Certificate of completion of a tax audit: form, procedure and deadlines for preparation, procedure for delivery to the taxpayer

Certificate of completion of verification

On the last day of the on-site tax audit, the head of the inspection team draws up a certificate in the form approved by Order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated May 31, 2007 No. MM-3-06/338 (clause 15 of Article 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
The certificate must indicate:

• place and date of compilation;

• details of the decision to schedule an on-site inspection;

• full and abbreviated name of the organization in which the inspection was carried out, its tax identification number and checkpoint;

• subject of the audit (types of taxes being audited, the period covered by the audit);

• period of inspection.

If the inspection was carried out at a member of the consolidated group, then the certificate also indicates:

• TIN, KPP of a consolidated group of taxpayers with the date and registration number of the agreement on its creation;

• full and abbreviated name of the responsible participant in the consolidated group of taxpayers, his INN, KPP;

• full and abbreviated names of other participants in the consolidated group of taxpayers, their Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) and KPP.

This follows from paragraph 11 of Article 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and Appendix 2 to the order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated May 31, 2007 No. MM-3-06/338.

The preparation of a certificate indicates the completion of the inspection (clause 8 of Article 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). From the date of preparation of the certificate, the deadlines for further processing of the results of the tax audit begin. After drawing up the certificate, representatives of the tax inspectorate do not have the right to be on the territory of the organization, request documents or carry out any tax control activities. Such clarifications are contained in paragraph 3 of the letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated December 29, 2012 No. AS-4-2/22690.

The tax authority issued a requirement to the taxpayer organization to provide documents on the last day of the on-site tax audit.

Does the tax authority have the right and within what time frame to request documents from the taxpayer during an on-site tax audit? Is the above requirement of the tax authority subject to execution? What tax liability is provided in the event of a taxpayer’s refusal to comply with the requirement?

In accordance with paragraph 1 of Art. 93 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, a tax authority official conducting a tax audit has the right to request from the person being audited the documents necessary for the audit. According to para. 1 clause 12 art. 89 and paragraph 3 of Art. 93 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the taxpayer is obliged to provide the opportunity for officials of tax authorities conducting an on-site tax audit to familiarize themselves with documents related to the calculation and payment of taxes. Documents that were requested during the tax audit are presented within 10 days from the date of delivery of the relevant request. By virtue of clause 8 of Art. 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the period for conducting an on-site tax audit is calculated from the day the decision to order an audit is made and until the day a certificate of the audit is drawn up.

On the last day of the on-site tax audit, the inspector is required to draw up a certificate of the audit conducted (Clause 15, Article 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

In the situation under consideration, on the last day of the audit (simultaneously with the certificate of the tax audit), the taxpayer was sent a request to submit the documents necessary for the tax audit. The Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated July 30, 2013 N 57 “On some issues arising when arbitration courts apply part one of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation” determines that from the interrelated interpretation of the provisions of Art. Art. 88, 89, 93, 101, paragraphs 1 and 1.1 of Art. 93.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation it follows that requesting from a taxpayer, his counterparties or other persons (including government bodies) documents relating to the taxpayer’s activities is permitted only during the period of a tax audit or additional tax control measures being carried out in relation to this taxpayer.

In this regard, the requirement to submit the necessary documents can be sent by the tax authority to the specified persons only within the time limits provided for, respectively, clause 2 of Art. 88, paragraph 6 of Art. 89 and paragraph 6 of Art. 101 Tax Code of the Russian Federation. At the same time, the Tax Code of the Russian Federation does not provide grounds for the taxpayer to leave the tax authority’s request for the submission of documents without fulfillment, in the case where such a request is presented to the taxpayer in the last days of the on-site tax audit and the deadline for fulfilling this requirement expires after the preparation of a certificate of completion of the on-site tax audit. In accordance with paragraph 4 of Art. 101 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, when considering tax audit materials, the use of evidence obtained in violation of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation is not allowed.

Based on this, evidence requested by the tax authority after the expiration of the specified deadlines cannot be taken into account by the tax authority when considering tax audit materials.

Documents that were requested during a tax audit must, in accordance with the requirements of the legislation on taxes and fees, be submitted within 10 days from the date of delivery of the relevant request.

This period is outside the period of the on-site tax audit.

However, this does not mean that a tax official’s requirement to submit documents necessary for a tax audit on the last day of the tax audit is not lawful. Provisions of Art. 100 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation determines that, based on the results of an on-site tax audit, within two months from the date of drawing up a certificate of an on-site tax audit, authorized officials of the tax authorities must draw up a tax audit report in the prescribed form. The deadline established by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation for drawing up an act based on the results of an on-site tax audit indicates that the legislator has taken into account the possibility of the tax authority requesting documents from the taxpayer on the last day of the on-site tax audit, which involves providing a reasonable time for the taxpayer to receive the request and fulfill it, as well as for the tax authority to analyze the documents submitted by the taxpayer documents.

Another conclusion (about the illegality of issuing a requirement to submit documents necessary for a tax audit on the last day of an on-site tax audit) would indicate that the legislator has set an excessively long time for the tax authority to draw up one document containing a reflection of the control measures already taken by the tax authority.

Thus, based on this, the requirement by a tax authority official to submit documents necessary for a tax audit on the last day of an on-site tax audit is legal. This conclusion is consistent with the position of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, set out in the Determination of May 13, 2015 N 305-KG15-5504. In accordance with paragraph 1 of Art. 126 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, failure by the taxpayer (payer of the fee, tax agent) to submit to the tax authorities documents and (or) other information provided for by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and other acts of legislation on taxes and fees, if such an act does not contain signs of tax offenses provided for in Art. Art. 119, 129.4 and 129.6 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, as well as clause 1.1 of Art. 126 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, entails a fine of two hundred rubles for each document not submitted.

In the situation under consideration, there are no signs of tax offenses provided for in Art. Art. 119, 129.4 and 129.6 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, as well as clause 1.1 of Art. 126 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

Therefore, based on this, an organization (LLC) in case of failure to submit documents required for a tax audit may be charged a fine of two hundred rubles for each document not submitted. According to Part 1 of Art. 15.6 of the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offenses, as a general rule, failure to submit within the period established by the legislation on taxes and fees or refusal to submit to the tax authorities, customs authorities documents and (or) other information necessary for the implementation of tax control, drawn up in the prescribed manner, as well as the submission of such information in an incomplete volume or in a distorted form shall entail the imposition of an administrative fine on citizens in the amount of one hundred to three hundred rubles; for officials - from three hundred to five hundred rubles.

Conclusion:

Based on the above, it is clear that the tax authority has the right to demand the provision of documents on the last day of the on-site tax audit. However, evidence obtained outside the tax audit period cannot be used when drawing up an on-site tax audit report.

If the taxpayer refuses to provide documents, he may be held accountable on the basis of clause 1 of Art. 126 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and collect a fine of 200 rubles. for each document not provided, and bring the head of the organization to administrative liability on the basis of Part 1. Art. 15.6 of the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offences.

Presentation of certificate

Inspectors must hand over the certificate of the inspection to the legal or authorized representative of the organization on the day of preparation (i.e., on the last day of the inspection) (paragraph 1, clause 15, article 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). In this case, the authorized representative must have a power of attorney to represent the interests of the organization in the tax inspectorates.

The certificate form provides a field in which the representative of the organization must mark the receipt of the certificate. If a representative of an organization avoids receiving a certificate, the inspection will send it to the organization by registered mail (paragraph 2, clause 15, article 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). In this case, the date of receipt of the certificate will be considered the date indicated on the calendar stamp imprint of the postal notification of delivery of the letter (clause 3 of the letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated December 29, 2012 No. AS-4-2/22690).

In addition, the certificate can be transmitted to the organization via telecommunication channels. The procedure for electronic document flow between tax inspectorates and taxpayers was approved by Order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated April 15, 2015 No. ММВ-7-2/149. An electronic certificate will be considered received when the inspection receives an electronic receipt for the receipt of this document. If the inspection does not receive such a receipt, it will send a certificate on paper in accordance with the generally established procedure. This conclusion follows from the provisions of paragraphs 12, 16 and 19 of the Procedure, approved by order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated April 15, 2015 No. ММВ-7-2/149.

Situation: can the inspection, instead of the original, give the organization a copy of the certificate of the on-site inspection?

Answer: yes, it can.

On the last day of the on-site tax audit, the head of the inspection team draws up a certificate and hands it to the organization’s representative. This procedure is provided for in paragraph 15 of Article 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. The provisions of this norm do not determine in what form (original or copy) the certificate must be transferred to the organization. Therefore, the inspection has the right to give the organization a copy of the certificate and keep the original. In arbitration practice there are examples of court decisions that confirm the legitimacy of this conclusion (see, for example, the decision of the Seventh Arbitration Court of Appeal dated November 10, 2008 No. 07AP-6276/08).

Situation: is it possible to cancel a decision based on the results of an on-site inspection if the inspection did not provide the organization with a certificate of inspection?

Answer: no, you can't.

The decision based on the results of a tax audit is subject to cancellation if the inspection violates the essential conditions of the procedure for considering audit materials. In particular, such a decision is canceled if the inspection does not provide the organization with the opportunity to participate in the consideration of the inspection materials and provide explanations on them. This is stated in paragraph 2 of paragraph 14 of Article 101 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. In addition, other violations related to the procedure for reviewing materials that could lead to the adoption of an incorrect decision (paragraph 3, paragraph 14, article 101 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation) may become grounds for canceling the inspection decision.

The fact that the inspection did not transfer the certificate to the organization does not affect the procedure for considering tax audit materials. Consequently, such a violation in itself cannot become a basis for canceling the decision based on the results of the on-site inspection. In arbitration practice there are examples of court decisions that confirm the legitimacy of such a conclusion (see, for example, the resolution of the Ninth Arbitration Court of Appeal dated October 16, 2008 No. 09AP-11298/2008-AK).

How long does an on-site tax audit take?

The term of an on-site tax audit is 2 months, but at the same time, the Tax Code of the Russian Federation gives the tax authorities the opportunity to both extend it and suspend it. Inspectors very often use these opportunities when they need to find out whether a certain business transaction is a violation, or to study additional materials relating to the activities of the person being inspected.

For information on cases when tax authorities can extend the period of an on-site audit, read the material “How and when an on-site tax audit can be extended .

The period for which the inspector has the right to extend the inspection is 4 (6) months (clause 6 of Article 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation), and to suspend it is 6 (9) months (clause 9 of Article 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Thus, if during a control event tax authorities resort to the methods described above, then the maximum audit period can be 1 year and 3 months.

See the material “Can’t the extension of an on-site inspection be contested?”

An exception is an on-site tax audit of a specific branch or representative office - it must be carried out within 1 month. In this case, the legislator granted controllers only the right to suspend.

The term of an on-site tax audit begins to be calculated from the day the decision to conduct this control event is made, and ends on the day a certificate is drawn up based on the results of the audit (the specified document must be delivered on the same day).

Therefore, we can highlight the main stages of the verification:

• commencement of an on-site tax audit (delivery of a decision to conduct it);
• verification process (maximum - 1 year 3 months);
• completion of the audit (drawing up a certificate of on-site tax audit).

Thus, within the deadlines indicated above, inspectors are required to carry out all planned activities, as well as those that arose during the inspection process. If inspectors received any evidence after the expiration of the deadline, then they do not have the right to attach it to the materials of the on-site tax audit (Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Far Eastern District dated May 26, 2009 No. F03-2248/2009).

It is also worth noting that such a violation does not imply the cancellation of the decision and the results of the on-site tax audit completely, since there is only one formal circumstance that can influence the court’s decision - this is a violation of the procedure for the participation of the taxpayer in considering the audit materials (paragraph 2, paragraph 14, art. 101 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

The frequency with which tax authorities have the right to conduct on-site tax audits is described in the ConsultantPlus Ready Solution. Get trial access to the system and study the material for free.

More details about the timing of an on-site tax audit are described in the material “What is the deadline for an on-site tax audit?” .

Checking act

No later than two months from the date of registration of the certificate, the inspectors draw up an on-site tax audit report (paragraph 1, clause 1, article 100 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Its form was approved by order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated December 25, 2006 No. SAE-3-06/892. Inspectors must draw up an act, even if the results of the inspection did not reveal any violations (paragraph 1, paragraph 1, article 100 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated April 16, 2009 No. ШТ-22-2/299). In this case, the inspectors indicate in the report that there are no violations of tax legislation (subclause 12, clause 3, article 100 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Tax legislation establishes clear requirements for the execution of an on-site inspection report (clauses 3, 3.1, 4 of Article 100 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, Requirements approved by order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated December 25, 2006 No. SAE-3-06/892). For more information about what information inspectors must include in the inspection report, see the table.

If, when preparing an inspection report, the inspectorate has doubts about the interpretation of the legislation, the draft act can be sent for preliminary approval to the regional tax department. For example, this is possible if there are no official explanations from the Federal Tax Service of Russia on some issues or if these explanations do not coincide with the position of the Ministry of Finance of Russia. The deadlines for approval of draft inspection reports are set by the regional Federal Tax Service. However, these deadlines should not increase the total duration of preparation of the act (two months) established by paragraph 1 of paragraph 1 of Article 100 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. This follows from the provisions of Section II of the Procedure, approved by Order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated October 17, 2013 No. ММВ-7-3/449.

Situation: is it possible to cancel the inspection decision made based on the results of an on-site inspection? The inspection drew up an on-site inspection report containing violations (errors).

It is possible if violations committed during the preparation of the report led to the adoption of an incorrect decision based on the results of the on-site inspection.

The decision on a tax audit is subject to cancellation if the inspection violates the essential conditions of the procedure for considering audit materials. Thus, the inspection decision is canceled if the inspection does not provide the organization with the opportunity to participate in the consideration of the inspection materials and provide explanations on them. This is stated in paragraph 2 of paragraph 14 of Article 101 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. In addition, other violations related to the procedure for reviewing materials that could lead to the adoption of an incorrect decision (paragraph 3, paragraph 14, article 101 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation) may become grounds for canceling the inspection decision.

The on-site audit report is one of the main materials of the tax audit, after consideration of which the inspectorate makes a final decision based on the results of the audit (clause 1 of Article 101 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Consequently, violations committed by the inspectorate when drawing up the report may become the basis for making an incorrect decision based on the results of the on-site inspection. In this case, the inspection decision is subject to cancellation in full or in part related to the violation. In arbitration practice, there are court decisions that confirm the legitimacy of this conclusion. Thus, the inspection decision made based on the results of an on-site inspection can be canceled (in whole or in part) if the inspection made the following violations (errors) when drawing up the report:

• incorrectly applied the legislation and made incorrect conclusions, which were reflected in the final decision (see, for example, the decision of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated October 6, 2009 No. VAS-12395/09, resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the West Siberian District dated June 3, 2009 No. F04-3218/2009(7668-A46-26), F04-3218/2009(8926-A46-26), Moscow District dated September 29, 2009 No. KA-A40/6946-09);

• distorted the facts established during the audit (see, for example, resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Ural District dated November 25, 2009 No. F09-9205/09-S2);

• assessed additional taxes, penalties and fines for periods that could not be covered by the on-site inspection (see, for example, the resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Far Eastern District dated February 20, 2008 No. F03-A73/08-2/126);

• did not substantiate the fact of a tax offense and held the organization accountable for committing it (see, for example, the determination of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated June 4, 2009 No. VAS-6861/09, resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the East Siberian District dated February 10, 2009 No. A33- 6906/07-F02-15/09, Central District dated January 21, 2010 No. A35-1157/08-C15, dated November 30, 2009 No. A64-3933/07-16, Volga-Vyatka District dated December 21, 2009 No. A82-9362/2008, Volga District dated November 24, 2009 No. A72-2919/2009, West Siberian District dated September 9, 2009 No. F04-5332/2009(18985-A03-34), Moscow District dated April 6, 2009 No. KA-A40/2403-09, dated January 20, 2009 No. KA-A40/11945-08, Northwestern District dated May 4, 2009 No. A56-13415/2006, Ural District dated August 28, 2008 No. Ф09-6143/08-С3).

As a general rule, the on-site tax audit report is drawn up in two copies: one for the inspection, the second for the organization. When conducting a joint tax audit, the act is drawn up in three copies: the third copy is transferred by the inspectorate to the internal affairs bodies. When conducting a repeated on-site inspection in order to monitor the activities of a lower inspection, the report is also drawn up in triplicate. In this case, the higher tax authority that conducted the audit will send the third copy of the report to the inspectorate. This is stated in paragraph 9 of the Requirements approved by order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated December 25, 2006 No. SAE-3-06/892.

Delivery of the act

The inspection must give the organization its copy of the act within five working days from the date of signing the act (clause 5 of article 100, clause 6 of article 6.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

The inspection can hand over the act:

• personally to the legal or authorized representative of the organization against signature. In this case, the authorized representative must have a power of attorney to represent the interests of the organization in the tax inspectorates;

• in another way indicating the date of receipt of the act by the organization (for example, through a courier service).

This follows from paragraph 5 of Article 100 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

Upon receipt of the act, the representative of the organization must put two signatures on it:

• on receipt of the act (clause 5 of article 100 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation);

• about familiarization with the contents of the act. If a representative of the organization refuses to sign the act (for example, due to his incompetence), then the corresponding note about the refusal to sign will be made in the act (clause 2 of Article 100 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Situation: to whom is the tax audit report handed over: the head office of the organization or its branches? The on-site tax audit was carried out simultaneously in relation to the head office of the organization and its branches.

When simultaneously inspecting the head office of an organization and its branches, the head office of the organization receives an on-site tax audit report.

Within five working days from the date of drawing up, the tax audit report must be sent to the organization in respect of which the audit was carried out, or handed over to its representative (clause 5 of Article 100 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). The document is drawn up in accordance with the order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated December 25, 2006 No. SAE-3-06/892.

The results of the branch inspection are documented by filling out the relevant sections of the single inspection report. After reading them, the relevant section of the act is signed by the head of the branch. This is stated in the Requirements approved by order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated December 25, 2006 No. SAE-3-06/892. At the same time, the order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated December 25, 2006 No. SAE-3-06/892 does not provide for the delivery of individual parts of the act (sections) to the branch of the organization. Therefore, a single inspection report is handed over to a representative of the organization’s head office (sent to the organization).

At the same time, the head office of the organization has the right to send to its branches extracts from the inspection report (copies of sections of the report) relating to its branches.

Similar explanations are contained in letters of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated September 10, 2007 No. 03-02-07/1-406, Federal Tax Service of Russia dated March 19, 2007 No. CHD-6-23/216.

How is the act transmitted to the taxpayer?

The report based on the results of the desk and field audit is handed over to the taxpayer against receipt within 5 days from the date of signing or transmitted in another way indicating the date of its receipt by the taxpayer. The report is drawn up after the end of the inspection, that is, when the inspectors are no longer on the taxpayer’s territory. Therefore, delivery of an on-site inspection report against signature can only be accomplished by calling the taxpayer to the tax authority to receive the report.

If for some reason the taxpayer avoids receiving the report, this is reflected in the report, and it is sent to the taxpayer by registered mail. The date of delivery is considered to be the sixth day from the date of sending this act. In this case, paragraph 5 of Article 100 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation does not provide for any other method of delivering the act.

Along with the act, the corresponding attachments are presented: documents confirming the facts of identified violations of the legislation on taxes and fees, other materials, if available.

Sending the act by mail

If an organization (its representative) avoids receiving an on-site inspection report, the inspection reflects this fact in the report and sends it by registered mail to the location of the organization (separate unit). In this case, the date of receipt of the act is considered to be the sixth working day from the date of sending the registered letter. This follows from the provisions of paragraph 2 of paragraph 5 of Article 100 and paragraph 6 of Article 6.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Moreover, the countdown of the six-day period begins from the day following the day of sending the act (clause 2 of article 6.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Situation: does the inspection have the right to transfer a tax audit report (desk, field) by registered mail (by mail), if the organization does not evade receiving it?

The inspectorate may send a tax audit report by registered mail. But the date of its receipt will be considered the sixth working day from the date of sending the registered letter only if the organization evaded receiving the act. If the organization did not evade receiving the act, then the day of its delivery should be considered the day the organization actually received the registered letter.

This conclusion follows based on the totality of the following norms.

Tax legislation indicates that the inspectorate has the right to transfer a tax audit report in person against a signature or in other ways indicating the date of receipt of the report by the organization. This is stated in paragraph 1 of paragraph 5 of Article 100 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Consequently, sending the act by registered mail is not a violation of the law on the part of the inspectorate, since this method of transmission allows one to reliably determine the date of actual receipt of the act by the organization.

At the same time, the legislation specifies that the inspectorate has the right to send a tax audit report by registered mail only if the organization avoids receiving it. In this case, the date of receipt of the act by the organization is considered to be the sixth working day from the date of sending the registered letter. This follows from the provisions of paragraph 2 of paragraph 5 of Article 100 and paragraph 6 of Article 6.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Moreover, the countdown of the six-day period begins from the day following the day of sending the act (clause 2 of article 6.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

The regulatory agencies did not express an official point of view on this matter. But in arbitration practice there are court decisions that confirm the legitimacy of this conclusion (see, for example, Resolution of the FAS of the Volga District dated December 17, 2009 No. A55-5813/2009).

Situation: to what address of the organization - legal or actual - should the inspection send a registered letter with a tax audit report (office, on-site)?

The inspectorate must send a registered letter with a tax audit report to the location of the organization, that is, to its legal address, which is indicated in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities (clause 5 of Article 31, clause 5 of Article 100 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Similar explanations are contained in paragraph 1 of the letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated September 20, 2013 No. AS-4-2/16981.

Situation: is the inspection obliged to attach to the report handed over to the organization evidence of violations that were identified during a tax audit (on-site, office)?

If documents received from the organization being inspected serve as evidence of a violation, then the inspectorate is not obliged to attach such evidence to the inspection report.

In this case, the following features must be taken into account.

If evidence of a violation is provided by documents received from other sources (for example, documents from counterparties, protocols for interviewing witnesses), then the inspectorate must attach such evidence to the tax audit report. This obligation remains even if information received from third parties:

• constitute a banking, tax or other secret protected by law (for example, commercial);

• contain personal data of citizens.

In these cases, not complete copies of documents, but extracts from them certified by the inspectorate should be attached to the tax audit report.

This procedure is established by paragraph 3.1 of Article 100 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, paragraph 1.13 of Appendix 6 to the order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated December 25, 2006 No. SAE-3-06/892.

The inspectorate does not have the right, at its discretion, to choose the method of delivering the report.

In paragraph 5 of Art. 100 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation states that the act must be handed over

to the inspected person (or his representative)
against receipt
or
transferred in another way
indicating the date of its receipt by the specified person (his representative), unless otherwise provided by this paragraph.

From the content of the above norm it follows that handing over the inspection report in another way is, in fact, an alternative to the main method of delivering the act against receipt. Moreover, another way of transmitting the inspection report may be, for example, sending it by registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt.

The arbitrators express the opinion that the possibility of sending an inspection report by post is provided for in clause 5 of Art. 100 Tax Code of the Russian Federation only

in case of
evasion
of the audited person from receiving the report, which must be reflected in the tax audit report (see resolutions of the FAS MO dated January 20, 2014 No. F05-16692/2013 in case No. A41-11771/10, FAS UO dated November 9, 2011 No. F09 -7185/11 in case No. A76-3222/2011).

Moreover, they emphasize: the fact that the person being inspected did not receive the inspection report in itself cannot serve as a basis for the conclusion that this person evaded receiving the inspection report (Resolution of the Ninth Arbitration Court of Appeal dated April 4, 2013 No. 09AP-7038/2013, 09AP-8501/2013 on case No. A40-95693/12‑90‑491 (The Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Moscow Region dated 08/07/2013 was left in force).

Meanwhile, the Tax Code does not define the concept of “evasion from receiving a tax audit report.” Arbitrators, in turn, by this concept mean conscious and deliberate actions

taxpayer,
aimed at non-receipt
of the specified act. They regard such actions as an abuse of the rights granted to the taxpayer by the Tax Code.

For example, the actions of a company that reported to the tax authority various addresses of its location, but was actually absent from them and did not receive correspondence at the indicated addresses, as well as indicated the possibility of receiving an act and other documents by a representative of the company, but did not send its representative to receive them, FAS The SKO assessed it as an abuse of the rights of the taxpayer (Resolution of June 20, 2012 in case No. A53-15872/2011).

Decision on the act

Based on all available tax audit materials (on-site audit report; written objections from the organization, protocols, expert opinions, etc.), the inspectorate makes a final decision based on the results of the on-site audit (Clause 1, Article 101 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). The inspection must hand over the decision to a legal or authorized representative of the organization. In this case, the authorized representative must have a power of attorney to represent the interests of the organization in the tax inspectorates. For more information about the timing, procedure and rules for processing such a decision, see How a decision is made based on the results of a tax audit.

In a visual form, the stages of conducting an on-site inspection, the procedure for processing its results, the document flow diagram and options for actions of inspectors in various situations are presented in the letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated December 15, 2011 No. AS-4-2/21396, which was sent to all tax inspectorates.