Responsibility for violation of standards for storing archival documents

During its work, any business entity (individual entrepreneur or LLC) acquires a huge number of documents: registration, accounting, reporting, personnel, permits, supporting and confirming documents. And although this is the 21st century, and electronic document management has long been integrated into business practice, documents in paper format are still an irreplaceable value. The shelf life of some of them is 75 years, as they say, manuscripts do not burn.

We are, of course, not concerned about the historical value of the organization’s documents, but about the fact that the lack of the necessary papers, especially for accounting and personnel, can create difficulties when passing inspections and lead to financial sanctions, in other words, fines. To avoid financial losses, we advise you to check the complete set of all necessary documents from time to time or entrust this check to specialists:

Free business audit

The obligation to collect and store documents of an organization is established by Law No. 125-FZ of October 22, 2004 “On Archival Affairs in the Russian Federation.” According to it, organizations and individual entrepreneurs are obliged to ensure the safety of archival documents, including personnel documents. The list of archival documents is given in the Order of the Federal Archive of the Russian Federation dated December 20, 2021 N 236, it consists of 12 sections and contains 657 items.

Not all of them are related to entrepreneurial activity, so we suggest that you check your documentary baggage with the necessary minimum that organizations and individual entrepreneurs must have.

Registration documents of organizations and individual entrepreneurs

Let's start with the documents with which, in fact, the life of a legal entity begins or the acquisition of individual entrepreneur status by an individual. The list of registration documents for an organization is noticeably larger than for an individual entrepreneur:

1. Charter of a limited liability company. To date, this is the only constituent document for an LLC. If changes have been made to the charter, it is advisable to store its previous editions with the note “invalid due to the adoption of a new edition of the charter dated ___.”
2. Minutes of the general meeting of founders or the decision of the sole participant to create an LLC. Everything is clear here - this document is an expression of the will of the founders to create a legal entity.
3. List of LLC participants. The list must contain current information about each participant (passport data of an individual or organization data), the size and value of each participant’s share, information about its payment. If there are shares owned by the company itself, then information about them is also indicated.
4. Certificate of state registration of a legal entity or individual entrepreneur (issued until 2021).
5. Certificate of registration with the tax authority (for individual entrepreneurs and LLCs).
6. Entry sheet in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities (for LLC) or in the Unified State Register of Individual Entrepreneurs (for individual entrepreneurs). As for extracts from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities (USRIP), there is no need to store them. Usually a bank, notary, counterparties, etc. They request an extract that is no more than a month old, so if necessary, you need to get it again each time.
7. Letter with information about statistics codes (for individual entrepreneurs and LLCs). You can obtain this information without contacting the statistical authorities personally, but through a form on the official website of Rosstat. You can find your statistics codes with our help. Just print a page from the site with your codes. Banks also accept such a document, but if you wish, you can also receive an official document with the seal of regional statistical authorities.

Where to store

The enterprise must store all accounting documentation in a specially designated place, an archive. A small room without windows is usually allocated for it, which is filled with shelving and closed cabinets. If the room has windows, they are covered with curtains or blinds so that street light does not penetrate into the room. If the archive is located on the ground floor, in order to protect important papers from theft, metal bars are installed on the windows.

Strict reporting forms are usually stored in safes or locked rooms. The archive must be managed by a separate employee who is responsible for the safety of all papers.

As a rule, the head of the company is personally responsible for the safety and security of accounting documentation. It is he who will be asked by representatives of regulatory government bodies in case of loss of documentation or its absence. In this case, the economic entity bears personal responsibility. In Art. 23 of the current Tax Code states that the responsibility for maintaining reports lies with the taxpayer himself, whether he is an individual or a commercial organization.

Documents of the organization confirming its legal address

When opening a bank account, the bank will require from the client organization “information about the presence or absence at its location of a legal entity and its permanent management body.” The following documents (optional) can serve as confirmation of the organization’s legal address:

• Certificate of ownership of the premises in which the LLC is located (if the owner is the founder);
• The lease agreement and the acceptance and transfer certificate of the premises, as well as a copy of the certificate of ownership of the premises, certified by the lessor;
• The owner’s consent to register an LLC at the home address and a copy of the certificate of ownership of the premises.

Such documents are also requested by tax authorities (during the initial registration of an LLC and subsequent changes to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities) and licensing authorities. For individual entrepreneurs, there are no special documents confirming his address. A copy of the registration in the passport is enough.

Permitting documents of organizations and individual entrepreneurs for certain types of activities

This refers to those types of activities that require additional documents from government services:

• Licenses for licensed types of activities;
• SRO approvals (for construction companies);
• Confirmation that you have submitted a notice of commencement of activity (in the cases specified in Article 8 of Law No. 294-FZ of December 26, 2008);
• Permits from the SES and the State Fire Service (for shops, catering establishments and hotels);
• Certificates issued for your products or services, etc.

Document retention periods

The general storage periods for documents are set out in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and the Federal Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ “On Accounting”.

According to Art. 23 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, all taxpayers are required to store their documents for four years. However, this rule applies exclusively to documents necessary for the calculation and payment of taxes. In addition, in Art. 23 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation makes a reservation that a 4-year period is applied in cases where other terms are not established by law.

In this case, the 4-year period begins to run not from the date of preparation of the document, but from the end of the reporting (tax) period in which the document was last used to prepare tax reports or pay taxes (letter of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated July 19, 2017 No. 03-07 -11/45829). As for depreciable fixed assets, the 4-year storage period for documents on such fixed assets should be counted from the moment depreciation is completed (letter of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated February 12, 2016 No. 03-03-06/1/7604).

Therefore, we can say that 4 years is the mandatory minimum during which payers undertake to preserve documents used for tax purposes. But, in order to avoid various troubles with the Federal Tax Service, when establishing rules for storing documents, it is better to focus on longer periods.

For example, those established in Art. 29 of the Federal Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ. This article defines two main deadlines that apply to different types of documents.

Thus, for at least 5 years after the end of the reporting year (i.e., the year of compilation), the following must be stored:

• primary accounting documents (contracts, acts, invoices, receipts, invoices, advance reports, etc.);
• accounting registers (general ledger, order journals, inventory cards, etc.);
• accounting (financial) statements (balance sheets, profit and loss statements, intended use of funds, etc.);
• audit reports.

For at least 5 years after the year of last use, the following are stored for accounting purposes:

• accounting policy;
• standards of an economic entity;
• documents related to the organization and maintenance of accounting.

All the above terms are minimum. Specific storage periods for each document are contained in Order No. 558 of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation dated August 25, 2010. It must be taken into account that different storage periods may apply for the same document.

For example, primary documents required for tax payment purposes must be stored for at least 4 years (Article 23 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). The same documents used for accounting purposes have been stored for at least 5 years (Article 29 of Federal Law No. 402-FZ dated December 6, 2011). Thus, if the legal acts establish different storage periods for the same document, then the storage period for the document must be determined according to the act that provides for a longer period.

Accounting and reporting documents of organizations and individual entrepreneurs

Accounting and reporting can be accounting and tax. You can find out how one differs from the other in this article. Here we will limit ourselves to the fact that accounting is mandatory only for organizations, and tax accounting is carried out by all taxpayers (including LLCs and individual entrepreneurs). Based on this, the list of documents of the organization is much more significant than that of an individual entrepreneur, due to the financial statements.

The organization's accounting documents include:

• Accounting registers (general ledger, order journals, memorial orders, account transaction journals, turnover and accumulative statements, accounting books, inventory lists, etc.);
• Accounting statements (balance sheets, profit and loss statements, explanatory notes);
• Working chart of accounts;
• Accounting policy;
• Correspondence on accounting issues.

Documents related to tax accounting (which are maintained by both organizations and individual entrepreneurs) include:

• Tax returns;
• Books of accounting of income and expenses;
• Invoices;
• Purchase books and sales books;
• Documents confirming the tax loss, the amount of which has been carried forward to future periods;
• Acts of reconciliation with the Federal Tax Service and certificates of the status of settlements with the budget.

Primary documents record the fact of business transactions and are the basis for accounting and tax accounting:

• Cash documents and books;
• Bank documents;
• Warrants, timesheets;
• Invoices;
• Expense reports;
• Acts on acceptance and delivery of property and services;
• Acts on write-off of inventory items;
• Receipts, etc.

Agreements and documents confirming their execution:

• Treaties, agreements, contracts, invoice agreements;
• Protocols of disagreements under contracts;
• Correspondence, calculations, certificates, conclusions to contracts and agreements;
• Transaction passport;
• Liability agreements;
• Correspondence regarding accounts receivable/payable;
• Documents on acceptance of completed work (acts, certificates, invoices).

Documents on cash register equipment:

• Cash register passport;
• Cash register registration card;
• Journal of the cashier of the operator;
• Service agreement with the service center;
• Used control tapes;
• Fiscal memory drives, etc.

For the safety of the organization’s documents, the first persons will be liable with personal property

1. Constituent documents of the credit organization.

2. Certificate of the authorized registration body on making an entry about the credit organization in the unified state register of legal entities, Certificate of state registration of the credit organization.

3. A license to carry out banking operations by a credit organization, a license to carry out professional activities in the securities market by a credit organization, other licenses and permits.

4. List of branches, representative offices and subsidiaries of a credit institution (including those created (registered) in the territories of foreign states), indicating their location, number of employees (in accordance with staffing schedules and actual number).

5. Reports and other information submitted by the credit institution to the Bank of Russia in accordance with Bank of Russia Directive No. 1376-U as of the last reporting date.

6. Reporting in form 0409101 in accordance with Appendix 1 to Bank of Russia Directive No. 1376-U (as of the date of appointment (termination of activities, in the event of revocation of a credit organization’s license - on the date of the arbitration court’s decision to declare the credit organization bankrupt and to open bankruptcy proceedings (approval of the bankruptcy trustee) or the entry into force of the decision of the arbitration court on the appointment of a liquidator) of the temporary administration, with turnover from the beginning of the month, unless otherwise established by the temporary administration) in general for the credit organization, for the head office of the credit organization and its branches, signed on each page by the head of the credit organization and the chief accountant of the credit organization and sealed.

7. Statement of account balances of a credit institution, compiled in the manner established by the annex to Bank of Russia Regulation No. 302-P dated March 26, 2007 “On the rules of accounting in credit institutions located on the territory of the Russian Federation,” registered by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation March 29, 2007 No. 9176 (“Bulletin of the Bank of Russia” dated April 16, 2007 No. 20-21) on the date of appointment (termination of activities, in the event of revocation of a credit organization’s license - on the date of the arbitration court’s decision to declare the credit organization bankrupt and the opening of bankruptcy proceedings (approval of the bankruptcy trustee) or the entry into force of the decision of the arbitration court on the appointment of a liquidator) of the temporary administration as a whole for the credit organization, for the head office of the credit organization and for its branches, signed on each page by the head of the credit organization and the chief accountant of the credit organization and sealed.

8. Legal files of clients of a credit institution, indicating the bank account number, legal file number with continuous numbering of sheets in each legal file (with a list of documents).

9. Originals of agreements concluded by the credit institution.

10. Credit and other files with originals of agreements concluded by the credit institution.

11. Balance sheets of subsidiaries of a credit institution as of the last reporting date.

12. Staffing list of the credit institution.

13. Personal files of credit institution employees.

14. Data on personal accounts of employees of a credit institution on wages for the last 3 years.

15. List of correspondent banks (residents and non-residents). Ciphers (codes) for making payments using an electronic digital signature and (or) an analogue of a handwritten signature.

16. List of persons vested with the right of first or second signature on payment documents, the right to sign credit and other agreements, labor agreements and contracts of the credit organization (its branches).

17. Auditor's report on the financial (accounting) statements of the credit organization for the last reporting year and for the reporting period of the current year (if available).

18. Reports of the latest thematic and comprehensive inspections of the credit institution.

19. Book of records of powers of attorney, as well as copies of powers of attorney issued to employees of the credit institution, heads of branches, representative offices, subsidiaries of the credit institution and third parties.

20. Estimate of administrative and economic expenses of a credit institution.

21. List of claims, lawsuits and enforcement documents presented to the credit organization, as well as those presented by the credit organization itself (indicating their amounts).

22. Minutes and decisions of the executive bodies of the credit institution, administrative documents of the credit institution for the last 3 years.

23. Minutes of meetings of the board of directors (supervisory board) of the credit organization and meetings of the founders (participants) of the credit organization for the last 3 years.

24. Report of the last audit carried out by a credit institution (temporary administration) at the head office, branches and other structural divisions of banknotes, coins and other valuables located in places of storage of valuables (cash registers, ATMs, storage of valuables, separately located places of storage of valuables by financially responsible persons (safes and other places for storing valuables).

25. Report of the last inventory of fixed assets and tangible assets of the credit organization carried out by the credit institution (temporary administration).

26. Nomenclature of affairs of a credit organization.

27. List of depository cells with originals of storage agreements, keys to depository cells according to the inventory.

28. Documents of a credit institution subject to archival storage transferred to the temporary administration.

29. When a credit organization carries out professional activities on the securities market, contracts related to the credit organization’s professional activities on the securities market, as well as the following documents, are subject to acceptance and transfer:

29.1. When carrying out depository activities:

• client files, instructions for depository operations, accounting registers;
• conditions for carrying out depository activities approved by the credit institution;
• reporting on depository operations of a credit institution, the need for which is provided for by the regulations of the bodies regulating the securities market;
• statement of balances on correspondent securities accounts of a credit institution;
• a list of correspondent accounts “LORO” and “NOSTRO” opened in the depository of a credit organization;

29.2. When carrying out brokerage activities:

• client files, instructions for depository operations, accounting registers;
• internal documents regulating the activities of a division of a credit institution providing brokerage services to clients, including approved rules for maintaining internal accounting;
• instructions from clients to carry out brokerage operations, as well as instructions for transactions drawn up by a division of a credit institution providing brokerage services to clients;
• administrative notes;
• registers of transactions for 5 working days preceding the day the temporary administration began its activities, as well as registers of transactions received from trade organizers;
• transcripts of personal accounts of balance sheet accounts for recording funds of clients of a credit institution for brokerage operations;

29.3. When implementing trust management:

• general conditions for the creation of the General Fund for Banking Management (hereinafter referred to as the General Fund for Banking Management) (if the credit institution has created the General Fund for Banking Management) and trust management of its property;
• investment declaration;
• trust management balances of the credit institution for each individual trust management agreement and each OFBU as of the last reporting date, broken down by personal accounts to balance sheet accounts;
• consolidated balance sheet of the credit institution's trust management as of the last reporting date.

30. Other documents of the credit organization.

Personnel documents of the organization and individual entrepreneur

Personnel documents are under special attention of tax authorities, funds (PFR, MHIF, Social Insurance Fund) and labor inspectorate (LIT). Individual employers have the same responsibilities as organizational employers with regard to maintaining personnel records.

We provide a list of personnel documents for organizations and individual entrepreneurs that every employer must have.

1. Inner order rules
2. Regulations on the protection of personal data of employees
3. Staffing table
4. Employment contract with each employee
5. Employee personal card (form T-2)
6. Work books of employees (if the employee is registered at the main place of work)
7. Book of movement of work books and inserts in them
8. All documents related to the calculation and payment of salaries and other payments to employees
9. Labor protection instructions for positions (professions)
10. Time sheet and calculation of wages
11. Briefing log (familiarization with instructions)
12. Vacation schedule
13. Orders and instructions of the head of personnel
14. Job descriptions for each position (if the contract contains a link to the instructions)
15. Regulations on remuneration and bonuses for employees (if this is not specified in the contract)
16. Regulations on certification of employees (if certification is carried out)
17. Provision on trade secrets (if there is such a provision in the contract)
18. Agreement on full financial responsibility (not for all employees)
19. Shift schedule (if there is shift work)
20. Collective agreement (if such an agreement has been concluded)
21. Documents on certification or assessment of working conditions of workplaces
22. Documents on labor protection
23. Journals and books of personnel records (employment contracts, orders, personal files, travel certificates, military records, etc.).

Responsibility for improper storage of accounting documents

First of all, the manager is responsible for organizing the storage of the organization’s documents, including primary accounting documents.
The chief accountant of the institution is also responsible for the safety of primary accounting documents, accounting registers and financial statements. Documentation may be lost as a result of natural disasters or illegal actions of third parties. If documents are lost as a result of someone’s unlawful actions (for example, theft), then this fact must be confirmed by law enforcement agencies. Loss of documents as a result of natural disasters is also documented by the relevant authorities. In the event of a fire, this may be a certificate from the fire inspection authorities.

In case of loss of primary accounting documents, the head of the organization, in accordance with clause 6.8 of the Regulations on Documents and Document Flow, appoints by order a commission to investigate the causes of the loss.

The absence of primary documents justifying the completion of any business transaction, in accordance with Art. 120 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation refers to gross violations of the rules for accounting for income and expenses, which means:

lack of primary documents, or invoices, or accounting registers;

systematic (twice or more times during a calendar year) untimely or incorrect reflection in the accounting accounts and in the reporting of business transactions of funds, tangible assets, intangible assets and financial investments of the taxpayer.

The chief accountant is responsible for the safety of documents. It is he who has the right to make a decision on issuing such documents to employees of structural divisions of the enterprise.

As for liability for failure to comply with the rules for storing accounting documents, it can be both administrative and tax. The absence of primary documents and accounting registers is a gross violation of the rules for accounting for income, expenses, and taxable items and entails a fine of 5,000 to 15,000 rubles. (Article 120 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

An administrative fine in this case can be imposed both for violation of archival requirements for storing documents (Article 13.20 of the Administrative Code - 300-500 rubles), and for a gross violation of accounting rules if, due to the lack of documents, the accounting statements are distorted (Article 15.11 of the Administrative Code - 2000-3000 thousand rubles).

>Responsibility for storing accounting documents in the organization

Storage periods for organizational and individual documents

Typically, the storage of documents is carried out by an accountant, human resources specialist, lawyer, and secretary. It’s good when there are several employees, and you can entrust one of them with maintaining and storing all this documentation.

And yet, even if the business is small, and the owner does not have time to devote a lot of time to this issue, it is necessary to think about the safety of documents. Here are the storage periods for the main groups of organizational and individual documents (see the List for the full list):

Responsibility for the safety of archival documents in the organization.

• Regulatory legal acts providing for responsibility for the safety of archival documents
• The need to unify regulatory documents

Federal Law No. 125-FZ dated October 22, 2004 (as amended on December 28, 2017) “On Archiving in the Russian Federation” (hereinafter referred to as Law No. 125-FZ) regulates relations in the field of organizing storage, acquisition, accounting and use of documents from the Archival Fund of the Russian Federation and other archival documents, regardless of their form of ownership, as well as relations in the field of archival management in the Russian Federation in the interests of citizens, society and the state.

The subject of law in this case is public entities: government bodies of all levels and organizations subordinate to them, local government bodies, commercial structures. The object of law is an archival document to which legally significant actions of the subject are directed: the exercise of powers of disposal within the limits established by law.

The emergence of legal relations regulated by Law No. 125-FZ comes from the norm of Article 13 “Creation of archives”, which obliges state bodies, local government bodies of a municipal district and urban district to create archives for storing, compiling, recording and using archival documents generated in the process of their activities . And organizations and citizens have the right to create archives for the purpose of storing archival documents generated in the process of their activities, including for the purpose of storing and using archival documents that are not state or municipal property.

An archival document is an object of law, namely an object of ownership. The special status of an archival document is enshrined in Law No. 125-FZ. In relation to an archival document, the owner is established - a state body, a local government body or a legal or natural person who owns and uses archival documents and exercises the authority to dispose of them within the limits established by law or agreement.

Actually, based on the analysis of the norms of the articles and understanding of the legal status of the archival document, legal entities and individuals are responsible for the safety of those documents that are assigned to the state part of the Archival Fund of the Russian Federation, and for those documents that are named in by-laws. Not every business entity can be classified as a source of acquisition of state archives, and those documents that were generated in the activities of this entity can be transferred for archival storage under an agreement.

The field of archival affairs is regulated by many regulatory legal acts; it is difficult to figure out what’s what the first time, and a lot of questions arise. In order not to go too far into the analysis of existing norms, let’s start with a fundamentally important norm:

1. The law directly provides for the obligation of organizations to ensure the safety of archival documents, including documents on personnel, during their storage periods.

2. Organizations have the right to create archives for the purpose of storing and using archival documents generated in the course of their activities.

The Basic Rules for the Operation of Archives of Organizations (approved by the decision of the Board of Rosarkhiv dated 02/06/2002) and Order of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation dated March 31, 2015 No. 526 “On approval of the rules for organizing storage” are applicable to the organization of archival affairs in state authorities, local governments and business entities. , acquisition, accounting and use of documents from the Archival Fund of the Russian Federation and other archival documents in government bodies, local governments and organizations.” These Rules apply to the archives of state organizations, and are also mandatory for all non-state organizations in terms of ensuring the safety, description, recording and use of documents of the Archival Fund of the Russian Federation classified as state or municipal property.

It follows from the law that creating an archive in an organization is a right, but ensuring the safety of documents is an obligation. In addition to the above norms, there are also a number of by-laws that indirectly indicate that creating an archive in an organization is a requirement, because, in fact, there are no other methods of storing documents other than the archival method of storing documents. Working with documents in the archive is directly related to the security measure for their safety. Thus, paragraph 2.14 of the Rules (2015) establishes that the safety of documents in the organization’s archive is ensured by a set of measures to create regulatory conditions, comply with regulatory regimes and properly organize the storage of documents, excluding theft and loss and ensuring maintenance in normal physical condition.

Article 27 of Law No. 125-FZ provides for several types of legal liability for the safety of documents: liability for violation of the legislation on archival affairs in the Russian Federation. Legal entities, as well as officials and citizens guilty of violating the legislation on archival affairs in the Russian Federation, bear civil, administrative and criminal liability established by the legislation of the Russian Federation.

Section 1.5. The Basic Rules for the Operation of Archives of Organizations (2002) establishes that the archive, together with the head of the organization, is responsible for:

1. failure to comply with the conditions for ensuring the safety of documents;
2. loss and unauthorized destruction of documents;
3. unjustified refusal to accept for storage documents of permanent storage and personnel of subordinate organizations upon liquidation of the organization or change in the form of ownership;
4. violation of the rules for the use of documents and user access to documents established by law.

As is understood, for violation of the provisions of section 1.5. The basic rules for the work of archives of organizations provide for liability in Article 13.20 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation: violation of the rules for storage, acquisition, accounting or use of archival documents entails a warning or 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.

This norm-sanction includes about 39 by-laws as part of the Rules, among them:

1. Order of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation dated January 18, 2007 No. 19 (as amended on February 16, 2009) “On approval of the Rules for organizing the storage, acquisition, recording and use of documents of the Archive Fund of the Russian Federation and other archival documents in state and municipal archives, museums and libraries, organizations of the Russian Federation” Academy of Sciences" (registered with the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation on March 6, 2007 No. 9059).
2. Order of the Judicial Department at the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated June 9, 2011 No. 112 “On approval of the List of documents of federal courts of general jurisdiction indicating storage periods.”
3. Federal Law of the Russian Federation dated December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ “On Accounting” (Article 29 “Storage of Accounting Documents”).
4. Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated October 16, 2003 No. 630 (as amended on March 9, 2010) “On the Unified State Register of Individual Entrepreneurs, Rules for storing documents (information) in the unified state registers of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs and transferring them for permanent storage to state archives, as well as on introducing amendments and additions to Decrees of the Government of the Russian Federation of June 19, 2002 No. 438 and 439" (together with the "Rules for maintaining the Unified State Register of Individual Entrepreneurs and providing the information contained therein").
5. Basic rules for the work of archives of organizations (approved by the decision of the Board of Rosarkhiv dated 02/06/2002).
6. Order of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation dated August 25, 2010 No. 558 “On approval of the List of standard management archival documents generated in the process of activities of state bodies, local governments and organizations, indicating storage periods”

However, for some forms of business entities (joint stock company, investment fund, non-state pension fund, insurers) there are separate rules on the safety of documents, and this is connected, first of all, with their financial activities. Certain federal laws establish the obligation to preserve documents:

1. Federal Law of April 22, 1996 No. 39-FZ (as amended on July 23, 2013) “On the securities market” (in part 3 of article 28).
2. Federal Law of December 26, 1995 No. 208-FZ (as amended on July 23, 2013) “On Joint Stock Companies” (Article 89).
3. Federal Law of November 29, 2001 No. 156-FZ (as amended on July 23, 2013) “On Investment Funds.”
4. Federal Law of February 8, 1998 No. 14-FZ (as amended on December 29, 2012, as amended on July 23, 2013) “On Limited Liability Companies” (Article 50).
5. Federal Law of November 14, 2002 No. 161-FZ (as amended on July 2, 2013) “On State and Municipal Unitary Enterprises” (Article 28).
6. Federal Law No. 75-FZ dated 05/07/1998 (as amended on 07/23/2013) “On non-state pension funds” (Article 32, paragraph 4).
7. Law of the Russian Federation of November 27, 1992 No. 4015-1 (as amended on July 23, 2013) “On the organization of insurance business in the Russian Federation” (Article 6, clause 2.1.).

For violation of the norms provided for by these laws, the sanction is provided for in Article 13.25 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation:

1. Failure of a joint-stock company, a professional participant in the securities market, a management company of a joint-stock investment fund, a mutual investment fund or a non-state pension fund or a specialized depository of a joint-stock investment fund, a mutual investment fund or a non-state pension fund to fulfill the obligation to store documents that are provided for by the legislation on joint-stock companies , on the securities market, on investment funds and normative legal acts adopted in accordance with it and the storage of which is mandatory, as well as violation of the established procedure and terms of storage of such documents -

entails the imposition of an administrative fine on officials in the amount of two thousand five hundred to five thousand rubles; for legal entities - from two hundred thousand to three hundred thousand rubles.

2. Failure of a limited (additional) liability company or a unitary enterprise to fulfill the obligation to store documents that are provided for by the legislation on limited liability companies, on state and municipal unitary enterprises and normative legal acts adopted in accordance with it and the storage of which is mandatory, as well as violation of the established procedure and terms of storage of such documents -

entails the imposition of an administrative fine on officials in the amount of two thousand five hundred to five thousand rubles; for legal entities - from two hundred thousand to three hundred thousand rubles.

3. Failure by the insurer to fulfill the obligation to store documents, the list of which and requirements for ensuring safety, which are provided for by insurance legislation, -

entails the imposition of an administrative fine on officials in the amount of twenty thousand to thirty thousand rubles; for legal entities - from one hundred thousand to two hundred thousand rubles.

And also, in accordance with Art. 17 of the Federal Law of November 21, 1996 No. 129-FZ “On Accounting”, organizations are required to store primary accounting documents, accounting registers and financial statements for periods established in accordance with the rules for organizing state archival affairs, but not less than 5 years.

At the same time, the responsibility for organizing the storage of accounting documents, accounting registers and financial statements lies with the head of the organization. For gross violation of the rules of accounting and presentation of financial statements, as well as the procedure and terms of storage of accounting documents, administrative liability has been established in relation to officials in accordance with Article 15.11 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.

In addition, according to sub. 8 clause 1 art. 23 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, a taxpayer organization is obliged for 4 years to ensure the safety of accounting and tax accounting data and other documents necessary for the calculation and payment of taxes, including documents confirming receipt of income, expenses, and payment of taxes. The absence of these documents can lead to quite serious consequences.

According to Article 13.25, everything is obvious: there is a list of documents for the safety of which an official or legal entity is responsible. Moreover, I believe that these lists can be expanded to include documents on personnel: orders on personnel (with storage periods from 5 to 50 (75) years), personal files of employees, personal accounts.

If we consider in more detail the sanction of Article 13.20 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, it turns out that for each stage of archival records management a single punishment is provided, be it storage (for example, violation of temperature and humidity requirements), accounting, acquisition or use, although by the nature and volume of work this is absolutely different categories. The security of documents can be understood as the entire complex of these stages, since they cannot exist one without the other. It is impossible to apply a sanction only for non-compliance with temperature and humidity in the archive room. There must be a cause-and-effect relationship between the actions/inactions of responsible persons and the resulting consequences, for example, such as physical loss of part of the document due to the spread of mold or swelling of paper due to high humidity, which leads to blurring of the text and the inability to read it, etc. etc. If we talk about acquisition, it includes three parts: determining the sources of archive acquisition; determining the composition of documents to be accepted into the archive; organizing the transfer of documents to the archive, it is not clear where to look for the elements of the offense.

We believe that the wording of this article is abstract. It must be clearly defined for which actions/inactions the punishment is applicable and in what amount, or it must be reformulated, for example, “violation of the safety of archival documents,” and give a definition of what will be understood by “safety of archival documents.” This concept will contain not only an understanding of the physical safety of archival documents on shelves in boxes, but also the qualitative part of their creation, starting from the development of a nomenclature of files and ending with scientific and technical processing.

In my opinion, it is necessary to adopt a single regulatory act that would regulate relations in the field of ensuring the safety of archival documents, be they accounting, personnel or management documents. This act should combine the rules for the protection of documents in commercial structures of all organizational and legal forms.

For example:

Article 8. Ensuring the safety of documents on personnel

8.1. Documents on personnel include: orders on personnel (on appointment, dismissal, transfer, assignment of titles, awards, name change, parental leave, leave without pay, certification, advanced training, etc.), work books , personal affairs, personal accounts.

8.2. The employer, regardless of the organizational and legal form, is obliged to store these documents in accordance with the deadlines established by Order of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation dated August 25, 2010 No. 558 “On approval of the List of standard management archival documents generated in the course of the activities of state bodies, local governments and organizations , indicating storage periods." If the storage period is not established by the List, then according to the period established by the Expert Review Commission of the organization and the federal executive body authorized by the Government of the Russian Federation in the field of archival affairs.

8.3. The employer is obliged to ensure the physical safety of the documents presented in paragraphs____ of the Rules (2015)

8.4. The employer is obliged to maintain archival records in relation to personnel documents in accordance with the requirements of clauses 2.14-2.37 of the Rules (2015).

Accordingly, the norms and sanctions for violating norms in the field of preservation of archival documents in commercial structures should also be revised. Especially regarding the amount of fines for legal entities. In addition, as a rule, the issue of providing documents arises in the framework of legal disputes between commercial entities or on the initiative of the tax authority to a business entity. During the process, it turns out that the documents are lost or not created at all, but this violation will not relate to this case, or this violation, if known to the plaintiff, must be stated in the claim initially.

If we talk about the procedure for identifying violations of archival legislation by organizations, then in accordance with paragraph 59 of part 2 of article 28.3, protocols on administrative offenses provided for in article 13.20, part 2 of article 13.25 of the Code are drawn up by officials of bodies authorized in the field of archival fund management. Order of the Federal Archive of February 18, 2002 No. 18 “On organizing the work of archival bodies for the implementation of the Federal Law “On the Enforcement of the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offenses”” (as amended on March 25, 2002) established a list of the following officials, in in accordance with Part 4 of Article 28.3 of the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offenses authorized to draw up protocols on administrative offenses provided for in Article 13.20, Part 1 of Article 19.4, Part 1 of Article 19.5, Articles 19.6, 19.7 of the Code:

1. head of the Federal Archive Service of Russia, his deputies;
2. heads of structural divisions of the Federal Archive Service of Russia, their deputies;
3. heads of archival bodies of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, their deputies;
4. heads of structural divisions of archival bodies of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, their deputies;

And since September 1, 2013, the Bank of Russia has been considering cases of administrative offenses provided for in parts 1 and 3 of Article 13.25, etc.

At the end of the article, we will draw the following conclusions: the rules in the field of archival affairs are scattered and contained in a huge number of by-laws, which creates an obstacle to their understanding and application; lack of clearly defined responsibility for the safety of archival documents; the current sanction of Article 13.20 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation is negligible, the sanction of Article 13.25 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation often does not correspond to the offense committed.

The importance of archival documents for establishing legal facts and for presenting extracts or copies to the court as evidence in a case is obvious. Archival documents contain historically significant information that is necessary for research purposes. This is the use and application of archival documents. Also, an archival document is of great importance for the protection of the legitimate interests and rights of citizens (for example, documents on personnel, personal files, personal accounts, that is, those documents that reflect the labor activity of a citizen, or, for example, documents establishing property rights, and others documents that confirm the special or other status of a citizen). The archival document in this case is the official and only source of information. As practice shows, employing companies violate the law on the safety of personnel documents, which leads to their loss and impossibility of restoration. It is necessary to unify archival legislation, give special legal status to archival documents and revise the procedure for accepting documents from commercial structures into the Archival Fund of the Russian Federation. It is also necessary to provide for responsibility not only for the safety of archival documents assigned to the Archival Fund of the Russian Federation, but also for those documents that have or may have legal significance.

See also: Sichkareva M.M. Judicial liability for loss of documents // Records management. 2021. No. 1. P.100-106.

Where to store documents of the organization and individual entrepreneurs?

If there are few documents, then the easiest way is to create your own archive - store them in a safe (fireproof cabinet) or allocate a separate room for the archive. The law does not provide specific requirements for the design of the archive; the main thing is that it fulfill its function of collecting and storing documents.

Documents of the last three years, as well as those that are constantly required in work (most often, registration) constitute the so-called operational archive, therefore they are not stored for long-term storage. Documents stored for no more than five years, upon expiration of the storage period, must be destroyed by burning or cutting in a shredder.

Other documents with a shelf life of more than five years must be deposited. To do this, they are filed in volumes with no more than 250 sheets in one volume. Each sheet of the volume is numbered, and an internal inventory and cover are drawn up. Documents can also be transferred for safekeeping to specialized archival organizations, but this makes sense if there are a large number of them.

Responsibility for violation of storage rules

If it is discovered that some accounting papers are missing, then this violation, according to Art. 120 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation will entail the imposition of a fine on the violator in the amount of 10 thousand rubles. If such a violation is observed over several tax periods, the fine will be increased to 30 thousand rubles.

In case of gross violations, the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation can come into force, and more specifically, its Art. 325. Such violations include theft and intentional damage to documentation. The punishment is a fine of up to 200 thousand rubles and, possibly, imprisonment for up to one year.

Accounting documents must be kept in an archive. This separate room contains closed cabinets, safes and shelving, on which folders and files are placed. Such storage is provided for strict reporting forms. The rest of the official papers can be placed in simple cabinets or even on shelves anywhere.

Russian Government Decree No. 359 specifies these requirements.

To the question of who is responsible for storing accounting documents, you can give a clear answer - the head of the company. The regulatory authorities will ask him if the company does not have the necessary documentation. And for violation of storage periods, liability is provided, both administrative and criminal.

Responsibility for the safety of documents of the organization and individual entrepreneurs

It is necessary to store the above documents, first of all, in the interests of the businessman himself, because their absence makes it very difficult (or even impossible) for entrepreneurial activity. But penalties, in the form of fines, are also provided for by law.

Thus, for the absence of primary documents for one tax period, a fine of 10 thousand rubles is imposed on officials, and if this results in an underestimation of the tax base, then the fine will be at least 40 thousand rubles.

What to do if documents are lost? Lost registration documents (certificates of state registration and tax registration) or the Charter can be restored by contacting the tax office with an application to issue a duplicate certificate or a copy of the Charter.

If the accounting or personnel documents of an organization or individual entrepreneur are lost, a commission should be created to investigate the reasons. The fact of document theft must be confirmed by a police certificate; natural disasters - a certificate from the Ministry of Emergency Situations; flooding - a certificate from the Housing Office, etc.

Next, documents whose storage period has not expired will need to be restored. For documents related to the calculation and payment of taxes, you must contact the tax office, and for payment of contributions, respectively, to the funds. You can obtain copies of account statements and copies of payment documents from the bank. You can contact your counterparties with a request to send copies of contracts, acts, delivery notes, and invoices.

Lost documents

Documentation may be lost as a result of natural disasters or illegal actions of third parties. If documents are lost as a result of someone’s unlawful actions (for example, theft), then this fact must be confirmed by law enforcement agencies. Loss of documents as a result of natural disasters is also documented by the relevant authorities. In the event of a fire, this may be a certificate from the fire inspection authorities.

Actions in case of loss of documents

In case of loss of primary accounting documents, the head of the organization, in accordance with clause 6.8 of the Regulations on Documents and Document Flow, appoints by order a commission to investigate the causes of the loss. The absence of primary documents justifying the completion of any business transaction, in accordance with Art. 120 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation refers to gross violations of the rules for accounting for income and expenses, which means the absence of primary documents, or invoices, or accounting registers, systematic (two or more times during a calendar year) untimely or incorrect reflection in the accounting accounts and in the reporting of business transactions of funds, tangible assets, intangible assets and financial investments of the taxpayer.

Responsibility for failure to maintain safety

Responsibility for failure by officials of the organization to preserve documents is also established in Art. 27 of Federal Law N 125-FZ: legal entities, as well as officials and citizens guilty of violating the legislation on archival affairs in the Russian Federation, bear civil, administrative and criminal liability established by the legislation of the Russian Federation. Destruction of documents without observing their storage periods is illegal and entails administrative liability. In accordance with Art. 13.20 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation establishes administrative sanctions for violation of the rules of storage, acquisition, accounting or use of documents in the form of a warning or the imposition of an administrative fine.