Transition to simplified tax system in 2020

Criteria

Let’s say right away that the criteria for switching to the simplified tax system in 2021 are stipulated in various articles of Chapter 26.2 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Therefore, for your convenience, we will now list them all at once:

№	Criterion	Norm of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation
1	A limit has been set for the transition to the simplified tax system in 2021: · for 9 months of 2017, income should be no more than 112.5 million rubles; · for the entire 2021, income should not exceed 150 million rubles.	Clause 2 Art. 346.12 and paragraph 4 of Art. 346.13
2	The maximum residual value of fixed assets according to accounting as of October 1, 2021 is 150 million rubles Clarification: the cost of intangible assets does not play a role.	Subp. 16 clause 3 art. 346.12
3	The average number of personnel does not exceed 100 employees	Subp. 15 clause 3 art. 346.12
4	The largest share of other companies in the authorized capital of the simplified company is 25%	Subp. 14 clause 3 art. 346.12
5	Lack of branches	Subp. 1 clause 3 art. 346.12

Please note that the transition to the simplified tax system from 2021 is possible only if the company/individual entrepreneur simultaneously complies with the listed criteria.

Also see “Moving from “imputed” to “simplified”.

Limits for the transition of an LLC to the simplified tax system from 2021

From 2021, even more organizations will be able to voluntarily join the “simplified” special regime. This is due to the increase in “transitional” limits, which companies that decide to use the simplified tax system should be guided by.

The “income” limit for switching to the simplified tax system in 2021 is 112.5 million rubles, which, unlike previous years, is now not indexed to the deflator coefficient. If for the period January - September 2021 the company’s revenue (excluding VAT) is higher than this amount, it will not be able to switch to the “simplified” system (Clause 2 of Article 346.12 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Another restriction that applies only to legal entities is the residual value of depreciable fixed assets, not exceeding 150 million rubles. as of October 1, 2017 (clause 16, clause 3, article 346.12 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

In addition, the criteria for the transition to the simplified tax system for authorized capital continue to apply - it can consist of contributions from other legal entities of a maximum of 25%. Also, participants in production sharing agreements and organizations with branches cannot switch to the simplified system.

Order

Let’s say right away that the procedure for switching to the simplified tax system from 2021 has not fundamentally changed. It is enough to meet the above criteria, and also have time to submit the corresponding notification to the Federal Tax Service at the location (residence of the individual entrepreneur) before January 09, 2021 inclusive (clause 1 of Article 346.13 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation):

In 2021, December 31st falls on a Sunday. It will be a day off. Therefore, according to tax legislation, the rule of transfer to the next working day applies (clause 7, article 6.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). That is, January 09, 2021.

The form of this document is enshrined in Appendix No. 1 of the order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated November 2, 2012 No. ММВ-7-3/829, and the electronic format for sending is enshrined in Appendix No. 1 of the Federal Tax Service order No. ММВ-7-6/878 dated November 16, 2012.

You can download the notification form about the transition to the simplified tax system from 2021 from our website here.

Thus, the notification procedure for switching to a simplified system is in effect. That is, you don’t need to wait for any special permission or go-ahead from the tax authorities. At the same time, the future simplifier must decide in advance which object according to the simplified tax system he wants to use. There are 2 options (Article 346.14 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation):

Pay tax only on income.
Deduct tax on income reduced by expenses incurred.

If you do not have time to submit a notification about the transition to the simplified tax system from 01/09/2018, you will not have the right to apply this special regime (subclause 19, clause 3, article 346.12 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

From the above, we conclude that the transition to a simplified special tax regime, as a general rule, is permissible from the beginning of the next calendar year. And you need to worry about this in advance. At the same time, newly created companies and individual entrepreneurs can count on switching to the simplified tax system from 2021 if they do not have time to submit a notification within 30 calendar days from the date of tax registration, which is indicated in the certificate (clause 2 of article 346.13 Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Also see “Violations of simplified taxation system payers: list 2021”.

Date of transition to simplified tax system in 2021

To become a “simplified” person, you need to meet all the criteria for switching to the simplified tax system in 2021 and submit a “Notice of Transition” in a timely manner. If the notification period is violated, the tax authorities will report a refusal to apply the simplified tax system, then the next attempt at transition will be possible only after a year.

In general, the transition to a “simplified” special regime is possible from the beginning of next year, that is, the date of transition to the simplified tax system in 2021 is 01/01/2018 (clause 1 of article 346.13 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Notification must be submitted no later than December 31 of the year preceding the year of transition, but in 2017 the deadline coincides with the holiday followed by the New Year holidays. According to the established rules, in the event of such a coincidence, the last day of notification is postponed to the next working day, which will be 01/09/2018.

The deadline for transition to the simplified tax system in 2021 for newly created firms and individual entrepreneurs is the date of their registration with the Federal Tax Service, indicated in the registration certificate. Such taxpayers are given 30 days from the date of registration to notify about the transition to the simplified tax system (clause 2 of article 346.13 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

For those who decided to apply the “simplified tax” after refusing to work on UTII, or having lost the right to “imputation” due to changes in local legislation, the rules for switching to the simplified tax system in 2018 allow them not to wait until the beginning of next year, having become a “simplified” from the beginning of the month , in which they ceased to be UTII payers (clause 2 of Article 346.13 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). The date of termination of the obligation to pay the “imputed” tax will become for such organizations and individual entrepreneurs the start date for filing an application for the transition to the simplified tax system, which is 30 days.

Thus, in order to switch to the “simplified tax” in 2021, the taxpayer must meet all the criteria and requirements of the law, and also send a notice of the transition to the tax authorities without violating the established deadlines.

The easiest way to switch to simplified

If you are just starting a business, you must register a notification statement with the tax office about your intention to apply the simplified tax system. This is done within 30 days after registration of the organization or individual entrepreneur. You immediately need to select an object of taxation (later you can change it):

“Income” – tax rate 6%.
“Income minus expenses” - tax rate 15% (lower in some regions).

Form for notification of transition to simplified: .

How to fix an error in a notification

If an error is made during preliminary calculations, it must be corrected before the deadline for submitting the notification. A free-form written message is sent to the Federal Tax Service Inspectorate informing about the detected inaccuracy. It is acceptable to generate the notification again with the correct data.

An existing organization switching to a simplified system from the new year has the right to clarify the object selected earlier. She needs:

send notification within the time limits specified above. In the document, put the appropriate o or “2”.
cancel the previous notification. For this purpose, a covering letter is attached to the updated document.

It is compiled in any form. The sequence of presentation is as follows:

Inform that a notification has already been submitted.
There was an error in previous calculations that was only discovered.
The document is sent again because the inaccuracy needs to be corrected. For example, change the taxable object from “1” to “2” or vice versa. No explanation will be needed regarding the reasons for his change. Enough with the message that there was an inaccuracy in the document sent earlier. Otherwise, it is possible that the tax authorities will have a lot of auxiliary clarifications. It is enough to note that a technical error occurred and, as a result, the paper was filled out incorrectly.

At the end of the written communication, you should ask for cancellation of the previous notice. When mentioning it, it is important to clearly highlight which tax object the organization has chosen. This will protect her from the fact that tax specialists will confuse the notifications.

The document on the transition to the simplified tax system, filled out again, must be attached to the letter. This will ensure that the updated notification to the inspectorate will not be lost.

When the letter is received by tax specialists, the company has grounds to apply in 2021 the object that was reported. There is no need to wait until these workers accept the conclusion. They are not required to send a response message regarding the notification, unless the enterprise sends a request and asks for it. But for reinsurance and further calm work, it is wiser to dial the inspector’s number and get information whether the previous notification has been canceled.

An organization that has just registered does not have the right to change the selected object until the end of the year. This prohibition also applies when there is an error in the notification regarding the simplified tax system. If instead of “2” the number “1” is entered, then you will not be able to replay. It is prohibited to clarify the notice. The Federal Tax Service argues that the company began to apply the special regime from the moment of registration, in fact, immediately after its founding. And taxpayers already using the simplified tax system do not have the right to change the object until the year ends.

When the company's management does not recognize the arguments presented as legitimate, it is not prohibited from giving orders to calculate advances in a more profitable way. But you will have to prove the case in court, and there are reasons for this, because:

Another object of taxation was not used before submitting a notification to the Federal Tax Service.
There is no clause in the Tax Code prohibiting an error made in a notification from being corrected.
In the declaration, the selected object is filled out only based on the results of the past year.

When a company or other organization has calculated that the simplified tax system is more profitable for them than the system that is currently in force, it is necessary to double-check whether its indicators and characteristics meet the mandatory criteria that allow the use of a special regime in commercial activities.

Application or notification of transition to the simplified tax system?

The transition to the simplified tax system is voluntary and declarative. This means that you should notify your tax office that you are going to apply the simplification. Previously, an application was submitted for this, but in 2012 a new form of notification of the transition to the simplified tax system was developed. The document form can be found in the article “Notification of the transition to a simplified taxation system”

For information on how to correctly fill out a notice of transition to the simplified tax system in 2015 , read the article “Application for transition to the simplified tax system in 2015-2016 (sample)”

In the notification you will have to indicate the object of taxation. You will learn how often you can change the object of taxation in the article “How to change the object of taxation under the simplified tax system”

If you doubt that you have indicated the most beneficial tax object for you and want to change it, read our advice in the article “You need to finally decide on the object for “simplified taxation” before the start of the tax period”

A document that confirms the right of a company or individual entrepreneur to apply a simplified tax regime is a certificate of the simplified tax system. “Certificate of a simplified taxation system” will tell you how long the procedure for obtaining it takes.

How to correctly calculate the income limit

The amount containing the enterprise's income consists of two main parts. This is income from:

implementation;
non-realization.

VAT is not included in the marginal income.

VAT under simplified tax system

It is important not to make mistakes in calculating income. Not all of their types add up to the total income. Receipts are not taken into account:

not related to entrepreneurship;
from the sale of non-commercial real estate that was purchased before the entrepreneur changed his status;
credit and borrowed funds;
income from deposits.

Each individual type of business has certain characteristics. This means that the formation and limitation of the amount of income also has its own specifics. It consists of the following:

When an enterprise currently uses only UTII, the transition to the simplified tax system from 2021 is possible without taking into account income restrictions. It does not apply to such taxpayers.
Enterprises that combine UTII with SST include only income from activities related to the general regime in their allowable income.
For individual entrepreneurs, the transfer of business to the simplified tax system occurs regardless of the amount of income. Individual entrepreneurs have the right to make the transition to the simplified tax system in 2021, without taking into account the size of their income. There is no specific income limit for them.

Transition to simplified tax system from OSN

Most often, companies that previously operated under the general regime switch to a simplified taxation system. To determine which tax regime is the most beneficial for your company, read the article “How can an organization choose a tax regime: OSN, simplified tax system or UTII”

However, not every company is allowed by law to make the transition to the simplified tax system . For more information about what types of activities a “simplified person” cannot engage in, read the article “Which OKVED codes fall under the simplified tax system in 2015-2016 .

The simplified taxation system is chosen by companies and individual entrepreneurs who want to save on payments to the budget, since this special regime has certain privileges. Read more about them in the article “What taxes does the simplified tax system replace”

Organizations that pay VAT during the transition to a simplified tax system are faced with the question of what to do with value added tax during the transition period? After all, by the time the simplified taxation regime comes into effect, the company will probably still have on its balance sheet the assets acquired while working at OSNO. “VAT when switching to the simplified tax system with OSNO: accounting and restoration of tax” will help you deal with this issue.

Conditions for the transition to the simplified tax system in 2021: criteria