Request a balance sheet from the tax counterparty. Accounting statements of the counterparty: how to obtain information about the counterparty

The phrase “counterparty report” appears more and more often. The question about the status of this report is “in the air”: when should it be submitted, in what form, is it even required to be submitted to the tax office? For more information on how to prepare a report on a counterparty and when to submit it, read our article.

The rhetoric of the Federal Tax Service regarding due diligence is changing markedly. As an example, let us cite two excerpts from tax documents on this topic in 2012 and 2021. It is obvious that the company’s burden of responsibility for choosing a counterparty has increased.

year 2012:

The Federal Tax Service of Russia recommends

taxpayers to check the reality of the activities of persons with whom transactions are carried out or planned to be carried out.

2018:

In case of engaging a counterparty to perform work or provide services, the organization must

have information and primary documents about persons performing work or providing services (qualifications, schedule and working conditions, passport details, etc.).

The counterparty has lost its cover in the form of a trade secret

Everything goes to the point that when choosing a counterparty, you should know more about him than his own mother. The mother does not need to know everything, but you need to know everything about the counterparty. Moreover, in recent years there has been little left of the concept of a trade secret. Since July 2017, in accordance with the changes made to Article 102 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the classification of secrecy has been removed from a significant part of the information provided by taxpayers to the Federal Tax Service.

The counterparty cannot hide behind a trade secret in relation to the following information:

• contained in the constituent documents of a legal entity,
• confirming the fact of making entries about a legal entity or individual entrepreneur in the relevant state registers,
• giving the right to carry out entrepreneurial activities,
• on violations of the legislation of the Russian Federation and prosecution for such violations,
• about persons who have the right to act without a power of attorney on behalf of a legal entity.
• data on the average number of employees,
• data on the amounts of taxes and fees paid by the organization,
• data on the amounts of arrears and debts on penalties, fines,
• data on the amounts of income and expenses based on the materials of the accounting (financial) statements.

One of the reasons for disclosing data about taxpayers, according to official statements by the Federal Tax Service, is precisely transparency for potential partners. Lifting the tax secrecy regime on some information about taxpayers gives companies the opportunity to get to know a potential partner more and assess risks at the stage of their selection.

Possibilities of the Federal Tax Service resource

There is a special service to check a potential partner. It was created by the Federal Tax Service of Russia. “Check yourself and your counterparty. Tax. ru” is the name of this resource. It provides ample opportunities for businesses. Thus, the counterparty can be checked by OGRN, TIN, location, as well as name. To do this, you need to go to the website of the Federal Tax Service of Russia “Check yourself and your counterparty. Tax. ru" to the section called "Electronic Services". It is here that a potential partner can be checked in various directions. First of all, the resource provides information contained in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities. In this case, verification of the counterparty can be carried out by entering its tax identification number, legal address, region of location or name. When checking an individual entrepreneur, only the last name of the entrepreneur can be entered.

Using the FSN website, a quick check of counterparties is carried out. Entering the correct data will allow you to see the registration date, location, OGRN, INN, and also find out whether an entry has been made about the termination of the activities of this business entity. The resource also allows you to check the legal address of the counterparty for “mass distribution”.

Based on the data obtained, a conclusion can be drawn up to check the counterparty with an analysis of the timing of its activities, its types, as well as a general idea of ​​the experience of the potential partner and whether he has the necessary licenses, possible disqualification, that is, deprivation of the right to engage in one or another activities, and other important information.

Where to get information about the counterparty. Recommendations from the Federal Tax Service

To protect yourself from entering into transactions with unscrupulous business partners, the Federal Tax Service recommends conducting an independent audit in several areas.

Sources of information about the counterparty:

• electronic services of the Federal Tax Service and other official resources, including various tax services, data from the State Registration Bulletin, database of the bailiff service, etc.
• data from open sources, including those posted in the media and on the Internet, for example, on the company’s official website, on its pages in social networks, on review sites, etc.
• if there are subscriptions, use various databases to check the counterparty, for example “SPARK”, etc.
• The counterparty's address must be real. To check it, you need not to be lazy and go to the specified address. You must be sure that company officials are where they are officially stated to be.
• documents confirming the right of the counterparty to carry out the declared type of activity (licenses, certificates), powers of the official signing the agreement, and primary accounting documents (internal orders, protocols on the election of the head of the organization, powers of attorney). As well as documents that allow you to evaluate the resources of the counterparty, that is, its production capacity, personnel, etc. You must be sure that the counterparty has enough resources to implement the contract. These documents must be requested from the potential counterparty. Remember, the information listed above is not a trade secret of the company.

Verification of a legal entity by TIN

Obtaining information using this method is available to everyone. Checking the counterparty by TIN is carried out online. The following databases are used for this:

Website of the Ministry of Revenue; — register of value added tax payers, where you can check the partner’s details; — a register containing canceled VAT certificates; — register of single tax certificates.

There are also separate special services provided by the tax office. The counterparty is checked for them by entering the TIN in the appropriate line. The result is given instantly.

In addition, verification of the counterparty by TIN can be carried out using the following:

Databases of exporting enterprises; — systems for comprehensive disclosure of available information by stock market participants.

Internet sources where you can check the integrity of a counterparty for free exist not only for Russia. They are available for Ukraine and for many other foreign countries. Finding such resources on the Internet will not be difficult. For example, in the USA there are similar sites for every state of the country. They can be used to obtain relevant information about the counterparty.

In addition to checking a partner with the tax office, private “black lists” can also be found on the Internet, which include unscrupulous companies and debtor firms.

In order to finally make sure of the reliability of the counterparty, you can also buy his credit history at a special bureau or search for information on websites and forums where there are reviews and discussions about working with this company. But do not forget that a fly-by-night company can create fictitious websites or leave positive reviews about its work on other resources. When checking a counterparty for integrity, the source of information must be trustworthy.

A comprehensive approach to due diligence

The Federal Tax Service recommends taking screenshots of pages from the Internet with information about the counterparty, saving these screenshots, and also printing them. However, you need to know that if the fact of execution of the transaction is not confirmed, a printout from the site will not be considered significant evidence when tax authorities assess the legality of including income tax expenses in the taxable base or applying VAT deductions. An integrated approach is required to exercise due diligence when choosing a counterparty. It is part of this comprehensive approach that the counterparty report is.

How to deliver work to select a counterparty:

• Develop a document on the procedure for working with counterparties.
• Create internal regulations on due diligence and assign a responsible employee to this area.
• Collect information about the counterparty.
• Request a package of documents from a potential counterparty.
• Prepare a counterparty report demonstrating due diligence exercised.

What a counterparty report may include:

• Address, telephone and email of the organization, names of contact persons;
• Names of founders, presence of affiliated structures;
• Extracts from the Unified State Register of Individual Entrepreneurs, Unified State Register of Legal Entities, Rosstat;
• Financial indicators;
• Year the company was founded;
• The number of employees;
• Participation in tenders, availability of government contracts;
• Litigation.

Report on inventory balances

This report provides information on all of your products, items, and materials as of any given date. The report includes only goods or materials capitalized by the accountant with an invoice or act, expense report, accounting certificate or opening balances. The report will not include goods that arrived at the warehouse but have not yet been posted.

Pay special attention to the “Account” column: it can be used to identify accounting errors. Let's say the goods are mistakenly posted to 10, and not 41 accounts, in which case you will not see it in the balance sheet for 41 accounts. But in the “Balances” report, this product will appear indicating the account to which it was posted by mistake.

At the top of the report of the Kontur.Accounting service there is a filter. If you specify the name of the product and its quantity (positive or zero), you will see a selection. For negative balances, the filter has a checkbox: it will help you find errors in accounting - misgrading, goods that were not capitalized, etc.

You can conduct an inventory using the “Remains” report. In the filter line, select the necessary parameters: date, accounting accounts, then under the filter line, click the “Download list” button and print.

Why do you need a counterparty audit and report?

1. For the safety of the company. When choosing a partner, you must be confident in his reliability and that his obligations will be fulfilled.
2. To check the Federal Tax Service. A report on the counterparty must be presented to the tax authorities during the audit or upon request.
3. For tax deductions. If the Federal Tax Service manages to prove that the company did not exercise due diligence when choosing a counterparty, it will be accused of receiving an unjustified tax benefit and additional taxes will be charged: input VAT, which was accepted for reimbursement from the budget, and income tax.

Sales report

The report indicates the amount of revenue in rubles and the number of pieces/kilograms/liters for all goods, services and products sold. The amount of revenue is calculated net of VAT.

For goods and finished products, the cost of purchase or manufacture is indicated, as well as the difference between cost and revenue.

The profitability of a product or service is presented in the “Profitability” column of the Kontur.Accounting service. Calculated using the formula (Margin / Revenue) * 100%. This column helps you monitor the performance of each of your products or services. So, if the profitability of sales for one product is 20%, and for the second - 50%, it is obvious that it is more profitable to sell the second product. For the first product from a thousand rubles of revenue without VAT, you will receive 200 rubles. net income, and for the second product - 500 rubles. You will not know the profitability if you do not write down the cost, as in the line with the product “Standard plum”.

All information can be filtered by period, name and nomenclature. For example, if you want to analyze product sales over the past year, select Last Year, then Product. Next, click on the “Apply” button.

Click on the “Download list” link to download and print the report.

Do I need to submit a report on the counterparty to the tax office?

The entire regulatory framework related to the topic of due diligence when choosing a counterparty focuses on the fact that the taxpayer must independently conduct an audit of a potential partner and, if necessary, prove the fact of the audit. At present, there are no documents establishing the obligation of managers or officials responsible for maintaining accounting and tax records to send to the Federal Tax Service a report on the counterparty confirming that the counterparty has been verified for good faith. Instructions on this topic, coming from the Federal Tax Service, prescribe in more detail the algorithms for exercising due diligence, sources of information about the counterparty, however, for now, reporting on the work done to verify the counterparty is provided to the Federal Tax Service upon its request, and not systematically, on time and without fail.

Methodology for checking counterparties

The selection process from a list of potential suppliers and performers of work should be assigned to one or more officials. It is recommended that this block of functional responsibilities be recorded in their job descriptions. Responsible employees, when identifying unscrupulous business entities, must use the methodology described by the local regulations for checking counterparties (a sample is developed by enterprises independently).

At the first stage of interaction with a potential counterparty, it is recommended to request from him a standard set of certificates, extracts, certificates and other documents that allow you to verify the reality of the enterprise.

Documents for verification of the counterparty:

• copies of registration and tax registration certificates;
• charter;
• extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities database;
• a certificate confirming the absence of tax debts to the budget.

If it is necessary to analyze the current financial situation of a business entity, you can request information on the number of personnel, the cost of fixed or current assets, and experience in a specific market niche. An option is to study the latest financial statements. The counterparty cannot refuse in this matter - reporting documents are legally classified as public information.

At the next stages, assistance is provided by the Federal Tax Service - verification of the counterparty will be carried out by submitting a written request to the regulatory authority in order to obtain reliable information about the enterprise of interest. You can also confirm the official status of the counterparty on the Federal Tax Service website. Features of the site's electronic services:

• obtaining information about the organization from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, taking into account the latest changes;
• checking the counterparty for bankruptcy;
• You can find out online whether a liquidation or reorganization procedure has been started, or whether the head of the company has been disqualified for offenses.

All specified information is provided by the tax service; verification of the counterparty through electronic or written requests to the Federal Tax Service is free. The service of the Federal Tax Service website can be used at ]]>https://egrul.nalog.ru/]]>. The resource base is updated daily; it contains basic information about the counterparty in the status of a legal entity or individual entrepreneur. Checking the counterparty by name on the website can be replaced by searching by TIN or OGRN number.

It is recommended that you familiarize yourself with the contents of the current file of arbitration proceedings (on ]]>the official website of YOU]]>). This will allow you to quickly clarify whether the company is a party to litigation. Information about current enforcement proceedings can be obtained from ]]>search service]]> on the FSSP website.

The integrity of the counterparty can be double-checked using licensing documents. To do this, you need to use a search in the register of licenses on the website of the relevant department.

The authority of an official on the part of the counterparty to conduct negotiations and conclude transactions is determined in several ways:

• the statutory documents indicate the period of validity of the rights of the appointed manager to approve documentation;
• the charter may contain a clause prohibiting the manager from signing agreements on transactions whose value exceeds the monetary threshold determined by the founders.

An additional measure of insurance against disputes with regulatory authorities can be the execution of a certificate of departure to a potential supplier. The document confirms the reality of the enterprise’s presence at the address specified in the documents. If a company participates in electronic trading at an auction, then in case of price dumping, the norms of the Law on Government Contracts No. 44-FZ of 04/05/2013 require the supplier to present a contract for the purchase of goods and a letter of good faith of the counterparty. The last document is drawn up in any form.

Other verification methods

In addition to obtaining information about a potential partner on all the issues listed above, you need to make sure that he has:

There are no accounts with dubious credit institutions; — there are all the necessary conditions for fulfilling contractual obligations, such as retail outlets, warehouses, transport, etc.; — it is possible to place an order for a trial, small-volume batch of goods.

Among other things, you will need to find out whether the manager’s passport is valid at the time of signing the contract. To do this, you need to visit the service of the Federal Migration Service of the Russian Federation.

When forming an idea about a potential partner, it is important to understand that the only criterion of bad faith of the counterparty usually does not lead to the company being deprived of tax benefits. Well, if such signs exist in aggregate, then even a court decision will not be made in favor of the organization.

Checking bank accounts

Such a procedure will allow you to obtain additional information in cases where a counterparty is being audited. Bank accounts should not be:

Blocked by the Federal Tax Service; - do not have any restrictions.

In order to make sure that the account is not blocked, it is enough to go to the special service of the Federal Tax Service and enter the TIN of the counterparty, as well as the BIC of the bank servicing it. It is not always possible to find out whether there are any restrictions on the account. Some banks have already created a similar service. Others don't have it yet.