Zero reporting - a set of financial or accounting documents ( zero balance ), tax ( zero return ) and statistical reporting, which are provided by taxpayers to the regulatory authorities of the Russian Federation in accordance with the requirements of the legislation in the absence of financial and economic activity in the reporting period.
According to the current legislation, taxpayers are any legal entities and individuals, including individual entrepreneurs (IPs), who are required by law to pay taxes.
The absence of financial and economic activity suggests that during the reporting period there were no transactions on the taxpayer’s settlement accounts, funds were not received or debited to the accounts. The reasons for the lack of financial and economic activities of the taxpayer are various and may not be the subject of interest of regulatory authorities.
Zero balance - a balance sheet in which for the reporting period the balance sheet currency does not exceed the authorized capital and in the profit and loss statement, the total profit is zero or negative.
The zero balance sheet and the profit and loss statement are filled and handed over only to organizations applying the general taxation system (OCHN or OCH). Delivery deadlines, as with the usual balance: quarterly, no later than the 30th of the month following the quarter, the annual balance is from 1 to 31 (in a leap year - March 30).
Zero declaration - a type of tax return, a form of zero tax reporting.
By law, a taxpayer is required to provide a tax return for each tax payable by that taxpayer, unless otherwise provided by law. If there was no commercial activity, and there was no movement of funds in the accounts, the taxpayer can provide one zero return for all types of taxes. Therefore, quite often a zero return is called zero reporting.
Most often, a zero declaration (zero reporting, zero balance) is filed in the following cases:
1. A taxpayer, such as an individual entrepreneur or a limited liability company (LLC), received a certificate of state registration, but did not carry out commercial activities, however, the deadline for submitting reports has already come.
2. The financial and economic activity of the taxpayer is of a pronounced seasonal orientation. Then in the season when there is an active commercial activity, for the reporting periods the usual tax and financial statements are prepared . In the off-season, when the flow of funds in the accounts ceases, it is better to use zero reporting (zero declaration).
3. The taxpayer has suspended activities, but is formally legally considered an operating entity. That is, there are no debts to the state, partners, clients, employees, and there is no financial and economic activity either. There is no cash flow in the accounts.
Zero declaration is submitted only for the following taxes:
● tax levied on the simplified taxation system (USN or STS);
● corporate income tax (IP does not pay);
● 3-NDFL - personal income tax (for individual entrepreneurs on OSNO);
● VAT - value added tax (in the absence of exemption);
● information on the average headcount - zero people (per year).
When filling out a zero declaration, all variable fields must be zero or remain empty, only the cover sheet, section 1 (Information about the organization) and 2 (OKATO code, KBK) is filled out.
For all other taxes, if there is no object of taxation, a zero return is not provided. It should be emphasized that if the tax base after applying your tax benefits is equal to zero, then the reporting is no longer zero and you need to fill out regular tax returns.
There cannot be a zero declaration on a single agricultural tax, since it will entail the loss of right from the beginning of the year.
A controversial issue at the moment is the filing of a zero return on UTII. According to the current tax code for this tax, zero reporting is not provided, but is often taken as an exception. For example, a zero return on UTII will be accepted at the Federal Tax Service if the individual is temporarily incapacitated.
Zero declaration is submitted once a year on the simplified tax system - until April 30 (for private entrepreneurs) and until March 31 (for legal entities), and upon liquidation of the taxpayer - for an incomplete year. For UTII and VAT - on a quarterly basis, until the 20th day of the month following the reporting quarter, for Income Tax - on a quarterly basis, up to the 28th day. On 3-personal income tax - once a year, until April 30.
Zero reporting is submitted not only to the tax inspectorate, but also to such off-budget funds of the Russian Federation as the Social Insurance Fund (FSS) and the Pension Fund of Russia (PFR).
Forms RSV-1 and 4-FSS are completed and submitted quarterly if the taxpayer has not made any payments to individuals since the beginning of the reporting period. Legal entities are required to submit reports, including zero - always. IP, only if he had employees, and he registered as an employer, and now he has fired all employees, but has not been deregistered.
Zero statistical reporting is not for rent, only a zero balance is provided.
Result: A zero declaration is provided in the reporting period only in the absence of financial and economic activity and confirmation of this is the complete absence of any operations on the taxpayer’s current accounts.
If in the reporting period there was an economic result of commercial activity (even if there was no profit or loss) and / or payments were made to individuals, and, accordingly, there were movements of funds in the account, then it is necessary to submit to the supervisory and controlling bodies the usual financial and tax reporting.
The only exception is taxpayer activity in which there is no taxable item.