What is this anyway? Why do they need this? Can't they cope without me?
Counter check
– this is one of the standard tax control measures, which is carried out in order to compare documents and information provided by the audited person and his partners in order to identify any discrepancies, signs of unrealistic transactions, the use of unreasonable prices, etc. When conducting it, the tax authority is guided by Art. 93.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, as well as sub. 4 clause 1 of Article 31 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and pursues only one goal - to find inconsistencies and charge additional taxes.
A “meeting” is held with your counterparty if he is undergoing an on-site or desk inspection
or if inspectors suspect it is an unscrupulous taxpayer or a “dummy company”. Having analyzed the documents of all participants in the transaction, it is easier for fiscal officials to uncover violations, so they “request documents from counterparties and other persons.”
It is necessary to understand that as part of such a check, Federal Tax Service employees are authorized to request from you not only documents, but also information. Moreover, this can be done both from a direct counterparty and from any person who has documents (information) regarding the taxpayer being audited.
But the powers of inspectors are far from unlimited.
, you are required to provide not everything that Federal Tax Service employees require or recommend that you provide. Let's take a closer look and figure out how not to harm either yourself or your business partner when answering questions from tax officials. The material is based on regulations, recent judicial practice and explanations of officials.
Request of documents by tax authorities
The tax authority has the right, in cases provided for by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, to request certain documents from banks. However, in order to protect taxpayers from the excessive zeal of inspectors, the legislator has provided a kind of protective mechanism. Thus, the tax authority is prohibited from re-requesting documents, copies of which it previously received. In what cases does the bank have every right not to comply with the request of the tax authority if the documents have already been submitted as part of certain tax control measures, and in what cases is it impossible to avoid re-submission of documents?
According to paragraphs. 1 clause 1 art. 31 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, tax authorities have the right to require the taxpayer to submit documents that are the basis for the calculation and payment (withholding and transfer) of taxes, as well as documents confirming the correctness of calculation and timely payment (withholding and transfer) of taxes. Tax authorities also use other rights provided for by law (clause 2 of article 31 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
From July 30, 2013, the tax authority has the right to request from taxpayers, outside the framework of inspections, not only information regarding a specific transaction, but also specific documents regarding it. Such changes have been made to paragraph 2 of Art. 93.1 Tax Code of the Russian Federation, clause 2 of Art. 24 of Federal Law No. 134-FZ of June 28, 2013 “On amendments to certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation regarding combating illegal financial transactions” (hereinafter referred to as Law No. 134-FZ). Previously, the tax authority had the right to request, outside the framework of tax audits, only information regarding a specific transaction from its participants or other persons. And if the inspectors requested specific documents regarding the transaction, the courts sided with the taxpayers (Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Volga District dated January 17, 2013 N A65-10975/2012).
Associated with the right of the tax authorities to request documents is the taxpayer’s obligation to submit to the tax authorities and their officials in the cases and in the manner provided for by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, documents necessary for the calculation and payment of taxes, as well as to bear other obligations provided for by the legislation on taxes and fees ( paragraphs 6, 9, paragraph 1, article 23 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
Tax control is carried out through tax audits, obtaining explanations, inspection of premises and territories, as well as other forms provided for by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation (clause 1 of Article 82 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). When carrying out tax control activities, a tax authority official has the right to request certain documents. The person being inspected may be required to provide any documents necessary to conduct a tax audit (Clause 1, Article 93 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
It should be borne in mind that if, as part of an on-site audit, the volume of documents can be limited only to the subject of the audit, since the taxpayer is obliged to ensure that officials have the opportunity to familiarize themselves with documents related to the calculation and payment of the taxes being audited (clauses 2, 12 Article 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation), then when conducting a desk tax audit there are strict restrictions on requesting documents (clause 7 of Article 88 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Thus, in particular, tax authorities may require additional documents confirming the legality of tax deductions for VAT, provided that the tax return being audited declares the right to a tax refund (clause 8 of Article 88 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Documents confirming the taxpayer’s right to tax benefits may also be requested (clause 6 of Article 88 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
But documents can be requested not only from the person being audited when conducting a tax audit against him, but also in other cases provided for in Art. 93.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, for example, when conducting a tax audit of a taxpayer with his counterparties or other persons who have documents relating to the activities of this taxpayer being inspected (clause 1 of Article 93.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
Documents may be requested outside the framework of tax audits. The first case is the request for documents relating to the activities of the taxpayer being audited when considering tax audit materials based on the decision of the head of the tax authority when assigning additional tax control measures. The second case is when the tax authorities have a justified need to obtain documents outside the framework of tax audits regarding a specific transaction. Such documents may be requested from the participants in this transaction or other persons who have documents about this transaction (clause 2 of Article 93.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
The tax office asks to provide documents regarding my counterparty, what should I do?
You must respond to a request from the Federal Tax Service.
Moreover, the inspectorate employees are not obliged to tell you the reasons why they decided to send a demand against the controlled taxpayer. This is confirmed by the courts (Resolution of the Volga District Court No. F06-42165/2018 dated January 29, 2019).
It is recommended to proceed step by step as follows:
- First of all, find out what is happening with your counterparty now. Is a desk or field inspection being carried out against him, or are Federal Tax Service employees carrying out pre-inspection control measures. It is advisable to discuss this point with the counterparty’s accountant.
- Promptly assess whether you meet the five-day deadline for collecting documents. You have only one day to do this from the moment you receive the request. If the request is too voluminous and you doubt that you will have time to prepare a package of documents in five days, ask for a deferment. To defer, use the form from Appendix No. 1 to the Federal Tax Service order No. MMV-7-2 / [email protected] dated April 24, 2019.
If you don’t make it in one day, which is given for a request for a deferment, a fine cannot be avoided (Decision of the Supreme Court No. 305-ES19-422 dated February 27, 2019). - Try, together with the accountant of the audited counterparty, to understand what exactly the controllers were interested in or did not like about the transaction or the operations performed. After all, such a request never happens just like that. Depending on the reason, agree on a strategy for further action.
- Analyze what documents you have already sent to the Federal Tax Service and what information you can refuse to provide; I will tell you how to do this later.
- Provide documents strictly mirror those of the counterparty. Before sending a package of documents to the Federal Tax Service, make a control reconciliation with the accountant of the organization being audited.
Is it possible to refuse an answer altogether and ignore the request?
No, in general it is impossible to refuse to respond to a request for documents or a call to the Federal Tax Service.
Always respond to inspectors' requests
, even if they are interested in information or documents on an organization or individual entrepreneur that you have never heard of and which are definitely not your counterparties.
In this case, send a refusal to the tax office using a special form. To do this, fill out the second block of the notification about the absence of the requested documents from the Federal Tax Service order No. ММВ-7-2/ [email protected] It must indicate that you do not have the requested documents
or information due to the fact that you do not cooperate with the specified counterparty and have never concluded any transactions.
Reasons that are not justified for refusal to provide documents or information:
Unfortunately, it is not always possible to refuse requests within the framework of a counter tax audit; recently, the requirements of controllers have become more stringent, and the courts are increasingly supporting them in disputes with taxpayers.
So, you cannot ignore a request from the Federal Tax Service if:
The tax authorities did not even indicate the specific counterparty in respect of whom counter control measures are being carried out
.
The current policy is that tax authorities have the right not to indicate the name of the counterparty for which documents are requested; the request must still be answered (Resolution of the Seventh Arbitration Court of Appeal in case No. A60-7275/2019 of 08/16/2019).
By the way, this circumstance is the most dangerous for both you and your counterparties, because then you will have to independently calculate which transactions came under the radar of controllers and for what reason.
A counter-inspection request was issued, which indicated which documents to provide, but did not indicate for what period
.
You are also required to respond to this requirement; if the requirement contains a list of documents, it is believed that you can independently determine which counterparty they relate to, and therefore determine the period. At the same time, the organization does not have the right to independently decide which information relates to tax control and which does not (resolution of the AS of the Ural District No. F09-5656/18 in case No. A76-3566/2018 dated September 27, 2018).
You have received a request to provide copies of work records of full-time employees, although the activities of your counterparty are being checked
.
At first glance, there is no logic in such a requirement, but you are obliged to fulfill it and provide copies of books. During counter control activities, inspectors have the right to request from counterparties of the inspected organization any documents on any taxes for any periods. Moreover, controllers are given the right to independently decide which documents have a relationship with the organization being inspected; here they have complete carte blanche.
Even if the tax office asks you to disclose the personal data of your employees, you will have to provide them, otherwise you will receive a fine for refusing to submit documents (Article 7 of Law No. 152-FZ of July 27, 2006, clause 1 of Article 93.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, letters of the Federal Tax Service of Russia No. ED-4-2/14951 dated 08/02/2018). The arbitrators in this matter are on the side of the controllers (resolution of the Volga District Autonomous District No. F06-41326/2018 dated January 16, 2019).
The request outside the scope of the audit did not indicate the specific transaction for which they are requesting documents from you
.
According to the judges, if from the details of the requested invoices and other documents it is possible to understand which transaction they relate to, then you are obliged to provide the documents in accordance with the request (Resolution of the Volga District Court in case No. A55-3967/2018 dated January 29, 2019) .
The partner is checking for one reporting period, and you are being asked for documents for a completely different one.
.
Alas, this is also not a reason to refuse to provide documents. Transactions of interest to inspectors may go beyond the period being inspected, the judges confirm this (Resolution of the Volga District Court in case No. A55-5410/2018 dated January 16, 2019).
The Federal Tax Service has received a request for your accounting cards or balance sheets as part of a counter audit
Cards will have to be provided; the old judicial practice, when arbitrators supported business, is no longer relevant. At the moment, the judges believe that Art. 93.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation allows inspectors, at their discretion, to request any documents, including cards or SALT from the accounting program (Resolution of the Administrative District of the Far Eastern District in case A80-79/2019 dated November 27, 2019).
The requirement does not contain information about a specific transaction or about the counterparty, but there is a list of required documents
.
For example, you may be asked for a complete transcript of your accounting and tax reporting, staffing table and tax registers. In a recent dispute, the accountant considered that this was completely overkill and did not provide the documents in full, but the judges supported the controllers (resolution of the Moscow District Court in case No. A40-211149/2018 dated April 30, 2019).
Response to the tax authority’s request to submit documents – questions and answers
That is, the tax authorities remained with their own opinion, which cannot be agreed with for one more reason.
If in the first case the vagueness of the wording could still be interpreted in this way, now it seems not entirely logical that there would be a ban on re-requesting documents submitted to the tax authority in 2010 as part of tax audits, on the one hand, and the possibility of requesting the same documents in within the framework of other tax control measures - on the other.
It is clear that the initial request to obtain documents about the taxpayer from his counterparties is generated by the tax authority conducting an audit of this taxpayer, and copies of the documents are located in the tax authority of the counterparty. But this, as they say, is a difficulty for the tax authorities, because they represent a single centralized system (clause 1 of Article 30 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation) and they have the power to create a database of copies of documents they have. In this case, the tax authority of the counterparty, having received a request from the tax authority of the person being inspected, can independently provide copies of the documents in its possession. If such documents are not at his disposal, they can quite legitimately be demanded in the manner provided for in Art. 93.1 Tax Code of the Russian Federation.
Thus, the bank has every right not to re-submit documents about the taxpayer being audited to the tax authorities if they have already been previously submitted as part of tax audits. In this case, the date of initial submission of documents does not matter. The main thing is that these documents have already been requested and presented during tax audits. Most likely, this point of view will have to be defended in court. Currently, we are not aware of judicial practice on this issue. But taking into account the fact that the introduction of a ban on re-requesting documents about the taxpayer under audit is similar to the ban within the framework of tax audits, the bank has a good chance of proving the invalidity of the tax authority’s requirements with reference to the application of the provisions of clause 5 of Art. 93 Tax Code of the Russian Federation.
What is the liability for refusal to provide documents or information?
If the inspection receives an unmotivated refusal to provide the requested documents (or information), then the refuser is subject to liability under Art. 126 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation in the form of a fine - 200 rubles for each unsubmitted document
.
In addition, for unlawful failure to report or untimely communication of the requested information (not documents), liability arises in accordance with Art. 129.1 Tax Code of the Russian Federation. For the first offense this entails a fine of 5,000 rubles.
.
If a violation is committed twice within a year, the fine will increase to 20,000 rubles.
.
In addition, officials of the organization may receive separate fines.
. Moreover, there are separate fines for failure to provide information and documents; as a result, you can receive both fines at the same time (resolution of the Administrative Court of the East Siberian District in case No. A33-16694/2017 dated November 12, 2018).
Is it worth the risk?
As we can see, arbitration practice has just begun to take shape and is so far in favor of taxpayers. Therefore, there is a possibility that the court will declare illegal the repeated request of documents submitted to tax authorities before 2010 (2011 - when documents are requested for the “counter meeting”). And if you cannot resubmit such documents because at the moment they have already been lost or destroyed due to the expiration of their storage period, then you have a chance to prove in court your right not to hand over them. If you have the repeatedly required documents, then before refusing to submit them, you should understand what you are risking in this case. In addition to the fine, there are also likely other negative consequences of refusing to submit re-requested documents in cases where tax authorities continue to consider their demand legal: - if the inspection has requested documents as part of an on-site inspection, then if you refuse to submit them, it may confiscate the originals from you (Clause 14 of Art. 89, Article 94 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation); — the inspectorate may also regard a refusal to submit documents during an on-site inspection as a reason to determine your taxes by calculation (Subclause 7, Clause 1, Article 31 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation); — refusal to submit documents for a desk audit of a VAT return for refund (Clause 8 of Article 88 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation) may be considered by the inspectorate as a sufficient reason for refusing a tax refund; — refusal to submit documents confirming tax expenses (during an on-site inspection) or VAT deductions (during a desk or on-site inspection) may lead to additional charges by the inspectorate of income tax and VAT, penalties and fines, respectively. On the contrary, by submitting your documents to the camera room, you will thereby save yourself from the need to subsequently submit them for an on-site inspection. Therefore, it only makes sense to take a risk and not submit documents if you have good reasons for doing so. For example, the volume of documents, the cost of copying and delivering them to the inspection, as well as the time for which resources (people, equipment) will have to be diverted from the current work are too great. It happens that the inspectorate requests a couple of truckloads of papers, for copying which you even have to hire additional workers (Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the North-West District dated June 26, 2009 in case No. A56-14177/2007) or pay for the services of a copy center.
For reference, for failure to submit requested as part of a desk or on-site inspection, the inspectorate has the right to fine : - the company - 200 rubles. for each document not submitted (Article 126 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation); - director or chief accountant - in the amount of 300 to 500 rubles. (Part 1 of Article 15.6 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation). For failure to provide the documents requested as part of the “oncoming” meeting, the inspectorate has the right to fine : - the company - 5,000 rubles. If you violate it again within a calendar year, you will have to pay four times more - 20,000 rubles. (Clause 6 of Article 93.1, Article 129.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation); - director or chief accountant - in the amount of 300 to 500 rubles.
What may not be provided and what questions may not be answered and on what basis?
Now let’s look at situations where tax authorities can be refused and not provide certain data.
You can refuse to provide documents that you simply do not have
.
For example, if you have concluded an agreement for the provision of consulting services, and the tax authorities have requested copies of TORG-12, waybills, or generally KS-2 acts and KS-3 certificates, then in your response to the request write that you have concluded an agreement with the counterparty for the provision of services that do not provide for the execution of the requested documents.
Clause 5 of Art. gives you this right. 93.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, in such a situation it will help to avoid a fine under Art. 126 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.
You have the right not to submit documents to the tax authority again
.
True, there are nuances here. It is allowed, without penalties, not to re-submit documents (information) that have previously been submitted to the inspectorate, but do not ignore the request of the tax authorities, within five days after receiving the request, inform the Federal Tax Service that the requested documents have already been submitted previously (in paragraph 5 of Art. 93 Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
You are responsible for submitting only those documents that you have not submitted previously. You will also have to resubmit the documents if you previously provided the tax authorities with the originals and at the time of the request they returned them to you.
You may not submit documents whose storage period has expired
.
To avoid a fine, as a general rule, do not ignore the request from the tax office, but notify the inspector in writing that you do not have the requested documents, since their storage period has legally expired. In this case, the inspectors were late with control measures for the requested primary item.
You have the right not to allow Federal Tax Service employees into your territory
.
Inspectors do not have the authority to carry out inspections on taxpayers' premises as part of a counter-inspection. Last year, the Supreme Court supported the company in appeal ruling No. APL19-333 dated August 27, 2019. However, if the transaction was real, then you can let inspectors in so that they, for example, make sure that you have a warehouse for storing goods, etc. Typically, inspectors rush into the territory of the counterparty of the person being inspected when they suspect the unreality of the transaction. Whether or not to allow inspectors into your territory is your right, not your responsibility.
It is permitted not to provide secret recipes and production technology
.
In a recent dispute, tax officials asked the organization for a recipe for alcoholic beverages, but were refused. The judges supported the taxpayer, explaining that the unique recipe for production technology is not a document used to control the correctness of calculation and payment of tax, since it does not relate to primary accounting documents or analytical tax accounting registers, and also does not contain a calculation of the tax base. In this case, the fine for refusal is unlawful (Resolution of the Autonomous District of the Volga Region No. F06-42680/2018 dated 02/01/2019).
If you are called in for questioning on “neutral territory.”
Inspectors have the right, as part of tax control measures, to call as witnesses citizens who may be aware of any circumstances relevant to the audit, including the director of the counterparty organization (Clause 1 of Article 90 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
Usually, interrogations of witnesses take place in the building of the Federal Tax Service; it is permissible to interrogate a witness at his place of residence (clause 4 of Article 90 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
But inspectors are prohibited from interrogating witnesses in a cafe or on some other “neutral territory.” Such actions of controllers are beyond the legal framework, and you can safely refuse the meeting. In this case, it is not necessary to motivate the refusal.
Little secrets of counter checks
In the order, inspectors must indicate during which tax control event there was a need to submit documents for a tax audit (and when requesting information regarding a specific transaction, also indicate information that allows you to identify this transaction). Based on this order, your “native” Federal Tax Service issues you requirement to submit documents. In this case, the inspectors attach a copy of the order to the request. Within 5 days after receiving the request, you must comply with the inspection requirement. Important! For failure to submit documents for a tax audit or even being late, the company can be fined 10,000 rubles.
(clause 2 of article 126 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Moreover, the amount of the fine in this case does not depend on the number of documents not submitted. Failure to provide information requested by the inspection is also punishable by a fine of 5,000 rubles. This restriction does not apply to cases where documents were previously submitted to the tax authority in the form of originals, which were subsequently returned to the person being inspected, as well as to cases where documents submitted to the tax authority were lost due to force majeure. From a literal reading of the norm of paragraph 5 of Art. 93 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation it follows that such a restriction on the provision of documents repeatedly requested by the tax authority applies only to documents previously submitted to the tax authorities during desk or on-site tax audits of a given entity (consolidated group of taxpayers).
- Documents that you have already submitted are required
The inspectorate does not have the right to repeatedly demand documents that the company has already submitted to it once as part of a desk or on-site inspection (Clause 5 of Article 93 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Therefore, if such documents are still named in the request, they do not need to be submitted. But in response to the request, you must inform the inspectorate in writing of the reason for the non-submission and attach confirmation (for example, a copy of the inventory). Important! If the request is made in violation, do not ignore it completely; it is better to explain to the tax authorities in writing the reason for your refusal with reference to the relevant article of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Recommendations for carrying out tax control measures related to tax audits, sent by letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated July 17, 2013 N AS-4-2 / [email protected] (hereinafter referred to as the Recommendations). Clause 8.3 of the Recommendations provides that when the tax authority conducting a tax audit prepares an order to request documents (information) relating to the activities of the taxpayer being inspected (fee payer, tax agent), to the tax authority at the place of registration of the counterparty or other person who must have the specified documents (information) are requested, using the automated information system of tax authorities (AIS “Tax”), a request is generated to the federal file cabinet of requested documents of the MI Federal Tax Service of Russia at the Data Processing Center (DPC) about documents previously requested by the tax authorities.
Attention
Inspectors from your tax office can cheat and include in the request those documents that they personally need. If the request contains more documents, there is no need to submit those that are not in the order. In the refusal to provide documents, write that the requested document (for example, the Agreement) cannot be presented, since this Agreement is not specified in the order on the basis of which the demand was made. And the tax authorities will not be able to fine you for not fully complying with the requirements of your inspection. If the order, on the contrary, contains a larger list than the requirement, submit the documents specified only in the requirement.
After all, you are obliged to fulfill it.
Is it possible not to provide correspondence with a counterparty?
Yes, you can.
You are not required to submit business correspondence during a counter-inspection of a counterparty on the basis that the tax office has the right to request from the company only those documents that are related to the calculation and payment of taxes (clause 1 of Article 31 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation), and business correspondence does not apply to them ( Articles 313, 314 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
is especially dangerous to submit business correspondence if it could harm your organization
or counterparty. At the same time, it is better to store an archive of letters in case of an on-site inspection already in your organization.
How not to harm yourself or your counterparty?
If the request and instructions from the tax office contain a standard set of documents, then this usually does not cause problems when preparing a response. Things are more complicated if the request contains many questions about car numbers, F
.
AND
.
O. drivers, about the place of transfer of cargo, about the weight of the cargo,
etc.
d.
Specifics and such detailed requests indicate that tax authorities are point-by-point untangling the chain from the manufacturer to the final buyer for a specific transaction in which they discovered clear signs of violations.
In order not to harm either yourself or your counterparty, do not ignore the inspection request and delay in responding
. If you miss a deadline or ignore a request, inspectors will fine you. At the same time, the tax audit carried out by your partner will also be delayed (subclause 7, clause 2 of Appendix No. 6 to the Federal Tax Service order No. MMV-7-2 / [email protected] dated November 7, 2018).
Keep in mind that all of your transactions may come under suspicion.
. As the tax authorities themselves explain, in such situations, they transfer information about the “refuser” to the pre-audit analysis department. Thus, not responding to an oncoming traffic signal may initiate an on-site inspection at your location, so be careful.
Grounds for initial request for documents
When considering situations related to restrictions on the repeated request of documents, we noted that they apply in cases where the documents were previously presented by the taxpayer during on-site or desk tax audits. And this circumstance is very significant, since in other situations the provisions of the legislation on taxes and fees prohibiting the repeated request of documents will not apply.
So, for example, if the bank was required to provide documents relating to the activities of the taxpayer being audited or a specific transaction, in the manner prescribed by Art. 93.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, and subsequently these same documents will be requested as part of a tax audit of the bank itself or another counter audit, then the bank will not have the right not to submit these documents. The need to submit documents will not be affected by the fact that they have previously been submitted by the bank as part of another counter-inspection.
The restriction on re-requesting documents applies only to those documents that the bank submitted to the tax authority as part of an on-site or desk tax audit that was carried out in relation to the bank itself, that is, in accordance with Art. 93 Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Only under such circumstances does he have the right not to comply with the repeated request of the tax authority. The documents that the bank presented when checking other taxpayers, that is, was a counterparty in relation to them or a person in possession of the relevant documents, are not subject to the rule prohibiting tax authorities from repeatedly requesting the same documents.
I would like to draw attention to Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated August 26, 2013 N 03-02-07/1/35025 and warn taxpayers against misinterpreting it. The taxpayer’s question contains the phrase that the documents were previously submitted by him as part of another tax control exercise. The financial department did not answer the question, explaining that it was not clear from the submitted appeal as part of which tax control exercise the tax authorities had previously requested documents from the organization. We believe that the officials here were lying a little in order to give an evasive answer, as they are accustomed to.
From the provisions of paragraph 5 of Art. 93, paragraph 3 of Art. 93.1, Art. 100.1, paragraph 5 of Art. 140 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation it follows that all tax control measures are divided into two groups, to which the corresponding norms of legislation on taxes and fees apply. These are tax audits and other events. Of course, the question was asked in such a way that, in its context, the reference in the second sentence to another event can be regarded as a different event in relation to the tax control event in relation to the organization’s counterparties mentioned in the first sentence. In such a situation, it can naturally be tax audits directly. But, as it seems to us, the organization did not have this in mind, but other measures in relation to tax audits.
However, even if we take the first position as a basis, the answer would be quite simple, since only two situations had to be considered. Meanwhile, officials from the financial department did not delve into the essence of the issue, but answered in general terms. It turned out that these clarifications only confirm the fact that in the case of requesting documents in accordance with Art. 93.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation there are certain restrictions on their repeated reclaiming. These clarifications do not contain the conclusion that such a limitation also exists in the case of the initial submission of documents as part of a counter-inspection.
Thus, regardless of what documents the taxpayer submitted as part of other tax control measures, when receiving a new request, he will have to duplicate them. Otherwise, the tax authority will have every right to bring him to tax liability.
And this approach is completely justified. Thus, if, during tax audits, the requested documents are stored in the tax office at the taxpayer’s location, and all requests go through this tax office, then it will have the opportunity to provide these documents to its colleagues. When conducting a counter audit, the documents are sent to the tax office that requested them. Therefore, both in the case of a tax audit of the taxpayer himself and in the case of receiving requests for other counter audits, the tax inspectorate at the taxpayer’s location will not have the required documents. It will most likely be possible to resolve this problem only after the introduction of full electronic document management or a significant part of it.
