As you know, any business (both an individual entrepreneur and any legal entity) operates at its own peril and risk, and therefore cannot be uncontrolled by the state.

In tax matters, this control function is carried out by the tax authorities.

One form of control is a tax audit.

Tax audit - this is a specific form of tax control, carried out through on-site and desk tax audits, which are carried out by tax officials in order to monitor compliance by taxpayers, payers of fees and legislation on taxes and fees.

From this definition it follows that in order to classify an audit as a tax audit, several conditions must be met simultaneously, namely:

The audit must be carried out by tax officials within the limits of their competence.

The purpose of the audit should be to monitor compliance with laws on taxes and fees.

Tax audits are carried out in relation to taxpayers, fee payers and tax agents.

Tax authorities have identified a number of signs, the presence of which increases the chances of being audited for any business unit.

Concept of on-site inspection

carry out more than two on-site tax audits in relation to one taxpayer during a calendar year;

inspect periods exceeding three calendar years preceding the year in which the decision to conduct an inspection was made, except for the cases specified in Article 89 of the Tax Code.

Types of on-site inspections

Based on the information available to the tax authority about the taxpayer, obtained during desk tax audits, previous on-site tax audits, and tax control activities, an on-site tax audit program is developed, approved by the head of the tax authority for each taxpayer included in the on-site tax audit plan.

Audits carried out in accordance with the approved plan of on-site tax audits are called planned. Such a plan is drawn up and approved quarterly.

Sometimes there is a need to carry out unscheduled on-site tax audits, including in connection with a request from law enforcement agencies, or on instructions from higher tax authorities, or for other reasons.

Depending on the number of taxes and fees to be audited, the following types of on-site tax audits are distinguished:

complex- during which all taxes and fees paid by the audited person are covered. The decision to conduct an on-site tax audit may include a general description of the issues to be verified that are the subject of the audit - “verification of correct compliance with the legislation on taxes and fees”;

thematic- during which only certain taxes and fees are inspected at the discretion of the inspecting officials. For example, in the decision to conduct a thematic on-site tax audit, the subject of the audit will be strictly defined - “checking the correctness of the calculation of corporate income tax, unified social tax and personal income tax.”

Procedure for conducting an on-site tax audit

The Tax Code does not distinguish the stages of a tax audit.

If we proceed from the provisions of Articles 88 - 101 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, then a desk tax audit can be represented as a continuous process consisting of the following stages sequentially:

Reception of documents.

Conducting a tax audit.

Registration of tax audit results.

Reviewing tax audit materials and making a final decision based on the results of such review.

But the stages of an on-site inspection can be identified experimentally.

Planning and preparation of an on-site tax audit

Based on the information collected during tax control activities and obtained from various sources about taxpayers, taking into account the desk analysis of their tax returns (calculations) and accounting reports, financial and economic indicators of their activities, those taxpayers are selected in respect of whom tax authority employees can with a certain assume with a degree of certainty the presence or absence of a violation of the legislation on taxes and fees.

The necessary information about the taxpayer can be obtained from both internal and external sources. Information from internal sources is information obtained during state registration and accounting of taxpayers, desk audits of their declarations (calculations), financial statements, personal accounts, etc., and information from external sources is information received by tax authorities from other government bodies, state authorities and local self-government, as well as other legal entities and individuals.

The on-site audit is aimed at identifying tax evasion. This is a more in-depth tax control exercise compared to a desk audit, so it is not surprising that an on-site audit should end with additional assessments. If the on-site inspection was unsuccessful, it means that the inspectors conducted a poor pre-inspection analysis and went to the inspection unprepared.

The list of taxpayers subject to an on-site tax audit is approved by the head of the tax authority (his deputy) quarterly as part of the on-site tax audit plan, and must contain, in addition to taxpayers in respect of whom tax authority employees can, with a certain degree of confidence, assume the presence or absence of a violation of the legislation on taxes and fees, also taxpayers who are subject to mandatory verification in accordance with current legislation, instructions from higher tax authorities, and instructions from law enforcement agencies.

For each taxpayer included in the on-site tax audit plan, a separate on-site tax audit program is developed and approved, which resolves issues about the type of upcoming on-site tax audit, the subject of the on-site tax audit, the period subject to the on-site tax audit, the inspection team and some other questions.

When planning and preparing an on-site audit, the amount of missing information about the taxpayer and his activities is determined, and the issue of the need to involve law enforcement officers and other regulatory authorities is resolved.

Appointment of an on-site tax audit

An audit is ordered, drawn up in a certain form, by a decision of the head (deputy head) of the tax authority at the location of the organization or place of residence of the individual. faces.

According to the requirements of paragraph 2 of Article 89 of the Tax Code, the decision to conduct an on-site tax inspection must contain:

on refusal to bring to justice for committing a tax offense (clause 7 of Article 101 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

To make a decision, the head of the Federal Tax Service (or his deputy) must consider:

Tax audit report;

other verification materials;

It would be correct if you, as a manager, allocate a special room to carry out control in the prescribed manner. By the way, under certain conditions, even an on-site inspection of a taxpayer can be carried out on the inspection territory. However, in order for such a decision to be made, you must provide all the documents that are the basis for canceling control directly at your enterprise. The inspector will look at all the necessary acts; for clarification, it is better to assign one of your employees who is knowledgeable in this area.

What does the inspection check?

At the same time as you receive the act that serves as the basis for control, one of the inspectors will give you a list of documents. It is worth understanding that the presence of an inspector on your territory is already a sign that the person in charge has information about violations. So the procedure for compiling a list of documentation includes those units that may have more than one question. The Federal Tax Service pays special attention to whether the company’s activities are carried out with the participation of shell companies, because this is a gross violation of an article of the Tax Code.

Planning and Analysis System Concept

Today, an on-site tax audit is carried out not according to a system of total control, but according to a risk analysis system. What it is? - you ask. Thanks to this concept, when planning on-site tax audits, a publicly available criterion for the risk of committing tax offenses is analyzed. The Federal Tax Service draws up a pre-inspection plan in the proper order. Moreover, this process has recently been open. Therefore, every manager can assess his company’s compliance with these criteria.

Tax field audit deadline

Unlike a desk audit, there are time limits. So, if in your particular case, during the course of this event, a demand is made for declarations for earlier periods, you have the right to raise objections and refuse to submit them.

Grounds for extending control

The established duration during which the inspection is carried out in 2016 in Moscow and other regions is 2 months. However, the maximum period for which an inspection is carried out is a period not exceeding 6 months. Based on the fact that the organization is large or has several separate divisions, the procedure can be extended to 4 and 6 months.

Also included in the list of possible reasons for increasing the schedule is the fact that, during an on-site tax audit, violations of taxes or fees were discovered that require further monitoring. Control will continue even if managers do not provide the necessary completed documents.

How long does it take to make a decision after an inspection?

Initially, a period of ten days was set in order to announce the decision. However, in some cases this period may also be extended. The maximum waiting time after the completion of an on-site tax audit is one month.

Can an on-site tax audit be carried out?

As practice shows, most often, if all the documents are prepared, then only the primary analysis is carried out on your territory, and everything else, including the registration of the results, takes place in the inspection itself. However, the Tax Code of the Russian Federation states that with a written request and proper justification, inspectors can completely inspect your enterprise in their department. However, this is only possible if you managed to find out in advance that your enterprise will be inspected in the near future.

On what basis is the company inspected?

The established procedure for conducting an on-site inspection states that the factual basis is the decision of the head of the inspection. As examples show, such control is assigned only when information about violations is received by the regulatory authorities.

Re-check: is it allowed?

Seizure of documents can be repeated for the purpose of control of lower tax authorities by higher ones. Monitoring is also re-assigned if the taxpayer has filed an updated declaration, and there the amount of tax calculated is less than before.

Let us recall the theories and functions of taxes - the theory of the social contract, the exchange of goods and services from the state for tax payments, the theory of monetarism, Keynesian theory, in which the instrument of influencing the economy and influencing monetary circulation, the investment climate are, among other things, the burden on the subjects and objects of taxation , social theories that seek, with the help of government payments, to redistribute the shares of the rich and poor in the country, a control function designed to check the effectiveness of the government’s chosen financial policy and the economic behavior of business entities, the effectiveness of their activities.

If you think about the depth and breadth of the huge financial mechanism, tax control will become a necessary mechanism.

The main source of information on tax audits is Tax Code of the Russian Federation, and it is necessary to take the most recent edition, because changes are made to it regularly. On certain issues there is arbitration practice, Letters from the Ministry of Finance, Government Resolutions.

Tax inspections are divided into desk and on-site inspections. By the way, audits are not the only methods of tax control, although they are the most accurate and practical.

If desk audit involves remote examination of received reports in the buildings of the Federal Tax Service, then away, whose name speaks for itself, is carried out on the territory of the taxpayer and includes a thorough examination of both the material and accounting components of the company.

There are planned indicators approved by the Federal Tax Service of Russia in Order No. MM-3-06/333@ dated May 30, 2007, according to which the selection takes place. It highlights 11 criteriaself-assessment, the presence of which puts entrepreneurs into a “risk group”. Among them:

• reflecting losses for several tax periods in a row;
• reflection of significant tax deductions;
• in reporting, expenses are as close as possible to income for the year;
• the level of profitability is lower than that of economic entities similar in this area;
• etc.

In addition to these indicators, filing updated declarations, transactions with suspicious counterparties that have signs of “fly-by-night” are fraught with the attention of control authorities and on-site inspection.

The largest taxpayers are subject to on-site audits every three years without fail.

Features, goals and legal regulation

Section 5 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation is devoted to tax control. It has 2 chapters - chapter 13 on tax returns and tax control.

There is no clear definition of an on-site inspection in the law, however, Article 89 formulates signs:

• all control actions are performed by officials of the Federal Tax Service at the location of the taxpayer;
• the decision to hold the event specifies the subject of the audit - the correctness and timeliness of calculation and payment of specific taxes;
• the process lasts no more than two months, starting from the day the decision is made (by the manager or his deputy) until the day the certificate is issued;
• the maximum prior period subject to verification is 3 years, excluding the current year.

As you can see, even at the very beginning of the legal description of this procedure, the legislator noted clear boundaries of activity, knowing which each party cannot allow self-will and extremes.

On-site tax audit forms

According to the method of implementation, they are distinguished:

• continuous;
• selective.

As a rule, it is produced full check because selective is often considered invalid.

• planned;
• unscheduled.

Routine checks and subject selection criteria were mentioned above. As for unscheduled ones. then they usually are based on requests from law enforcement and higher tax authorities. Other reasons are also possible.

Reasons for control

Unlike a desk audit, the basis for which is the received declaration, the documentary basis for an on-site inspection is decision of the head of the tax authority or his deputy. This decision is made in the form approved in the Order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated 05/08/2015 No. ММВ-7-2/189@.

Only with such a decision (resolution) can inspectors from the Federal Tax Service come to the taxpayer.

Frequency and location

Another legislative limitation of the control event concerns the time frame.

Firstly, this is the period being checked - 3 previous years, i.e. if the audit is carried out in 2018, the years 2015, 2016 and 2017 can be audited.

If the check is carried out on the basis of an updated declaration, then the corresponding period specified in it is checked.

Secondly, this is the number of inspections per year and the number of inspections for the same period - in both cases no more than 2 times. It is impossible to check for the third time in 2015-2017, just as it is impossible to appear for a check for the third time in 2018. An exceptional case is the decision of higher authorities.

The main difference between an on-site audit and a desk audit is the location of the process - on the territory of the taxpayer, and this is either the location of the organization or the location of the individual. Only in case that, if the taxpayer cannot provide premises, the inspection moves to the Federal Tax Service building- based on a statement from the inspector or a report from employees assigned to this inspection.

Who is hosting it?

In the decision to conduct an inspection, it is necessary to fill in the column about specific officials who are appointed to the inspection group, elected team leader. Their names and positions are indicated.

Employees are required to demonstrate to the taxpayer a copy of the inspection decision and official identification to verify identities and positions.

Step-by-step procedure, documents to be drawn up

In order to investigate the subject of the audit, employees review accounting and tax documents - constituent documents, licenses, declarations, tax registers, invoices, bank statements, etc.

At the same time, inspectors fill out information resources at the federal, regional and local levels.

As additional features tax officers have the right:

• request information from foreign authorities;
• request information from banks;
• call the taxpayer to the territory of the tax authority to give explanations on the basis of a written notification;
• make an inventory of property;
• question witnesses;
• request documents by submitting a written request to an individual, head of an organization, counterparty and other entities who may have documents related to the case;
• carry out seizure of documents based on the resolution of the head of the inspection team;
• conduct an examination;
• attract specialists and translators;
• call witnesses.

During these activities, protocols of approved forms are drawn up.

On-site inspection should not exceed 2 months- from the day the decision is made to conduct it until the day a certificate of results is drawn up. In exceptional cases, by decision of the head of the tax service, it is extended to 4 or 6 months.

How to behave when communicating with the tax authorities

For an optimal audit, the taxpayer should not interfere with the review team study documentation and information related to the subject of inspection. However, it is necessary to study your rights and obligations, the rights and obligations of officials of tax authorities, be sure to study the deadlines for certain activities, send written notifications, requirements, since deadlines are most often violated, and monitor the legally correct formation of audit documents.

How to postpone or pause a scan

Head of the Federal Tax Service has the right to suspend the inspection in some cases:

• for the period of requesting documents;
• receiving information from foreign states;
• carrying out examinations and translations.

Total duration of inspection suspension should not exceed 6 months, and in the case when information from foreign states has not yet been received during this line, the suspension may continue for another 3 months.

Thus, the on-site inspection sometimes extends for more than a year.

Results and decisions on them, deadline

On the last day of the inspection, the group leader draws up a certificate in which he indicates the subject of the inspection and its timing. Then this document is handed over to the taxpayer or his representative.

The date indicated in the certificate is the day the inspection is completed, and further deadlines are counted from it - within 2 months it is necessary to generate a tax audit report with documents confirming the information from it.

The report is delivered to the taxpayer in person, by TKS or by registered mail. If the act is sent by letter, then the day of receipt is considered to be the 6th day after sending the document.

From the date of receipt of the act, the taxpayer has the right to submit written objections to the results of the audit within a month.

After receiving objections within a period not exceeding 10 days, the tax authority final decision is made: bringing to responsibility for violation of legislation on taxes and fees or refusal to hold accountable. The decision is made during the review of the audit materials, which may be attended by the taxpayer or his representative. He must receive this decision.

After the decision is delivered to him, it comes into force in another 10 days.

It is after this that the taxpayer is able to appeal the decision to a higher authority.

Appealing the decision

The issue of appealing acts of tax authorities is regulated by Section 7 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation (Chapter 19). The legislation establishes pre-trial dispute resolution procedure.

An appeal against a decision that has not entered into force is made within a month from the date of delivery of this decision. The complaint is submitted to the same tax authority, which forwards it further to a higher authority.

The review period is a month. In some cases - 2 months.

The result will be either a decision without changes, or the cancellation of the decision in whole or in part, and the adoption of a new one.

If the taxpayer does not agree, he has the right to appeal his decision to an even higher tax authority or in court no later than 3 months after the second decision is made.

An appeal against a decision that has entered into force is possible within 1 year from the day when the person learned about the violation of his rights or should have learned about it.

The further procedure is similar to the process with a non-entering decision.

Thus, knowing their rights and responsibilities, knowing the rights and responsibilities of tax authorities and their officials, everyone will be able to optimally endure an on-site tax audit and minimize possible injustice and infringement of their interests.

Any organization, regardless of the type of business or legal form, individual entrepreneur or LLC, as well as others, in the course of their activities, are subject to various types of inspections by government and regulatory authorities, including the tax service. Tax audits differ in types, as well as in the grounds for their conduct.

In general, all tax audits are divided into two large groups (types of tax audits):

1. Desk tax audit. This is an audit of declarations and reports that individual entrepreneurs and LLCs submit to their tax service in paper or electronic form within certain deadlines provided by law.

These checks are carried out in the tax service itself, to put it simply, in the office of a particular tax inspector who monitors a particular tax.

Usually it is checked how correctly a particular declaration or report is filled out, how correctly the report is compared with the previous one, etc.

2. On-site tax audit. It is carried out directly in the place where the individual entrepreneur or LLC operates, usually in the accounting department of the company.

Tax service employees on-site check documents, including primary documents (invoices, invoices), on the basis of which reports and declarations are drawn up, the reports themselves, etc.

On-site tax audits can be scheduled, but they can also be unplanned; for example, during the liquidation of an LLC, an on-site tax audit will also be scheduled, even if the deadline for the scheduled audit has not yet reached.

There are also counter tax audits. This is when one company is audited and in order to obtain reliable information, tax inspectors also check the counterparty of this audited company for a specific transaction. For example, when calculating VAT, one company offset the amount of tax from the supplier, which covered the entire output VAT of the company itself. The tax service may have doubts in this regard about the correctness of such reimbursement and therefore they can request and check the sales document from the supplier of the audited company.

Counter audits can be desk and field tax audits.

Desk tax audit

In order to start and conduct a desk audit, tax service specialists do not need any special separate permission or order from management, unlike an on-site audit. In other words, tax specialists conduct periodic desk audits based on their job responsibilities.

Deadline for conducting a desk tax audit: reports and declarations may be subject to desk audits within three months from the date of their submission and submission to the tax office.

During this check, reports, declarations that the company submits, as well as other documents that the tax office has at its disposal about this organization, for example, entries from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities or from the Unified State Register of Individual Entrepreneurs, the charter of the organization, information about open current accounts in banks, etc.

When a desk tax audit is carried out, but the company has not submitted a report, the audit can still be carried out, for this they will use the documents that the tax office has that relate to this company.

If suddenly the tax office began a desk audit of a report, and at that time the organization submitted an updated return, for example, for VAT or any other tax, then the audit stops and a new one begins, taking into account the submitted amendments.

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Usually, when conducting a desk audit, the tax service does not request any additional documents from companies, using only the submitted declaration and other documents that the Federal Tax Service has. However, there are cases when the tax office may request additional documents and the organization must provide them:

1. If we are talking about tax benefits that the company took advantage of, and the tax office now checks whether everything was done correctly.
2. When checking whether VAT deductions have been applied correctly.
3. When it comes to taxes on natural resources.
4. When the income tax and personal income tax of a participant in an investment partnership are checked.

When the tax service needs additional documents for a desk audit, it makes a request to the company, and the organization itself must provide these documents within 10 days. If the company cannot provide documents within this period, it can extend the deadline, about which a notification is also written to the tax office. This notification to the Federal Tax Service will be reviewed and within 2 days an answer will come from there whether it is possible to extend the period.

If during a desk audit the tax service finds any inaccuracies or inconsistencies in the report, it informs the organization about this and demands an explanation: they must be provided within five days or the report must be corrected within the same period.

If the tax service conducts an audit of an updated declaration for a tax, in which the amount of tax has been reduced compared to the original declaration, the tax authorities may require an explanation of why the tax reduction occurred. This will also need to be done within 5 days.

Also, when checking a declaration that indicates a loss for the reporting period, tax authorities may require you to explain the reason for this loss within 5 days.

To explain changes - reductions in tax amounts, losses - a company can provide the tax office with, among other things, extracts from the accounting and tax accounting registers maintained by the enterprise.

If these explanations are not provided, or if the tax officer, after reviewing all the documents, reveals a tax violation, he will draw up an appropriate report.

On-site tax audit

It is carried out on the territory of the audited organization. Most often this happens in the accounting department of the company, where tax specialists come during the audit period. If suddenly for some reason the company cannot provide premises for an on-site audit, it will be carried out at the tax service department.

The decision to conduct an on-site tax audit of a company must contain the following information:

1. Full and abbreviated name of the company (LLC) or last name, first name and patronymic of the individual entrepreneur.

2. Which taxes will be audited?

This can be either one or several taxes at once. It is usually checked how taxes are calculated correctly, as well as how timely the company pays them.

3. The period for which the said taxes are audited.

This period should not be more than three years. That is, taxes will be checked for the three years that preceded the on-site audit. For example, if an on-site tax audit came to an LLC or individual entrepreneur in 2016, then taxes will be checked for a maximum of three years: 2015, 2014 and 2013.

If during the on-site audit the company prepared a clarifying declaration for the tax being audited, the period covered by this declaration will also be checked.

For the same taxes for the same period, the tax office cannot conduct more than 1 on-site audit.

In addition, two or more on-site tax audits cannot come to the same taxpayer (LLC or individual entrepreneur) within 1 year, even for different taxes.

4. Last names and initials, as well as positions of those employees who will conduct the inspection.

On-site tax audit 2016 procedure: it cannot last more than 2 months. In exceptional cases, this period may be increased to 4 or 6 months. This period begins and lasts from the day the decision to conduct the inspection is made until the day the certificate of the inspection is drawn up. The total period for conducting an on-site tax audit should not exceed 6 months, taking into account possible breaks and suspensions.

The procedure for conducting an on-site tax audit: the head or deputy head of the tax service department may suspend an on-site tax audit in order to:

• Requesting additional documents for verification.
• To obtain information from foreign government agencies when it comes to international cooperation.
• To translate into Russian documents that the audited company provided in a foreign language.
• To carry out the necessary examinations.

Each suspension and extension of an audit must be formalized by a decision of the head of the tax service or his deputy.