Regularly, employees of the Federal Tax Service carry out various checks in relation to numerous taxpayers. Their main goal is to identify various violations of the law committed by different companies or individual entrepreneurs. Inspections can be field or desk, and in any case they cause a negative reaction among the managers and accountants of the company. Often, additional studies are carried out, which include a counter check. It is conducted in relation to the counterparties of the audited company. Its main goal is to clarify various complex issues.
Study concept
A counter tax audit is carried out in a situation when in the process of studying any organization additional questions arise for contractors.
Documents related to a transaction are usually checked, so a limited amount of documentation is requested.
Purpose of
The essence of the counter check is to clarify the various circumstances and details of a particular transaction, which, for various reasons, may be considered illegal. Based on the results of such a transaction, the company's revenue usually increases or decreases significantly. Therefore, doubts arise among verifiers as to whether such an operation is lawful. Often, it leads to the fact that the tax deductions of the company are reduced.
A counter check is initiated to achieve several goals at once. These include:
- verification of the authenticity and legality of documents submitted by the company;
- examination of information in similar documents of different companies to make sure that there are no intentional corrections;
- reconciliation of information about various financial transactions performed by the company and its partners;
- confirmation of the existence of specific counterparties, as well as the fact that they are actually engaged in entrepreneurial activity.
If various serious irregularities are detected during a counter audit, both companies are held accountable. Typically, such a study is carried out if the transaction is made in an amount exceeding 100 million rubles.
When else is the event held?
Research is usually carried out in several situations:
- the company concluded a major transaction, on the basis of which the size of various taxes decreased;
- inspectors have suspicions about how reliable and high-quality company reporting is;
- during the inventory, various goods are identified that were not properly capitalized by the employees of the enterprise;
- during settlements, it is established that the company has fake documents;
- it is found that the documentation contains false information;
- there are no different contracts with other companies to which funds were transferred or goods were sent;
- different agreements with other enterprises are incorrectly executed in the company, for example, there are corrections in the documentation or all prints are fuzzy;
- discrepancies are identified in the reporting forms of the company and its counterparties.
Even minor violations and discrepancies in the documents can become the basis for a counter tax audit in relation to numerous counterparties of the organization. Therefore, all company managers must ensure that there are no errors in the documentation.
Stages of the procedure
Counter checks should only be carried out taking into account numerous requirements. Therefore, tax inspectors themselves must follow certain conditions. The procedure is divided into successive stages:
- initially, various errors or dubious information are revealed regarding different transactions made by the audited firm with other companies;
- the inspector sends a request to the counterparty, on the basis of which the head of the organization must prepare a certain set of documents related to cooperation between the companies;
- The documentation should be prepared by the enterprise within five days, after which the company’s responsible representative must personally bring these papers to the FTS department, and they can also be sent by mail using a valuable letter with a description of the attachment;
- Further, the inspector checks the documentation received from the counterparty;
- compares the data available in the documents of different enterprises;
- Based on the results of the audit, an opinion is formed by the employees of the Federal Tax Service, and it should be transmitted to both companies.
If various violations are detected during the inspection, then the audited companies are brought to administrative responsibility, and legal proceedings may also begin.
During a counter audit, the Federal Tax Service may punish counterparties only for violating the deadlines during which the company must transmit documents. This leads to the fact that the accounting department of the enterprise before sending the papers does not conduct a preliminary check, which can lead to negative consequences for both organizations. If serious errors are identified, then inspectors can initiate an unscheduled on-site inspection of such a counterparty. Therefore, the company cannot escape punishment.
The check is carried out only if there are objective reasons, therefore, if they are absent, the counterparty may refuse to provide the necessary documentation.
Dates
The deadlines for counter checks must be observed by companies without fail. As soon as a request is received from employees of the Federal Tax Service, the company must prepare documentation related to a specific counterparty or transaction within 5 days.
Working days are taken into account, and at the same time the company can inform that it does not have the requested documents. If the deadlines are violated, the company is held administratively liable.
What period is checked?
The period for which documents are requested must coincide with the period within which the original company is verified. If employees of the Federal Tax Service require documents that are not relevant to this period, then this is a violation, so the company may refuse to prepare this documentation.
The company may refuse to transfer securities that are exclusively related to its business activities, but do not concern the company being audited. In this case, the counterparty cannot be held administratively liable.
What documents are requested?
Counterparty verification is considered fairly common. As part of its implementation, various documents may be requested from organizations, and in the legislation there is no exact information on the list and volume of these securities, which often leads to disputes between inspectors and heads of various enterprises.
Employees of the Federal Tax Service should only request documents related to the counterparty, but they are often included in the package of paper documents:
- staffing of the enterprise;
- route sheets;
- information about intermediaries.
Some documents do provide a lot of information about the company directly audited, but some papers should not be requested as part of such a study.
Often, conducting a counter tax audit leads to the fact that litigation begins as to whether or not certain documents were requested. Judicial practice shows that most often the courts take the side of the tax inspectorate, since the legislation does not contain information about exactly what documents can be requested.
Under what conditions is a study considered legitimate?
Counter verification of documents will be legal only if certain significant conditions are met. These requirements include the following:
- the request, on the basis of which documents are required from the company, is delivered directly to the company representative against receipt or sent by mail using a delivery notice, which allows to prove that the company really received this documentation;
- if the counterparty is registered in another branch of the Federal Tax Service, then a request is sent from the corresponding unit, since the company may not accept different requests from another branch;
- the request should contain only the optimal documents related to the company’s checked counterparty;
- the document should indicate the reason for the study, so if the information in it is vague, unclear or general, the company may refuse to prepare the documentation;
- often the company does not have the necessary documents, so it must notify the Federal Tax Service employees about this within five days, and the refusal must be justified by significant reasons.
Only under such conditions is a counter-desk audit legitimate, so it will not be possible in court to challenge its results.
Responsibility for Violations
Counterparties who refuse to transfer documents or violate the deadlines for preparing papers are held administratively liable. In this case, an on-site inspection is carried out in relation to them, and a fine of 5 thousand rubles is also imposed.
Authorized persons pay a fine in the amount of 300 to 500 rubles. Additionally, employees of the Federal Tax Service send a second request. Therefore, in any case, firms will have to prepare and submit the necessary documentation for study.
How are the requirements of inspectors met?
In order for the requirements for counter verification to be fully satisfied, the counterparty of the organization being audited must meet certain conditions:
- the requested package of documents is transmitted to the inspectors, the procedure being carried out within five days after receiving the request by any available means, for example, by mail or in person with the inspector of the Federal Tax Service;
- copies of the originals must be transmitted, which are certified by the seal of the company and the signature of the head;
- inspectors cannot demand notarization of documentation;
- if there is a multi-page document in the specified list, then it must be flashed and signed at the place of stitching;
- each page should be well printed and numbered;
- a stamp is required on the back of the last sheet, and the head or the person in charge of the company signs it.
If the documentation is prepared correctly, then all the requirements of the Federal Tax Service will be satisfied, so there will be no different violations or errors. The company will not be held administratively liable.
Is it possible to refuse the transfer of documentation?
The legislation does not regulate the exact list of securities that may be requested by the Federal Tax Service employees from the counterparties of the audited company. This often leads to disagreements between inspectors and company executives, as papers are requested that are not related to various important transactions.
Often requested personal documents of companies, staffing or other papers. Due to them, inspectors check the relationship between different companies. If the company refuses to prepare such documentation, then it may be held liable. In this case, you will have to go to court, but usually the judges take the side of the FTS.
If the deadlines for the provision of securities are violated, a fine of 5 thousand rubles is imposed.
What to do if previously requested documents were transmitted?
Based on Art. 93 of the Tax Code, employees of the Federal Tax Service cannot require counterparties of the company being verified to re-prepare certain documentation that was previously required during a desk or field audit.
But although there is this information in the legislation, it is desirable to nevertheless prepare documents to prevent the filing of the lawsuit by the inspecting inspectors.
Consequences of a counter check
Each company must take into account the requirements of the inspectors so that, based on the results of the counterparty’s inspection, such a situation does not arise when an unscheduled study of the company is carried out.
Often a situation arises when there are no necessary documents requested as part of a counter audit. An explanatory note is compiled by the employees of the company under such conditions. It contains information that specific documents were lost or simply not available in the company.
The consequences of such a study for counterparties include the following:
- in case of discrepancies in the documents, the counterparty may be checked;
- the company may be held administratively liable if violations are really detected;
- if at all signs of fraud are found, the main purpose of which is to conceal income, then the company and officials may be prosecuted.
Therefore, companies must responsibly approach the formation and storage of various documents that are formed in the process of cooperation with other organizations.
How are the results drawn up?
A counter check is considered a fairly operational process, at the end of which an intermediate act is formed. It fixes all detected violations and discrepancies in the documentation.
Additionally, information from unofficial accounting records is entered. The testimony of persons involved in entering data in company records may be given.
Conclusion
As part of the audit of a company, the tax inspectorate may carry out a cross-check of various documents with counterparties of this organization. As part of this procedure, different documents are requested for specific periods of time.
For many enterprises, such an audit can lead to negative consequences, represented by bringing to administrative responsibility or conducting an unscheduled field audit. Therefore, all documents related to cooperation with other companies should contain relevant information.