Direct taxes include tax on what? Tax classification

The tax system of most countries provides for both direct and indirect payments. Both that and others can be significant from the point of view of replenishment of the state budget. The Russian legislation also provides for both types of taxes. Both categories are represented in a fairly wide range of varieties. What are the specifics of Russian direct taxes? What is their fundamental difference from indirect payments to the state budget?

The essence of direct taxes

What are direct taxes? Examples of such can be found in the legislation of most countries of the world. Including in Russia. But before considering specific types of direct taxes, we will examine in more detail the essence of the corresponding term. What are the most common theoretical concepts related to the collections in question?

Among Russian experts, the definition of direct taxes as fees that are levied by the government on income or property of payers, individuals or legal entities is widespread. The main sign of the payment obligations in question is the corresponding payments made by the citizen or organization itself, or by delegating the appropriate authority to the level of tax agents, if required by law. Thus, the subject of direct taxes is both de jure and de facto taxpayer.

The specifics of indirect taxes

In turn, indirect taxes imply a different scheme. Formally, their payer is a certain entity - for example, a company engaged in sales. But in fact, indirect taxes are paid by the clients of this organization - an individual or legal entity, since the amount of the corresponding contributions is usually laid down in the selling price of the goods. Examples of the fees in question are VAT, excise tax. A company that sells goods on the market, therefore, lays them in the cost of holiday goods, and then transfers the corresponding amounts to the budget of the Russian Federation.

Classification of Obligations

What can be the classification of direct taxes?

Fees of the appropriate type can be assigned to one or another category on the basis of a variety of grounds. In principle, with regard to direct taxes, the same classification criteria can be applied as for any other payments established by Russian law.

So, taxes in the Russian Federation are federal, regional and local. Theoretically, either direct or indirect budgetary obligations may appear in any of these categories.

Another possible criterion for the classification of direct taxes is the subject of their payment. Such may be a citizen, individual entrepreneur, legal entity, foreign organization, or a person with a passport of another state. In some cases, it may also matter whether the taxpayer is a resident of the Russian Federation or lives most of the time abroad.

In principle, such a basis for tax classification is applicable as a type of tax base. It can be presented, for example, in the form of property, revenue for goods sold, or income for services rendered.

Another possible basis for classifying the fees in question is the subject of the calculation of payments. The fact is that such can be both the taxpayer himself, and, for example, the government agency acting as the administrator of a tax, in particular the Federal Tax Service.

Let us examine the essence of some direct payment obligations established in the Russian Federation in more detail.

Examples of direct taxes in the Russian Federation

What direct taxes are legally established in Russia? Examples of such can be found in legal acts in a wide range. Direct taxes include, but are not limited to:

• PIT - its subjects are individuals;
• income tax - it is paid by a legal entity;
• property tax, presented in two varieties - for citizens and for legal entities.

Consider in more detail the specifics of the marked fees.

To begin with, we will study federal direct taxes. That is, those that are paid to the central institutions of the budget system of the Russian Federation.

Personal income tax

Direct taxes include tax that is charged on the personal income of individuals, or personal income tax. As a rule, it is charged on the salary of a citizen, but can also be applied to other types of revenue that a person receives, for example, following the sale of property or other transactions that have brought benefits.

The income tax rate for Russians is 13% if they have resident status, and 30% if they live mainly abroad. The legislation of the Russian Federation establishes a series of deductions for personal income tax, in particular deductions provided to citizens who purchased real estate at their own expense.

Business Income Tax

Direct taxes include taxes paid by enterprises under the general system of calculating payments to the budget or DOS. As a rule, this fee is paid by large businesses, as small enterprises and entrepreneurs most often seek to conduct business under the simplified tax system, UTII or any other system that involves a reduction in the tax burden. This is understandable - the tax rate on profits in the Russian Federation is 20%. This is significantly more than with the simplified tax system.

The tax rate on profits generated as a result of commercial activity is further subdivided into actually 2 types. The fact is that 2% of the collection in question should be transferred to the federal budget, 18% to the regional. Thus, the collection in question can be attributed directly to two levels - federal and regional.

In turn, the income tax rate under the simplified tax system for individual entrepreneurs may be 6% of the company's profit or 15% of the company's revenue. The payment obligation under consideration is calculated based on the size of the tax base, which is defined as the difference between the revenue and expenses of the taxpayer. It can be noted that entrepreneurs do not pay the tax in question. Corresponding obligations by the legislation of the Russian Federation are assigned only to legal entities, as well as to branches of foreign structures that carry out commercial activities in the Russian Federation.

An important aspect of the tax payment in question is the definition of the method by which the taxpayer relates income and expenses to a particular period. There are two of them - cash register and accrual method. The first concept of tax calculation assumes that income should be taken into account at the time of the transaction, that is, after the conditions for the relevant contract are met. For example, a product is delivered or a service is provided. In turn, the essence of the cash method is to determine the income after the client actually settles with the supplier, transferring him financial funds to a current account or paying them in cash.

Considering Russian direct taxes, it will be useful to study the specifics of, in particular, property tax. There are two of them.

Property Tax

Direct taxes include property tax on individuals. This fee is also federal. In the general case, it is calculated on the basis of the size of the tax base, which is expressed in the cadastral value of the property owned by the taxpayer, as well as the area of ​​the corresponding object.

Until 2015, the corresponding indicator was calculated on the basis of the inventory value of the property. The legislation of the Russian Federation establishes a series of deductions in relation to the collection in question. So, the tax base can be reduced by 10 square meters. m, if we are talking about a room, 20 square meters. m, if the corresponding preference applies to the apartment, 50 sq. m. m, if the deduction involves the owner of the house.

Corporate property tax

Direct taxes include tax on property of legal entities. Its nature is somewhat different from the corresponding collection for citizens. First of all, we note that this tax is regional, not federal. The authorities in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation at the same time fix the rate independently - within the limits that are fixed in the provisions of the Tax Code. Regional legislators also have the right to establish a special procedure for determining the size of the tax base, benefits, as well as the algorithms for their use by payers. The fee in question must be paid by organizations that own both movable and immovable assets. At the same time, property that the company transferred to temporary ownership or trust may be included in the structure of the tax base.

Who calculates property taxes?

The distinction between the property charges in question can also be made depending on who is subject to these taxes in accordance with the law. In this case, there is a practical example of tax classification according to one of the criteria that we fixed at the beginning of the article.

The fact is that in the case of payments for individuals, the amounts for payment to the budget are presented by the structures of the Federal Tax Service. Specialists of the tax service, having at their disposal data on the availability of certain types of real estate by citizens, calculate the property tax and send out notifications of its payment by mail. Legal entities, in turn, must determine the size of payment obligations independently.

VAT

We study the specifics of one of the indirect taxes. Among them - value added tax, VAT. This fee is usually included, as we noted above, in the selling price of the goods. In fact, VAT is paid by the buyer, but from a legal point of view, the supplier is liable for its introduction into the budget. The VAT rate is 18% or 10% for individual business transactions. Legislation provides for the application of a number of deductions by VAT payers.

Summary

So, we examined a number of examples of direct and indirect taxes established by the legislation of the Russian Federation. The main criterion for the differences between them is the status of the actual payer and who should transfer the relevant payments to the budget based on the requirements of the law. It will help us to clearly fix the difference between direct and indirect taxes, the table below.

In some cases, the distinction between direct and indirect taxes is quite problematic. The fact is that a company may, in particular, not include VAT in the structure of the selling price of goods - in order to optimize taxation or in order to increase competitiveness in the market. In this case, the company will be a VAT payer from both a legal and factual point of view.

From the point of view of filling the budget of the Russian Federation, both direct and indirect taxes can be significant. Therefore, the state is constantly improving approaches to organizing the effective collection of both payments.