RULES FOR REIMBURSEMENT OF COSTS FROM THE FSS IN 2021 FOR THE PAYMENT OF BENEFITS

Insurance premiums for disability and maternity from 2021

From 2021, pension, medical and insurance contributions for temporary disability and maternity will be administered by the tax authorities. The Federal Tax Service will need to submit reports on these types of insurance premiums as part of a single calculation approved by Order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated October 10, 2016 No. ММВ-7-11/551.

Insurance premiums for industrial accidents and occupational diseases (that is, “injury” contributions) will continue to be controlled by the Social Insurance Fund. For this type of insurance premiums, starting from 2021, the FSS divisions will need to submit a calculation using the new form 4-FSS, which was approved by Order of the FSS of the Russian Federation dated September 26, 2016 N 381. This calculation will only include information on contributions “for injuries.”

Average earnings based on sick pay in 2017

The average daily earnings for sick leave calculation are determined based on the two calendar years preceding the year in which the episode of incapacity occurred. All payments to the employee that took place during these two years, and which were included in the calculation base for the payment of insurance premiums in case of temporary disability, are taken into account. Moreover, if the employee was hired during these two years, and before that he worked in another place, then the data from the current employer will be incomplete. How to correctly calculate sick leave in this case? When calculating average earnings, a new employer will have to rely on a certificate of the amount of payments subject to contributions to the Social Insurance Fund, issued by the employee’s previous employer. The form of this certificate was approved by order of the Ministry of Labor of Russia dated April 30, 2013 No. 182n.

You also need to remember that the total amount of earnings that is taken to calculate the average is limited by an upper limit. Every year this figure increases slightly. So in 2015 and 2021, the maximum earnings for calculating insurance premiums were 670,000 rubles and 718,000 rubles, respectively. In 2017, this figure is equal to 755,000 rubles: within this salary amount, insurance premiums for temporary disability are calculated this year starting from January and on a cumulative basis. But for determining average earnings when calculating sick leave, 2021 does not yet matter. The limit on it will be relevant only in 2021.

Reduction of insurance premiums for benefits in 2017

How to reimburse the costs of paying employees sickness benefits due to maternity from 2021? These contributions are controlled by tax inspectors. Does this mean that you need to contact the Federal Tax Service for compensation? Let's look at these issues in more detail.

In 2021, as before, employers (organizations and individual entrepreneurs) have the right to reduce the monthly payment of insurance premiums for disability and maternity by the costs incurred to pay insurance coverage to employees. This is provided for in paragraph 2 of Article 431 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. So, in particular, the following can be included in expenses (Part 1, Article 1.4 of the Federal Law of December 29, 2006 No. 255-FZ):

• temporary disability benefits (from the fourth day of illness);
• maternity benefits;
• a one-time benefit for women who registered with medical organizations in the early stages of pregnancy;
• lump sum benefit for the birth of a child;
• monthly allowance for child care up to one and a half years;
• social benefit for funeral.

If the amount of accrued benefits does not exceed the amount of insurance contributions, then you will not need to apply to the Social Insurance Fund in 2021. It will be enough to reduce the monthly payment by the amount of accrued benefits.

In this case, the costs of benefits to policyholders will need to be reflected in Appendix No. 3 to Section 1 of the unified calculation of insurance premiums in the form approved by Order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated October 10, 2016 No. ММВ-7-11/551.

Policyholders (organizations or individual entrepreneurs) will reduce insurance premiums for the benefits specified in this application. The total amounts of insurance premiums for temporary disability and maternity will need to be shown in section 1 of the uniform calculation form for insurance premiums, approved by Order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated October 10, 2016 No. ММВ-7-11/551.

Having received such a calculation, tax authorities will report data on the claimed compensation to the Federal Tax Service of Russia. And based on the results of the inspection, the FSS will decide whether to approve the offset or not. If the result is negative, the Federal Tax Service will send the policyholder a demand for payment of the missing contributions. If the result of the check is positive, the expenses will be accepted, and the Federal Tax Service, if necessary, will offset or return the difference between contributions and expenses. This procedure is provided for in Part 1. 1.1, 5.8 tbsp. 4.7 Federal Law dated December 29, 2006 No. 255-FZ.

Disputes about sick leave: in 2021 you will have to sue the FSS

From January 1, 2021, the functions of administering insurance premiums are transferred to the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation. Tax expert Igor Karmazin

told BUKH.1S what will happen to sick leave next year, who will make decisions about compensation and which department employers will have to sue over payment of sick leave.

Federal Law No. 243-FZ of July 3, 2016 introduced a number of important innovations in the procedure for monitoring the actions of payers of insurance contributions for compulsory social insurance. In particular, for actions to pay for sick leave. The law supplemented the second part of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation with Chapter 34 “Insurance premiums in the Russian Federation” and transferred the functions of administering insurance premiums to the Federal Tax Service. But at the same time, all functions and powers to control the correct execution of temporary disability certificates and the payment of benefits for them will continue to be in the hands of FSS employees (clause 8 of Article 431 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Until 2021, the procedure for compensation and reimbursement of expenses for sick leave will remain unchanged. Let us remind you that by law the employer is obliged to pay for sick leave, but is not obliged to bear the costs of it. Accordingly, he has the right to claim benefits paid against the payment of insurance premiums for his employees. If the expenses exceed the amount of contributions due for payment, the Social Insurance Fund will be obliged to cover at its own expense the resulting losses of the employer (clause 8 of Article 431 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Presumably, from 2021, all regions will switch (some have already switched) to “direct payments” of sick leave, when benefits will be paid not by the employer (and then apply to the Social Insurance Fund for credit/reimbursement), but by the Social Insurance Fund itself.

The pilot project for the transition of regions to “direct payments” was approved by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of April 21, 2011 No. 294. In accordance with it, the so-called “offset principle”, when only the difference between the amount of accrued contributions and the amount of benefits paid by the employer. In turn, contributions will be transferred by employers in full.

Until this time, employees will be able to receive benefits at their place of work, and the Social Insurance Fund will continue to make all decisions on offsets and compensation for employers’ expenses on sick leave. The tax authorities will offset the amounts paid against the obligation to pay contributions based on the decision of the Social Insurance Fund. Refunds of overpaid amounts will be made by the territorial bodies of the Social Insurance Fund themselves (Article 431 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

In other words, employers will continue to sue the Social Insurance Fund, and not the tax authorities. Accordingly, it can be assumed that in 2017 nothing will change in the arbitration practice of considering disputes regarding sick leave. So, which cases of refusal of compensation by the Social Insurance Fund are legal and which are not?

Errors in sick leave

In accordance with paragraphs. 3 p. 1 art. 11 of Federal Law No. 165-FZ “On the Basics of Compulsory Social Insurance” (will continue to be in force after January 1, 2021), insurers have the right not to accept for offset expenses for compulsory social insurance made in violation of the law.

A similar rule is established by clause 18 of the Regulations on the Social Insurance Fund (approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of February 12, 1994 No. 101). According to these norms, expenses for compulsory social insurance made in violation of established rules or not supported by documents are not accepted for offset and are subject to reimbursement in the prescribed manner.

In this regard, even the most minor and harmless violations committed when registering sick leave threaten the employer with negative consequences. At least that's what the insurer believes.

Let us remind you that the procedure for issuing certificates of incapacity for work was approved by Order of the Ministry of Health and Social Development of Russia dated June 29, 2011 N 624n. This order contains a lot of different requirements for the procedure for filling out sick leave. Therefore, avoiding mistakes when designing it is quite problematic. Especially if the medical worker does not have the relevant experience.

Taking this circumstance into account, arbitration courts have simply learned to turn a blind eye to errors made when issuing sick leave. The main thing is that these errors are not critical (failure to indicate the name of the medical institution, or, say, the absence of a period of temporary incapacity for work).

For example, the Fifteenth Arbitration Court of Appeal, in Resolution No. A53-1007/2016 dated May 12, 2021, considered a dispute regarding the offset of expenses for sick leave issued with violations. The sick leave certificate was filled out with a blue ballpoint pen, and, according to paragraph 56 of Order No. 624n, entries on the certificate of incapacity for work are made in Russian in printed capital letters in black ink or using printing devices. You can use a gel, capillary or fountain pen. The use of a ballpoint pen is not allowed. However, the court concluded that this violation was not critical and did not affect the possibility of offset.

The court explained that the mere fact of issuing a certificate in violation of the order of its execution, in the absence of evidence of the non-occurrence of an insured event, cannot be a basis for denying the insured persons social security guaranteed by law in the event of temporary disability. Accordingly, there were no grounds for refusing to offset the expenses incurred by the employer.

The Volga District Arbitration Court also pointed this out in Resolution No. A12-54881/2015 dated August 11, 2021. In violation of legal requirements, sick leave certificates indicated periods of incapacity for work in several lines, whereas the entire period of incapacity for work should have been indicated in one line.

The court, satisfying the requirements stated by the employer, came to the conclusion that the violation of the procedure for issuing certificates of incapacity for work is insignificant and can be remedied. Evidence of the unreliability of certificates of incapacity for work, their issuance in the absence of diseases or without examination of the employee by a medical professional was not presented. Therefore, there were no grounds for refusing to offset the expenses incurred.

Fake sick leave

When accepting sick leave for payment, the employer must ensure that it is of proper nature. First of all, when checking the payments made by the policyholder, inspectors will pay attention to the correctness of filling out the details of the certificate of incapacity for work.

The correct sheet must have legible notes from medical workers, clear seals, the name and stamps of the medical organization. This follows from the norms of the Methodological Instructions on the procedure for appointing and conducting documentary on-site inspections of policyholders, approved by Resolution of the Social Insurance Fund of the Russian Federation dated 04/07/2008 N 81. If these conditions are met and the employer proves the fact of incurring expenses, the Social Insurance Fund will not have the right to refuse to reimburse these expenses (Resolution of the Seventeenth Arbitration Court of Appeal dated November 10, 2015 No. 17AP-13604/2015-AK).

Naturally, the certificate of incapacity for work must comply with the established form. Let us remind you that the unified form of sick leave was approved by Order of the Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation dated April 26, 2011 No. 347n. Deviations from this form are not allowed. Otherwise, such a document will be considered fake.

Fake sick leaves are not subject to payment, and those already paid are not accepted for credit or reimbursement. Moreover, despite the degree of guilt of the employer himself. A similar position in judicial practice was confirmed by the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation in its Determination No. VAS-12620/12 dated October 12, 2012.

The court found that the forms of certificates of incapacity for work did not correspond to the established sample, had a different quality of paper, an indefinite design of watermarks, and a changed color of the form. These leaflets were not issued to medical institutions and were not accepted from the printing house. In addition, medical institutions denied the fact of issuing these certificates of incapacity for work. Based on this, the court came to the conclusion that the policyholder had submitted false certificates of incapacity for work. In any case, they are non-payable and non-refundable.

Now all arbitration courts share this position. No one will reimburse anything based on a fake document. Even if the employer was not familiar with the legal form of the document and was deliberately misled by the employee. Therefore, if there is any doubt about the authenticity of sick leave submitted for payment, the employer is strongly recommended to seek confirmation from the relevant medical institution indicated in the document.

Unreasonably issued sick leave

Along with counterfeit ones, unreasonably issued certificates of incapacity for work may also be presented for payment. Documents certifying non-existent facts are considered unfounded. In this case, the fact of the occurrence of an insured event, that is, the presence of a disease that prevents the further performance of work duties. Cases where employees use acquaintances in medical institutions or simple bribery are far from uncommon.

As a general rule, payment of such sick leave does not deprive the employer of the right to offset and reimbursement. The fact is that the negative consequences of medical institutions’ failure to comply with the law cannot be assigned to the policyholder. This rule was enshrined in arbitration practice by Resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated December 11, 2012 No. 10605/12. The employer cannot and should not control the actions of doctors. Nor can he refuse to pay insurance compensation to a sick employee who has presented a sick leave certificate.

Moreover, by virtue of clause 6 of part 1 of Article 4.2 of Law No. 255-FZ, the FSS bodies have the right to file claims directly against medical organizations for reimbursement of the amount of insurance costs for unreasonably issued or incorrectly issued certificates of incapacity for work.

Thus, all the consequences of non-compliance by medical institutions with the law are assigned directly to these institutions, and not to the policyholder, who, unlike the insurer, is not vested with the right to control the correctness of registration and compliance with the procedure for issuing certificates of incapacity for work by medical organizations.

However, this rule does not apply in all cases. For example, the Arbitration Court of the Volga-Vyatka District dated September 29, 2015, in Resolution No. A38-6283/2014, resolved a dispute, the subject of which was a sick leave certificate unreasonably issued to the head of an enterprise. The FSS refused to count the benefits paid on such a slip against the payment of insurance premiums due to the fact that the employer himself knew that this document was unfounded.

From the case materials it followed that the disputed document was issued to the head of the enterprise without undergoing a medical examination and without visiting a medical institution. At the same time, defending its right to offset, the company referred to the fact that it was not responsible for the actions of the medical institution, to which the FSS should have approached with a claim. The company also explained that it did not have the right not to pay benefits on the existing slip, the validity of which it did not have the right to control.

The court found these arguments of the enterprise unfounded. The judges explained that the head of the employer to whom the disputed document was issued is the person responsible for the correct calculation and expenditure of social insurance funds. Having presented a certificate of incapacity for work, he could not help but know that the sick leave contained unreliable and contradictory information, was drawn up and issued in violation of the established procedure.

At the same time, the provisions of paragraph 6 of part 1 of Article 4.2 of Law No. 255-FZ, which grants FSS bodies the right to bring claims directly against medical organizations, are not applicable here. The leader could not but know that he was breaking the law and acted purposefully. In such situations, there are no grounds for offsetting expenses incurred.

Reduced benefit amount

Not being able to refuse to reimburse the employer and offset the funds paid in full, the insurer may try to implement such a refusal partially. For example, by reducing the amount of benefits due to the employee’s violation of the regime prescribed by the attending physician or failure to appear for a medical examination. In accordance with Article 8 of Federal Law No. 255-FZ of December 29, 2006, these circumstances may indeed lead to a reduction in the amount of the benefit.

However, implementing this FSS opportunity in practice is quite problematic. The fact is that the court will only take into account the actions of a sick employee due to unjustified reasons. Typically, the validity of the reasons is determined by the employer himself. Therefore, the same failure to appear for a medical examination will not always be grounds for depriving the employee (and subsequently the employer) of part of the funds due.

The Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation drew attention to this in Resolution No. 14379/11 of February 14, 2012. The court found that the insured person failed to appear for a medical examination. It was this circumstance that served as the basis for the employer’s refusal to offset part of the funds paid to the employee. The Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation declared such actions of the FSS illegal. The court explained that failure to appear for a medical appointment serves as grounds for reducing the amount of temporary disability benefits only if the reasons for such failure are not valid.

Meanwhile, the employer’s company established a social insurance commission, which recognized the reasons for failure to appear on time for a medical examination as valid. In this regard, the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation decided that the Social Insurance Fund unreasonably reduced the amount of the benefit.

As for violation of the hospital regime, this in itself does not allow the fund to reduce the amount of the benefit. This was confirmed, in particular, by the Arbitration Court of the Sverdlovsk Region in its Decision dated October 5, 2021 No. A60-19625/2016.

The Social Insurance Fund identified the fact that the sick employee violated the hospital regime and reduced the amount of the due benefit. The diary entry of the medical history stated: “the patient is absent from the department without a statement.” Moreover, there was no record of violation of the regime with a note on the certificate of incapacity for work. In this regard, the fund came to the conclusion that the sick leave data was distorted.

The court did not accept the fund's arguments. He explained that the basis for reducing the amount of benefits is not any violation of the regime, but only the regime prescribed by the attending physician, since this may lead to an increase in the period of temporary disability. For example, when a patient is placed on strict bed rest, and he leaves the hospital without the knowledge of the doctor and goes home. In the situation under consideration, the FSS did not provide evidence of violation by employees of the regime prescribed by the attending physician.

At the same time, the very entry to which the fund referred - “absent from the hospital (department) without an application” - indicates that if there was an application, absence was allowed. Consequently, we may be talking about a violation of the rules of stay in a medical institution (such as smoking in unauthorized places, bringing in prohibited items, etc.), and not about a violation of the regime prescribed by the attending physician. In this regard, the decision of the FSS was declared illegal.

Loss of sick leave

Refusal to offset and reimbursement is also possible on the basis of failure by the policyholder to provide original documents confirming social insurance expenses. For example, when an employer cannot provide sick leaves due to their loss. Sick leave may disappear, get lost or die as a result of force majeure. In this case, the FSS will most likely refuse credit. The only acceptable evidence of expenses is the original sick leave issued by a medical organization and executed in accordance with the requirements of the law (Clause 1 of Article 13 of Law No. 255-FZ). Therefore, according to the fund, if sick leave is lost, it must be restored.

At the same time, the insurer forgets that the current legislation does not provide for the re-issuance of certificates of incapacity for work to replace those lost by the policyholder. Failure by the insurer to ensure the safety of the original certificates of temporary disability cannot in itself be grounds for not accepting the applicant’s expenses for offset. The law does not contain such a basis. Consequently, instead of sick leave, the employer can confirm its expenses with other documents. In particular, letters from medical institutions, calculations of temporary disability benefits, copies of the stubs of temporary disability certificates, etc.

By the way, arbitration courts often also recognize such refusals as unfounded, since they were based on formal reasons. The Arbitration Court of the Moscow District, in Resolution No. A40-6510/2016 dated September 1, 2021, considered a situation where an employer lost more than a hundred temporary disability certificates for its employees. In this regard, the FSS refused to take into account the costs of paying insurance coverage made as payment of temporary disability benefits.

Instead of sick leave, responses from medical institutions to court requests were presented. These responses contained information about the certificates of incapacity issued, indicating the series and numbers of certificates of incapacity, surname, first name, and patronymic of the workers to whom certificates of incapacity were issued and periods of incapacity.

The court recognized that the documents presented are adequate evidence of the occurrence of insured events, confirm the actual issuance of sick leave to employees, and make it possible to determine periods of temporary disability of the insured persons. Thus, the court concluded, the fund had no grounds for not taking into account the company’s expenses incurred for the purposes of compulsory social insurance in the declared amounts.

Who will the FSS refuse?

In general, an analysis of judicial practice shows that a refusal to compensate for losses incurred by an employer will be justified only in exceptional cases. For example, when benefits are paid on fake sick leave, or the employer cannot prove the fact of incurring expenses for paying benefits.

However, other circumstances that do not directly depend on the will of the employer cannot serve as an obstacle to offset or reimbursement of benefits paid. As we have seen, sick leave benefits paid on the basis of employee claims are mostly reimbursed from the Social Insurance Fund.

All mistakes and abuses made when issuing sick leave are blamed on medical institutions and their employees. Moreover, employers themselves are not vested with the authority to monitor compliance by medical institutions with legal requirements. They should not be held liable for the actions of third parties. Moreover, benefits paid on the basis of improper documents can be reimbursed by the Social Insurance Fund by filing claims against the medical institutions themselves. However, this does not mean that the employer should not be vigilant and careful when paying for sick leave.

If the amount of benefits exceeds accrued contributions

In 2021, the amount of benefits paid for any month of the reporting period may be greater than the contributions to the Social Insurance Fund accrued for the same month. Then the policyholder has the right (clause 9 of Article 431 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation):

• or offset the excess against upcoming payments of contributions to the Social Insurance Fund within the billing period;
• or contact the FSS department for the allocation of the necessary funds to pay insurance coverage.

In order to receive money into your current (personal) account to reimburse (pay) expenses for benefits in 2021, you must contact your branch of the Federal Social Insurance Fund of Russia, and not the Federal Tax Service. This follows from paragraph 2 of Article 4.6 of the Federal Law of December 29, 2006 No. 255-FZ.

The list of documents that need to be submitted for reimbursement to the FSS branch of Russia was approved by order of the Ministry of Health and Social Development of Russia dated December 4, 2009 No. 951n. However, keep in mind that on November 28, 2016, Order of the Ministry of Labor of Russia dated October 28, 2016 No. 585n came into force, which amended this list. Next, we list the documents that will need to be submitted taking into account the amendments made by the specified order of the Ministry of Labor.

Refunds for periods up to 2021

If an organization or individual entrepreneur applies to the Social Insurance Fund in order to receive money into a current account for reimbursement of benefits and such compensation applies to periods before 2021, then the Social Insurance Fund division must submit:

If the territorial body of the Federal Social Insurance Fund of the Russian Federation does not order a check of the correctness and validity of expenses, it will transfer the funds within 10 calendar days from the date of submission of the above documents (Part 3, Article 4.6 of the Federal Law of December 29, 2006 No. 255-FZ).

Refunds for periods after January 1, 2021

As we have already said, in connection with the entry into force of the Order of the Ministry of Labor of Russia dated October 28, 2016 No. 585n from 2021, the list of documents required for compensation has been adjusted. To receive a refund to your current account in the Social Insurance Fund, you will need to submit:

The FSS will send a copy of the decision to allocate funds to the policyholder to the tax authorities. Within three working days from the date of entry into force of the relevant decision (Part 4.1, Article 4.6 of the Federal Law of December 29, 2006 No. 255-FZ).

Who controls insurance costs?

All expenses for the payment of maternity benefits and disability benefits are still checked by the FSS (Federal Law dated December 29, 2006 No. 255-FZ). The fund also checks the authenticity of sick leave certificates and the correctness of their execution (clause 8 of Article 431 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Please note that the Social Insurance Fund and the Federal Tax Service will exchange data on contributions, which will allow the employer to reimburse insurance costs.

According to paragraph 16 of Art. 431 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the tax inspectorate must transmit data on insurance premiums (accrued and paid) to the Social Insurance Fund within five days from the date of receipt of the electronic calculation of insurance premiums. If the calculation is submitted on paper, the Federal Tax Service has ten days to transfer the information to the fund.

New certificate-calculation from 2021: form and sample

The certificate will replace the 4-FSS calculation

As you can see, in connection with the entry into force of the Order of the Ministry of Labor of Russia dated October 28, 2016 No. 585n, from January 1, 2021, a new document will need to be submitted to the FSS divisions as part of the documents for reimbursement of expenses: a statement of calculation. It will need to show various information about insurance premiums. This certificate will replace the previously submitted calculation in Form 4-FSS, which was required to receive compensation.

Why do you need a certificate?

Why do officials from the Social Insurance Fund need a calculation certificate starting in 2021? Let me explain. As we have already said, from 2021, organizations and individual entrepreneurs (employers) will report on insurance premiums for temporary disability due to maternity as part of a single calculation of insurance premiums, which was approved by Order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated October 10, 2016 No. ММВ-7-11/ 551. This calculation will be submitted to the tax office. Accordingly, the FSS authorities may not have data on these insurance contributions. They will take this information from the new calculation certificate. However, keep in mind that FSS divisions at any time have the right to request information from tax inspectorates about insurance premiums accrued and paid by policyholders. This is provided for in clause 2.2 of part 1 of article 4.2 of the Federal Law of December 29, 2006 No. 255-FZ.

Calculation certificate form

As for the form of the certificate-calculation, the legislation does not provide that it must be officially approved. Therefore, it can be assumed that policyholders will be able to draw up a calculation certificate using an independently developed form. The main thing is that such a certificate includes all the necessary information, which is mentioned in paragraph 2(1) of the List approved by Order of the Ministry of Health and Social Development of Russia dated December 4, 2009 No. 951n (as amended by Order of the Ministry of Labor of Russia dated October 28, 2016 No. 585n). Below we provide a possible example of a calculation certificate, the form of which you can download.

The FSS authorities can develop a recommended form of calculation certificate that policyholders can use. However, a mandatory form of payment certificate is not provided for by law. Therefore, policyholders will be able to use a self-developed form of certificate-calculation.

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29.04.2018

What is the control function of the FSS now?

In 2021, the Social Insurance Fund retained the authority to administer expenses for the payment of benefits for temporary disability and in connection with maternity. Insurers (employer organizations and entrepreneurs), as before, will submit documents related to the costs of paying benefits for verification to the territorial bodies of the Social Insurance Fund (Clause 6, Part 2, Article 4.1 of Law No. 255-FZ). According to Art. 4.2 of Law No. 255-FZ, fund auditors have the right to:

• carry out inspections (on-site and desk) of the correctness of payment of benefits;
• demand and receive from policyholders the necessary documents and explanations on issues arising during inspections;
• request from policyholders documents on the payment of benefits, including when allocating funds for specified expenses in excess of accrued contributions;
• request information from the tax authorities about contributions accrued and paid by policyholders;
• monitor compliance with the legislation of the Russian Federation on compulsory social insurance in case of temporary disability and in connection with maternity when assigning, calculating and paying benefits.

Note.

The exchange of information between the Social Insurance Fund and the Federal Tax Service, including regarding the income, expenses, and control work results declared by the policyholder, will be carried out in accordance with the Procedure for interaction of Social Insurance Fund branches with the Federal Tax Service departments in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, approved by the Federal Tax Service of Russia No. ММВ-23-1/ [email protected] , Board of the Federal Social Insurance Fund of Russia No. 02‑11‑10/06-3098P dated 07/22/2016. Thus, the FSS will receive information about the expenses that the policyholder indicated in the calculation of insurance premiums from the tax office (see also Letter of the FSS of Russia dated December 16, 2016 No. 02-09-11/04-03-28043). Deadline for sending data:

• no later than 5 days from the date of receipt of payments in electronic form;
• no later than 10 days from the date of receipt of paper payments.