To what tax payments from October 1, 2021 can an overpayment of tax be offset?
You can send overpayments of taxes (clauses 4, 5, Article 78 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation):
- towards upcoming tax payments;
- to pay off debts on taxes, penalties, and fines.
It can be offset against any tax, regardless of whether it is federal, regional or local. It can also be offset against penalties and fines related to any type of tax (Clause 1, Article 78 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
The exception is personal income tax. Its overpayment cannot be offset against future personal income tax payments. But you can apply such an overpayment towards future payments for other taxes. Basis - clause 1, 14 art. 78, paragraph 9 of Art. 226 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, Letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated 02/06/2017 N ГД-4-8/ [email protected] (we believe that these clarifications can be used with the amendment that after the repeal of paragraph 2 of clause 1 of Article 78 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation from 01.10. 2020 for offset it is not required that the type of offset taxes match).
Overpayment for transport will be credited to personal income tax
- New rules for offsetting overpayments of taxes
- Changes in the calculation of citizens' taxes
- Service for checking the validity of the moratorium on bankruptcy
- Request for additional tax notice
- Desk audits for VAT will be reduced to 1 month
Tax innovations that can simplify or change the lives of citizens and companies - in the traditional weekly review of tax practice from DOLG.RF.
New rules for offsetting overpayments of taxes
From October 1, the rules for offsetting overpayments on taxes have changed.
Previously, a citizen who overpaid a specific type of tax (for example, personal income tax - personal income tax) could offset it only to pay taxes of the same category. Personal income tax refers to federal taxes, and the overpayment could only be taken into account for future personal income tax calculations (other federal taxes are paid by organizations). Now the Federal Tax Service (FTS) of the Russian Federation has allowed overpayments of federal taxes to be offset against regional, local and vice versa. For example, if a citizen has overpaid personal income tax, he can partially or fully pay transport and property taxes from the overpayment. Also, by overpayment you can pay off (in whole or in part) fines and penalties issued to the taxpayer. You can take advantage of the new rules for offsetting overpayments of taxes now, since citizens must pay property taxes before December 1. More information about innovations can be found in Law No. 325-FZ of September 29, 2021.
The fiscal authority clarifies that overpayments of any tax cannot be used to pay off debt on insurance premiums.
Changes in the calculation of citizens' taxes
Alexey Laschenov, head of the Property Taxation Department of the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation, said that in 2021 citizens will receive 69.4 million tax notices. The total tax debt of Russians to the budget amounted to 292.5 billion rubles, which is 4.8% more than in 2019.
| Type of tax | Main changes |
| Property tax for individuals | 74 constituent entities of the Russian Federation switched to calculation based on cadastral value. In 2020, the Smolensk region, Krasnoyarsk region, and the republics of North Ossetia and Dagestan joined the new forms of payment. Application of federal benefits for citizens of pre-retirement age. Exemption from tax for 1 business premises with an area of up to 50 square meters. m, parking space, garage or housing. |
| Land tax | Application of benefits for citizens of pre-retirement age. Reduction of the tax base by the cadastral value of 600 sq. m of land owned by the taxpayer. |
| Transport tax | Non-declaration procedure for providing benefits to large families, disabled people, pre-retirement people and pensioners. The Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation receives data about a citizen through social protection authorities and the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation. Expanding the list of cars costing over 3 million rubles, for which increased coefficients are applied when calculating tax. Another 1.1 thousand vehicles were included in the list of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation. Among them are Volvo XC40, Chevrolet Travers, Cadillac XT5 and CT6, Audi Q8 and others. |
Service for checking the validity of the moratorium on bankruptcy
The Government of the Russian Federation, by Resolution No. 1587 of October 1, 2021, extended the moratorium on bankruptcy for companies and entrepreneurs working in areas affected by coronavirus.
The number of business entities subject to the moratorium has decreased, since strategic and systemically important enterprises have been excluded from it. To find out whether the moratorium on bankruptcy applies to an organization or entrepreneur or not, you can use the service of the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation. To check yourself or a counterparty, just enter either OGRN/OGRIP or TIN into the form.
Request for additional tax notice
If a citizen has lost a tax notice, or if there is no personal account on the website of the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation, documents have not been received to him at all, he has the right to contact the MFC to issue an additional notification. To receive it, you must fill out an application in the form specified in the order of the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation No. ММВ-7-21 / [email protected] dated November 11, 2019.
At the same time, the department reminds that tax notifications may not have arrived due to the fact that the amount of debt to the budget is less than 100 rubles. Also, notifications are not sent to benefit citizens who are exempt from paying tax on one property.
As a standard, tax notices in paper form are sent to citizens before November 1.
Desk audits for VAT will be reduced to 1 month
The Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation published letter No. ED-20-15/ [email protected] dated October 6, 2020, which describes the specifics of conducting desk audits of value added tax (VAT) declarations. The inspection period will be reduced to 1 month.
Currently, the automated ASK VAT-2 system is used to verify data. Thanks to it, it was possible to reduce the tax gap to 0.43%. Back in 2021 it was 8%.
The decision to reduce the time frame for conducting a desk audit for VAT was made jointly with business. It will improve the business climate in the country. Organizations and entrepreneurs will be able to more effectively manage working capital for business development.
How to offset tax overpayments
To offset the overpayment against future payments, submit an application to the inspectorate in the approved form (clause 4 of article 78 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
Application for offset of tax overpayment sample
We recommend that you check your data with the tax authority before submitting an application to offset the overpayment. To do this, you can request a certificate of the status of settlements with the budget or a reconciliation report. The fact is that if the inspection reveals discrepancies with the amounts that you indicated in the application, it will still offer to carry out a reconciliation first.
If the overpayment arose due to an error in the declaration, then first submit an updated declaration in which the error was corrected (clause 1 of Article 81 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). After that, submit an application for credit. The inspectorate will offset the overpayment to pay off arrears of taxes (penalties, fines) independently.
However, you can submit an application for offset in this case yourself (clause 5 of Article 78 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
The concept of offset or refund of overpaid tax and the reasons for the overpayment
Offsetting the amount of overpaid tax is a special procedure provided for by the current legislation of the Russian Federation, which consists of confirming the existence of an overpayment and the subsequent distribution of excess financial resources.
The payment of tax will be considered both a direct transfer of funds in a certain amount to the state budget account, and the offset of the excess amount by the authorized tax authority.
The offset or refund of overpaid taxes, fees, penalties, and fines is based on the principles of the current tax legislation of the Russian Federation and is aimed at preserving the interests of taxpayers.
Practice shows that overpayments can occur even among the most experienced and attentive accountants. The most common reasons for its occurrence are as a result of filing an amended return for certain tax periods.
If the amount in the new declaration is less than the original document, an overpayment occurs.
In addition, overpayments often arise for simpler reasons - mechanical errors of authorized persons, clerical errors, inaccuracies, failure to comply with established deadlines for filing tax documents, errors in the formation of the tax base, etc.
A possible reason for an overpayment may also be certain changes in tax calculations that were introduced by the current legislation of the Russian Federation after the first declaration had already been submitted to the tax organization.
Within what period can the inspectorate itself offset the overpayment of taxes to pay off the arrears?
The inspection may carry out offsets within the time limits for forced collection of arrears, penalties, and fines. If these deadlines are missed, the tax authority does not have the right to independently offset the arrears (Determination of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation dated 02/08/2007 N 381-O-P, Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated 07/30/2013 N 57 (clause 32), Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated 15.09. 2009 N 6544/09).
If the inspection has missed the deadline for the undisputed collection of arrears, penalties, fines, then it has the right to carry out such an offset only if there is a court decision on this (Resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated December 9, 2008 N 8689/08).
How can an organization apply to offset tax overpayments?
You need to submit an application for offset of the overpayment to the inspectorate within a limited time. You can do this in one of the following ways (clauses 4, 5, Article 78 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation):
- in paper form - in person (through a representative) or by mail;
- in electronic form - via TKS or through the taxpayer’s personal account.
Submit your application to the inspectorate at your place of registration. And if there are separate divisions, you can submit it both at the place of registration of the EP and at the place of registration of the organization. This follows from paragraph 7 of Art. 78, paragraph 1, art. 83 Tax Code of the Russian Federation.
How long does it take for the inspectorate to make a decision to offset tax overpayments?
The time frame for making a decision on offset depends on whether the inspection conducted a desk audit and whether violations were discovered during it.
If the inspection conducted a desk audit and found no violations, the period is 10 working days. They are not counted immediately after completion of the inspection, but after another 10 working days have elapsed from one of the following dates (clause 6 of article 6.1, clauses 4, 5, 8.1 of article 78 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation):
- the date following the end of the inspection, if the inspection completed it within the prescribed period;
— the date when the inspection must be completed under clause 2 of Art. 88 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation - if the inspection verified the declaration longer than the required period.
If the inspection conducted a desk audit and revealed violations
, the period is 10 working days from the date following the day the decision came into force based on the results of the desk audit (clause 6 of article 6.1, clauses 4, 5, 8.1 of article 78 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
If a desk audit was not carried out
, the inspection must make a decision to offset the overpayment within 10 working days from the date of receipt of your application or signing of a joint reconciliation report, if such a reconciliation was carried out (clause 6 of article 6.1, clauses 4, 5 of article 78 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation) . We recommend that you apply for a credit in advance - at least 10 business days before the upcoming tax payment deadline for which you plan to apply the overpayment.
The inspection must inform you about the decision made within five working days after its adoption (clauses 2, 6, article 6.1, clause 9, article 78 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). The inspectorate can deliver such a message to you or your representative personally against receipt, by TKS or in another way (Clause 9 of Article 78 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
If the inspectorate itself offsets the overpayment
on account of tax arrears (penalties, fines), then such a decision must be made within 10 working days from the next day after (clause 2, 6, article 6.1, clause 5, article 78 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation):
— detection of overpayment;
— signing a reconciliation report jointly with you, if one was carried out;
— entry into force of a court decision (for example, if the overpayment was confirmed by the court).
Rules for the refund of overpaid tax
Article 78 provides that the refund of the amount of overpaid tax is made on the basis of an appropriate decision of the tax authority. A refund is very different from an offset.
If, when offset, the amount is, in fact, simply transferred to pay off other taxes and existing tax debts, then the return means the transfer of this specific amount back to the interested party who submitted the corresponding application - the taxpayer.
At the same time, the current rules and Article 78 provide that a refund can be made only if the taxpayer does not have any arrears or debts.
If there is an arrear, the possibility of returning the overpaid amount remains, but only after additional receipt of financial resources for the initial repayment of the debt.
An application for the return of an overpaid amount can be submitted within 3 years from the date of receipt of this amount in the state current account, or from the date of reconciliation of calculations by the parties.
In cases where the fact of excessive collection of a certain tax has been established and confirmed, the authorized body must decide to return the excess amount of the collected tax, as well as accrued interest, if any.
What to do if the inspection refused the test or carried it out late
You can appeal the refusal to offset to a higher tax authority, and then to the court (Article 137, clauses 1, 2 of Article 138 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
As a general rule, the period for appeal is one year from the moment you learned or should have learned about a violation of your rights (Clause 2 of Article 139 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
The period for going to court is three years from the day when you learned or should have learned about a violation of your right to offset (clause 79 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated July 30, 2013 N 57). If the inspection does not carry out the offset in a timely manner, then no interest is accrued on the offset amount. You can only appeal the inaction of the inspectorate in the manner indicated above.
