A new term has appeared in Russian law - "tax monitoring" (the year 2015 was marked by the entry into force of relevant laws). It involves the organization of a fundamentally new mechanism of interaction between the Federal Tax Service and enterprises. What is the peculiarity of the innovations in question? What are the advantages of an appropriate scheme for enterprises and the Federal Tax Service?
The essence of the term
What is tax monitoring? This term refers to the relatively new tax administration regime introduced in 2015 for the Russian Federation. It is sometimes called "horizontal tax monitoring."
Key principles: transparency of the activities of the taxpayer in terms of reporting to the Federal Tax Service, as well as procedures within the internal control, the loyalty of the Federal Tax Service with respect to inspections - field or office. Tax monitoring is supposed to become an innovative tool to bring business-government relations to a new level.
One of the key aspects of the mechanism in question is the possibility of organizing the interaction of taxpayers and regulatory authorities in electronic form. This implies, above all, a higher speed of making the necessary decisions.
Among the main ideas of the concept of tax monitoring is the possibility of providing the Federal Tax Service access to the necessary information reflecting the discipline of the enterprise in terms of reporting and transferring the necessary fees to the state. In turn, the taxpayer himself can use all available channels to obtain the necessary information from the department.
Monitoring components
Consider the components that can be considered as key components of the corresponding mode of communication between the Federal Tax Service and business. First of all, it is worth noting such a tool as motivated opinion. With its help, the parties can resolve possible disputes and disagreements related to legal relations in the field of tax payment and reporting. The tax service forms a motivated opinion , and if the payer complies with the requirements, he can be exempted from possible fines and penalties.
Another noteworthy component, which includes tax monitoring, is the establishment of a contractual scheme of information interaction between the entrepreneur and the Federal Tax Service. This mechanism involves work under special regulations. It is expected that the Federal Tax Service and taxpayers will interact according to one of two options: by providing documents to the agency (in electronic format) or by direct access of the Federal Tax Service to the files of the enterprise. In addition, businessmen will be able to include in the regulation the characteristics of internal control algorithms.
The emergence of monitoring in the Russian Federation
The mechanism in question in Russia has recently been fixed at the level of federal legal acts. The Law on Tax Monitoring in November 2014 was signed by the President of the Russian Federation. In accordance with Federal Law No. 348, according to which the corresponding amendments to the Tax Code were introduced, enterprises were given the opportunity to work with the Federal Tax Service in a new way. The Law on Tax Monitoring entered into force on January 1, 2015. But some of its provisions will become normative in 2016.
How did the business community in Russia realize that it is necessary to implement tax monitoring? The bill, which subsequently became federal legal acts, according to some reports, was initiated by the authorities with the assistance of large businessmen and consulting brands in 2012. The Agency for Strategic Initiatives took a direct part in the development of the corresponding law, namely, the working group responsible for the modernization of tax administration procedures in Russia.
The practical effectiveness of the monitoring institute
Some enterprises, as well as research agencies, have implemented trial schemes for interaction between the Federal Tax Service and business, which have shown the high efficiency of mechanisms in the framework of tax monitoring. What results were achieved during these events?
So, many businesses were impressed by the fact that in the process of electronic interaction with the Federal Tax Service, they had the opportunity to quickly receive advice on a particular issue. Also, some researchers noted that during the communications in question, informal communication, free from official terminology, was practiced, which was unthinkable with the old scheme. However, without excessive officialdom, as it turned out, many issues were resolved more effectively. Before the institution of tax monitoring, many Russian companies lacked this opportunity.
As the trial mechanisms of communication between the business and the Federal Tax Service showed, the grounds for any significant disagreements between the parties to the legal relations during the interaction under the new scheme were not often observed. At the same time, the quality of mutual understanding of the tax service and entrepreneurs has improved. The workload for specialists has decreased from one side and the other: there simply was no need for extra work, which was typical for the procedures according to the old scheme.
According to experts, Russian business really needed a mechanism such as tax monitoring. The bill, which later became a full-fledged legal act, was thoroughly worked out, it included all the necessary provisions for the implementation of the new mechanism. This gave rise to specialists to highly evaluate its prospects not only in terms of the relevance of the regulations, but also in terms of the prospects for their practical implementation.
How to arrange work according to the new scheme
But how can an enterprise begin relations with the Federal Tax Service within the framework of tax monitoring? There are a number of criteria under which a business can count on the privilege in question. Among the key:
- the company transfers 300 million rubles to the state in the form of taxes, excises and other fees. and more during the year;
- business revenue in accordance with the financial statements is 3 billion rubles. and more during the year;
- The total price of the company's assets is 3 billion rubles. and more as of December 31 of the reporting year.
Let us consider in more detail what concrete benefits the institute of tax monitoring can bring to the state and the private market.
What does it give?
Thanks to the mechanism under consideration, conscientious payers of fees to the treasury, who were able to build an effective system of internal financial control, will be able to interact with the Federal Tax Service in a manner in which any difficulties will be minimized.
Among the key advantages provided by tax monitoring are, as we have noted above, the exemption of businesses from inspections by the Federal Tax Service. This circumstance allows companies, for example, to significantly save on the use of lawyers and attorneys, whose help is sometimes simply necessary with increased attention to business from the Federal Tax Service.
Thanks to such a mechanism as a motivated opinion, the main tax risks and disagreements characteristic of the activities of enterprises will be resolved in the most operational time. Before tax monitoring was introduced in the Russian Federation and its methodology was approved accordingly, communication difficulties between companies and the Federal Tax Service could be resolved for years.
Effective legal interaction
The mechanism of interaction between the Federal Tax Service and enterprises stipulated by the legislation of the Russian Federation is characterized by an important advantage - the company may, if necessary, request some comments from the department regarding the relevant sphere of legal relations. Also, employees of the Federal Tax Service, conducting tax monitoring, will quickly study documents related to reporting and check how correctly they are drawn up.
Thanks to the interaction with the Federal Tax Service under the new scheme, entrepreneurs were able to request clarifications regarding the transfer of fees from transactions, even before they are completed. This is a significant step forward in the interaction of business and the state in the aspect of constructive cooperation.
The participation of enterprises in tax monitoring allows us to avoid large and sometimes unpleasant for the budget of the company additional accruals of fees to the treasury, which sometimes need to be paid upon field inspections. In the process of interaction between business and the Federal Tax Service under the new scheme, the probability of such situations is minimal.
Electronic exchange of information
Among the clear advantages of the agreement between the Federal Tax Service and entrepreneurs that the monitoring of tax revenues will be carried out within the framework of the scheme in question is the possibility of a complete electronic exchange of documents.
This format of communication is more desirable for many businessmen than paperwork, since in this case it is expected to have much less time and labor costs for the implementation of the necessary reporting procedures. After the institute of tax monitoring was approved, firms received the official opportunity to completely translate interaction with the Federal Tax Service in electronic format. It is also convenient for the department itself: there is no need to waste staff time on field events.
Voluntary format
The voluntary procedure for concluding an agreement with the Federal Tax Service is an important aspect of such a mechanism as an appropriate type of monitoring. Large enterprises do not have many tax incentives, and they are always happy with steps taken by the state. However, many companies may take time to bring their financial reporting and control systems in line with the required criteria. But all the resources that the company will invest in the necessary infrastructure modernization are likely to pay off.
Termination of monitoring and unscheduled inspections
Tax monitoring is actually a privilege. In some cases, its provision may be legally terminated. This is permissible if, for example, an organization provides false information to the Federal Tax Service or neglects the obligation to send certain documents there.
The law also provides for scenarios in which on-site inspections can be carried out even if the enterprise and the Federal Tax Service have entered into an appropriate agreement under the new scheme. This is possible if:
- the check is carried out by a higher structure of the Federal Tax Service, which controls the performance of the reporting departments of the department;
- the company has not complied with the requirements contained in a reasoned opinion;
- the company needs to provide an updated declaration for the period corresponding to the timing of the monitoring procedures, for example, due to the fact that the amount of fees payable is reduced in comparison with the amount that appears in the previously submitted document.
An on-site inspection can also be carried out if the corresponding type of legal relationship between the business and the Federal Tax Service was terminated in the manner we mentioned above.
Actual tasks for the implementation of the new scheme
The introduction of a modernized scheme of interaction between enterprises and the tax service involves the formation of fundamentally new structural units both in the Federal Tax Service and in firms. The agency, for example, has to create new full-time units of specialists who will be competent in working with taxpayers online. A similar task will also need to be addressed by many enterprises. Taxpayers, as we noted above, in many cases will have to invest in upgrading the infrastructure of internal reporting procedures in order to bring them in line with legislative criteria.