Tax audits of an entrepreneur are a mandatory operation, but rather unpleasant for an accountable person, because the risk of detecting some distortions and errors is quite large. Moreover, each legal entity should clearly know its rights and obligations and remember that ignorance does not exempt from liability.
Entrepreneur tax audits can be carried out only once a year, and during the last three months at the end of the calendar year. In case of violation of any rights, an entrepreneur may apply to the judicial authority to restore justice. However, a re-examination is considered to be such only if it is carried out for one type of tax and for the same period. A tax audit of a company can be field and desk. The duration of the on-site visit is about two months, and the period for internal audit should not exceed a month.
Of course, any rule implies exceptions. So, the time allotted for verification can be increased if:
- individual entrepreneurs have separate units;
- detected error information that requires additional verification procedures;
- customer documents were not delivered on time or in full;
- unforeseen circumstances such as fires, natural disasters, etc.
In this case, you can count on an extension of up to four months or even six months. And at the end of the audit, the tax officer must return all the original documents of the company that were transferred to him earlier. If the on-site inspection was carried out on the territory of the individual entrepreneur himself, then he must ensure that all participants in the inspection leave his property.
In practice, often accountable people do not have time to prepare all the papers for inspection on time. As a way out of the situation, you can try to negotiate with the tax authority to postpone it to a later date. Of course, the final answer depends entirely on your reputation and personal attitude to the head of the company. As a rule, it is allowed to reschedule in the redistribution of one quarter, as this does not require a major restructuring of the schedule, which is set in advance.
Entrepreneur tax audits can be postponed to another time only if there are serious reasons, for example, a vacation or a hospital chief accountant. This is indeed considered a good reason, since throughout the audit, the tax office has direct contact with the chief accountant. Many enterprises go for a little trick. For example, if the documentation is completely unprepared for delivery to the tax inspector, the manager may decide to send the accountant on vacation or on a business trip. Thus, he buys time for complete preparation. For this, the entrepreneur sends a letter of request to the tax authority explaining the reasons and presenting evidence.
The tax audit of the enterprise should be justified by certain documents. So, the inspector must present two documents simultaneously:
- Certificate allowing verification.
- Permission to carry out a specific audit.
If only one document is provided, the head of the organization has the right to refuse the inspector and not to submit the required documents. This action will be fully justified and should not be taken as disrespect or resistance to the law.
Entrepreneur tax audits are mandatory, so cooperation with the inspectorate is welcome. Any obstruction may be regarded as resistance to acts of the current legislation. Then the tax service has the right to apply to law enforcement agencies for help, and the audit will be carried out forcibly.