Is sick leave subject to personal income tax and in what amount?

Moscow, 02/05/2021, 16:07:26, editorial office PRONEDRA.RU, author Victoria Korovaeva.

You can pay income tax on sick leave in 2021 on the last day of the month in which the benefit was issued to the employee. Most often, personal income tax on sick leave is paid by the organization in the first 3 days of illness, then the benefit is paid by the relevant funds.

The amount of money for temporary disability is subject to income tax in accordance with several articles in the Tax Code of Russia. The rules apply to two types of sick leave for incapacity for work: for occupational diseases and accidents in the workplace, for illnesses of an employee and his relatives.

Personal income tax on sick leave paid by the Social Insurance Fund

In those regions where the pilot project for payments directly from the Social Insurance Fund is not yet operational, social insurance continues to reimburse sick pay to the employer without deducting personal income tax. In this case, the employer must independently act as a tax agent and withhold personal income tax both from the benefit reimbursed from the Social Insurance Fund and from the benefit paid from its own funds. In this case, the employer must pay for the first three days of sick leave for the employee, and the remaining days are paid for by the Social Insurance Fund.

Let's take a closer look at an example ⇓

Petrova's employee O.P. I was on sick leave for 4 days. During this period, she was accrued sick leave in the amount of 2,400 rubles, of which 1,800 came from the Social Insurance Fund, and 600 came from the employer’s funds. Having calculated the personal income tax from this amount, Petrova was paid the following amount:

2400 – 2400 x 13% = 2088 rubles.

The FSS will reimburse the employer 1,800 rubles and personal income tax will need to be paid from this amount. Thus, the employer will have to transfer personal income tax to the budget in the amount of 2400 x 13% = 312 rubles.

In those regions where such a pilot project with the Social Insurance Fund has been launched, personal income tax payment occurs differently. From the amount of benefits paid at the expense of the employer, personal income tax is withheld and paid by the organization independently. And from the part that the FSS pays, personal income tax is withheld and transferred by social insurance.

Let's take a closer look at the procedure for paying sick leave in the regions where the pilot project operates. An employer in such a region pays for the first three days of illness of an employee. And the remaining days of sick leave are paid at the expense of the Social Insurance Fund.

Important! In those regions where the FSS pilot project operates, an employee who was on sick leave with his child is paid sick leave benefits at the expense of the FSS in full.

It should be remembered that if the Social Insurance Fund has paid 100% of the benefit to an employee, the employer is not recognized as a tax agent for personal income tax purposes and does not have to pay it from the benefit. The Social Insurance Fund will do this for the entire amount of the calculated payment.

Let's take a closer look at an example ⇓

Petrova's employee O.P. I was on sick leave for 4 days. During this period, she was accrued sick leave, of which 1,200 rubles came from the Social Insurance Fund and 1,200 rubles came from the employer. The employer will have to transfer personal income tax to the budget in the following amount:

1200 x 13% = 156 rubles

From the benefit paid directly from the Social Insurance Fund to the employee, personal income tax will be paid by social insurance independently in the amount of 156 rubles.

Petrov will receive benefits in the following amount - 2,088 rubles, of which 1,044 rubles will be paid directly by the Social Insurance Fund and 1,044 rubles by the employer.

On the withholding of tax on sick leave (paid by the Social Insurance Fund)

If there is no pilot social insurance project in the region where the organization operates, the territorial branches of the Social Insurance Fund will reimburse the employer for the amount of sick leave without deducting income tax. After this, the employing company becomes a tax agent and withholds personal income tax from the total amount of benefits paid by the fund.

The Social Insurance Fund will pay benefits on the first day if the issuance of sick leave is related to:

• accident at work, occupational disease;
• treatment of an employee in the Russian Federation in a sanatorium or health center after treatment in a hospital;
• caring for a sick relative;
• being in a medical facility for prosthetics;
• quarantine of an employee, daughter or son who is under 7 years old.

If sick leave with tax withholding were transferred to the organization’s personal account, the head of the company would have to pay personal income tax out of his own pocket. But there is no such norm in the legislative framework today.

Deadlines for paying personal income tax on sick leave

After the employee has submitted sick leave to the employer, he is required to calculate and pay sick leave benefits. The accounting department must make the calculation within 10 days from the date the employee submits the sick leave.

The deadline for paying personal income tax on hospital benefits is set by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. According to Article 226 of the Tax Code, this should be done no later than the deadline of the month in which the employee received the benefit.

Important! Even if the employee’s sick leave was paid on March 30, personal income tax on them must be paid no later than March 31. This is the deadline for payment.

Let's determine the deadline for paying personal income tax on sick leave in 2021 using the following example:

Petrova O.P. I was on sick leave in February 2021 from the 5th to the 9th inclusive. Based on the certificate of incapacity for work, Petrova received sick leave on the day the first half of her salary was issued, February 25. The employer must pay personal income tax by the end of February, from the 25th to the 28th.

Sick leave and income tax

Amounts not subject to income tax are listed in the Tax Code in paragraph 1 of Art.
217. If a separate payment is not included in this list, then it is subject to taxation according to the general rules. Is sick leave subject to personal income tax? Amounts accrued on the basis of a certificate of incapacity for work are not included in the list of exceptions. A calculated benefit associated with the occurrence of temporary disability is the basis for the emergence of tax obligations to the budget. RULE

Temporary disability benefits are excluded from the list of tax-free state benefits established by current legislation (clause 1 of Article 217 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). That is, personal income tax is withheld from all sick leave payments directly when it is paid to the employee (Clause 1, 4, Article 226 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). And the tax must be transferred to the budget no later than the last day of the month in which the employee was paid temporary disability benefits (clause 6 of Article 226 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Key rules for paying social benefits by employers:

1. The role of a tax agent for an employee is performed by the employer.
2. The employer, not the insured person, is responsible for how personal income tax is withheld from sick leave.
3. Tax charges must apply to the entire benefit amount.
4. The fact of withholding income tax must coincide in time with the date of payment of income to the employee. The justification is given in Art. 226 Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

If the entire benefit is paid from the employer’s accounts (with subsequent partial reimbursement to the Social Insurance Fund), is sick leave subject to personal income tax - yes, tax is charged. The source of financing for purposes of taxation of income of hired personnel does not matter. The tax rate is standard and equal to 13%. The withheld funds must be transferred to the budget no later than the last working day in the month when the benefit was paid.

If an employee works under a civil law contract, is personal income tax taken from the sick leave of such an individual - settlements with this category of employees are regulated not by labor law, but by civil law. Situations where a person with whom a GPC agreement has been signed to perform certain works or provide services fall ill are considered separately. The enterprise does not have any obligation to pay temporary disability benefits for such employees.

For hired personnel, personal income tax is charged on sick leave; 2020 did not make any adjustments to this rule. For individuals with whom cooperation is confirmed by a GPC agreement, the company does not pay insurance premiums. If there are no transfers of insurance contributions, then there are no social guarantees in the form of benefits for the period of temporary disability.

What should participants of the FSS pilot project do - is personal income tax taken from sick leave in this case:

• The pilot project is characterized by direct payments of benefits to employees by the Social Insurance Fund;
• the employer’s sphere of influence includes only that part of the benefit that the company is obliged to pay from its resources;
• the employer has information on accrued sick leave amounts within the first three days of illness;
• how to withhold personal income tax (sick leave) - the pilot project involves the calculation and withholding of tax by the employer from the amount for the first three days; for the remaining part of the benefit and tax obligations for it, responsibility rests with the Social Insurance Fund.

How to transfer personal income tax to the budget

To pay personal income tax for sick leave benefits, the employer will need to fill out a payment order, indicating the correct BCC.

Important! KBC for paying personal income tax on sick leave for 2021 – 18210102010011000110.

When filling out a payment receipt, pay attention to filling out field 107. Fill it out according to the date on which the income is considered received. It is recommended to pay personal income tax on wages and sick leave in different payments, since these payments have different income recognition dates: for wages - the last day of the month, and for sick leave - the day of payment.

Let's look at an example: sick leave benefits and wages were paid on the same day, March 5, 2021. However, the days of recognition of income for these payments are different; for personal income tax, the recognition date falls in March, and for wages, in February. In this case, two payment orders will need to be drawn up, one for personal income tax from salary, where MS.02.2021 will be indicated in field 107, and the second for personal income tax from sick leave, where in field 107 it will be indicated MS.03.2021.

If the dates of income recognition coincide, you can pay personal income tax in one payment order. For example, if both sick leave and salary for February 2021 were transferred on the 28th, then the tax is paid in one payment, and in field 107 they put MS.02.2021.

Minimum sick leave period in 2018

The minimum duration of an employee’s absence from work due to illness is not regulated anywhere, so its minimum period may be only a few days. However, attending physicians, as a rule, issue a certificate of incapacity for work lasting at least three days, as a result of which a decision is made either to extend the patient’s sick leave, or it is established that he is healthy and can perform his work duties.

It is worth noting that a doctor, without involving a commission of other medical professionals, can increase the time a patient spends on treatment up to 15 days. The same decree does not allow the use of the services of private doctors - after a maximum of 15 days, the patient will still be examined by a state medical commission held at a medical institution at the place of his registration or registration.

Personal income tax on benefits paid for caring for a disabled child

Quite often, when paying an employee a disability benefit, which is paid in connection with caring for a disabled child, a question arises. Do I need to pay personal income tax on this amount? Let's consider this issue in more detail.

Based on the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the tax base for personal income tax is defined as the amount of income taxpayers receive in the form of money or in kind. Article 217 of the Tax Code contains a list of income that is exempt from personal income tax. Sickness benefits, including benefits for caring for a sick child, are not included in this list. Accordingly, this payment is subject to personal income tax and the party that withholds it must withhold and transfer it to the budget, which means it acts as a tax agent.

Is sick leave payment subject to personal income tax?

If Lorelei LLC belonged to the jurisdiction of one of the “pilot” regions, for example, the Yaroslavl region, the calculation would look a little different. At the expense of Lorelei LLC, the recovered employee would receive compensation only for the first three days of illness, that is, 1456 x 3 = 4395 rubles. The company will withhold personal income tax only from these funds: 4395 x 13% = 571 rubles. Thus, in addition to the salary, N. Levanevskaya will receive 4395 – 571 = 3,824 rubles.

An employee of Lorelei LLC, Natalya Levanevskaya, was admitted to the hospital due to acute appendicitis and was treated for 14 days. The average daily earnings of N. Levanevskaya, calculated by an accountant, is 1,456 thousand rubles. per month Thus, based on the data on the certificate of incapacity for work provided by the employee, she is entitled to compensation in the amount of 14 x 1456 = 20,384 rubles. This money was credited to her along with her salary for this month. The organization must withhold personal income tax from this amount, the amount of which will be 20,384 x 13% = 2,649 rubles. 92 kopecks Thus, the amount of 20,384 – 2650 = 17,734 rubles is intended for payment under a certificate of incapacity for work for N. Levanevskaya.

We recommend reading: How to change your tax identification number on the government services website

The legislative framework

Personal income tax on vacation and sick leave: deadlines, sample payment form, 6-NDFL

At the same time, according to the norms of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and clarifications of the tax authority, the deadlines for transferring personal income tax on income in the form of additional payment and income in the form of vacation pay and temporary disability benefits are different. For income in the form of vacation pay and benefits - this is the last day of the month in which the payment was made, and for income in the form of additional payment to salary - the day following the day the income was paid to the employee (clauses 4, 6 of Article 226 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

At the same time, the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation noted that if a tax agent makes payments with different deadlines for paying personal income tax, then different payments must be made for the transfer of personal income tax. Thus, when transferring personal income tax from wages, vacation pay and sick leave, separate payments are drawn up, since the deadlines for paying tax on these payments are different.