With the concept of "bonus" we come across both in the domestic sphere of life, and in the workplace. The nature of the bonus is understandable - these are certain additional benefits that a person receives in the form of rewards, bonuses or allowances. The essence and purpose of bonuses is simple - to motivate, encourage, attract attention in order to form permanent relationships, strong ties, trade and exchange processes. However, in Russia there is such a thing as a “retro bonus”. What is a retro bonus in trading and how it works will be described below.
What is it and how does it work
This concept is used mainly by Russians in the process of trade and exchange relations. In world trade terminology, the most commonly used definition is “rebate” from the English rebate. In essence, a retro bonus is nothing more than a payment, or payment, which is made by making the following variations:
- cash payment, which is a refund of a certain amount from the value of the transaction of sale;
- provision of goods for full use on a free basis;
- option - the right of the client, or a third party, to enter into a transaction for the sale of goods within a certain time at a specially set price.
Bonus items as retro bonuses
The simplest and most frequently used in trade and exchange relations is a type of bonuses such as free delivery of goods. But this type of relationship in trade entails the emergence of certain tax liabilities for value added tax from the producer of goods or sellers and tax liabilities for gross income from the recipient.
In order to bypass tax audits and their difficulties, you need to follow these steps:
- legally competently draw up a contract for the provision of retro bonuses;
- document the operation, as a result of which retro-bonus relations will take place;
- document the amount of work performed for which a retro bonus will be awarded;
- when registering the obligation to pay bonuses, it is more correct to use the concept of “payment for the services rendered”, rather than “paying bonuses”.
Legal registration
The retro bonus is, first of all, the relations that arise between the two parties regarding the payment of bonus obligations of one party to the other. Therefore, the fact of legally correct registration of such relations is important.
In legal practice, bonuses are rewards that are paid to a party as a result of the provision of certain services. It is more correct to significantly simplify tax accounting not to tie such operations to the main contract of sale, but to issue them as separate competent contracts.
Practice
Practice is exactly what helps to understand what a retro bonus is. An example of use in marketing is the simplest and most understandable. For example, a party that has received such a marketing service as collecting or disseminating information, conducting promotions, merchandising, draws up a retro bonus to the party who provided this service in the form of providing free goods upon completion of actions.
Payment
If the retro bonus is nothing more than a percentage of the volume of products sold, then the main conditions for its provision must be described in the consignment agreement, which is concluded between the two parties between which the trade and exchange relations arose. The execution of such contracts and the calculation of retro bonuses is a rather laborious process for business accounting, since the following information is mandatory in the contract:
- the price of the goods that is provided to the recipient side must take into account the retro bonus, and this item must be described in the contract;
- the conditions for the payment of the retro bonus must be indicated (for example, when the recipient party makes a certain volume of product purchases, a part of the money spent in the form of retro bonuses is returned to him). The company can accumulate these bonuses in the evaluation and accounting system of the main sales volumes of each party with which retro-bonus relations have arisen;
- indicate the time frame for accrual and payment of retro bonuses;
- the contract must be signed by the two parties, as a result of which it is considered to be the fact of agreeing the terms and amounts of bonus payments.
Price Reduction Practice with Retro Bonus Relations
Despite the fact that the retro bonus is a legally registered relationship in the form of a signed agreement that indicates the price of goods provided to the recipient of the bonus, in practice there are cases where the price of goods already shipped and delivered to the recipient can be revised. This happens when a transaction for the provision of goods was concluded during the tax period, and the company makes a post-discount on the price of the goods, which are shipped after the tax period. However, before using this type of granting a retro bonus, you need to understand the intricacies of designing such a discount in accounting. In addition, it is better to ask knowledgeable people to show a sample of the retro bonus so as not to run into problems.
In accounting, such a retro discount is issued through a negative invoice. From October 1, 2011, such accounts are fully legalized, and their use is legal and allowed by law. The discount clearance mechanism is simple: for starters, the seller of the goods draws up an adjustment invoice. The second main condition is the fact of notifying the recipient of a price reduction, documentary evidence of his consent to carry out this operation. Only if there are two of the above reasons, the seller is entitled to issue a retro discount as a special type of retro bonuses.
In general, the practice of providing retro bonuses in trading is a simple and necessary thing, however, before you apply it, you need to enlist the support and knowledge of accounting, because with the wrong approach, a good deed may turn out to be quite the opposite.