Amendments to the Tax Code of the Russian Federation: state duties and changes in the VAT administration procedure

• December 4, 2019
• Terms
• Elena Erokhina

Payments are provided for the performance of a number of functions by government bodies. It is collected from both legal entities and individuals in the amount established by law. Simply put, this is the cost of the service provided by official organizations authorized to carry out such actions.

Opinions differ among ordinary people: is state duty a tax or a fee? For the majority of Russian citizens, these two concepts are equivalent. People don't look at them from a legal perspective. Let's find out if there is anything in common between a tax and a fee and what their differences are.

How are they similar?

A tax or fee is an amount levied on individuals, organizations and individual entrepreneurs and sent to the budget.

Without going into details, then, undoubtedly, state duty refers to taxes and fees that have common features:

• enshrined in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation;
• amenable to clarification and change of amount at the local level;
• the amounts paid go to the treasury.

Legal definition

Tax refers to funds transferred free of charge by a subject for the purposes of the state or municipalities. This payment is mandatory and is paid in accordance with the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

A fee is the amount that is paid to the budget for performing legally significant actions against persons. In some cases, funds are paid for conducting business activities, which may be determined by local legislation.

Differences

To determine whether a state duty is a tax or a fee, you need to consider their main characteristics. The first concept is more capacious, because a tax is the obligation of all payers to transfer part of their income or profit to the treasury. The collection is not mandatory. Such a contribution is necessary for the state to carry out any actions against the payer.

The main characteristics of the tax are:

• obligation;
• gratuitousness;
• coercion;
• the need for calculation;
• belonging to budgets of various levels.

To correctly calculate the payment amount, you need to decide on the object, know its base cost, tax rate and period. It is also necessary to understand what the tax collection procedure is, so as not to miss the established deadlines.

Different rules apply regarding collection. It is paid one-time and for a specific service by authorized bodies. This means that it is optional and cannot be forced. However, the main difference between a fee and a tax is that after payment, the implementation of legal actions to obtain certain rights is guaranteed.

When it becomes necessary to pay a state duty, whether it is a tax or a fee, the individual does not care. Having a receipt in hand, he deposits the amount established by law. It doesn’t matter to him at all what such an action is called.

For a legal entity, everything is more complicated. The form of payment order, with which it is possible to transfer funds, requires a precise definition of the purpose of the contribution and entering this information in the appropriate field. However, it is enough for the bank to know that a state fee has been paid. Whether it is a fee or a tax, you do not need to specify in the payment purpose field.

An example of reflecting expenses in the plaintiff’s accounting records

The Contractor enterprise did not receive payment for labor after completing work under a construction contract. The contractual terms set the terms of payments for the construction of the facility. Negotiations on payment for labor did not bring a positive result, which necessitated the need to resolve the issue in court.

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When going to court, the company paid: a state fee in the amount of 2,300 rubles, the services of a lawyer in the amount of 5,000 rubles and an expert to confirm the compliance of the object with the terms of the contract in the amount of 7,000 rubles. According to the court's decision, the defendant must pay the plaintiff the cost of the contract and compensate legal expenses.

The court makes a decision on compensation for expenses based on documents confirming the expenses.

Comparison

To understand whether a state duty is a tax or a fee, it is necessary to analyze these two concepts according to the following criteria:

1. Target. Any fee is intended to ensure the activities of those bodies that provide a service or register the right to something. The tax is not directed towards anything specific.
2. Regularity. The fee is paid one-time, and the tax is paid at regular intervals.
3. Legislative support. The need for collection is determined individually. It depends not on the subject, but on the nature of the service provided. Taxpayers are determined at the legislative level.
4. Sum. For collection, the fee is fixed; for tax, it depends on the base, rate and possible benefits.
5. Date of. Fees are not tied to time, but are determined by the need of the payer. Taxes are paid at the end of the reporting period within a limited period.
6. Termination of obligations. Taxes are collected from legal entities until the company ceases to exist. Individuals pay for them for life. An exception is a number of taxes that are not levied on certain categories of citizens, for example, property tax on pensioners. Fees are one-time amounts for services.
7. Individual characteristics of the payer. Counted for taxes and not relevant for fees.
8. Result. Paying a tax only saves you from unpleasant consequences, but collecting a fee gives you the right to something.
9. Failure to pay: the tax threatens to be subject to forced collection along with penalties and fees - will lead to non-receipt of the service.

Receipt for payment of state duty tax

It's easier to find a legal entity. a company that will do all this. I am one of those who said that it is not difficult. This is really not difficult, but the cost of the services of a law firm is 3-7 thousand rubles, and they organize everything, the transfer of money and the contract and verification, so why torture yourself and then think that tomorrow your wife’s brother, a prisoner, will come and settle in one of the rooms in your apartment, if all you have to do is give these pennies. Although it's up to you

You know, you can, of course, try to shake up your license, or somehow come to a good agreement with the Fed so that they accept your receipt. There’s nothing wrong with it, in the grand scheme of things, that you paid in cash. So, for example, when registering an LLC or changes, the tax office only accepts receipts. Yes, and I once submitted documents to the Federal Reserve for registration of property rights - I constantly paid the state duty on my own behalf (from the representative) as an individual. So I think you have every right to pay from the director of the LLC. Another thing is that if your Fed gets into a pose, then it’s unlikely that anything can be done with it. And this happened to me. Only with the Federal Tax Service. I had to pay an extra thousand to the assholes.

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Classification

Taxes and fees are divided into the following areas:

1. By method of collection: direct and indirect. The first ones depend only on the amount of actual or expected income. The latter are related either to costs or to sales. An example of indirect contributions is a fee for the use of subsoil or income tax.
2. By location: federal, regional and local.
3. By subject of payment: for individuals, for legal entities and mixed.
4. For replenishment: fixed, which go only to the federal budget, and regulating (with the distribution of funds at different levels).

The concept of state duty

Taxes, fees and their characteristics are explained in sufficient detail. Now you can easily understand the state duty and understand what type of payment it refers to.

In fact, this is a payment established by Russian legislation. It is charged throughout Russia in the same amount for performing actions of a legal nature or for issuing a certain document when applying to arbitration and magistrate courts, courts of general jurisdiction and other organizations in order to perform certain actions:

• notarial character;
• acquisition of citizenship;
• entry and exit from the Russian Federation.

Registration fee required:

• medicines and medical devices;
• acts of civil status;
• property rights;
• transport;
• legal entities;
• political parties;
• mass media.

The payment of this fee is also determined at the legislative level:

• for the use of certain words of national significance when assigning the name of an organization;
• upon receipt of permission to move hazardous waste across the border;
• for issuing permits for the import and export of cultural property, rare animals and plants.

All of the above clearly determines the state duty. Whether this is a tax or a fee becomes clear immediately after it becomes clear that it is charged for the provision of a service or the performance of an action by government bodies at various levels. The purpose of the payment indicates that the duty is a fee.

This is confirmed by the characteristics of this type of contribution, namely: non-binding, no need for calculation and no compulsion to pay. In addition, in return for the money spent, the subject receives a document or the registration he needs.

Accounting for state duties: postings

In the accounting system, expenses are recognized in the accounting period to which they relate, regardless of the fact of payment (PBU 10/99 clause 18). In practice, the state duty is usually taken into account at the time of submitting a package of documents to the registration authority, when it has already been paid.

It is possible to accrue the plaintiff’s legal costs (state fees) during the period of going to court on the basis of the second copy of the statement of claim with the court’s stamp of acceptance (instruction No. 27 of the Supreme Arbitration Court dated 25/03/04, clause 3.1).

The state duty associated with the acquisition of fixed assets and intangible assets is taken into account upon inclusion in the initial cost or other expenses. State duty, as a federal fee, is always taken into account in account 68 with the opening of a sub-account of the same name. This payment is often reflected on account 76, which is methodologically incorrect. At the same time, account 76 with the opening of a sub-account is used in certain cases to account for state duties.

Postings for calculating state duty:

1. Dt 08 Kt 68/state duty – upon purchase, acquisition, creation of a property object or rights (PBU 14/2007, PBU 6/01, clause 8). Posting is used in relation to fixed assets and intangible assets that require state registration.
2. Dt 20, 25, 26, 44 Kt 68/state duty - for operations within the main type of activity (PBU 10/99 r. 2). Posting is used in different cases, for example, when it comes to state registration of changes to the charter.

Licensing relates to the main activity of the company. The state fee for a license is most often written off as one sum as expenses, regardless of whether the license is urgent or issued indefinitely (letter ED-4-3/22400 dated 12/28/1 Federal Tax Service, 03-03-06/1/12248 dated 12/04/13 Ministry of Finance). The wiring is shown above.

For urgent licenses, there are several more options for accounting for the specified state duty. Previously, the Ministry of Finance expressed the opinion (document No. 07-02-06/5 dated 12/01/12) that in such cases it is necessary to write off costs through deferred expenses, in parts:

• Dt 97 Kt 68/state duty;
• Dt 44 Kt 97.

Some experts propose to consider the license itself an intangible asset based on PBU 14/2007 clause 3. Then the state duty should be attributed to the cost of the license Dt 08 Kt 76 (or 60). Then the license is accounted for as an intangible asset under Dt 04, and depreciation is charged on it Kt 05. State duty not related to the main activity, costs for contracts atypical for the company, as well as legal ones, are reflected in other expenses: Dt 91/2 Kt 68/state duty .

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It should be borne in mind that the services of state notaries are always accounted for using account 68. Private notary services are determined not by the state duty, but by the tariff. The posting to the tariff is formed with the participation of account 76: Dt 20, 91/2, etc. Kt 68 (76).

Account 76 is also used when accounting for state fees to the court. The plaintiff first reflects it on account 68 as another expense, then pays it to the budget. Further, by decision of the court, if the court wins, the state duty is collected from the defendant according to the court decision. The plaintiff’s posting will be Dt 76 Kt 91/1 (other income), the defendant’s will be Dt 91/2 Kt 76 (other expenses). The defendant reimburses the plaintiff for the state duty: Dt 51 Kt 76, and reflects the same operation with reverse posting.

Important! Both in income and expenses here, the state duty will be taken into account on the date of entry into force of the court document.

Example. Company A filed a lawsuit against company B for the amount of 19,000 rubles. According to Art. 333.19 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, she is obliged to pay a fee of 4%, or 760 rubles. The accounting of company A will reflect:

A won the case, B reimburses her for the state fee:

Based on the results of the court decision, the accounting of company B will reflect:

Please note that if the company had a lawsuit with a government agency (for example, the Federal Tax Service) and it was won, account 76 cannot be used when returning the state duty.

They are reflected in accounting on the date of the government agency’s decision to return funds (according to the text of PBU 9/99, clause 7, article 333.40-3 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Payment of state duty can be carried out not only through a current account, but also through settlements with accountable persons: Dt 20, etc. Kt 71, and the amount received from the cash desk will be reflected in Dt 71 (Ministry of Finance, letter 03-05-04-03/43 dated 01 /06/12). In this case, confirmation is required that the accountable person acts on behalf of the company and the money was received by him to pay the state duty (power of attorney, constituent documents, cash settlement for funds issued under the report, other documents).

A state duty is a fee that is collected when applying to government agencies, local governments, other bodies or officials authorized by law to perform legally significant actions (clause 1 of Article 333.16 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

We will tell you how the state duty is reflected in accounting and tax accounting in our consultation.

Payers

They are legal entities and individuals who need:

• in performing actions provided for by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation;
• act as participants in courts.

If the plaintiff, in accordance with the law, is exempt from paying the fee or the decision is made in his favor, then the state fee is collected from the defendant.

How to pay the state fee to the court: step-by-step instructions

The payment procedure looks like this:

1. Find out the details for transferring money. The receipt can be generated on the official website of the court, or you can pick it up in person at the office. It will contain all the necessary data.
2. Select a payment method and transfer funds.
3. Take a check or money order. They will be needed to confirm payment.

Payment Methods

You can pay the fee in several ways:

• Sberbank Online or personal account of another bank;
• at a bank branch;
• through the Sberbank terminal.

Let's consider all the options in detail.

Sberbank Online

The payment procedure through the application or personal account looks like this:

1. Log in to your account, click on “Payments”, then “Payment by details”.
2. Enter the TIN, BIC of the recipient's bank, and current account number.
3. Select the debit account and enter the amount.

Finally, confirm the payment with a code via SMS. Money is credited instantly; in rare cases, the transaction takes 3 business days.

Bank branch

When visiting a bank branch, take with you your passport and a receipt generated online or taken from the court. The specialist will fill in all the data for the operation and ask you for money in the specified amount.

Terminal

To make a fee, it is most convenient to use Sberbank terminals:

1. Insert your plastic card and enter your PIN code.
2. Select the section with payments, then “Payments by details”.
3. Indicate the details to which the money will be credited, as well as the amount.
4. Insert bills into the device or present a card to debit funds.
5. Wait until the operation is completed and take the receipt.

Important! The receipt must be kept - it will be needed in court to confirm payment.

Receipt for payment

You can generate a payment order yourself using online services, or take a receipt from the court. The form was approved by Bank of Russia Regulation No. 383-P dated June 19, 2012.

It states:

• amount in words and figures;
• TIN, checkpoint;
• FULL NAME. payer, bank;
• TIN, BIC, checkpoint, recipient's bank.

The purpose of the payment must be indicated.

Sample receipt for payment of state duty to the court:

Is it possible to return the state fee?

The law allows for the return of only overpaid amounts. It is not possible to receive a full refund. However, there are cases when the state fee is counted for similar actions if it was not used for its intended purpose. To do this, you should write an application to the authority where you expected to receive the paid service. The time limit for filing a request for set-off is limited to three years.

As a result of a painstaking analysis of the concepts of tax and fee, we can make an unambiguous conclusion that state duty belongs to optional payments. Of the two categories under consideration, this condition is satisfied only for the latter.

Thus, the state fee is a fee.