A reminder on how to submit tax returns

Obligation to submit an electronic declaration

Article 174 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation states that the VAT return is submitted by payers and tax agents to the Federal Tax Service at the place of their registration no later than the 25th day of the month following the expired tax period. Taxpayers are required to submit VAT electronically free of charge (we recommend the Federal Tax Service website).

In 2020, only tax agents who are not VAT payers or who are exempt from the obligation to pay this tax, with the exception of those listed in paragraph 5 of Article 174 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, retained the right to file VAT returns on paper:

• persons who carry out business activities in the interests of another person on the basis of commission agreements, agency agreements providing for the sale and (or) acquisition of goods (work, services), property rights on behalf of the commission agent (agent);
• persons who carry out activities on the basis of transport expedition contracts;
• persons performing the functions of the developer.

For organizations and individual entrepreneurs with a small staff or no employees at all and regardless of the taxation system used by the taxpayer, no exceptions are provided. By virtue of the same Article 174 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, when submitting a VAT return on paper, it is not recognized as submitted with all the ensuing consequences. All VAT payers are, of course, interested in the rules for submitting reports online.

Declaration on property tax of organizations

Organizational property tax is a tax imposed on the property of an organization. The tax base for this tax is all movable and immovable property on the balance sheet of the organization. Payers of this tax are all organizations that have movable or immovable property on their balance sheet and do not apply special tax regimes.

The tax return for this tax is drawn up in the form KND 1152001, which reflects the average value of the organization’s property on the 1st day of each month of the reporting period and the month following the reporting period. The reporting period for this declaration is 1 quarter, the tax period is 1 year. At the end of each reporting and tax period, an organization or entrepreneur must submit a declaration and make advance payments. The declaration is submitted to the tax authorities no later than the 30th day of the month following the reporting or tax period.

Sanctions for violators

For violation of the procedure for submitting a VAT return, including failure to comply with the electronic form, an organization or individual entrepreneur is held liable for taxation:

1. For failure to submit a declaration within the prescribed period, liability is provided for in Article 119 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Its provisions introduce a fine of 5% of the amount of tax not paid within the period established by law, which was indicated for payment in this declaration. The fine is charged for each full or partial month from the day on which the legally established deadline for submitting the declaration falls. The maximum fine in this case is not more than 30% of the specified amount, and the minimum is not less than 1,000 rubles.
2. For violation of the rule on submitting a VAT return in electronic form, sanctions are applied under Article 119 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, since such a report is considered not submitted.

In addition, for violation of the established deadlines for submitting VAT reports, officials of the organization may be brought to administrative liability under Article 15.5 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. In this case, they will be given a warning or a fine of 300 to 500 rubles. For a delay in filing a VAT return (including if it is sent in paper form) for more than 10 working days, tax authorities have the right to suspend transactions on the taxpayer’s bank accounts and electronic money transfers. This possibility is provided for in Article 76 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Consequently, submitting a report on paper, violating the requirements of the law, is not at all profitable. We recommend that you carefully study how to submit VAT electronically via the Internet.

Tax reporting via the Internet

For taxes

As a general rule, for organizations and entrepreneurs the method of filing tax reports depends on the number of employees.
Organizations and individual entrepreneurs whose average headcount for the previous year exceeded 100 people must report to the Federal Tax Service strictly in electronic form via telecommunication channels (that is, via the Internet). This also applies to newly created (including reorganized) companies with more than 100 employees. Finally, electronic reporting is required for taxpayers classified as the largest. All other organizations and individual entrepreneurs have a choice: they can report both online and on paper. This follows from paragraph 3 of Article of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Submit all tax returns online for free

However, there is one exception to this rule - value added tax. All VAT payers and tax agents, regardless of the number of employees, are required to report electronically. The same rule is provided for those who are not VAT payers or are exempt from paying this tax, but issue invoices to buyers. This is stated in paragraph 5 of Article 174 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

By contributions

The method of submitting reports to funds on contributions to compulsory pension and compulsory health insurance, as well as insurance in case of temporary disability and in connection with maternity, also depends on the number of personnel. Thus, calculations for insurance premiums (DAM) must be sent via the Internet if the average number of employees of the employer for the previous period exceeds 10 people. This also applies to newly created (including reorganized) companies with more than 10 employees.

Fill out, check and submit insurance premium calculations online

All other contribution payers can submit the DAM both online and on paper. This follows from paragraph 10 of Article 431 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

The heads of peasant (farm) households stand apart. They do not have the obligation to submit the DAM in electronic form, no matter the number of participants in such an enterprise (clause 3 of Article 432 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Let us add that starting with reporting for 2021, the DAM includes information on the average number of employees (see “Calculation of insurance premiums for 2021 must be submitted using a new form”).

Annual financial statements

Starting with reporting for 2021, there is only one acceptable way to submit the annual balance sheet - electronically, via telecommunication channels through an electronic document management operator (see “Accounting statements will be accepted only via the Internet”).

Prepare, check and submit financial statements to the Federal Tax Service via the Internet Submit for free

We generate an electronic VAT return

The electronic format of the VAT return 2021 and its annexes was approved by order of the Federal Tax Service No. ММВ-7-3/ [email protected] The procedure for submitting a tax return in electronic form via telecommunication channels was approved by order of the Ministry of Taxes of the Russian Federation dated April 2, 2002 N BG-3-32/ 169. Upload purchase/sale books generated in xls, xlsx or csv format using specialized operators for sending to the Federal Tax Service. These files will be automatically converted to xml format. The declaration is certified by an enhanced electronic signature of the established form (Article 80 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Electronic delivery procedure

Select a telecom operator and enter into an agreement with it

EDF operator is an organization that provides services for the exchange of confidential and open information between the tax authority and the taxpayer, as part of the system for submitting tax and accounting reports electronically via telecommunication channels.

EDF operators must meet the requirements , have the necessary technologies to submit documentation and enter into an agreement with the federal tax service.

Get an electronic signature

It is issued at a certification center accredited by the Ministry of Communications.
For correct authorization in the service, the tax service recommends using a qualified key certificate to verify the electronic signature. Reporting sent via TKS must have an enhanced qualified electronic signature (Article 80 of the Tax Code).

An electronic document signed with such a signature automatically acquires the status of a legal document, which means it has legal force on a par with a paper version with a signature and seal.

Buy the software

It must be compatible with the software installed in the inspectorate at your place of registration. Install it on a computer that has Internet access. The necessary programs can be provided by the EDF operator center.

The date of transfer of the tax return under the TKS will be considered the date of its presentation to the Federal Tax Service.

Electronic reporting tools

Any accountant understands that it is most convenient to submit VAT via the Internet using the program in which it was created. Transferring reporting from an accounting program to another resource is not immune to additional errors. We need a program that will allow you to submit VAT online and, if possible, free of charge. The first thing that comes to mind is the website of the Federal Tax Service of Russia. There is a “Taxpayer” program available there, which is absolutely free.

In addition, there are many offers on the market for accounting and reporting programs. Some of them are shareware, but most will still require some financial investment.

Free program from the Federal Tax Service

The Federal Tax Service is conducting a pilot project to operate software that ensures the submission of tax and accounting reports in electronic form via a website on the Internet. Taxpayers are given the opportunity to submit reports electronically completely free of charge. Although the “Help” button in each section provides instructions for filling out the corresponding section of the VAT return, this program does not provide support. You will have to track all software updates yourself. The user deals with all errors and malfunctions independently. It will not be possible to test the declaration before sending it.

In addition, in accordance with paragraph 3 of Article 80 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and paragraph 5 of Article 174 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, submit tax returns for value added tax using the Federal Tax Service service only if you have an electronic digital signature (EDS). You will have to buy it from any accredited certification center. That is, there will still be certain costs for sending reports in this way. In this regard, today it is not possible to submit a VAT return absolutely free of charge. It’s still worth taking a closer look at paid services.

Electronic reporting market

There are two ways to generate a VAT return and explanations in electronic form and send them to the tax office:

• straight;
• representative.

In the first case, the taxpayer organization must independently enter into an agreement with an electronic document management (EDF) operator. In addition, there are intermediary firms or special operators. The taxpayer becomes a subscriber under the agreement, he is provided with a program for sending reports, and an electronic digital signature is issued for the manager or other authorized person. In this case, the organization will need a special programmer who can configure the program, integrate it into the accounting program and update it regularly. For services, you will have to transfer money annually to the EDF operator.

In addition, there are so-called cloud services. In this case, the software is provided by the operator directly on the Internet and the user has the right not to install anything on their computers, and access to such a program is possible from any computer or laptop. The user receives full control over the submission of their reports and the ability to directly receive notifications and requests from the tax service.

The representative method is much simpler, but it does not guarantee control over the delivery of reports. In this case, the VAT return is sent through an organization that already has a software package installed that allows you to send reports to other organizations or entrepreneurs. Typically, such services are much cheaper than working directly with an operator. The tax authorities themselves do not welcome them; in this case, they have no feedback from the VAT payer.

Operator and program selection

In total, today there are 119 electronic document management operators registered and operating in Russia (see the full list on the Federal Tax Service website). An operator is a Russian organization that meets the requirements approved by the Federal Tax Service of Russia (clause 3 of Article 80 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated September 30, 2013 N PA-4-6/17542). Work only with those operators that are registered with the Federal Tax Service of Russia. Although the leaders in the EDI market are constantly changing, today the leaders in terms of the number of clients are:

• "Tensor" (product - VLSI);
• "Kaluga Astral" (product - "Astral Report" and many other projects where "Kaluga Astral" appears only as a special communications operator: "1C-Reporting", "Bukhsoft Online", "Moe Delo", "Sky" and others);
• "SKB Kontur" (products: "Kontur.Extern", "Elba" and "Accounting.Kontur");
• "Taxcom" (products: "Dockliner" and "1C-Sprinter").

Products for sending reports include:

• "Accounting.Kontur" (https://www.b-kontur.ru);
• “Astral Report” (https://astral.ppt.ru/);
• "Kontur.Extern" (https://kontur.ru/extern);
• “My Business” (https://www.moedelo.org/);
• “Sky” (https://nebopro.ru/).

All of these companies do not provide the opportunity to submit VAT for free via the Internet, but they all hold promotions during which they offer temporarily free reporting preparation. In addition, when establishing long-term cooperation, they almost always offer good discounts and the opportunity to submit VAT returns for a very reasonable fee.

Submitting reports to the Federal Tax Service

You can submit tax returns on paper or electronically. Let's talk about the pros and cons of each method.

What do they submit to the Federal Tax Service?

Individual entrepreneurs and organizations submit tax and accounting reports to the Federal Tax Service.

With the help of tax reporting, organizations and individual entrepreneurs report to the Federal Tax Service about their income, expenses, tax benefits and main sources of profit. This is necessary to calculate the amount of mandatory taxes and fees for the next year.

There are two types of tax reporting:

• Tax return;
• Tax calculation of advance payment.

Accounting statements are information about the property and finances of an organization, as well as the final results of its economic activities in the reporting period. In addition, employers report to the tax authorities on behalf of employees. They provide:

• Average number of employees;
• Certificate in form 2-NDFL;
• Calculation according to form 6-NDFL;
• Calculation of insurance premiums

Important

: from 2021 the NSR report is cancelled. Information on the number of employees will be included in the calculation of insurance premiums.

How to submit reports to the Federal Tax Service

Paper reports can be sent by mail or come to the tax office in person. Electronic reporting is downloaded on the Federal Tax Service website or through a special operator.

Mail

When sending reports by mail, you need to make an inventory of the attachment and save the receipt with information about the shipment. In this case, the date of submission of reports is considered to be the day when the documents were accepted by postal employees. This method has two disadvantages: the shipment can take a very long time, and there is always a risk that it may be lost.

Personal visit

If you don’t want to wait for the letter to reach the tax office, you can go there yourself or send an authorized employee. The date of the visit will be considered the date of reporting. The advantage of this method is that the Federal Tax Service specialists will immediately check all the documents and point out possible errors.

Federal Tax Service portal

Reports can be submitted electronically in the taxpayer’s personal account on the Federal Tax Service website. Like a personal visit to the tax office, this method is free and safe. However, to work on the portal, the user needs an electronic signature - ES - and a crypto provider. The user must configure the software for operation himself - there are no consultants or technical support on the portal.

EDF operator

The most convenient way to submit reports is through an EDF operator. By connecting to the reporting service, you receive an electronic signature embedded in it and all the necessary software. A specialist sets up your work computer - you don’t have to install programs yourself. In the service, you send reports to the tax office and see at what stage the documents are.

Who submits only electronic reports?

Organizations that pay VAT provide the declaration only in electronic form. This applies to all organizations on OSNO, as well as those special regimes that indicate VAT on invoices.

They also report to the tax authorities via the Internet, organizations that:

Have the status of the largest taxpayer;

They have more than 100 employees.

The limitation on the number of employees also applies to newly created and reorganized LLCs. All other companies can choose between electronic and paper reporting.

How to submit reports online

Creating a report

Reporting services have all forms of reports. They are constantly updated and brought into compliance with legal requirements. This form can be filled out in the service or uploaded a ready-made document created in another program.

The report editor will check the document for errors and suggest what needs to be corrected. The finished report is sent to the tax office using the “Submit” button.

Statuses

In the service you can check at what stage of processing the report is. Statuses will help with this:

• Created
  – the report has been generated or downloaded and saved in the system.
• Sent
  – ​​the report has been sent to the regulatory authority. Confirmation of the dispatch date has been received from the electronic document management operator.
• Accepted
  – notification of receipt of the document has been received from the regulatory authority.
• Processed
  – an entry notification or protocol has been received.

Transaction information, that is, processing status, can be printed or sent by email.

"Astral.Report 5.0" is a simple and convenient service for submitting reports online. Fill out forms quickly and without errors, submit reports and respond to tax requirements on time. Switch to electronic reporting easily and conveniently.

How to connect to the Astral Report 5.0 service

To work with secure document flow, a qualified electronic signature is required. It is created when connecting to the service and is included in the license price. Even if you already have an electronic signature, you won’t be able to use it to work in the service - it requires other settings.

To connect to Astral Report 5.0:

Programs and prices

The leader in terms of price-quality-convenience ratio in the electronic reporting market is 1C-Reporting. Comparison with other special operators is presented in table form. As an example, we took the service of a legal entity during the year.

Obviously, when choosing the optimal program, consider how it works:

• offline — the system is installed on the computer (copy on an external hard drive or flash drive);
• online - cloud technologies, work from any computer on the Internet.

From the table above it can be seen that the first group includes such software products as VLSI++ and Astral Report. The second group is a little more difficult. Not all online programs allow access from any device. For example, “Kontur.Extern” allows you to generate and send a VAT return directly on its portal in cloud mode, but you can only access the information from the computer on which the cryptographic information protection tool (CIPF) is installed. “Contour” is considered an online program only conditionally. Completely cloud-based programs are Bukhsoft, Moe Delo, Otchet.ru and Nebo.

To select a special operator, it is important to evaluate the ratio of the functions and options offered to their price among similar operators. More expensive options usually include additional services, such as checking the declaration before sending. In addition, users receive a regulatory framework for accounting and reporting and advice from experienced accountants. Ease of connection and configuration, as well as feedback from the Federal Tax Service of Russia, play an important role. In addition to sending the VAT return itself, you must receive from the Federal Tax Service a receipt of its receipt, as well as other requirements and notifications.

Checking the electronic VAT return

Before sending it to the Federal Tax Service, it is necessary to check the declaration: whether it is filled out according to the format, whether the control ratios are met, whether the transaction type codes are indicated correctly, and it is possible to check the counterparties for their reliability. The taxpayer himself has the right to do this with the help of control ratios used by the tax authorities during a desk audit. Such testing before sending the declaration to the Federal Tax Service will allow taxpayers to avoid submitting an incorrect report containing errors, eliminate unnecessary correspondence with the tax authority and the need to submit updated declarations to correct errors.

Of course, such checks are carried out using specialized testing programs. The tax service's online service does not provide this option. Among the most understandable and convenient programs for electronic submission of VAT returns in this regard, “Kontur” and “Bukhsoft” should be highlighted - only their report verification protocol contains transcripts that are understandable to most users. For example, Bukhsoft sends the following transcripts when testing a VAT return:

• error in the Sender ID element - decryption: “The file name must be unified, the letters are all capitalized. The file must have an identical name inside";
• error: “The value was not found in the sono directory” - interpretation: “This error indicates that the Tax Authority Code was entered incorrectly”;
• error: “The condition for the presence (absence) of the element File/Document/BookPurchase is not met when the value of the element Recognized8 is equal to “” - transcript: “The presence of Section 8 is not indicated in the report”;
• error: "" violates length constraint for '7'. It was not possible to analyze the attribute “CodeOper” with the value “” - explanation: “Most likely, your operation codes are incorrectly specified or not specified. In the purchase books and sales books, the journal of received and issued invoices. For more details, see Government Resolution No. 1137.”

Obviously, even a novice user will be able to understand such decodings and eliminate all shortcomings before the VAT report is received by the tax office.

Federal Tax Service requirements

The taxpayer is obliged not only to submit VAT, but in addition he has the following interrelated obligations (clause 5.1 of Article 23 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation):

• ensure the acceptance of electronic notifications, demands and other documents sent via telecommunication channels by tax authorities within the scope of their powers;
• promptly (within six working days) send to the tax authority a receipt of receipt of such documents in electronic form;
• provide explanations for the electronic VAT declaration according to the TKS.

Tax authorities have the right to request such explanations if errors and (or) contradictions are identified in the declaration between the information contained in the submitted documents, or if the information provided by the taxpayer does not correspond to the information contained in the documents available to the tax authority and received by it during tax control. The format for providing explanations was approved by order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated December 16, 2016 No. ММВ-7-15/ [email protected] If the specified explanations are submitted on paper, such explanations are not considered submitted. If these requirements are not met, the Federal Tax Service has the right to block transactions on the payer’s account. The special operator is obliged to provide such an opportunity.

Legal documents

• Article 174 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation
• Article 119 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation
• Article 15.5 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation
• Article 76 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation
• Article 80 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation
• Article 80 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation
• Article 174 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation
• <Letter> Federal Tax Service of Russia dated September 30, 2013 N PA-4-6/17542
• Government Decree No. 1137
• Article 23 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation
• by order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated December 16, 2016 No. ММВ-7-15/ [email protected]

Key Requirements

In order to report to regulatory authorities, submitting the requested information is not enough. An accountant will have to review and comply with a number of tax reporting requirements.

For example, you cannot submit reports to the tax service in any form. Tax officials simply will not accept such information, and failure to submit declarations and calculations will result in significant fines and administrative penalties for responsible officials.

Consider the following nuances.

Each obligation has its own characteristics

An accountant needs to study in detail how to properly prepare a particular reporting form. Let us remind you that it is necessary to use unified reporting formats. The Federal Tax Service, by separate orders, approves forms that must be completed. In addition to the fact that each collection (tax, contribution) has its own form, these forms are systematically updated.

Tip: Before filling out the form, check that the form is current for the specific reporting period. Also check whether the Federal Tax Service has changed the rules for compiling and submitting reports.

Determine the method of transmitting information yourself

It is legally determined that the taxpayer independently determines the method of submitting reports to the Federal Tax Service. Thus, submitting financial statements to the tax authorities is permissible in the following ways:

• on paper, and you can submit it in person or via mail by sending a declaration, calculation or balance by registered mail;
• through an authorized representative, in this case you will have to prepare a special power of attorney and send a copy of it to the Federal Tax Service;
• in electronic format, for example, through specialized electronic document management operators, via secure communication channels, using an enhanced qualified electronic signature.

Also, submitting financial statements to the tax office can be done through the official website of the Federal Tax Service - a special service for generating electronic reporting.

Meet deadlines

The deadlines for providing information to the Federal Tax Service are determined for each tax (contribution, fee) individually.

For example, annual financial statements must be submitted no later than March 31 of the year following the reporting period. For example, submit your balance sheet for 2021 no later than 04/01/2020, since March 31 falls on a Sunday. Let us remind you that if the reporting submission date falls on a weekend, holiday or other non-working day, then the information should be submitted no later than the first working day.

Remembering all the dates, when and what to take is almost impossible. To avoid delays and penalties, use the accountant’s current calendar.

Specify information in the prescribed form

If there is a need to provide updated information to the Federal Tax Service, you will have to fill out a corrective report. Moreover, keep in mind that for adjustment reporting for past periods, you will have to fill out exactly the form that was in force in that period. For example, to adjust your income tax return for 2015, fill out the form that is valid for that reporting period.