Tax amnesty is represented by a specific process, through which the state forgives certain tax debts to individuals or individual entrepreneurs. In this case, exclusively old debts may be written off. This feature has been introduced since the beginning of 2018, so many citizens have already debts written off.
Process concept
Back in December 2017, the president indicated that next year it would be possible to take advantage of a tax amnesty. It applies solely to the payment of taxes. A tax amnesty for individuals allows you to write off old debts that citizens cannot repay on their own because of their poor financial condition.
In this process, both debts and accrued interest and penalties are written off. More than 42 million debtors can benefit from a tax amnesty. This feature is offered:
- individuals;
- individual entrepreneurs.
Representatives of companies are still forced to independently cope with various accrued tax fines.
The purpose of the law
Such an amnesty is introduced in Federal Law No. 436, and the law was published and adopted on December 31, 2017, so already in 2018 you can use all its provisions to write off debts, penalties and fines for taxes. When will the tax amnesty come into force? It has already been applied since the beginning of 2018.
The tax amnesty law was introduced to achieve several goals at once:
- an opportunity is given to carry out the recovery of the country's economy;
- the state’s burden is reduced in terms of administering all debts that are bad, therefore there is no way to collect them;
- an opportunity is given to develop small business, as a significant tax burden is removed from entrepreneurs;
- the burden is also reduced for individuals who, due to poor financial conditions, cannot cope with high payments.
According to statistics, almost 20 million citizens have tax debts in the country, of which only 3 million are individual entrepreneurs. The total debt exceeds 41 billion rubles. About 700 thousand businessmen have debts on insurance payments, and the size of such a debt exceeds 127 billion rubles. Therefore, a tax amnesty for insurance contributions is introduced.
Why was the law passed?
The need for its adoption was determined by the authorities in mid-2017. Debts will be forgiven only for some entrepreneurs and individuals who cannot really cope with high payments. If it is established that citizens are only unscrupulous taxpayers trying in different ways to avoid paying taxes, then they will have to repay their debts on their own.
The law on tax amnesty was adopted additionally due to the fact that the state is even aware of its own guilt due to the fact that citizens have significant debts. This is due to various factors:
- tax collection scheme is considered imperfect;
- different legal acts contain conflicting information that often confuses citizens;
- Often there is a usual confusion, therefore, interest and penalties are often charged due to the fault of tax officials.
Often, IPs are faced with the fact that they transfer funds to the Federal Tax Service and PF, but at the same time the money does not go to the account, so they are somehow lost. This leads to penalties and fines, but entrepreneurs simply refuse to pay these funds, since they consider it unfair. Due to the above reasons, a law on tax amnesty for individuals and individuals was adopted in 2018.
The nuances of the process
Write-off is carried out only subject to certain conditions. These include:
- debt should arise before the beginning of 2015;
- for insurance premiums, debts arising prior to 2017 are written off;
- repayment of the performance fee is not allowed.
If enforcement officers are charged with bailiffs in relation to an entrepreneur or a private person, the taxpayer must pay it himself, therefore, such a fee is not subject to write-off. When will the tax amnesty come into force? It has already been operating since the beginning of 2018, therefore, in the automatic mode, employees of the Federal Tax Service write off debts. No compensation is offered for the timely payment of fees and contributions. Not only operating IPs, but also those entrepreneurs who have already stopped their work, fall under the law.
Who can use it?
Apply tax deduction can different entrepreneurs and individuals. President’s tax amnesty for citizens:
- Individual entrepreneurs can take advantage of write-offs of debts for all taxes, but debts must arise before 2015, and additionally, various fines and penalties are forgiven;
- if the entrepreneur is not engaged in business, does not submit any reports to the Federal Tax Service and does not have debts on insurance premiums, then debts on insurance premiums arising prior to the beginning of 2017 are written off;
- all citizens who own cars receive an amnesty for the transport tax, but debts arising prior to 2015 are written off;
- pensioners and people belonging to preferential categories can write off debts for various types of taxes;
- landowners can also expect cancellation of land collection debt.
It is taken into account that for entrepreneurs who are engaged in entrepreneurial activity, the opportunity to write off debts on insurance payments is not offered.
Thus, the tax amnesty affects all of the above individuals, and it does not matter what the size of the debt or financial condition of the person. This applies even to such debts for which a trial has already been held, therefore, a decision was made by the court. The bailiffs will also be notified of the write-off of the debt, therefore they will not continue to try in various ways to recover funds from taxpayers. If at the same time there is already a designated performance fee, then its citizens will have to pay in any case.
What additional amendments are introduced?
Along with the amnesty, other amendments were adopted. For example, companies involved in mining are exempted from having to pay income tax.
The rules on the basis of which insurance premiums for individual entrepreneurs, as well as citizens engaged in private practice, have been changed.
The law does not provide for monetary compensation if a natural person or individual entrepreneur pays taxes and insurance payments on time. Therefore, it will not be possible to return the funds already transferred.
What debts are forgiven SP?
Particularly relevant is the question of what kind of debts can be forgiven. The law on tax amnesty for entrepreneurs provides for the ability to write off various types of debt:
- if the entrepreneur does not conduct business, but at the same time does not manage to close the IP on time, then really significant insurance premiums will be calculated, which can be written off if they were formed before 2017;
- often IPs pay taxes on time, but for various reasons the funds do not reach the Federal Tax Service, therefore not only arrears appear, but significant fines and penalties are charged, and usually citizens do not want to pay them off, so writing off them is considered a necessary action for the entrepreneur;
- various debts are subject to cancellation, which include payments paid to the simplified tax system, the basic taxation system, the unified income tax, the pay tax or the unified social tax, but only debts arising prior to 2015 are canceled, so all subsequent debts will have to be repaid to citizens independently;
If an individual entrepreneur has debts on insurance premiums, it will not be possible to officially close an individual entrepreneur. Under such conditions, significant fines are charged. Therefore, the tax amnesty for insurance premiums is considered a significant opportunity for entrepreneurs to cope with unreasonably accrued debts and formally cease operations. To use it, you do not even need to apply to the Federal Tax Service. The entrepreneur will only be notified that a tax amnesty has been used for individual entrepreneurs, so certain debts have been written off.
What debts will be forgiven for individuals?
The law spells out the ability to cancel debts not only to entrepreneurs, but also to private citizens. A tax amnesty for individuals allows you to write off various debts arising prior to 2015. Most often, citizens are required to cancel debts on fees:
The most relevant tax on transport tax is amnesty for individuals. This is due to the fact that some car owners fundamentally do not pay this fee, because they believe that the condition of the road surface in their region is in poor condition. Due to the adoption of such a decision, a significant debt appears, which includes not only the fee itself, but also various accrued fines and penalties. This is especially true for people with a car whose power exceeds 200 liters. from.
There are often situations when a car has been sold and not used for a long time, but due to errors in the work of the Federal Tax Service, payments are still being charged. Under such conditions, the law on tax amnesty for individuals is considered necessary for citizens. But cancellation is made only for debts formed before 2015.
Similar problems arise for citizens who own apartments or houses, different summer cottages or cottages. Often, they simply have nothing to pay property tax. Often receipts are simply lost, so citizens do not know that they need to pay a fee. This leads to significant debt. Therefore, citizens are interested in when a tax amnesty comes into force. It has been operating since the beginning of 2018. To write off the debt, citizens do not need to submit any application, since cancellation is carried out by employees of the Federal Tax Service in automatic mode.
What is offered to pensioners and beneficiaries?
Pensioners stop working, so by law they are exempt from having to pay various taxes. In addition, they are offered various exemptions by the regional authorities, so the fees are insignificant. The same applies to citizens belonging to preferential categories.
But at the same time, federal legislation does not abolish the need to pay land or transport tax. Often people who do not have an official job do not have the means to pay such fees, so they have debts and significant fines.
In large cities, the pension of citizens is too small to pay different fees. Therefore, tax amnesty applies to these citizens. Pensioners are included in the number of beneficiaries who can count on tax breaks and forgiveness of debts arising before 2015.
Abolition of tax for benefits for individuals
During the adoption of the law, a special adjustment was additionally introduced, on the basis of which a fee is not levied on the benefits received by citizens as a result of write-off of debts.
For example, banks or telephone operators themselves forgive debts to debtors, but the tax inspectorate considers this to be a certain benefit for citizens, therefore 13% is charged on this amount. Based on the changes introduced, the Federal Tax Service loses the opportunity to levy a tax on such benefits.
Amnesty features for individuals
The introduced bill has many nuances and features. Which tax amnesty a citizen can apply depends on the debts that are available, as well as when exactly the debt arose. The main nuances of the process include:
- amnesty applies to all debts, so if one person has debts on land and transport taxes, all types of debts until 2015 are written off;
- it is impossible to write off debts arising as a result of non-payment of state duty or income tax, and alimony and other similar fees and payments are not canceled;
- in addition to the debts themselves, the previously charged fines and penalties are written off, and they are canceled in full, and not only for the period until 2015;
- the right to use such an exemption from the state is shared by all citizens, therefore it does not matter what the financial condition of the citizen is, what the size of the debt is, why the debt was formed or where the debtor works;
- even debts on personal income tax for allowances, bonuses or other additional payments are written off if the employer has not transferred the fee, so the obligation was transferred to the employee.
If a citizen is officially employed in any company, then personal income tax should be paid for him by the employer acting as a tax agent. But often, for various reasons, the owners of the company do not transfer the necessary funds to the Federal Tax Service, so the responsibility for paying the fee lies directly with the citizen.
What fees do not fall under the amnesty?
There are certain taxes that cannot be written off with the help of such an innovation. These include personal income tax levied on salaries.
Additionally, this includes tax calculated on dividends or prizes received through participation in games or contests. A complete list of such taxes is provided in Art. 270 Tax Code
Nuances for IE
The opportunity to take advantage of the amnesty was welcomed by many entrepreneurs. The tax amnesty for individual entrepreneurs makes it possible to write off not only debts for various taxes, determined depending on the taxation system chosen in advance, but also even on insurance premiums.
The features of this process include:
- if there is a debt on insurance premiums, then it is written off only until 2017, but exclusively for entrepreneurs who were not engaged in entrepreneurial activity, therefore they did not submit reports and did not pay taxes;
- all debts up to 2015 are debited for fees, and various accrued fines and penalties are additionally canceled;
- it does not take into account the size of the debt, nor does it consider the reasons why it was formed.
There are certain taxes for individual entrepreneurs that do not qualify as write-offs. These include excise taxes and fees levied in the process of mining. Additionally, this includes VAT charged when sending goods to other countries.
How is debiting done?
The process is quick and simplified. This does not require debtors to make any statements. Different certificates or other documents are not prepared. The procedure is performed automatically, so the participation of debtors is simply not required.
The tax office is not required to notify debtors that certain types of debt have been canceled. There are no requirements in the law on when exactly the procedure should be performed.
The debtor can only find out if a procedure has been carried out regarding his debts. To do this, you need to make a special request that is submitted to the department of the Federal Tax Service, where the citizen is registered.
Will bailiffs participate?
After the introduction of the amnesty, instructions were sent to the bailiffs, on the basis of which they should join this process. It is these specialists who must ensure the implementation of the procedure.
If a person has debts for which bailiffs are trying to recover funds, then after they are canceled, specialists usually notify the citizen of the cancellation.
Who does not fall under the amnesty?
There are certain restrictions, so not all debts can be canceled. For example, entrepreneurs may not expect excise taxes or VAT debts to be written off. Even fines and penalties accrued on these fees are not subject to write-off.
Individuals or individuals who have debts arising after 2015 will not be able to use this amnesty. Such a decision is considered fair, and citizens can’t even count on the annulment of fines and penalties for these years.
Conclusion
The main purpose of the amnesty was to reduce the tax burden on citizens who cannot cope with such high payments. Therefore, in addition to this law, special amendments were adopted, on the basis of which various concessions are offered to beneficiaries and pensioners.
Thus, the amnesty began to operate from the beginning of 2018. It is performed automatically, so debtors cannot influence this procedure in any way. They are not even notified about the cancellation of debts. Therefore, you only need to periodically contact the Federal Tax Service to find out about the cancellation. , .