How to return overpayment of insurance premiums from the tax office in 2021

New rules for crediting and returning overpayments

From October 1, 2021, the provisions of Federal Law No. 325 of September 29, 2019 will come into force, which simplify the procedure for offset or refund of overpayments of taxes. Until October 1, tax authorities can redistribute overpaid taxes only within the budget of one type. Federal tax goes to the federal budget, regional tax goes to the regional budget, local tax goes to the local budget. For example, by overpaying VAT, a federal tax, you cannot pay off a debt on property tax, a local tax.

Starting from October, it will be possible to offset overpayments against future tax payments or pay off debts for another tax without reference to the budget level. For example, due to the income tax overpaid to the federal budget, it is possible to pay off arrears or a fine to the regional budget for transport tax or to the local budget for land tax.

If there is a tax debt to any budget - federal, regional or local - it is impossible to return the overpayment of taxes in money. The debtor, due to the overpayment, is obliged to first pay off his obligations for taxes, fines and penalties (Clause 6 of Article 78 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

The rules for offset and refund of overpaid insurance premiums remain the same. For example, overpayment of pension insurance contributions cannot be “spread” onto social or health insurance contributions (clause 1.1 of Article 78 of the Tax Code).

How does overpayment of taxes occur?

Overpayment occurs due to errors either by the organization itself or by the tax authority.

Taxpayers themselves are wrong:

- when calculating tax. Accounting may make a mistake when calculating the tax base, applying the wrong tax rate, or not applying tax benefits and deductions;

- when filling out payment orders for the payment of taxes, penalties, and fines. Any error in the BCC or tax amount results in an overpayment for one tax and an underpayment for another.

Overpayment may arise due to advance payments.

For example, a company transferred advances for income tax during the year, but at the end of the year the tax turned out to be less than the amount of the transferred advances. So the company overpaid income taxes.

Tax inspectors may mistakenly collect taxes twice.

This occurs when a tax, fine or penalty is unilaterally written off from a current account. For example, the taxpayer has already transferred taxes, but the money has not yet reached the tax office. And the Federal Tax Service writes off the amounts without acceptance. Then there may be an overpayment.

Note!

Overpayment of taxes must be recorded on the organization’s front card with the Federal Tax Service. If, for example, a company transferred taxes through a problem bank, but they did not go to the budget, it will not be possible to offset or return them.

The courts believe that recognition of the obligation to pay a tax as fulfilled does not give rise to the taxpayer’s automatic right to return or offset the amount of such tax.

They confirmed that the taxpayer does not have the right to compensate for his losses at the expense of the budget (Determination of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation No. 307-KG 18-10845 of August 8, 2021).

Refund of insurance premiums from the Internal Revenue Service 2020

Can an individual entrepreneur return overpaid fixed contributions from the Pension Fund after closure and exclusion from the register? The return of overpaid amounts after the closure of the individual entrepreneur is made by the individual in whose name the enterprise was registered.

Wiring used

If a company has overpaid insurance premiums, it can return them. But the refund procedure is determined by the year in which the transfer of these contributions was made. The fact is that until January 1, 2021, payments were made to the Pension Fund and the Social Insurance Fund. After this date, the Federal Tax Service is responsible for insurance premiums. Therefore, you need to contact the funds for a refund of contributions paid before 2020. If payments are made later, the application must be sent to the Federal Tax Service.

Social insurance of citizens is another sore subject for Russians. There is an annual shortage of funds in the Social Insurance Fund budget for the payment of benefits for disability, pregnancy and childbirth, and so far the social insurance system introduced in 2021 has not produced tangible results, although there has been some increase in income. At the same time, the minimum wage was increased, which had a positive effect on the level of insurance payments. What changes will happen in 2021 - read on.

How to find out about an overpayment

Both the taxpayer himself and tax inspectors can find overpayments of taxes. You can order a reconciliation report from the tax office or check your transfers in your personal account on the Federal Tax Service website. Within five working days after submitting the documents, tax officials must issue a reconciliation report and send it to the taxpayer.

If the tax authorities were the first to discover the overpayment, they are obliged to notify the organization - within 10 working days they must send a written message and indicate the date the overpayment was discovered (clause 3 of Article 78 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). The date of discovery of the overpayment is the day when the inspector discovered the excess for a particular tax. Regardless of whether the tax inspectorate informed the taxpayer about the fact of an overpayment or not, the overpayment can be disposed of within three years from the date of occurrence.

Taxes to the budget for the taxpayer can be transferred by any other person - an organization, an entrepreneur or a citizen without the status of an individual entrepreneur (paragraph 4, paragraph 1, article 45 of the Tax Code). But only the taxpayer himself has the right to return the excess or offset the payment. Third parties cannot do this (paragraph 5, paragraph 1, article 45 of the Tax Code).

On the return of overpaid mandatory contributions from 2021

In the current and next year, overpaid amounts for compulsory medical insurance, compulsory medical insurance, compulsory medical insurance (VN and M) payments are returned when the obligated person applies to the Federal Tax Service branch of his region. Insurance payments for injuries, as before, are under the control of the Social Insurance Fund. Accordingly, regarding the return of overpayments, as before, you should contact this fund.

This form is also used to refund overpaid taxes.

• information is entered only on pages 1 and 2,
• page 3 is intended for individuals (not individual entrepreneurs),
• the period for which the money is returned is indicated (for example, 2017),
• The purpose of the appeal is indicated - the return of the “overpaid” amount.

The listed distinctive positions are required to be filled out. The response to the applicant is provided within ten days if reconciliation has not been carried out. Refunds are processed within a month.

If mandatory pension contributions have already been distributed to the accounts of insured employees, the Federal Tax Service will not return the overpayment. The excess amount can be offset against subsequent OPS payments.

How can you manage your overpayment?

If an organization or individual entrepreneur has identified an overpayment of taxes, then the excess can be offset against the debt, left in a personal account with the Federal Tax Service for future payments, or the money returned to the current account. Let's consider each point separately.

Credit for arrears

If there is arrears on other taxes, fees, fines, penalties, inspectors will first pay off the arrears to the budget through overpayments. The inspectorate independently decides which tax debt can be closed and informs the organization. But they can only dispose of overpayments that are no more than three years old.

An organization can independently submit an application for credit indicating a specific tax. It is advisable to reconcile the calculations with the budget before doing this. If the amount indicated in the application does not coincide with the data of the tax office, the tax authorities will return the application.

The tax office makes a decision on offset or refusal to offset overpaid amounts against arrears within 10 working days:

-from the moment the overpayment is discovered, if the organization has not applied to the inspectorate with an application for credit against a specific tax;

-from the date of receipt of an organization’s application for credit against a specific tax, if the organization has submitted such an application;

- from the date of signing the act of reconciliation of settlements with the budget, if the inspection and the organization carried out a reconciliation;

-from the moment the court decision comes into force, if the organization has achieved offset through the court;

-from the day following the day of completion of the desk tax audit, which took place without additional assessments;

if a desk audit revealed violations - from the day following the day the decision entered into force.

Refund of tax overpayments according to new rules from October 1, 2021

According to the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, tax overpayments are subject to refund - within one month from the date the taxpayer submits an application for a refund of the overpaid amount. In 2021, this topic becomes especially relevant, because some enterprises were exempt from payments due to coronavirus. However, there are many nuances that need to be taken into account when returning an overpayment. Moreover, since October 1, 2021, such nuances have become even more numerous. You will find out more in our article.

The rules for offsetting or returning amounts of overpaid taxes, fees, insurance premiums, penalties, and fines are prescribed in Article 78 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. According to this article, the taxpayer has the right to return overpaid funds.

How can you manage your overpayment:

• return to the taxpayer’s personal account,
• use the overpayment towards future payments,
• pay off debts, fines, penalties.

In addition, Article 78 of the Tax Code establishes the declarative nature of the return of overpayments and prescribes all procedural deadlines for the return or offset of paid taxes and fees.

In October 2021, Federal Law No. 325-FZ “On Amendments to Parts One and Two of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation” was adopted, according to which both relaxations and complications were adopted in the issue of refunding overpayments.

From October 29, 2021, a new provision on the offset or return of overpayments during a desk audit came into force. The deadline for making a decision when conducting such an inspection has been clarified. (Read more about them in the article below).

From October 1, 2021, a number of other changes came into effect in the Tax Code (according to No. 325-FZ), which will affect the refund of overpaid taxes from the tax office.

How the rules for refunding tax overpayments will change:

• Any tax or contribution can be repaid by overpayment.

As it was

: offset of the amounts of overpaid federal taxes and fees, regional and local taxes is carried out for the corresponding types of taxes and fees, as well as for penalties accrued on the corresponding taxes and fees. The amount of overpaid insurance premiums is subject to offset against the relevant budget of the state extra-budgetary fund of the Russian Federation, to which this amount was credited, against the payer's upcoming payments for this contribution, debt for the corresponding penalties and fines for tax offenses.

As of October 1, 2021:

You can use the overpayment against future payments or pay off the debt for different taxes, and not just for those for which the overpayment was made. The crediting of the overpayment will not be tied to the budget. Regardless of which budget of the Russian Federation the excess payment is transferred to, it can be credited to both the federal, regional and local budgets. For example, the most common overpayment of income tax to the federal budget can cover the costs of paying regional taxes or fines.

• Refund of the overpayment will become impossible if there is any debt.

As it was:

The refund to the taxpayer of the amount of overpaid tax if he has arrears for other taxes of the corresponding type or debt for the corresponding penalties, as well as fines, is made only after the amount of overpaid tax is offset against the arrears or debt.

What happened on October 1, 2021

: if there is any debt (for any tax or contribution to the budget of any level - federal, regional, local), it is impossible to return the overpayment of tax. Due to the overpayment, you first need to pay off all debts; in this case, the remaining amount of the overpayment minus the payment of all debts will be credited to the account.

• Refunds can be made by any tax authority.

As it was:

offset or refund is made by the tax authority at the place of registration of the taxpayer.

As of October 1, 2021:

Any tax authority, and not just the inspectorate at the place of registration of the taxpayer, will be able to offset or refund the overpayment. However, the application for a refund will still need to be submitted at the taxpayer’s place of registration.

Important:

a credit or refund of overpaid tax must be made in full, without any interest withheld.

What to do if an overpayment is detected?

• If an overpayment is discovered by the tax office, it must inform the taxpayer about the overpayment. Moreover, she must report it quite promptly - within 10 days from the moment the overpayment is discovered.
• If the taxpayer assumes that he has overpaid, then he has the right to invite the tax service to conduct a joint reconciliation of calculations for taxes, fees, insurance premiums, penalties and fines. You need to submit an application to the Federal Tax Service regarding the need to conduct a reconciliation. The tax office must prepare a reconciliation report within 5 days.
• If there is an overpayment, you must submit an application (for an offset or a refund) to the tax office at the place of registration or location of the taxpayer. That is, the funds are not returned automatically; the refund or offset against future payments or debt repayment is of a declarative nature. An application for a refund of an overpayment to the tax office can be submitted in paper form, as well as electronically with an enhanced qualified electronic signature. The application can be submitted in any form or on the form recommended by the Federal Tax Service. Payment orders and documents confirming the overpayment must be attached to the application. If the overpayment was due to an error in the tax return, you must first submit an updated calculation. Based on the updated declaration, a desk audit can be initiated and carried out by the tax inspectorate.
• After submitting the application, the tax office must, within 10 days, make a decision on the offset (or non-offset) of the overpaid tax against upcoming payments or on the return of funds to the payer’s account. If a desk audit was initiated based on the “clarification,” the decision will be made based on the results of this audit. The Federal Tax Service is obliged to inform the taxpayer about the decision made within 5 days (from the date of the decision).
• If the decision on the return or offset of tax overpayments is positive, then within one month from the date of filing the application or from the date of completion of the desk audit of the updated declaration, the money must be returned.
• If the decision on a refund is made negative, the inspectorate must notify the taxpayer about this, indicating the reason for the refusal. This decision can be appealed to a higher tax authority within one year. If the higher tax authority made a negative decision, then the taxpayer has the right to prove his case in court. You can file a claim in court within three years.

Important:

The tax office considers an application for a refund or offset of the overpayment for no more than 3 years from the date of payment of the specified amount of tax.

Why can they refuse to refund overpaid taxes?

Most often, there are two reasons for refusal: the tax periods for which the disputed overpayment of taxes arose were not determined, and the applicant did not provide documents confirming the overpayment.

What documents can confirm the overpayment:

• taxpayer payment orders,
• collection orders, tax inspectorate orders,
• tax payment information contained in the tax database.

The electronic service SBIS Reconciliation will verify all taxes and contributions of the company, allow you to work ahead of the curve and prevent overpayment of taxes and fees. The service allows automatic reconciliation of settlements with the budget, summary calculation of taxes, fines and penalties, as well as a comprehensive desk audit of reports. In addition, the service makes it possible to reconcile employees in the DAM, SZV-M, reconcile VAT with counterparties, reconcile 6-NDFL. And VLSI Electronic reporting is designed to automate the process of preparing and submitting reports, guaranteeing the correctness of reporting forms, the accuracy of reporting information and compliance with deadlines for submitting reports to regulatory authorities.

Our specialists are ready to tell you how VLSI automates the work of your company.

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Credit towards future payments

If there is no arrears, you need to send an application to the inspectorate for crediting money using the approved KND form 1150057. Applications for crediting taxes overpaid to regional budgets at the location of separate divisions of the organization can be submitted both to the tax inspectorate at the location of the organization and to the tax inspectorates at location of separate units.

The application deadline is within three years from the date of payment of the excess tax or contribution. The application must be accompanied by documents confirming the overpayment - a payment order or an updated declaration. The tax office must make a decision on the offset within 10 working days from the date of receipt of the application from the organization.

Overpayments cannot be counted against future payments of taxes, fees, penalties and fines by other taxpayers. Such offset of Tax Code is not provided (letter of the Ministry of Finance dated March 6, 2017 No. 03-02-08/12572).

Features of the return of overpaid amounts

Before the overpaid funds are returned directly to the company's current account, arrears of all types are repaid.

When receiving amounts, you must take into account the conditions of the transactions: (click to expand)

• Refunds of overpaid amounts are carried out only after repayment of the enterprise's arrears or offset against existing debts on contributions and sanctions.
• The amounts of overpayments of contributions made to the funds before 2017 cannot be used against future payments due to the transfer of control functions to the Federal Tax Service. Excessive contributions must be returned to the payer.
• If the payer has arrears in contributions, penalties and fines starting from 2021, the control body will offset the overpayment against existing debts or against future payments. The offset is made within the framework of a contribution of one type.

The exception is deductions for injury insurance transferred to the Social Insurance Fund. Credit for overpaid amounts is made regardless of the period of occurrence of the overpayment. To receive excess funds contributed to the funds, you must contact the territorial office with a refund application (

Refund of overpayment

To return money to the current account, the organization submits an application in the KND form 1150058 within three years from the date of the overpayment. To make a decision, inspectors have 10 working days from the moment they receive the application or sign the reconciliation report. After 5 working days, tax authorities are required to inform the organization or individual entrepreneur about the decision made (clause 9 of Article 78 of the Tax Code). After a month, return the overpayment to your bank account. If the taxpayer made a mistake and provided incorrect details, the refund will be processed after clarification.

Refund of overpaid taxes is a right, not an obligation, of the taxpayer. An organization or individual entrepreneur can waive their right, which does not contradict paragraph 6 of Art. 78 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation (letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia No. 03-07-11/63803 dated December 11, 2014).

How to apply for an overpayment to the Social Insurance Fund

The FSS approved the application forms by order dated February 17, 2015 No. 49 (as amended on November 17, 2016)) in accordance with the norms of Part 1 of Article 21 of the Federal Law dated July 3, 2016 No. 250-FZ. It is impossible to issue a letter for refund of overpayment of insurance premiums in free form.

To return contributions for VNIM and injuries, you should contact the Social Insurance Fund with a prepared application for the return of overpayments on contributions in Form 23.

If the overpayment is more than three years old

An organization can offset or return an overpayment within three years from the date of payment of the excess tax amount. The payment date is calculated differently. For example, for VAT, which is paid without advance payments, the three-year period will be counted from the date of transfer of the tax. And for income tax, which provides for advance payments, the period will be calculated from the moment of filing the declaration.

If the organization missed the deadline for filing an application, you can go to court. When considering a case in court, the limitation period of 3 years will be calculated according to the norms of civil, and not tax legislation. And the countdown of the period does not start from the moment of payment of the excess amount, but from the moment when the organization learned or should have known about it (clause 1 of Article 200 of the Civil Code). But you will have to prove that you learned about the overpayment later than it occurred. And it's not that simple.

How to reimburse expenses for payment of benefits from the Social Insurance Fund from 2021 - what has changed?

In 2021, the federal minimum wage should be raised by another 87 rubles. up to 11280 rubles. The bonus is tiny, so you shouldn’t expect significant changes in the amount of Social Security benefits in 2021, although some increase in the amount of payments will still occur.

Refund from the Social Security Fund due to excess expenses in 2021

• workers will have the right to receive compensation for lost labor income due to short-term disability from the moment they return to work, and not after a certain period;
• Payment for temporary disability will be provided for the duration of sanatorium-resort treatment/prosthetics in a hospital, IVF/abortion, as well as in case of illness of the employee’s children/disabled dependents.

The transfer of administration of social insurance contributions to the Federal Tax Service did not remove the function of the Social Insurance Fund for reimbursement of costs to employers. The fund continues to control expenses for disability insurance, maternity benefits, and monthly child care payments to employees. If the amount of costs exceeds the contributions, the Social Insurance Fund provides employers with funds to reimburse expenses (let's consider the current features for 2021). After checking the documents, the overpayment amount is returned to the employer’s bank account.

Time limit established for the reimbursement procedure

The list contains copies of orders of the head of the relevant appointment. The order must be signed by the manager and the employee. An order is not required when paying for a period of incapacity for work on a general basis or a one-time benefit. The documents are listed in the application as an attachment. Copies are certified in the prescribed manner. The document is marked with the entry “Copy is correct”, the name of the enterprise, the signature of the manager or individual entrepreneur with a transcript. The record is certified by a seal provided that it is used by the enterprise in office work.

Reimbursement of the Social Insurance Fund in 2021: reflection in accounting (budget) accounting

But if Social Insurance decides to conduct an inspection before agreeing on the amount of compensation, then upon a separate request it will be necessary to show the Fund’s specialists the necessary documents. These may be: The specific list depends on the type of benefit being reimbursed. You can apply for reimbursement of expenses from Social Insurance at any time, but you should keep in mind that Social Insurance has the right to order an audit at its own discretion, guided by data from the tax office on expenses reflected in the reports.

Which entries should be used to account for benefits?

In accounting, calculations for contributions will look like this: Wages accrued for March 2021 Contributions for temporary disability and maternity accrued (VNiM) Contributions accrued for compulsory pension insurance (OPI) Contributions accrued for compulsory medical insurance (CHI) Contributions accrued for accident insurance cases and work-related injuries (NSiPT) VNIM benefits accrued at the employer's expense (3 days) VNIM benefits accrued at the expense of the Social Insurance Fund (6 days) Reimbursement received from the Social Insurance Fund* * Reimbursement from the Social Insurance Fund received minus unpaid contributions to the Social Insurance Fund.

1. The company has no debts or arrears in insurance premiums. When there is a debt, the overpayment will go towards paying it off. If there are any funds remaining from the repayment, they will be transferred to the company’s current account.
2. The overpayment can be applied towards future payments.
3. If funds are transferred to the funds before 2021, they cannot be used to offset future payments. This is due to the fact that control functions on contributions have now been transferred to the Federal Tax Service.