Quarterly bonus - how it is assigned, reporting, 6-NDFL

We establish rules for calculating bonuses for the quarter

Bonuses paid quarterly are characterized by the following points:

inclusion in the wage system used by the employer, i.e., thereby equating quarterly bonuses to wages (Article 129 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation);
the presence of an undoubted connection with the results of labor activity of each individual employee during the bonus period;
systematic (regular) accrual;
attitude towards all members of the workforce or the vast majority of them;
dependence of the possibility of accrual on the overall results of the employer’s financial and economic activities for the bonus period;
compulsory accrual to the employee if all the conditions that give him the right to receive bonuses are met.

The inclusion of bonuses in the wage system and the need to develop bonus rules common to the entire team require the employer to create internal regulations (Article 135 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation) establishing:

the structure of the wage system, for which documents such as wage regulations or a collective agreement are created;
employee incentive system, which can be covered both in documents devoted to the remuneration system and in a separate document called the provision on incentive payments (on incentives, on bonuses).

The regulations on incentives in relation to bonuses should reflect:

a list of all types of bonuses used by the employer;
frequency of payment of bonuses of each type;
the range of employees entitled to receive each type of bonus;
conditions under which the accrual of bonuses becomes possible;
a system for assessing the labor participation of each employee in the general labor process and translating it into specific bonus amounts;
description of the procedure for reviewing the results of assessing the labor participation of each employee;
criteria under which an employee is deprived of a bonus (deprivation of bonuses);
a procedure that allows an employee to challenge the evaluation of his work performance.

The employer can establish the possibility of simultaneous accrual of several types of quarterly bonuses. But they must differ in the reason (ground) for the bonus. Moreover, each type of bonus may have its own circle of rewarded employees, its own conditions for accrual, its own evaluation system and its own grounds for depreciation.

For information on how to draw up a document combining a description of the wage system and the incentive system, read the material “Regulations on the remuneration of employees - sample 2020”.

Regulatory framework and features of quarterly bonuses

The possibility of establishing incentive and incentive payments for employees is approved by labor legislation. The right to quarterly bonuses or incentives for work performed by a worker during a quarter is determined by Art. 191 Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

The forms and procedure for bonuses are prescribed in employment contracts, approved by collective agreements, regulations on remuneration, and material incentives. To calculate bonuses, the employer issues arbitrary or standard orders for incentives T-11 and T-11A. Employees certify with a signature that they have read the orders.

Quarterly bonuses have the following features:

are not mandatory, but become part of the salary if included in the payment system (Article 129 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation);
are included in the tax base, that is, personal income tax and contributions to social funds are paid on premiums;
bonuses are mandatory if the employee has fulfilled all the requirements necessary to receive this remuneration;
established by local documents of the organization (Article 135 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

Quarterly bonuses are usually introduced at enterprises where there are real indicators of labor productivity, for example, the actual and planned volume of output. The fulfillment of production tasks, work, plans can be established as the basis.

Attention! Delay or failure to issue a quarterly bonus is considered grounds for bringing the company's management to administrative liability if the bonus is provided for in the employment contract. The incentive can be given to either one employee or a group of workers who have fulfilled the plan.

Possible methods for calculating quarterly bonuses

The procedure for calculating the quarterly bonus, as well as the incentive system itself, is developed by the employer independently. The following options for determining the specific amount of the bonus may be considered:

by calculation according to the formula established in the bonus regulations, summing up the bonus indicators assessed in monetary terms, which serve to assess the employee’s participation in the labor process;
as a percentage of actually accrued earnings for the period;
in a fixed amount that serves as a salary supplement;
as a percentage of salary.

The first of the listed options most fully reflects the employee’s participation in the labor process. But it also turns out to be the most labor-intensive. Therefore, most employers prefer not to use it and resort to the remaining methods that are quite simple from a mathematical point of view.

But even these seemingly simple methods have their pitfalls.

Drawing up an Order for calculating quarterly bonuses

The process of calculating and paying quarterly bonuses is preceded by the publication of the relevant Order.

The order is approved by the head of the company.

An order for awarding bonuses to employees can be issued in the form of unified forms of Orders for bonuses No. T-11 (applied in the case of awarding a bonus to one employee) and No. T-11a (applied when it is necessary to award bonuses to several employees).

Immediately after drawing up the Order, it is necessary to inform employees about its contents against signature.

We calculate bonuses based on actual earnings

The most understandable, fairly simple and does not require additional processing of accrual data for subsequent application is to calculate the bonus as a percentage of actual earnings. It allows you to directly take into account when calculating bonuses the time actually worked by the employee during the bonus period (since actual earnings depend on the time worked), which will subsequently turn out to be important for taking these accruals into account in calculating the average earnings.

About when you need to calculate the average salary and how this calculation is carried out, read the article “How to calculate the average monthly salary (formula)?”

For this method of assessing the amount of bonuses, the provisions on incentive payments may establish 2 options for determining actual earnings:

as the entire volume of actual wages accrued during the bonus period;
as the average monthly salary, calculated based on bonus quarter data.

To calculate the bonus according to the first option, it is necessary to sum up the entire salary of the employee actually accrued to him for all months of the billing quarter, also including in this salary the amount of monthly bonuses. And then multiply the resulting value by the percentage indicated in the incentive regulations as applied to the quarterly bonus of the corresponding type.

To calculate the second option, the percentage related to the corresponding bonus will need to be applied to the calculated average monthly salary for the bonus quarter. The value of the average monthly salary in this case is obtained by dividing by 3 the total amount of the employee’s salary actually accrued to him for all months of the billing quarter, including monthly bonuses in the total amount.

Practical situation from ConsultantPlus: Is it possible not to pay an employee a bonus during the probationary period? The answer to this question depends on what kind of remuneration system the employer has adopted. You can find out more details in K+ by receiving trial demo access to the legal system for free.

Calculation of bonus as a percentage

The payment is a percentage of the average salary for the quarter minus the employee's income tax. Let's consider the procedure for calculating bonuses from salary :

Example. An employee of Parus LLC, according to the employment contract, receives 25,000 rubles, as well as a quarterly bonus in the amount of 10% of earnings. Bonus calculation:

25,000 × 3 = 75,000 rub. — income for the quarter;
75000 × 10% = 7500 rub. — bonuses accrued;
25000 + 7500 = 32500 rub. — income was accrued in the month following the reporting month;
32500 – 13% = 28275 rub. — earnings minus personal income tax.

Calculation of a premium set at a fixed amount

The accrual of a bonus in a fixed amount may also have options depending on what conditions are specified in the bonus regulations regarding this bonus. It is possible to establish such calculation conditions when the fixed amount is:

accrued in full regardless of the time the employee is actually present at work during the bonus period;
paid in proportion to actually worked for the period of time in question;
is not paid for a month not fully worked.

In the first version of the calculation, in fact, no calculation is required. The bonus is simply awarded in the agreed amount.

For the second option, it will be necessary to determine what proportion of the time actually worked by the employee in the total working time attributable to the bonus quarter. And then multiply the resulting ratio by the total amount of the fixed premium.

According to the third option, to calculate the amount of the bonus for the quarter, the total amount of the fixed bonus must be divided by 3 and multiplied by 2.

How to calculate quarterly bonus from salary

A quarterly bonus calculated from salary is defined as a percentage of the employee’s salary and, at first glance, is not much different from a bonus set at a fixed amount. However, it has its own characteristics:

the accrual base (salary) may change;
for regions where a regional salary coefficient applies, this coefficient will have to be applied to the amount of the bonus calculated from the salary.

Just like a bonus accrued in a fixed amount, a bonus calculated from a salary, according to the conditions included in the incentive provision, may be linked to the actual time worked or not accrued for an incompletely worked month and in these cases will be calculated accordingly:

taking into account the share of time actually worked by the employee in the total working time attributable to the bonus quarter;
by dividing the total calculated premium amount by 3 and multiplying by 2.

Taxation of quarterly bonus

The inclusion of a quarterly bonus in the wage system clearly requires that its amount be subject to all salary taxes: personal income tax and insurance contributions. But these payments will also have to be calculated even in cases where the quarterly bonus:

not included in the wage system;
accrued on grounds not related to the employee’s work activity.

In terms of personal income tax, this requires clause 1 of Art. 210 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, and in relation to insurance premiums - clause 1 of Art. 420 Tax Code of the Russian Federation IP. 1 tbsp. 20.1 of the Law “On Compulsory Social Insurance against Accidents...” dated July 24, 1998 No. 125-FZ.

Insurance premiums accrued for premiums not related to work activities can be included in expenses taken into account when calculating the profit base (subclause 49, clause 1, article 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated April 2, 2010 No. 03-03-06 /1/220), despite the fact that such a bonus itself is not included in expenses for calculating the profit base.

Answers to common questions about the quarterly bonus - how to calculate

Question No. 1: When should the quarterly bonus be paid if it is provided for accrual by the Regulations on Bonuses?

Answer: In any case, the quarterly bonus must be transferred to the employee simultaneously with the next salary.

Question No. 2: Should the quarterly bonus be taken into account when calculating an employee’s average earnings?

Answer: When calculating the amount of an employee’s average earnings, all bonuses accrued during the billing period, including the quarterly one, are taken into account.
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Accounting for quarterly bonuses in calculating average earnings

The rules for calculating average earnings are established by Art. 139 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation and the Regulations on the specifics of the procedure for calculating average wages, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated December 24, 2007 No. 922 (hereinafter referred to as the Regulations).

Art. 139 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation indicates the need to take into account in this calculation all payments that form the applicable wage system, regardless of their sources, and determines the period for which data is taken for calculation.

The Regulations more specifically describe the procedure for including each type of income in the calculation and the rules for implementing settlement procedures for situations:

not the entire calculation period worked;
lack of income during the calculation period;
summarized accounting of work time;
increase in salaries (tariff rates).

The peculiarities of taking into account bonuses are separately indicated. As a general rule for bonuses, a rule has been established (clause 15 of the Regulations) on the inclusion in the determination of average earnings of their amounts, taking into account the time of actual work for the calculation period, if not all of the latter has been worked or there are periods excluded from the calculation. If at the time of calculating the bonus the time of actual work was taken into account, then this rule does not apply. If the time of actual work was not taken into account when calculating the bonus, then you will have to calculate by calculation that part of the bonus that can be taken into account. This is done by multiplying the bonus amount by the ratio of the time actually worked for the billing period in working days to the total number of working days in this period (letter of the Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation dated June 26, 2008 No. 2337-17).

Directly related to quarterly bonuses is another rule (clause 15 of the Regulations), which prescribes bonuses accrued over a period of more than a month to be taken into account in the calculation:

in their actual amount for each bonus basis, if the period for calculating bonuses is not longer than the period for calculating average earnings;
in the amount of the portion of the bonus attributable to each month of the calculation period, if the period for calculating the bonus is longer than the period for calculating average earnings.

Thus, the bonus for the quarter is taken into account when calculating average earnings when this bonus:

is an integral part of the wage system;
has calculation rules established by internal regulations;
accrued in the period of calculating average earnings;
is not a duplicate payment of the same frequency on a similar basis in the same period;
accrued taking into account the share of actual working time or recalculated in proportion to such share for the period of calculation of average earnings.

The question of taking into account the full or partial amount of the premium will depend on:

whether the period for calculating average earnings has been completed in full or not;
Whether or not the period for calculating the premium falls entirely within the calculation period;
whether the share of actual work time is taken into account when calculating bonuses.

The full amount of the bonus for the quarter can be taken into account in the following situations:

The entire calculation period has been worked out. In this case, neither the period for which the bonus was accrued nor the fact of taking into account or not taking into account the share of working time when calculating it turns out to be of no importance.
The entire calculation period was not worked out, but the quarter to which the bonus relates was fully included in it, and when calculating bonuses, the share of the working time was taken into account.

It will be necessary to recalculate the amount of bonuses in proportion to the proportion of time actually worked in the calculation period, when the latter turns out to be worked not in its entirety, but in the quarter for which the bonus was calculated:

everything is included in the pay period, but bonuses were accrued without taking into account the time of actual work;
is not included in the calculation period or is only partially included in it. In this case, the fact of taking into account or not taking into account the share of actual working time when calculating the bonus will not play a role.

To learn how other bonuses will be taken into account in average earnings, read the article “Are bonuses taken into account when calculating vacation pay?”

Nuances

Is it taken into account when calculating average earnings?

When calculating the average employee’s earnings, all bonuses that were accrued during the accounting period are taken into account.

So, the quarterly bonus is subject to accounting if the bonus period is included in the calculation period and is fully worked out.

The annual bonus is taken into account as part of the average earnings, regardless of the actual date of its accrual.

Is vacation pay included in the calculation?

Any type of bonus accrued to an employee is included in the calculation of vacation pay, since the remuneration system takes into account all types of cash payments to an employee (except for “holiday” incentives).

Thus, the bonus for the quarter also affects the amount of vacation pay. In this case, only the amounts of premiums accrued in the accounting period are taken into account.

In some organizations, bonuses are awarded depending on the quantity of goods sold or services provided, and therefore represent a significant part of earnings and greatly affect the amount of vacation pay.

What to do if not paid or deprived?

Labor legislation determines the list of citizens who should not receive a bonus based on the results of the quarter:

persons on parental leave;
employees who had disciplinary sanctions in a given quarter - it is important that this condition is reflected in the employer’s regulations.

If the deprivation of the employee’s quarterly bonus, in his opinion, was unfounded, this issue is considered by the Labor Dispute Commission or the judicial authorities.

You will find detailed information about depreciation of employees in our article. How to write an application for a bonus for the chief accountant? Find out here.

Is it valid after dismissal of an employee?

If the employment contract or local regulations indicate that the bonus is included in the salary, and the reasons why it may not be paid are indicated, these provisions are taken into account.

Salary with a bonus must be paid to the dismissed person in full, provided there are no misconduct or disciplinary sanctions.

In the staffing table, bonuses in this case are reflected as part of the salary.

Some organizations in their local documents stipulate the payment of incentives to resigning employees depending on the reason for dismissal.

If you resign at your own request, the bonus may not be paid.

It is issued only to employees who are dismissed due to circumstances beyond their control (for example, staff reduction, a medical certificate indicating the impossibility of further work).

All these conditions must be reflected in the contract or local regulations.

If an agreement is concluded with the employer to terminate the employment contract, this document indicates the procedure for paying the bonus.

If nothing is said about its payment, and the phrase “The employee has no material claims against the employer” is present, then the bonus payment may not be provided.

Do I need to pay a deceased employee?

This condition must be defined in the internal organizational regulations on bonus payments to employees.

Usually the bonus is paid in accordance with Article 141 of the Labor Code to the relatives of the deceased who lived with him.

When calculating the bonus, the actual time worked prior to the death of the employee is taken into account.

When should I pay personal income tax on such a payment?

In accordance with the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, a quarterly bonus, regardless of the reason for its payment and the form of calculation, is subject to personal income tax, just like the salary of an employee of an organization.

Is there a regional coefficient?

The bonus in the form of a regional coefficient is taken into account both when calculating the employee’s salary and when calculating quarterly incentive payments to him.

Is there a probationary period?

An employee who is undergoing testing in an organization has the same rights as other employees of the organization in accordance with Article 70 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

His activities are subject to the norms prescribed in the local regulations of the organization; the provision on bonuses is no exception, and an employee on a probationary period has the right to an incentive payment.

Will they pay me if I was on vacation?

This provision is also prescribed in local standards. If a condition is stipulated here for the payment of bonuses in proportion to the time worked, then incentives for the vacation period are not paid.

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A quarterly bonus is usually included in the wage system used by the employer.
The rules for calculating this payment are established in internal regulations. In particular, these rules describe the procedure for calculating the amount of the bonus and the influence on it of the time of actual work in the period for which the bonus is awarded. The fact that the time of actual work is taken into account (or not taken into account) when calculating the bonus is important for the amount of its amount taken into account in determining the average earnings. You can find more complete information on the topic in ConsultantPlus. Free trial access to the system for 2 days.