Cash reform: who will it affect in 2021?

Changes effective July 2018

Legislation in the field of application of online cash register technology is constantly changing. The latest adjustments came into effect only recently. The current version of the law “On the use of cash registers...” No. 54-FZ - dated 07/03/2018 - has introduced a number of changes to the procedure for using online cash registers by businessmen engaged in various types of activities. Moreover, the amendments made to the law apply not only to those who are still planning to switch to updated cash register equipment, but also to those who are already working with it.

The main issues covered in the updated law:

• The concept of “calculations” is more clearly formulated.
• The deadline for the transition to online technology for certain categories of taxpayers has been postponed.
• Some businessmen were released from CCP.
• The obligation to use online technology when repaying loans has been determined.
• The actions of the seller in the event of a breakdown of the fiscal drive (FN) have been clarified.
• The deadline for receiving a registration card has been extended.
• The rules for deregistering a cash register with the tax authorities have been changed.
• The required details of the KKM check have been adjusted.

Let's look at these innovations in more detail.

Changes in online cash registers: how does the device work?

Today, there are a huge number of modern cash register models that ensure the work of an entrepreneur in accordance with the latest legal requirements. Regardless of the configuration and appearance, each online cash register works according to the following principle:

• generates and prints cash receipts with the details specified in Art. 4.7 Federal Law No. 54;
• accumulates, encrypts and stores transaction data;
• sends information to the Federal Tax Service by transmitting OFD information;
• ensures the generation of fiscal receipts and reports in electronic form;
• prints linear and two-dimensional codes on the receipt;
• accepts confirmation of receipt of information to the OFD;
• informs the cashier-operator about malfunctions and errors, as well as about the unsuccessful transfer of OFD information;
• provides the ability to search for any fiscal document in memory.

The transmission of OFD data is carried out using a special secure protocol. The device cannot transmit information without an Internet connection. Therefore, all online payment devices provide for setting up wireless or cable Internet.

The main change in online cash registers is the presence of a fiscal drive, which replaced the ECLZ. It is thanks to this element, installed in the CCP housing by the manufacturer or installed optionally, that the calculation equipment can meet the requirements of 54-FZ. This is the main memory of the device, without which it is impossible to exchange information with the OFD, as well as accumulate, encrypt and store information about cash transactions. Without FN, a cash register performs the function of a regular receipt printer.

Online cash register, cash and non-cash payments

One of the most important changes enshrined in the updated version of Law 54-FZ is as follows: from the concept of “calculations”, the definition of which is given in Art. 1.1 of this regulatory act, the phrase “electronic means of payment”, which previously raised many questions and disputes, is excluded.

Now payments mean both cash and non-cash payments. In this regard, the name of the law itself was adjusted:

This means that the obligation to use online technology when selling goods or services arises regardless of how buyers pay for them.

When transferring funds from the payer's settlement account to the settlement account of the recipient-individual entrepreneur (or legal entity), there is no need to punch a cash receipt.

This rule is now fixed in relation to advance payments: if a client (individual, entrepreneur or company) makes an advance payment in cash (or by card) to the cash desk, the check must be punched. In this case, it can be sent to the client by e-mail or phone in electronic form.

If a citizen buyer made a non-cash payment without contacting the seller, for example, through an operator in a bank or online store, the check must be punched no later than the next day (but before the goods are transferred), and also “handed over” to the client in one of the following ways:

• send electronically if the buyer’s contacts are known;
• send a paper version of the receipt along with the goods;
• hand over a paper check at the next interaction with the client.

The next nuance that needs to be addressed concerns situations when an individual demands the seller to return the overpayment for services provided (their list is given in subsection 2.1 of Article 1.2 of Law No. 54-FZ) or if advances made for these services are offset.

In these cases, the seller has the right to generate one cash receipt (or BSO) indicating data on all such payments for a period not exceeding a month: per day, week, decade, etc. Such a consolidated document will be transferred to the tax authorities for control purposes.

And the last innovation that is worth dwelling on: settlements now include the provision and repayment of loans aimed at paying for goods, works, and services (including lending to citizens by pawnshops). However, until July 1, 2019, when providing such loans to citizens who are not individual entrepreneurs, online cash register systems are not allowed to be used.

New rules for issuing a receipt for “distance” sales

In Art. 1.2 of Law No. 54-FZ contains (from the previous edition) paragraph 5, which establishes the rules for issuing cash receipts for distance selling via the Internet - in which the buyer and seller do not interact directly. When making sales in this format, Law No. 54-FZ requires the seller to send the buyer an electronic receipt to the contacts specified when placing the order.

In the new version of Article 1.2 of Law No. 54-FZ, clause 5.3 appeared, regulating the issuance of checks in legal relations that:

• also characterized by the fact that the buyer and seller do not interact directly with each other;
• at the same time, they “do not fall within the scope” of paragraph 5 of Article 1.2 of the law (as well as paragraph 5.1, which we discussed above).

A striking example of such legal relations is when a buyer pays for a product selected in an online store, not through the website of this online store, but through a bank cash desk, taking a receipt with the seller’s details. Previously, such a payment scheme was not regulated at the level of federal law, and the explanations of government departments on it were quite contradictory. Now Law No. 54-FZ has rules regulating calculations in such situations.

Video - comments from the company Consultant Plus on Federal Law 192-FZ of July 3, 2021, which amended 54-FZ on online cash registers:

A store that has received payment from a buyer through a bank using a receipt (or in another way that does not fit the calculations regulated by paragraph 5 of Article 1.2 of Law No. 54-FZ) must give the buyer a cash receipt:

1. In electronic form - to contacts provided by the buyer himself, no later than the day following the day on which the payment was made (and no later than the moment of transfer of the purchased goods).

1. In the paper version - simultaneously with the transfer of the goods (and if by that time it was not possible to send a cash receipt due to the fact that the contacts were not provided by the buyer).
2. In the paper version - upon the closest direct contact with the buyer (or his representative), if by that time it was not possible to send an electronic check.

Thus, the store, having discovered a receipt on the current account, reflecting the fact that the buyer paid for the goods according to the receipt, must “break through” the proceeds and send the buyer an electronic receipt to the provided contacts. If there are no such contacts, hand over a paper receipt when the goods are issued or when the buyer first contacts you.

Who was additionally exempted from the obligation to use cash register equipment?

According to the updated legislation, the list of business entities that have the right not to use online cash register systems has been expanded. Added to it (Article 2 of Law 54-FZ):

1. Sellers of bottled water and milk.
2. Sellers of goods through mechanical machines when paying exclusively with coins, for example, when selling chewing gum or shoe covers. In this case, a prerequisite is that the device cannot be connected to an electrical network, nor can it operate autonomously from batteries or rechargeable batteries.
3. All credit organizations.
4. Traders of paper magazines or newspapers.
5. Peddling on board aircraft.
6. Sales of insurance policies through citizen agents.
7. Companies that provide parking spaces for a fee on public roads.
8. Libraries (except private ones) providing paid services.

In addition, it is allowed not to issue a check or send its electronic equivalent to customers:

• For the transportation of goods, passengers or luggage when paying using a bank card, web wallet or other means of electronic payment;
• In case of sale of goods (except for excisable and technically complex ones) through vending machines with a serial number. Moreover, from 02/01/2020, these devices must display a QR code so that the buyer can scan the receipt on their smartphone.

Who else is exempt from online cash registers with the adoption of Law 192-FZ

First of all, the new norms of Law No. 54-FZ, as amended on July 3, 2018, are noteworthy, according to which a number of business entities, in addition to those who carry out activities under paragraph 2 of Article 2 of the law, received an exemption from the use of online cash register

The following people now have the right not to use online cash registers:

1. Individual entrepreneurs on PSN - carrying out any types of activities except:

• hairdressing and beauty services;
• repair and maintenance of radio-electronic equipment, household appliances, watches;
• repair of metal products production;
• repair and maintenance of cars, motorcycles;
• provision of services for passenger transportation, cargo transportation by land and water transport;
• veterinary services;
• organizing physical education and sports classes;
• organization of hunting;
• engaging in activities in the field of medicine and pharmaceuticals;
• rental organization;
• retail;
• catering;
• production of dairy products;
• fishing, fish farming;
• PC repair, communication equipment.

Other types of activities permitted on the PSN, which are listed in paragraph 2 of Article 346.43 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation - there are several dozen in total, an entrepreneur can now conduct without using an online cash register. At the same time, instead of a cash receipt, the individual entrepreneur with a patent must issue his client a sales receipt - which will contain the details specified in paragraphs 4 to 12 in paragraph 1 of Article 4.7 of Law No. 54-FZ.

The rest of the individual entrepreneurs on PSN, if there is no desire to use an online cash register, will have to be content with deferments valid until July 1, 2021 - on the grounds given in paragraph 7.1 of Article 7 of Law No. 290-FZ, which supplements Law No. 54-FZ.

1. Individual entrepreneurs and legal entities that trade using machines that accept coins only (the machines must be completely mechanical without any electronic components).

An example of this type of equipment is a mechanical machine that sells small rubber balls for children. By placing a coin there, the child or an accompanying adult can remove the ball they like (or accidentally get, depending on the design of the device).

1. State and municipal libraries - when providing paid services to citizens (the list of such services is established by the Government of Russia).

1. Organizations exercising the powers of state and municipal authorities in the provision of paid services for the provision of parking spaces.

We note that along with the “liberalization” of the provisions of Law No. 54-FZ, reflecting the exemption from the use of cash registers by certain categories of business entities, one can also observe the fact of a significant tightening of a number of previously existing criteria for exempting businesses from installing online cash registers.

Thus, the provisions of paragraph 2 of Article 2 of the law now say that it is possible not to use cash register systems when conducting peddling trade only outside a stationary retail network. Previously - when conducting any retail trade.

By the way, the new law contains conditionally “liberal” norms (more of an explanatory nature, but nevertheless worth attention) - that:

• peddling can be carried out “including” on board an airplane or in a train carriage;
• the cash register may not be used when trading in bulk “soft drinks, milk and drinking water” (previously - simply “soft drinks”, to which, however, milk and water could, in principle, be classified without direct specification - but the legislator decided to separate them from other drinks that do not contain “degrees”).

We also note that individual entrepreneurs and legal entities that sell newspapers and magazines when selling (that is, using the basis for not using cash registers under paragraph 2 of Article 2 of Law No. 54-FZ) can sell “related goods” and not use online cash registers. At the same time, the range of “related products” is approved by the regional executive authority.

The following changes to Law No. 54-FZ relate directly to the use of the online cash register - primarily in terms of organizing the issuance of cash receipts to customers.

Other changes to the law “On cash register machines”

The updated law provides for a number of other innovations:

• From July 3, 2018, a cash register receipt must display a QR code.
• To correct erroneous information on a check, use a correction check. Previously, legislators recommended punching a check with the sign “return of receipt” and issuing a new one for the receipt.
• When the seller is liquidated, there is no longer a need to submit an application to the tax authorities to deregister the cash register. Now this is done automatically based on an extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities (USRIP).
• The period for issuing a cash register registration card has been increased from 5 to 10 days. Without it, it is prohibited to use KKM.
• The taxpayer's actions in the event of a breakdown of the fiscal drive (FN) are explained. First of all, within 5 days you should submit an application to the tax authorities to deregister the cash register or for re-registration. A non-working FN must be sent to the manufacturer for examination. If the reason for the breakdown of the FN is a defect, then the restored information must be sent to the tax authorities within 60 days from the date of filing the application for deregistration.

When issuing checks, pay attention to the methodological recommendations given in the letters of the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation dated 07/03/2018 No. ED-4-20/12718 (here we talk about sales for cash), dated 07/03/2018 No. ED-4-20/12717 (the letter is dedicated to payments with gift cards).

Fines for incorrect use of cash registers

In accordance with the updated law, the range of entities required to use online technology has significantly expanded since July 2021. Consequently, they are subject to sanctions for the lack of cash registers and their incorrect use.

Let's consider what fines await companies and individual entrepreneurs obligated to use online machines (clauses 2-6 of Article 14.5 of the Administrative Code):

Work on outdated cash registers by controllers is equated to work without cash register equipment (letter of the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation dated January 31, 2017 No. ED-4-20/1602), this will also be punishable.

The statute of limitations for the violations listed above is 1 year from the day the offense was committed (Clause 1, Article 4.5 of the Administrative Code).