PAYMENTS FOR THE USE OF NATURAL RESOURCES: TYPES OF PAYMENTS, THE PROCEDURE FOR THEIR CALCULATION AND ADMINISTRATION.

Payments for subsoil use

Everything about these payments can be found out from the Law of the Russian Federation dated February 21, 1992 No. 2395-I (hereinafter referred to as the Subsoil Law).

Subsoil users can be both Russian individual entrepreneurs and legal entities, and foreign citizens (Article 9 of the Subsoil Law).

The subsoil includes caves, minerals - in a word, everything that is underground. Payments are charged for the use of these resources and for work associated with them.

You should pay regular payments (Article 43 of the Subsoil Law) if your organization has received exclusive rights:

to search and evaluate mineral deposits;
mineral exploration;
geological study and assessment of the suitability of subsoil areas for the construction and operation of structures not related to mining;
construction and operation of underground structures not related to mining, except for shallow engineering structures (up to 5 meters) used for their intended purpose.

Regular payments are collected separately for each type of work carried out in the Russian Federation, on the continental shelf of the Russian Federation and in the exclusive economic zone of the Russian Federation and outside the Russian Federation in territories under the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation.

Regular payments for subsoil use are not charged for:

use of subsoil for regional geological study;
use of subsoil for the formation of specially protected geological objects that have scientific, cultural, aesthetic, sanitary, health and other purposes;
exploration of mineral resources in deposits that have been put into commercial operation, within the boundaries of a mining allotment granted to the subsoil user for the extraction of mineral resources;
exploration of mineral resources within the boundaries of a mining allotment granted to the subsoil user for the extraction of this mineral resource;
use of subsoil for the development of technology for geological exploration and extraction of hard-to-recover minerals;
use of subsoil for the development of technology for the study, exploration and extraction of minerals under a combined license for the use of subsoil.

Subsoil is provided for use on the basis of a special license or production sharing agreement. You must pay regularly, starting from the date of state registration of the license or from the date of entry into force of the production sharing agreement.

Payment calculation

Calculation and determination of the rate for the land fund is carried out for plots separately. The indicator is determined by the structure for managing the state natural resources fund (regional, federal). The contribution rate is indicated in the license permitting the use of a specific subsoil territory.

The rate is calculated:

for 1 km 2 of territory (taking into account the discovered mineral resource and the type of work performed), when assessment, exploration and prospecting activities are carried out on it;
for 1 unit of mineral resources intended for storage (1 thousand m 3, ton), when construction is underway on the allocated site or underground structures are being operated.

The taxable base is considered to be:

when searching for and assessing deposits - the size (area) of the site allocated for use minus the size of its returned share and territories with discovered deposits;
in the case of deposit exploration activities - the size of the site allocated for use minus its returned share and the part where the volumes of the discovered mineral deposits are calculated and entered into the state register of reserves;
during the construction and use of underground structures that are not related to the extraction of minerals on the site - the amount of discovered minerals accepted for storage.

For your information! Data on the size of each area (returned share of the site, used site, open deposits, recorded mineral deposits) are recorded in the text of the license or in the text of amendments to the permit.

Calculation procedure

The payment depends on various factors, including the type of work, the type of mineral, the size of the site, the degree of risk, etc.

RPN = S × C / 4, where:

RPN - regular payment due for the quarter,
S—taxable base,
C is the regular payment rate.

The taxable base depends on the type and stage of work carried out by the subsoil user. Thus, when searching and evaluating deposits, this is the area of the licensed subsoil plot, reduced by the area of the returned part of the plot and the area of the territories of discovered deposits. When exploring deposits, this is the area of the licensed subsoil plot in which mineral reserves are established and taken into account by the State Reserves Balance, with the exception of the area of mining allotments. During the construction and operation of underground structures not related to mining, the amount of minerals to be stored specified in the design documentation for the construction and operation of the underground structure.

The amount of regular payments is calculated in the calculation of regular payments in full rubles, taking into account rounding rules.

Regular payment accounting

According to accounting, settlements for payments for the use of state subsoil are reflected in account 76 (“Settlements with other creditors”) with the opening of separate sub-accounts for settlements for each type of payment (one-time, regular).

Expenses in these areas are included in expenses for ordinary activities and are subject to write-off in the reporting period in which they occurred.

According to the Instructions for PS, PBU 10/99 (clause 5, 18), the following postings are made when:

Accrual of the amount: Debit account. 20 (44, 29, 26, 23, 25) / Credit 76 credits.
Transferring the amount: Debit account. 76 / Credit 51 accounts

Regular payments for subsoil use during the operation of an enterprise according to OSNO are indicated in other expenses related to production and sales (Article 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

When using the accrual method, such amounts are recognized as expenses at the time they are accrued (on the last day of the quarter), when using the cash method - at the time they are sent to the budget (Article 273 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

For your information! The amount of the payment is taken into account as another expense, except when it is established at an auction. Such values are included in the cost of admission (letters from the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation, 06/25/2015, 10/23/2015). In all cases, VAT is not applied.

Companies and entrepreneurs engaged in the extraction and sale of minerals do not have the legal opportunity to work under the simplified tax system. Regular contributions are not reflected in the taxable base when making tax payments on income (Article 346 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). When calculating the tax indicator from the difference between the values of expenses and revenues, amounts for subsoil use also cannot be taken into account - they are not in the list of expenses recognized when conducting activities according to the simplified taxation method.

With UTII, imputed income is taxed, and the extraction of natural resources is not included in the list of activities taxable under this method (Article 346 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Attention! The legislation of the Russian Federation does not provide benefits for regular payments for subsoil use.

Payment rates

The law on subsoil provides minimum and maximum rates. The exact rate is determined by federal authorities and constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

The rate also depends on the purpose of using the obtained subsoil (Article 43 of the Subsoil Law).

For example, when using subsoil to search for precious metals, the minimum rate is set at 90 rubles per square meter of land. If the goal is exploration of precious metals, the minimum rate will be 3,000 rubles per square meter of land.

Responsibility for violation of legal norms

If a company uses subsoil in the absence of state permission, then a fine may be applied to the culprit, and the company will also be obliged to compensate for the loss caused (Article 7 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation).

The amount of loss from unauthorized use of the territory is calculated according to the mineral extraction tax (mineral extraction tax) rates.

Tax authorities have no grounds for holding violators of payments for the use of state subsoil plots accountable due to the non-tax nature of regular payments.

When establishing cases of violation of the current legislation, the Federal Tax Service sends a request for revocation or suspension of the permit providing for the possibility of using subsoil to the Service for Supervision in the Sphere of Natural Resources (ROSPRIRODNADZOR), the Subsoil Use Agency (ROSNEDRA).

Procedure for paying regular payments and submitting reports

The payment is calculated for the year and is paid in equal installments of ¼ quarterly.

Payments for subsoil use must be made by the last day of the month following the reporting quarter. If the day falls on a weekend, the deadline is transferred to the next working day. Thus, you need to pay a payment for the use of subsoil in 2021:

for the first quarter - until April 30 inclusive;

for the 2nd quarter - until August 2 inclusive;

for the third quarter - until November 1 inclusive;

for the fourth quarter - until January 31, 2022 inclusive.

The calculation (declaration) must be submitted within the same deadlines as provided for payment.

There are no benefits for this type of non-tax payment.

Type and frequency of payment

Payments for the exploitation of subsoil are made in monetary terms and are subject to direction to the budget (territorial, federal) in accordance with the budgetary legislation of the Russian Federation. According to Federal Law No. 349 (December 2, 2013), the share of payment sent to the budget of a state subject is 60%, to the federal budget - 40% of the contribution for subsoil use.

Users of plots submit calculations of the amount payable to the Federal Tax Service and executive authorities involved in the field of natural resources. The deadline for transferring the calculation is one month after the last quarter, but not later than the last day of the month.

The payment procedure takes place at the location of the subsoil territory that has been transferred for use. The deadline for the transfer coincides with the deadline for submitting the payment calculation: no later than the last day of the month after the last quarter.

For your information! For untimely submission of the calculation, the consumer may be subject to punishment in the form of a fine, but for violation of the deadline provided for payment of the regular payment for subsoil use, penalties are not charged (Letter of the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation No. SD-4-3/1152, 06/28/2016). This type of transfer is not a tax or fee, therefore the provision of Article 75 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation regarding the collection of penalties cannot be applied.

Example of filling out a calculation

Fossil LLC is engaged in the extraction of precious metals. Activities are carried out in accordance with NT license No. 2657981 dated 01/01/2019. The company mines platinum in Nizhny Tagil. The rate is set at 405 rubles per square meter. The taxable area of the land is 240 square meters.

The annual payment is 97,200 rubles (240 x 405).

The quarterly payment is 24,300 rubles (97,200: 4). This amount must be indicated in line 030 of section 1 of the calculation.

Submit your tax returns on time and without errors! We are giving access for 3 months to Kontur.Ektern!

Types of payments for the use of natural resources

Today, the category of natural resources includes a colossal volume of numerous environmental objects. Their use on the territory of a particular state is, as a rule, subject to taxes or other types of payments. In particular, taxation issues arise at the moment when the user derives personal benefit from such use (see → who pays the environmental fee). At the same time, payments made to the state for such use go towards the following purposes:

The right to own and use resources.
Payment for partial restoration of lost resources.
Fee for exceeding minimum resource usage (penalty fee).

Payments for natural resources are divided into federal and local. Federal taxes include environmental, forestry, water taxes, and in addition to taxes for the use of subsoil, payments for the production of mineral resources and a fee for the right to use wildlife resources. The only local tax is considered to be land tax: its size is determined by regional or district legislation.

To date, the Russian Federation has not developed a system that allows for an objective assessment of available natural resources, and economic methods developed for calculating payments for environmental use do not stimulate activities to preserve and reproduce the country's natural reserves. A budget in which taxes and fees reflect exclusively the natural resources used is thus gradually impoverished.

Payments for the use of forest resources

Forest resources are considered one of the most important, and they are given a special place in legislation. Fees for the use of forest resources are collected from all users, excluding tenants. In this case, the forest resources include wood, resin, forest materials and plants, the use of forests for hunting purposes, and the use of forests for entertainment/sports purposes. Payments for the use of any forest resources are called taxes and can be made both in monetary terms and in any other form (part of the extracted forest resource, other products). A separate type of payment is rent.

The most commonly used resource in this case is wood. Payment for its use is made one-time if the total volume of extracted wood does not exceed 500 cubic meters. m. If the volume is greater, then the amount is divided for the whole year, according to the fee for the logging ticket. A total of 8 payments are made: 10% of the logging ticket in the periods from February to July and 15% each in the period before February, as well as from July to December. The calculation date is the 15th date of each month. So, for example, if you need to pay 100,000 rubles for a logging ticket, then during the year 4 payments of 10,000 rubles and 4 payments of 15,000 rubles will be made.

Fee for the use of water resources

In this case, payments are levied on individuals and legal entities engaged in licensed use of water resources using special equipment or technical devices. Payment is charged for the right to use such resources, as well as for the restoration and protection of used water bodies and the issuance of licenses for the implementation of activities. At the same time, payments are not subject to the use of water resources under the following conditions:

Discharge of harmful waters, in cases where the content of harmful substances in them does not exceed the norm.
Use of water to eliminate emergency situations or natural disasters.
Placement on the water of certain objects that perform a protective role for water and biological resources.
Use of water for fish breeding or reproduction of aquatic biological resources.
Conducting state-scale monitoring for the purposes of scientific research or other work (geodetic, hydrographic, etc.).
Construction of drainage systems in lower areas of swamps.
Construction or placement of structures for hydropower, fisheries, water transport or sewerage purposes.

For persons making payments for the use of water resources, the state provides various types of benefits or discount systems. First of all, special conditions are provided to preferential categories of citizens.