A consolidated group of taxpayers is ... The concept and goals of creating a consolidated group

In the article below we will familiarize ourselves with the phenomenon of a consolidated group of taxpayers. We will describe the concept and goals of creating such an association, as well as find out how beneficial it is for entrepreneurs.

Consolidated group concept

Probably, only a stupid businessman does not seek to minimize his obligations to the state by legal means, finding various loopholes in the current legislation.

A few years ago, a term such as a consolidated group of taxpayers was introduced. An example of such a union can be observed at such major holdings as Rosneft and Gazprom. Why they? Because it is convenient, profitable and quite legal.

So, a consolidated group of taxpayers is a very specific association, which is characterized by voluntary arrangements of income tax payers. Such a syndicate is very interesting because business entities can distribute obligations both in terms of their subject area and cooperate them into a single whole, thereby re-creating a single branch. A striking example of the latter is the consolidated group of taxpayers Rosneft.

Also, do not forget that with such associations, an imperative form of governance and its implementation as a whole play a significant role. And this also entails the legal subjectivity of legal processes in the form of a zone of responsibility of one or another member of such an organization as a consolidated group of taxpayers. Pros and cons are always present, so it’s impossible to say unequivocally that such associations are always good, since there are a lot of pitfalls that we will try to bring out.

Classification of Consolidated Groups

For several years of the implementation of this project, it's time to take a more substantive approach to considering it as such. Therefore, we can safely declare that the consolidated group of taxpayers as a financial institution has certain varieties that are characterized by certain features.

They can be distinguished between each other both according to the classification of tax obligations, and according to the branches of activity, and even the typology of cooperated payers. However, as practice shows, the closest to our reality will be the distribution of groups according to varieties of obligations to the budget. Undoubtedly, the most significant and popular among consolidated associations are value added and profit taxes.

In second place among the grouped payers of state obligations, one can single out organizations with an integrated management structure (the consolidated group of taxpayers Gazprom), in which the head office assumes responsibility for the payment of obligations of subordinate branches in full or in full. Most often in this case, the profit tax is included in the grouping, since it is the most significant among other payments.

Consolidated group of taxpayers - what is it in the target segment?

Even if the founders of the enterprises decided to unite, then in this case, as they say, they are obliged to share all the joys and sorrows. So, for example, the base for the payment of income tax will be the usual arithmetic sum of all the income of the group members, minus their cooperated expenses. Moreover, if in the final account the base turns out to be negative, then it is generally accepted that the association worked at a loss in this reporting period. In other words, if some of the group of enterprises will occupy a significant share of its revolving funds, and at the same time have no profit, then this fact can play a decisive role in calculating the tax base.

Therefore, it should be understood that a consolidated group of taxpayers is a direct way to optimizing the ways of accrual and payment of own obligations to the state treasury.

Another additional and very pleasant bonus in the list of goals for unification is the fact that any of the participants in a cooperated organization does not submit separate declarative data to the fiscal authorities if it does not have other income not included in the consolidation. This category can include profit at other rates, as well as other revenue arising from the deduction or transfer of direct income tax.

Therefore, a simplified tax reporting system is a pretty good reason to join a consolidated group. The level of error in the preparation of declarations in this case will decrease as many times as many business entities are cooperated in a particular organization. Agree, it is much easier to show the results of the activities of branches in reporting, rather than separate structures with full administrative responsibility.

Conditions for creating

The fact is that a consolidated group of taxpayers can be created on fairly separate conditions, consisting in increased requirements for business entities. Therefore, now we can note the fact that there are not so many cooperated organizations as such, despite the various wishes of entrepreneurs. According to the current legislation, namely Art. 25 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the main restrictions on the creation of consolidated groups are as follows:

• If there is such a parent company in the composition of the cooperated group - a responsible member of the consolidated group of taxpayers, which owns an impressive share of the authorized capital of other participants (currently the minimum share threshold is 90% of the total fund).
• The total amount of various excise taxes and duties paid to the state treasury, as well as value added tax, should be at least 10 billion Russian rubles, while this set does not include various obligations transferred to the fiscal authorities fund for various export-import transactions.
• The total amount of revenue received by the joint organization should not be less than 100 billion Russian rubles.
• Both current and non-current assets should be valued at more than 300 billion Russian rubles in total.

In addition to everything else, only those taxpayers who are not exempt from paying income tax, do not operate in special economic zones, and also pay their obligations to the state on generally accepted grounds, without any special regimes and simplifications, can join in a consolidated group .

Creation procedure

Since the consolidated group of taxpayers is an association completely controlled by the state, the procedure for its creation is regulated by the current legislation, namely, Art. 25 of the Tax Code. As a rule, with an approved list of participants in an organization, an agreement is concluded on its creation, and it must be valid for at least two calendar years.

A responsible business entity is selected from among the group members, who is assigned all applicable rights and obligations to pay the accrued total amount of taxes and fees, while this person has the same powers as it is customary to give to the most standard income tax payer. The drafted document is registered with the fiscal authority located at the place of registration of the selected company.

Since it is customary to create a consolidated group of taxpayers from the beginning of the new reporting year, you should take care of familiarizing yourself with the documents in advance: according to the current legislation, you must submit them to the relevant tax organizations before October 30 of the previous period. A properly executed contract itself is allowed to be submitted before January 1, that is, before the date from which the association plans to begin its joint activities.

Obligations of participants to the state

As noted earlier, taxation of a consolidated group of taxpayers is carried out through the interaction of the responsible participant with the fiscal authorities at the place of legal registration. At the same time, the due reserve intended for transferring funds to the state budget is paid by the members of the association to the selected business entity in accordance with a predetermined periodicity. At the same time, according to the current legislation, namely - Art. 251 and Art. 270 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the financial receipts received by the responsible participant are not considered income from the activities stipulated by the charter.

The very base of profit for calculating taxation is entitled to determine the selected business entity for other members of the group. This calculation is made on the basis of average data on the number of employees and the total cost of fixed assets when accounting for depreciation charges.

When it comes to the direct payment of taxes and duties, the selected entrepreneur must comply with the following principles:

• funds are transferred at the advance payment stage based on the location of the responsible participant, which means that they are not distributed among the group members in any way;
• if there is a factual basis for taxation of profits, the funds are transferred to the treasury of the fiscal authorities at the location of each member of the cooperation with the calculation of the share of all participants in the cooperation fund, as evidenced by the concept of a consolidated group of taxpayers as such.

If the obligations were not paid in full, then the recovery of the missing funds is carried out, first of all, from available funds from the current accounts of the elected member of the association, after - from other participants, and, last but not least, in the appropriate manner at the expense of the available property .

Consolidated tax audits

When it comes to ordinary desk audits, it is no different from those conducted at other enterprises. Based on the submitted reporting statements and other qualifying documents. However, in the event that for the completeness of the information under investigation there are not enough any acts confirming certain business transactions, then they are provided by the responsible member of the consolidated group of taxpayers in response to a request from authorized representatives of fiscal authorities. Answers any questions and provides various kinds of clarifications only an elected member of the association.

As for the field tax audit of a consolidated group of taxpayers, it is regulated by the current legislation - Art. 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. In this regulatory act, the following key aspects can be distinguished:

• the procedure is carried out in absolutely any territory belonging to one of the members of the association;
• Only the fiscal authority located at the location of the responsible member of the organization can initiate an on-site tax audit, and all business entities belonging to the group can be checked without exception;
• it is not forbidden to carry out parallel identical procedures with respect to other participants, aimed at those taxes that are not part of the association;
• the results of the verification are provided to the elected member of the organization, while he also has the full right to raise various kinds of objections within the time limit established by law.

Consolidated Group of Taxpayers: Pros and Cons

As we discussed above, the consolidation of taxpayers is not always good, but, nevertheless, let's highlight the positive aspects of this phenomenon:

1. It is beneficial for the entrepreneur that when grouped, any control by the state regarding transfer pricing as such is excluded.
2. And in general, the desire to put it into practice for business entities disappears because the fiscal authorities submit cooperated tax reports of several enterprises.
3. One more positive feature follows from this - the time for carrying out various kinds of administrative procedures is reduced.
4. The state is also good - in this way it is possible to reduce costs aimed at controlling the establishment of market prices for products.

But we must understand that some advantages are utopia, therefore there are also a number of negative aspects:

1. If an enterprise does not have practice in creating a consolidated group, then this is a rather complicated complex procedure, and there is a rather high risk of doing something wrong.
2. Such organizations can function much longer than desired. And if something goes wrong, then do not forget: according to the current legislation, consolidated groups of taxpayers in Russia can operate for at least two years.
3. It is possible to terminate the merger agreement (if the validity period has not expired) only by a court decision, and there must be substantial reasons.

Who can consolidate

So, as mentioned above, a consolidated group of taxpayers is a rather complex structure that is not so easy to create, and not every business entity can do this. Earlier, we also listed a number of financial conditions that companies must meet in order to unite in an organization to simplify their own activities in relation to taxation.

Among other things, it is also worth noting that only those enterprises that currently do not undergo significant reorganization changes and are not in the stage of complete or partial liquidation can create consolidated groups and participate in them. Also, business entities should not be prosecuted of any nature, and the level of their net income separately should not be less than the amount of the authorized capital declared in the statements.

It is also necessary to focus on the fact that all of the above conditions must be observed throughout the entire period of existence of a consolidated group of taxpayers. Otherwise, the contract will be terminated at the initiative of the fiscal authorities in accordance with a court decision.

Who will not be able to consolidate

So, we found out that a consolidated group of taxpayers is recognized as an association of business entities, each member of which meets the stated requirements.

Among other things, the current legislation of the Russian Federation distinguishes a number of representatives of entrepreneurship, who will never become such an organization. These are:

• business entities that are registered and carry out their main activities in the territory of special economic zones;
• enterprises whose activities are subject to separate tax regimes;
• those business representatives who are already part of another consolidated group of taxpayers;
• organizations that do not have obligations to the state to pay income tax;
• those legal entities whose profit is taxed at zero rate, in other words - medical and educational institutions;
• gambling business entities;
• enterprises engaged in clearing activities.

In addition, the current legislation provides for special conditions for combining business entities into consolidated groups of taxpayers, which can be attributed to financial institutions, insurance companies, participants in the securities market, as well as non-state pension funds. , .