Commercial activity - you can’t do without documents
Any commercial activity cannot be done without documents.
Sometimes, to store them, companies are forced to create archives and allocate considerable space and labor resources. Moreover, documents not only accompany the company during the period of its activity, but are also forced to continue its existence after its closure (liquidation, bankruptcy, etc.). Even if a businessman has worked for only 1 month, a whole package of documents is collected for the closure of the company: tax reporting, documents on the sale of goods, receipt of goods and materials, payroll, etc. This list may also include invoices (if the businessman was a VAT payer). We will talk further about the problems that arise when storing documents after a businessman decides to cease his activities.
What's new in the adjustment invoice
Accounting documents, tax accounting data, any documentation on income received and expenses necessary for calculating taxes, as well as documents confirming tax payments already made, must be kept for at least 4 years.
Sample application to energy sales for change of owner. How to write a complaint to the prosecutor's office about energy sales sample.
In practice, a situation may arise when invoices are destroyed for reasons beyond the control of the organization, for example, due to fire or theft.
Waybill (Bill of Lading)
designed to account for the movement of inventory items and payments for their transportation by road. A consignment note for the transportation of goods by road is drawn up by the consignor for each consignee separately for each vehicle trip with the obligatory completion of all details.
Closed the business - must keep invoices and other documents
Let's look at an example. Individual entrepreneur K.N. Ryabinin decided to cease commercial activities. Since the landlords urgently demanded to vacate the premises, the businessman transported all the documents to his home and placed them in the free space in the utility room. Invoices took up a considerable volume, since the sale of goods was carried out in small batches to numerous counterparties. Some time passed and the documents stored in an unsuitable room faded, became damp and lost their original appearance.
However, the law states that businessmen are obliged to ensure the safety of archival documents during their storage period (Part 1 of Article 17 of the Law “On Archival Affairs in the Russian Federation” dated October 22, 2004 No. 125-FZ) - otherwise they may be punished under Art. 13.20 (from 300 to 500 rubles for officials) or 13.25 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (from 200 to 300 thousand rubles for legal entities). We should also not forget that tax authorities have the right to conduct an on-site audit for the last 3 years of activity of an individual entrepreneur/organization, therefore, even after closure, the entrepreneur will have to keep documents (including invoices) if they confirm the calculation of taxes and their payment (clause 48 of the Procedure accounting of income and expenses and business transactions for individual entrepreneurs, approved by order of the Ministry of Finance No. 86n, Ministry of Taxes of Russia No. BG-3-04/430 dated 08.13.2002).
Storage period for invoices from suppliers
1. Taxpayers are obliged to:
for four years, ensure the safety of accounting data and other documents necessary for the calculation and payment of taxes, as well as documents confirming income received (for organizations - also expenses incurred) and taxes paid (withheld);
... If the officials carrying out the inspection have sufficient grounds to believe that documents evidencing the commission of offenses may be destroyed, hidden, changed or replaced, these documents are seized in the manner prescribed by Article 94 of this Code, according to an act drawn up by these officials . The act of seizure of documents must justify the need for seizure and provide a list of seized documents. When seizing documents, the taxpayer has the right to make comments, which must be included in the act upon his request. Seized documents must be numbered, laced and sealed or signed by the taxpayer (tax agent, fee payer). If the taxpayer (tax agent, fee payer) refuses to affix a seal or signature to the seized documents, a special note is made to this effect. A copy of the act on the seizure of documents is transferred to the taxpayer (tax agent, payer of the fee).
1. Seizure of documents and items is carried out on the basis of a reasoned resolution of an official of the tax authority carrying out an on-site tax audit.
This resolution is subject to approval by the head (his deputy) of the tax authority that made the decision to conduct a tax audit.
2. Confiscation of documents and objects at night is not allowed.
3. Seizure of documents and objects is carried out in the presence of witnesses and persons from whom the documents and objects are seized. If necessary, a specialist is invited to participate in the excavation.
Before the seizure begins, the tax official presents a resolution on the seizure and explains to those present their rights and obligations.
4. A tax official invites the person from whom documents and items are being seized to voluntarily hand them over, and in case of refusal, he makes the seizure forcibly.
If the person from whom the seizure is being made refuses to open the premises or other places where documents and objects subject to seizure may be located, the tax official has the right to do this independently, avoiding causing unnecessary damage to locks, doors and other objects.
5. Documents and items that are not related to the subject of the tax audit are not subject to seizure.
6. A protocol on the seizure, seizure of documents and objects is drawn up in compliance with the requirements provided for in Article 99 of this Code and this article.
7. Seized documents and items are listed and described in the seizure protocol or in the inventories attached to it, with a precise indication of the name, quantity and individual characteristics of the items, and, if possible, the value of the items.
8. In cases where there are not enough copies of the documents of the person being inspected to carry out tax control activities and the tax authorities have sufficient grounds to believe that the original documents may be destroyed, hidden, corrected or replaced, the tax authority official has the right to seize the original documents in the manner prescribed this article.
When such documents are confiscated, copies are made of them, which are certified by a tax official and handed over to the person from whom they are confiscated. If it is impossible to make or transfer the copies made simultaneously with the seizure of the documents, the tax authority transfers them to the person from whom the documents were seized within five days after the seizure.
9. All seized documents and objects are presented to witnesses and other persons involved in the seizure, and, if necessary, are packed at the site of seizure.
Seized documents must be numbered, laced and sealed or signed by the taxpayer (tax agent, fee payer). If the taxpayer (tax agent, fee payer) refuses to affix a seal or signature to the seized documents, a special note is made about this in the seizure protocol.
10. A copy of the protocol on the seizure of documents and objects is handed over against receipt or sent to the person from whom these documents and objects were seized.
Home » Document storage periods
How long should documents be kept?
Retention periods for different documents can vary significantly. Thus, tax documents must be stored for at least 4 years (subclause 8, clause 1, article 23, subclause 5, clause 3, article 24 of the Tax Code). The storage period for documents generated in the course of the activities of organizations is also established by the List of standard management archival documents generated in the process of activities of state bodies, local governments and organizations, indicating their storage periods, approved by Order of the Federal Archive of December 20, 2019 No. 236 (valid from 18.02 .2020, hereinafter referred to as list No. 236). Yes, Art. 317 of list No. 236 for invoices, a 5-year storage period is established. Since the deadlines vary, you need to focus on the larger of them.
In some cases, this period may increase to 6 years. For example, a 6-year period is provided for participants in regional investment projects (clause 3 of Article 89.2 of the Tax Code). The annual financial statements, together with the audit reports, await permanent storage (Part 1, Article 29 of the Law “On Accounting” dated December 6, 2011 No. 402, Article 268 “a”, 286 “a” of List No. 236).
If a company has hired employees, it collects a decent amount of documents that need to be retained for much longer than the specified deadlines. For example, an act on the investigation of an industrial accident with investigation materials must be stored for at least 45 years (Part 6 of Article 230 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation), and an act on the case of an occupational disease - for 75 years (clause 33 of the regulation “On the investigation and recording of occupational diseases ", approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated December 15, 2000 No. 967).
The legally established periods for storing documents cannot be reduced. For violating the terms of storage of accounting documents, a fine of 5 to 10 thousand rubles. provided for officials of Art. 15.11 Code of Administrative Offences.
For information on what liability is provided for a businessman for tax violations, see the material “Responsibility for tax violations: grounds and amount of sanctions .
Retention period for work completion certificates
Acts are drawn up in addition to civil contracts, for example, contracts. In accordance with the act, the contractor reports to the customer on the actions performed. That is, the act acts as the primary document on the basis of which work is transferred and accepted.
For primary accounting documentation, a storage period of 5 years is established. Thus, acts of completed work must be kept for five years from the end of the period of validity of the contract or agreement, in addition to which this act is drawn up.
We organize the correct storage of invoices
Let's continue with the example. Stepanova P.A., who previously worked as the chief accountant for individual entrepreneur K.N. Ryabinin, found a similar job in the newly opened one. Remembering the previous employer's omissions to ensure the safety of invoices and other documents, she decided to take control of this issue in the new company.
Since the company had just started operating, it was necessary first of all to organize the storage of documents, including invoices. She did not find any special requirements for storing invoices in the legislation, so she decided to follow the storage procedure established for accounting documents, according to which accounting documents must be stored in special rooms, safes or cabinets (clause 6.2 of the regulation, approved by the Ministry of Finance on July 29, 1983 No. 105).
Meanwhile, invoices do not belong to strict reporting forms and are not documents containing commercial secrets, so they can be stored without safes and metal cabinets. The management of Vozrozhdenie LLC allocated a separate isolated room in the company’s office for this purpose. The Chief Accountant identified those responsible for the safety of documents (clauses 6.2–6.4 of the regulations, approved by the Ministry of Finance No. 105).
Vozrozhdenie LLC did not file invoices in the journal of received and issued invoices, since since 01/01/2015 companies do not keep this journal unless they are developers or forwarders and do not carry out intermediary operations.
They also decided not to make separate files of invoices - they simply filed invoices together with invoices.
How to fill out an account book?
When receiving/issuing an invoice, an entry is made in the appropriate book . This action confirms the right to a VAT tax deduction. In addition to the book, you also need to fill out a logbook.
If there was no invoice for the entire quarter, only the name, INN, KPP of the tax payer are entered into the journal and indicate the reporting period. Column 3 indicates the digital code of the invoicing method:
- 1 – paper version;
- 2 – electronic media – no need to print it.
Changes in the past quarter are made using additional sheets . They cannot be used for ongoing adjustments. It is recommended to enter the tax amount and the cost of the canceled invoice with a minus sign, and register a new document (read more about the features of canceling an invoice here).
When the primary document is written for several operations, the encoding for each of them is indicated, separated by a semicolon.
Read more about accounting for received and issued invoices here.
Learn how to correctly calculate the shelf life of an invoice
Now it's time to figure out how to determine the start date of the invoice retention period.
The procedure for storing invoices is described in clause 10 of the Rules for maintaining invoices, approved by Government Decree No. 1137 dated December 26, 2011. According to this regulatory document, invoices must be stored in chronological order, according to the date of their issuance or receipt for the corresponding tax period.
The Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation in letters dated July 19, 2017 No. 03-07-11/45829, dated March 30, 2012 No. 03-11-11/104 explains that the storage period begins to count after the end of the period in which the invoice was last used for preparation of tax reporting, calculation and payment of tax, confirmation of income and expenses. That is, if the company reflects the VAT from the specified invoice in the declaration for the 3rd quarter of 2021, the countdown of the 5-year storage period will begin on 10/01/2019 and end on 09/30/2024.
For information on how to correctly fill out a VAT return, read the material “What is the procedure for filling out a VAT return (example, instructions, rules)” .
In practice, it often happens that when filing documents, invoices are not separated from delivery notes. This approach does not contradict the law, especially since as of February 18, 2020, the storage periods for invoices and invoices have become equal (5 years). However, with this method, the established storage period for invoices will be violated in the event of:
- their receipts after the end of the tax period;
- there are errors that require correction;
- untimely submission for some reason.
To prevent this violation, it is recommended to organize the storage of invoices and primary documents separately.
Where do you register?
The current forms of documents intended for registration of invoices were approved on December 26, 2011 by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 1137.
It came into force on January 30, 2012, but new forms began to be used on April 1, 2012 (Letter No. 03-07-15/11 dated January 31, 2012).
Paper and electronic types of invoices are subject to registration . Now the company needs to keep 3 books instead of 4:
- invoice journal;
- Book of purchases;
- sales book.
Tax officials explained that the preparation of invoices is allowed both on paper and in electronic form (Article 169 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
Read more about why an invoice is needed for both sellers and buyers here.
Book of purchases and sales
The new format of the purchase book is given in Appendix 4 of Decree No. 1137. The changes made to it are not so global.
Changes in the purchase and sales ledger:
- There are 3 new columns (2a, 2b, 2c) provided for information on corrections.
- The names of columns 6 to 12 have changed slightly.
- Column 6 – country of origin code.
The book consists of line and tabular parts. The entered data must correspond to the information given in the 2nd part of the accounting log. Registration is carried out after receiving invoices from the seller (for more details on how to process an invoice if it arrives late, read here).
The issued invoice is entered into the sales book . Visually, it is similar to the purchase book (Appendix 4 of Resolution No. 1137). The contents of columns 4-9 are identical to the titles of columns 6-12 of the purchase book.
The chronological book is filled out. The information must correspond to section 1 of the accounting log.
If prices decrease, an adjustment invoice must be created. The supplier records it in the purchase ledger. When the price rises, the buyer needs to correct the sales book.
Another innovation is additional sheets. Sheets are convenient to use for recording corrective invoices . If the books are kept in electronic form, then additional sheets are endorsed with the manager’s digital signature. But this does not cancel the requirement to compile books on paper (clause 22 and clause 24 of Resolution No. 1137).
Both books are signed by the head of the organization. They must be numbered, laced and sealed. They are issued for one quarter. Therefore, they need to be put in order before the 20th of the next month.
Magazine
Resolution No. 1137 made it possible to combine 2 journals - issued and received invoices - into one. Now, according to Appendix 3 of Resolution No. 1137, the magazine consists of 2 parts.
It is now possible to make changes by creating new copies of invoices . The name, identification code and checkpoint of the taxpayer are entered in the header. A journal is compiled for one quarter. You must have 4 magazines per year.
The design of the magazine is similar to books: management signature, numbering, stitching, sealing. This must be done before the 20th day of the following month after the end of the reporting period.
You can also keep a journal using special computer programs. But if the manager does not have an electronic signature, then he will need to print the document at the end of the quarter.
When should an invoice's shelf life be extended?
The previously agreed mandatory 5-year storage period for invoices may be extended. This is due to the fact that from 01/01/2015 companies can transfer tax deductions. The right to transfer VAT deductions within a 3-year period from the date of registration of goods (works, services) is enshrined in clause 2 of Art. 171 Tax Code of the Russian Federation.
Taking into account the date of receipt of goods from the example considered (08/11/2019), it must be declared in the declaration for the 3rd quarter of 2022 if the company postpones the deduction for exactly 3 years. The 5-year shelf life will need to be counted from 10/01/2022, i.e. in this case it will actually be 8 years.
When considering the extended shelf life of invoices when transferring deductions, it is necessary to remember that it cannot be transferred to a deduction when returning the advance to the buyer for 3 years. The deduction can be made only in the tax period in which the conditions provided for in the articles of Art. 171, 172 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation (letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated July 21, 2015 No. 03-07-11/41908).
We study the storage periods of primary accounting documents (Polukhina M
Based on the results of both on-site and desk tax audits, the tax authority draws up an audit report. The procedure and timing for its preparation are stipulated in Art. 100 Tax Code of the Russian Federation. If violations are identified and the taxpayer agrees with them, the latter makes appropriate changes in accounting (makes additional taxes, pays penalties and fines, etc.).
Each organization must be guided by Federal Law 125-FZ of October 22, 2004, according to which it is necessary to ensure the correct storage of primary documentation for a specified period. The duration of deadlines for certain groups of documents may be regulated by various federal laws, as well as other legal acts of the Russian Federation, lists and regulations. We will tell you in the article what is the legal storage period for invoices and other documents at an enterprise.
When determining the storage period, you must be guided by the Accounting Law, according to which primary accounting documentation must be stored five years after the year in which it was compiled. Certain laws and regulations may require longer retention periods. If different legal acts establish different time periods for the same document, then you need to focus on the longer one.
Storage period for electronic invoices
Now more and more businessmen are switching to electronic document management, including using electronic invoices. An electronic invoice is equivalent to a paper one (clause 1 of Article 169 of the Tax Code), the procedure for its execution is regulated by the order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia “On approval of the procedure for issuing and receiving invoices in electronic form via telecommunication channels using an enhanced qualified electronic signature” dated November 10. 2015 No. 174n.
Read about the features of an electronic invoice here.
Even before the storage of an electronic invoice is organized, i.e. already during its execution, it is necessary to take into account that it must be signed with a qualified electronic signature (clause 6 of Article 169 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 05/05/2015 No. 07-01-06/25701).
The storage period for electronic invoices is the same as for paper ones - 5 years. Companies are not required to store printed paper copies of electronic invoices (letter of the Federal Tax Service dated 02/06/2014 No. GD-4-3/1984).
See also “How to properly store electronic invoices?”
How many years should invoices be kept?
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Results
The usual storage period for invoices from 02/18/2020 is 5 years, regardless of their form (electronic or paper). However, the period may increase if deductions are claimed in later periods.
Sources:
- Tax Code of the Russian Federation
- Code of Administrative Violations of the Russian Federation
- Regulations on documents and document flow in accounting, approved by the Ministry of Finance on July 29, 1983 No. 105
- Order of Rosarkhiv dated December 20, 2019 No. 236
- Government Decree No. 1137 dated December 26, 2011
- Order of the Ministry of Finance No. 86n, Ministry of Taxes of Russia No. BG-3-04/430 dated 08/13/2002
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The procedure for storing documents at the enterprise
Registers and primary documentation can be stored in both paper and electronic formats. The storage procedure is determined by the Regulations approved by Letter of the Ministry of Finance 105 dated July 29, 1983. First of all, the storage space must meet certain requirements:
- Be inaccessible to a wide range of people;
- Have suitable parameters for the state of the ambient air;
- Have a high degree of safety and fire resistance.
A responsible person must be appointed who is charged with ensuring the safety and security of the entrusted archival documentation throughout the entire storage period. After the established deadlines, documents may be destroyed.
At the same time, a commission is assembled to evaluate the documentation regarding the expiration of their storage periods. Papers to be destroyed are transferred under a transfer deed to a specialized company engaged in processing these raw materials. The destruction of documents with an expired storage period is subject to mandatory documentation.
How long to keep invoices
You have in your hands a set from the supplier - an invoice and a delivery note. How many years should they be stored? The delivery note must be kept for five years. After all, it is the primary document. You use it not only in tax, but also in accounting.
Let's imagine that the date of issue of documents is August 10, 2015. The countdown starts on January 1, 2021. Therefore, the document must be stored until January 1, 2021. An invoice is not a primary document. The minimum five-year period from the Accounting Law does not apply to it.
The invoice storage period is four years. For how long to store other documents, read the article “Your Archive of Accounting Documents - Unbreakable Rules” in the Seminar for Accountant magazine. If you don't have a subscription, sign up for free for three days.
