisions on tax offenses based on available data.
Validation period: nuances
Article 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation includes the norms by which the time period for the event in question includes the period of the actual presence of inspectors in the company. However, this does not take into account the periods between the transfer to the taxpayer of the requirements for the need to submit documents to the Federal Tax Service. That is, the start date of the on-site inspection is determined by the moment the FTS employees receive relevant sources from the taxpayer.
Inspector Tasks
Let us consider in more detail what tasks the inspectors of the Federal Tax Service solve during the on-site inspection. During the event under consideration, the tax authorities, using the available data about the taxpayer, information from the documents and materials provided by him:
- analyze the information received about the activities of the company;
- identify possible inconsistencies in the studied documents, violations in the conduct of accounting and tax accounting;
- determine the degree of influence of these shortcomings on the payment discipline of the organization;
- if necessary, initiate counter checks - other firms that are related to the activities of the audited company;
- inspect the premises, adjacent territories;
- communicate with people working in the company, attract competent experts - in order to objectively evaluate the activities of the audited company;
- determine the evidence base for violations of the tax legislation of the Russian Federation;
- add taxes, determine the basis for fines and penalties;
- Correctly record the results of the check.
Taxpayer Responsibilities for Verification
The Tax Code of the Russian Federation also establishes certain obligations for the taxpayer being verified. These include: providing the inspectors of the Federal Tax Service with the necessary documents, fulfilling the requirements of the Federal Tax Service to eliminate violations of tax legislation. If the company does not fulfill the relevant duties, this may be accompanied by unpleasant legal consequences.
Tax audits and monitoring
Article 89 of the Tax Code establishes the norm according to which the Federal Tax Service does not have the right to initiate the measures in question during those periods in which tax monitoring is carried out with respect to the company. Exception - scenarios in which:
- field inspection is carried out by a higher structure of the Federal Tax Service as a method of monitoring the work of the territorial representative office of the Federal Tax Service, which monitors;
- the tax monitoring procedure in relation to the taxpayer is terminated ahead of schedule;
- the company refuses to comply with the motivated opinion of the Federal Tax Service;
- the taxpayer submits to the Federal Tax Service a revised declaration with the amount of tax, which is reduced in comparison with that recorded in the previous reporting document.
Verification of branches and representative offices
The procedure in question can also be initiated in relation to the branches and representative offices of the company, if any. In relation to this activity, Art. 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation establishes a limitation for the Federal Tax Service - inspectors are not entitled to check the branches and representative offices of a company 2 or more times for the same payments within the same period. In addition, the Federal Tax Service cannot pay a visit to the relevant structures more than 2 times a year. The inspection period for branches and representative offices of the company should not exceed 1 month.
Pause Check
In the provisions of paragraph 9 of Art. 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, norms are fixed that regulate the procedure for suspension of the event under consideration. So, the head of the territorial division of the Federal Tax Service has the right to initiate a pause in the audit if:
- it is required to request additional documents from the taxpayer;
- it is necessary to obtain information from government agencies of foreign countries - in accordance with international agreements of the Russian Federation;
- need to conduct an examination;
- there is a need to translate the documents that were provided by the inspected company to the Russian language.
The audit is suspended in accordance with a separate order of the head of the territorial division of the Federal Tax Service. If the procedure in question is initiated, then for the period of cancellation of the actions of the Federal Tax Service, the taxpayer returns the originals of those sources that were originally requested by the inspectors.
Recheck
In some cases, the FTS may re-examine it. The decision on its implementation should be made by a higher structure of the Federal Tax Service in the process of monitoring the work of the territorial division of the Federal Tax Service, which conducted the first audit. Re-inspection of the Federal Tax Service means an event that involves the inspection by the inspectors of the department of the same taxes that were examined during the previous visit of the inspectors of the Federal Tax Service to the company. At the same time, if a new visit of the inspectors of the Federal Tax Service reveals offenses that were not discovered during the previous inspection, then any sanctions on the taxpayer, as a rule, are not imposed. Repeated verification is regulated by the provisions of paragraph 10 of Art. 89 of the Tax Code.
What will the FTS do when a violation is detected?
If inspectors of the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation reveal violations in the company’s activities, they will have to take all necessary legal measures to document the facts discovered. This is necessary so that subsequent decisions of the tax authorities have an evidence base.
If necessary, the FTS can withdraw documents from the company that can confirm the violation - so that the taxpayer does not subsequently hide them. Inspectors of the Federal Tax Service have the right to demand explanations from the audited company regarding the facts discovered that characterize the activities of the enterprise. At the same time, a request for the provision of necessary information can be formed both orally and in writing.
If the taxpayer refuses to interact constructively with the Federal Tax Service, this may lead to the fact that the inspectorate interprets one or another complex issue not in favor of the organization being audited. If necessary, inspectors of the Federal Tax Service can videotap the verification process, photograph the objects under study that belong to the company.
The facts of the verification should be recorded in a separate protocol. In the relevant document, the inspector must fix the date and place of the implementation of certain actions, full name participants in the inspection of the objects of the company being inspected, the content of the actions carried out by the inspectors, revealed facts during the inspection of objects. Photo and video materials, if any, are attached to the protocol.
Counter check
We noted above that along with an exit - or as part of it - a counter check can be initiated . Its essence is that the Federal Tax Service requests data on the activities of the company from third parties related to the company being audited. It is worth noting that it is regulated by other norms of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation - different from those contained in Article 89 of the Tax Code. Tax audit, classified as counter, in particular, is regulated by the provisions of Art. 87 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.
The event in question can be implemented in 2 ways. Firstly, the territorial division of the Federal Tax Service may independently request documents from third-party firms that are related to the activities of the audited firm. Secondly, inspectors have the right to interact with colleagues on the issues of obtaining the necessary information - by sending them inquiries about the need to obtain from companies registered in the relevant territory certain documents.
Features of the interpretation of legislation regarding tax audits
The most important nuance of tax law is the interpretation of the provisions of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and its normative acts. Many accountants prefer Art. 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation with comments, since the wording given in the Code in its pure form sometimes does not quite unambiguously allow one or another norm to be interpreted. The provisions of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation in the appropriate format can be found on the pages of many thematic portals on the network.
Article 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation with comments may contain explanations of experts regarding: the procedure for the inspectors of the Federal Tax Service and taxpayers during inspections, the consequences of certain activities by employees of the Federal Tax Service and audited firms, judicial practice on disputes between the Federal Tax Service and organizations. In all cases, the information reflected in the relevant sources may be useful for businesses.
Regarding the provisions that Article 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation contains: judicial practice can, as in the case of expert comments, facilitate their clarification. It happens that the opinion of experts on certain norms of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation is based mainly on judicial precedents.
In those cases when Art. 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation with comments contains references to judicial practice - we can talk about the consideration of cases in different instances. But many experts still prefer to refer to decisions made by the RF Armed Forces or the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation. That is not subject to appeal. In this case, article 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation with comments can be considered as a source that contributes to a more correct interpretation of the norms of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation regarding inspections by business representatives.
For competent specialists of commercial enterprises, it is important, of course, to have access to the latest version of Art. 89 of the Tax Code. The “Consultant” and other reference and legal systems are probably the most optimal way to keep abreast of updates to the corresponding source of law.
Summary
So, the Federal Tax Service, which did not receive the necessary result on the fact of conducting a desk audit of the company, can initiate an exit. This procedure is mainly regulated by Article 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. An on-site tax audit, however, may also be in the jurisdiction of other norms of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, federal laws and by-laws.
During the event under review, the task of the inspectors of the Federal Tax Service is to determine how correctly the company calculates and pays taxes. — , , , .
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