Who has the right to sign a 2-NDFL certificate?

Regarding the income certificate, one of the most popular questions for almost every working person and employer is who signs 2-NDFL for employees in 2021? You will find out what the rules are in this regard and how practice works in our review.

For 2021, tax authorities have developed a new form of certificate 2-NDFL (Appendix No. 1 to the Federal Tax Service order No. ММВ-7-11/566 dated October 2, 2018). The new form came into force on January 1, 2021. For the first time, you need to report using the new form for 2021.

Towards reality

Initially, according to official explanations on the correct completion of such an important document, only the tax agent himself was authorized to sign the 2-NDFL for submission to the Federal Tax Service. In most cases, this is the head of the company, as well as the individual entrepreneur himself.

But practice makes its own adjustments. Thus, the general rules clarify that the certificate can now be endorsed by persons of the organization (IP) authorized for such actions on the basis of a pre-drafted power of attorney, which can be issued by the head of the company or a merchant.

The person who endorses the 2-NDFL certificate must indicate:

position held;
last name and initials.

The fact is that this document is legally classified not as an official accounting certificate, but as a tax document. Therefore, it is not at all necessary for the manager to sign it, as mentioned above.

A trusted person may also have the right to endorse 2-NDFL. However, in this case, a power of attorney is required. According to the established rules, detailed details of this power of attorney should be indicated at the end of the 2-NDFL certificate, close to the signature of the corresponding authorized person. They should be indicated as details of a document confirming the right to such a visa:

According to the law, a power of attorney on behalf of a legal entity is legitimate when it is signed:

The leader.
Another person who is authorized by law and/or constituent documents (primarily the charter of the company).

Usually, under a power of attorney, an official can sign income certificates within 1 year by default, if a specific time frame is not indicated in it.

And who, according to current regulatory rules, can sign 2-NDFL in 2021?

Responsibility for inaccurate data when filling out 2nd personal income tax

The contractor, who is a tax agent and the one who signs personal income tax certificate 2, must clearly understand all the responsibilities for misrepresentation of data when filling out the document. In organizations, there are often situations when employees ask to increase the amount of income in the certificate in order to confirm their solvency with a banking institution. Such a violation may be charged as fraud.

Although it is difficult for the court to prove an offense of deliberate intent to overstate income, the data will certainly be transferred to the tax office.

But the Federal Tax Service, on the basis of the Tax Code, is already required to carry out additional personal income tax assessments and impose appropriate penalties on responsible persons.

Who can sign

The rules clearly state that the following persons have the right to sign this official document:

Directly the tax agent himself.
An officially authorized representative.

The certificate must indicate exactly who signed it. This is done by indicating the corresponding code digit:

for a tax agent – “1”;
The official representative identifies himself/herself when endorsing the certificate with the number “2”.

If the representative has been instructed to submit a certificate to the territorial bodies of the Federal Tax Service of Russia, then he should additionally indicate the specific name of the document that will confirm such powers and the legality of the actions of this person.

Who signs the 2-NDFL certificate

Tax authorities believe: a certificate of income paid to employees and taxes withheld from them is certified by a tax agent, whose role is always played by the enterprise, or rather its manager. This is logical, since by paying salaries and withholding taxes on income, the company confirms the amounts indicated in the certificates.

However, the Federal Tax Service provided the enterprise with the opportunity to delegate the right to sign 2-NDFL to other persons. Such actions are quite reasonable, since there are enterprises with a huge staff of employees, and signing a mass of documents by one person often becomes not only an impossible task for him, but also an unproductive waste of time. In addition, 2-NDFL certificates are tax documents, not accounting documents, and, therefore, it can be signed not only by the manager, but also by a circle of persons designated by him. This possibility is provided for and even prescribed by the Federal Tax Service recommendations for drawing up form 2-NDFL.

To exercise this right, the manager must issue an order indicating the list of those persons who sign the 2-NDFL. A power of attorney must be issued for each official on this list, and in certificates submitted to regulatory authorities, its details are indicated next to the signature of the authorized representative.

In addition, tax authorities provide for differences in the certification of the 2-NDFL certificate by the manager and the authorized person. If the form is certified by a tax agent, then “1” is entered in the “Code” field, and if this is done by a proxy, “2” with confirmation of authority by the number and date of issue of the power of attorney.

Who signs the 2-NDFL certificate to the director

Since the director of the company is an employee of the company, he also has the right to request a certificate of income if the need arises. Naturally, it must also be certified by a tax agent or a person entitled to do so. Often in companies, Form 2-NDFL for the manager is signed by an authorized representative. According to unspoken internal company etiquette, this is considered more acceptable than certifying a certificate of one’s own income with a personal signature, although, of course, this issue cannot be fundamental. For example, an individual entrepreneur running a small company, as a rule, does not have authorized persons, and he certifies all documents personally.

Who forms?

Usually the accounting department at the enterprise is responsible for issuing the certificate.

At the request of the employee, the organization is obliged to issue a certificate within up to 3 working days.

There are companies throughout the country that offer certificates for a fee.

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Before turning to the services of such companies, it is important to know that even the slightest mistakes can lead to the document being rejected, for example, when submitted to a bank for a loan, or when contacting social authorities.

Having considered the issue, we came to the following conclusion:

2-NDFL certificates can be signed by both the head of the organization and any authorized representative of the organization acting on the basis of a power of attorney. Such an authorized representative may be, in particular, the chief accountant.

Rationale for the conclusion:

Information on Form 2-NDFL “Certificate of Income of an Individual” (hereinafter referred to as the Certificate) was approved by Order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated October 30, 2015 N MMV-7-11/ The same document approved the Procedure for filling out the Certificate.

The certificate is submitted annually (no later than April 1 of the year following the expired tax period) by tax agents (in particular, organizations) to the tax authority at the place of their registration (clause 2 of Article 230 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

In addition, tax agents issue Certificates to individuals upon their written applications (clause 3 of Article 230 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, Article 62 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

According to Section I of the Procedure for filling out the Certificate, the completed Certificate form is signed on each page in the “Tax Agent” field. At the same time, analysis of the “Tax Agent” field of the Certificate form shows that this field can be signed by both the tax agent and his authorized representative.

Information about the document confirming the authority of the tax agent representative is reflected in the corresponding field of the Certificate.

By virtue of clause 2 of Art. 24 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, in general, tax agents have the same rights as taxpayers. Accordingly (clause 1 of article 26, clause 1 of article 27 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation), they have the right to participate in relations regulated by the legislation on taxes and fees through a legal or authorized representative (unless otherwise provided by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

An authorized representative of a taxpayer (tax agent) - organization exercises his powers on the basis of a power of attorney issued in the manner established by the civil legislation of the Russian Federation, unless otherwise provided by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation (clause 4 of Article 26, clause 3 of Article 29 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, clause 4 Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated July 30, 2013 N 57). According to paragraph 4 of Art. 185.1 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, a power of attorney on behalf of a legal entity is issued signed by its head or another person authorized to do so in accordance with the law and constituent documents. See additionally letters of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 04/25/2017 N 03-02-08/24718, dated 04/08/2016 N 03-02-08/20028.

As follows from the letters of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated June 26, 2013 N ED-4-3/, the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated September 25, 2012 N 03-02-07/1-227, if it is impossible for the director to sign documents, participation in tax relations is possible only on the basis of a power of attorney (an order is not enough for this).

With regard to the Certificates, similar conclusions are contained in the letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated July 25, 2008 N 03-04-06-01/230*(1), which states that if documents are signed by an authorized representative of the organization, a copy of a duly executed power of attorney must be attached to them, according to which the representative is authorized to sign relevant documents on behalf of the represented one. In this case, in the corresponding lines of the document “for signature”, instead of indicating the person being represented, the data of the authorized representative is indicated, the document is signed by the representative and certified by his seal.

Thus, the Certificate can be signed by both the head of the organization and any authorized representative of the organization acting on the basis of a power of attorney (including the chief accountant).

According to paragraph 1 of Art. 185.1 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, notarization requires a power of attorney:

— to carry out transactions requiring a notarial form;

— to submit applications for state registration of rights or transactions;

- to dispose of rights registered in state registers, except for cases provided for by law.

In all other cases*(2), including the situation under consideration, a simple power of attorney is sufficient.

Prepared answer:

Expert of the Legal Consulting Service GARANT

auditor Ovchinnikova Svetlana

Information legal support GARANT

https://www.garant.ru

Multiline phone

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*(1) This letter can be viewed on the Internet.

*(2) Unless otherwise expressly provided by law.

Concept and essence of 2 personal income tax

Certificate 2 personal income tax is an official document drawn up by the employer and indicating the amount of income received by its personnel. In addition, it contains information about the tax accrued and paid for the employee, about unwithheld tax, as well as about deductions and their amounts.

In essence, a certificate is a document by which you can find out a person’s income. It also contains other important information.

Certificate 2 personal income tax is filled out separately for each member of the organization’s staff

It consists of several sections:

Title. It indicates: for what year it was compiled and to which inspection it is being submitted (a four-digit inspection code is written, where the first two digits are the region code, the next two are the code of the department itself). Also, if this is not a primary document, but an adjustment, the number of this clarification is indicated.
Basic information. This section reflects basic information about the employee:

Full Name;
TIN;
passport series and number;
registration address (zip code, region, city, street, house, apartment, etc.).

The position held by the employee is not indicated in such certificates.

Information about income by month. Not only the salary is indicated, but also bonuses, vacation pay, financial assistance and other payments. Salary is indicated without tax deduction.
Deductions. This section indicates all deductions provided to the employee (standard, social, property). When providing the last two, a document is also indicated - the basis for this deduction (number and date of the notification issued by the tax department).
Calculations. The total amount of income is indicated. The taxable amount is then calculated by subtracting the amount of deductions from it. Then it is indicated whether this amount was withheld (withheld or non-withheld tax line).
The final part. The form is signed and dated. On earlier versions of the template until 2021, a stamp was also placed at the end indicating the validity and reliability of the information provided.

Sample of filling out personal income tax certificate 2 for 2021

This document is completed by the accounting department.

An electronic report form is used to report to the inspectorate, and a printed one is used to hand it over to the employee.

Important! Since a new template has been in effect since 2021, and, accordingly, new registration rules, the only proof of its authenticity and validity is the signature of the responsible person. Until 2021, this document was also stamped.

But due to the fact that some law firms (LLCs and JSCs) are allowed to engage in activities without their own seal, the stamp is placed only on certain documentation. Also, the order approving the new form does not say anything about the stamp, and the form does not contain a place for a seal (M.P.). Therefore, even if a company has a seal, it is not necessary to put it on. However, placing a stamp is not an error and does not lead to the application of tax liability and penalties.

The employer submits this report at the place of registration of the company or the place of registration of its individual divisions.

The employee is given one copy in person, but upon written request more than one may be issued.

Typically, this form may be needed:

to assign the status of a low-income citizen;
for calculating subsidies;
to provide other benefits;
to obtain a loan (mortgage, installment plan, credit);
to fill out 3NDFL (to get a deduction);
for submission to other organizations.

Thus, personal income tax certificate 2 drawn up by the employer is an important document both for the organization itself and for its employees.

Is a stamp required for 2-NDFL?

If your company prepares reports in electronic format, then the issue of printing disappears. In this case it is not used.

Organizations in which no more than 25 people received income during the reporting period are entitled to provide data in paper form. Previously, the letters “M” were indicated at the bottom of the 2-NDFL certificate. P.”, which were intended to affix the employer’s imprint. Reporting samples for 2021 do not have these designations, which means they do not need to be stamped.

Order of the Federal Tax Service No. ММВ-7-11/ [email protected] dated 10/02/2018. 2-NDFL does not inform about the new type of certificate about the need to affix a stamp. This information is not included in the articles of the Tax Code. Since the information is not specified in regulations, then representatives of the tax service cannot refuse to accept a 2-NDFL certificate without a stamp.

In 2021, regulations continue to apply allowing LLCs and JSCs not to use a seal at all. If your organization initially refused to put an imprint on the documents, then it is not needed on the 2-NDFL certificate itself.

In cases where a company has its own seal, the latter is required to be used only in situations specified by law.

So is a stamp needed for 2-NDFL? The absence of information about the seal in legislative norms does not force one to abandon it. If you wish, you can install it. Such a document will not lose its validity.

Where to put the Signature and Stamp on the 2NDFL Certificate 2021