A VAT declaration is needed in order to report to the inspectorate about goods sold, work performed and services provided. Namely: about the tax base and the amount of tax due to the budget.
The VAT declaration form and the procedure for filling it out were approved by order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated October 29, 2014 No. ММВ-7-3/558. You must report using this form starting from the first quarter of 2015 (clause 2 of the order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated October 29, 2014 No. ММВ-7-3/558).
Situation: in what form and in what way should I submit an updated VAT return for past periods?
Submit the updated declaration on the form that was in force at the time the error occurred.
Here you need to follow the general rule prescribed in paragraph 2 of paragraph 5 of Article 81 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Therefore, if you decide, for example, in 2021 to submit an updated declaration for the third quarter of 2014, then use the previous form approved by order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated October 15, 2009 No. 104n.
As for the method, a different rule applies here. The updated VAT return must be submitted electronically. The fact is that from January 1, 2015, taxpayers are required to submit all VAT reporting, including updated ones, only in electronic form (clause 5 of article 174 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, clause 7 of article 5 of the Federal Law of November 4, 2014 No. 347-FZ).
Who should take it?
VAT returns must be prepared by organizations and entrepreneurs, including intermediaries, who:
- are recognized as VAT payers;
- are tax agents for VAT.
This follows from paragraph 5 of Article 174 and subparagraph 1 of paragraph 5 of Article 173 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.
A detailed list of organizations and the conditions under which they are required to submit a VAT return are given in the table.
If in any tax period the organization did not carry out any transactions that should be reflected in the VAT return, the declaration is allowed not to be drawn up. Instead, you can submit a single simplified declaration, the form of which was approved by Order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated July 10, 2007 No. 62n. This was stated in the letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated March 10, 2010 No. 03-07-08/64. However, when applying these clarifications, it must be taken into account that in order to file a single simplified declaration, a number of additional conditions must be met. If these conditions are not met, the organization must draw up and submit a zero VAT return. For late submission of a declaration (including a zero declaration), the organization faces a fine.
As part of the zero declaration, you must submit the title page and section 1 (paragraph 2, clause 3 of the Procedure approved by order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated October 29, 2014 No. ММВ-7-3/558).
Situation: should organizations that are exempt from taxpayer obligations under Article 145 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation submit VAT returns?
As a rule, they shouldn't.
Organizations that enjoy VAT exemption do not fulfill the obligations of taxpayers (clause 1 of Article 145 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). However, they are required to submit returns for this tax in two cases.
First: if the organization issues an invoice to the buyer with the allocated amount of tax (subclause 1, clause 5, article 173, clause 5, article 174 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Then the declaration must include a title page, section 1 and section 12.
Second: the organization acts as a tax agent (clause 5 of Article 174 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). In this case, the declaration must include a title page and section 2.
This is stated in paragraphs 6 and 9 of paragraph 3 of section I and paragraph 51 of section XIV of the Procedure, approved by order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated October 29, 2014 No. ММВ-7-3/558.
In other cases, it is not necessary to prepare VAT returns during the period of using the exemption under Article 145 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Similar clarifications are contained in the letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated July 31, 2012 No. ED-3-3/2683. This is also confirmed by arbitration practice (see, for example, decision of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated February 13, 2003 No. 10462/02, determination of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated June 17, 2009 No. VAS-7414/09, resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the North-Western District dated February 24 2009 No. A26-3353/2008).
If an organization is exempt from paying VAT, but sells excisable goods, it will have to submit a tax return (in terms of proceeds from the sale of excisable goods) in full (clause 2 of Article 145 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
The time has come
In 2014, the changes introduced to paragraph 5 of Article 174 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation by Federal Law No. 134-FZ dated June 28, 2013 (hereinafter referred to as Law No. 134-FZ) come into force.
Taxpayers, including those who are tax agents, as well as those taxpayers who are exempt from the obligation to pay VAT, but have issued invoices to their clients with the allocated amount of tax, are required to submit a declaration to the tax inspectorate in electronic form via telecommunication channels through an electronic operator document flow. This must be done no later than the 20th day of the month following the expired tax period (quarter).
