What is a desk audit of a tax return in 2021 and 2021?

What is a desk tax audit?

A desk audit is a control event that the Federal Tax Service carries out after receiving any declaration and any settlement.
In general, such an audit does not involve tax officials visiting the taxpayer’s location: all activities are carried out within the premises of the inspectorate. Determine the likelihood of an on-site tax audit and receive recommendations on the tax burden

First of all, the received reports are checked to ensure compliance with the deadlines. The Federal Tax Service records that the declaration or calculation was submitted without delay. If the deadline is violated, the payer faces a fine under Article 119 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

IMPORTANT DURING THE QUARANTINE DUE TO CORONAVIRUS. The deadlines for submitting declarations and settlements that fall during the period from March 1 to May 31, 2021 are automatically extended by three months. The exception is the VAT return and insurance settlements for the first quarter of 2021 - they must be submitted no later than May 15 (Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation dated April 2, 2020 No. 409; see: “Deadlines for payment of taxes and contributions have been postponed” and “When to pay taxes and submit reports: all new deadlines in the table from the Federal Tax Service").

Then controllers check the compliance of the reporting with the rules that are prescribed in the order of filling out a particular declaration (calculation). After this, the fulfillment of the control relations is checked.

Submit all tax returns online for free

In addition, within the framework of the “camera chamber”, data from the declaration or calculation is compared with other information that the tax authorities have at their disposal. In particular, information from the received reports is verified with data from other declarations and calculations of the taxpayer himself, as well as with the reports of his counterparties (clause 2.3 of the Federal Tax Service letter dated July 16, 2013 No. AS-4-2/12705). In addition, the information specified in the declaration or calculation is compared with data from information sources to which the Federal Tax Service has access. This is, in particular, information about licenses, bank accounts, data from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, the Unified State Register of Legal Entities and the Unified State Register of Individual Entrepreneurs (clause 2.5 of the Federal Tax Service letter dated July 16, 2013 No. AS-4-2/12705).

Receive a fresh extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities or Unified State Register of Individual Entrepreneurs with the signature of the Federal Tax Service Send an application

What information can be obtained through the taxpayer’s personal account?

LC is a convenient tool for interaction between an individual and the tax office. You can register in it by contacting any tax office with an identity document and receiving a login and password.

This is what the main page of your personal account looks like:

We also list the functions of your personal account:

Coming to the main topic of the article, we note that in the LC you can also receive information about the progress of the desk tax audit of the 3-NDFL declaration. The progress of a desk audit in your personal account is indicated by the term “status”. The status of the desk tax audit of the declaration may vary. We will consider below what values it can take.

First, let’s answer the question, what does a desk audit mean? During the desk audit, compliance with the legislation on taxes and fees is examined on the basis of the declaration submitted by the taxpayer and other documents, as well as documents available to the tax authority. Thus, any declaration undergoes a desk audit.

The stages that must be completed to return overpaid personal income tax by submitting 3-personal income tax to the tax authority:

submission of the 3-NDFL declaration and other necessary documents to the tax authority. As of reporting for 2021, a new form, Form 3-NDFL, has been introduced, which already includes an application for a refund of overpaid tax. Previously, such an application had to be submitted separately. In the taxpayer’s personal account, you will not fill out the declaration form itself, but will only enter your data in the cells, so there should be no difficulties with the current form when submitting via LC. Required additional documents include, for example, a contract, receipts and a license from a medical institution if a social deduction is claimed.
desk audit of the 3-NDFL declaration within 3 months
confirmation of return request or request for clarification in case of identified discrepancies
if the decision is positive - personal income tax refund

For those who do not have the opportunity to use their personal account, we will provide a link to the current 3-NDFL declaration form

How to fill out 3-NDFL, read the article

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We wrote more about the procedure for conducting a desk audit of 3-NDFL here

Who conducts the desk audit?

As already noted, a desk audit does not require a mandatory visit to the taxpayer. Therefore, almost all control activities are carried out at the location of the tax authority. For this purpose, the inspectorates have created special departments for desk audits, where submitted declarations and calculations are received.

Employees of these departments (tax inspectors), as part of their daily job duties, with the help of special programs, carry out the above control activities.

REFERENCE. The decision of the head or deputy head of the Federal Tax Service to conduct a desk audit is not required. This is directly stated in paragraph 2 of Article of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

Department functions

The desk audit department of the tax service carries out a significant amount of work. The main functions of the department can be divided into the following categories:

inspection and control activities;
collection of information about taxpayers;
taking action against violators of tax laws;
analytical work;
preparation of tax notices and certificates;
tax calculation;
interaction with other departments of the tax authority;
responses to taxpayer requests within the competence of the department;
carrying out work to retrain personnel and improve their qualifications.

The department conducts desk audits of tax returns, income statements of individuals, documents on the basis of which taxes and fees are calculated and paid, the amounts of applied tax rates and deductions, as well as the legality of VAT transactions.

The department’s control activities relate to tax deductions for VAT, the application of minimum tax rates, and compliance by exporting taxpayers with current legislation in the field of taxes and fees.

The collection of information about taxpayers and their subsequent selection is carried out in order to form a plan for on-site tax audits. In addition, a fairly large-scale collection and analysis of information about taxpayers obtained from various sources is carried out.

Indicators such as the amount of electricity, water, etc. consumed by the taxpayer enterprise are collected. This information is analyzed, systematized and used to carry out effective control activities.

The department takes measures against violators of tax laws - suspends transactions on their accounts, transfers information about debtors to the debt settlement department.

Analytical work is carried out in the field of studying existing methods of tax evasion. Based on a comprehensive analysis, the department prepares proposals to prevent the operation of these schemes.

The department prepares tax notices for individual entrepreneurs and compiles certificates for taxpayers-exporters, which they need to interact with customs authorities.

He also deals with the calculation of property taxes for individuals and transport taxes.

In its activities, the Department of Desk Inspections interacts with other departments of the tax service - it prepares materials and certificates for them, and transmits the results of inspections.

In addition, feedback is provided to taxpayers in the form of preparing responses to written requests received from them.

The department also takes part in activities to improve the qualifications of tax authorities, their retraining, prepares and conducts seminars and meetings on those issues of the tax service that fall within its competence.

Current structure

The desk audit department is headed by a chief with a wide range of powers and responsibilities, and is staffed by highly qualified lawyers, accountants, economists and specialists in the field of high technology. In addition to their specialization, all employees are required to have a good level of training in the field of current tax legislation.

The nuances of conducting desk tax audits are presented in this video.

Responsibilities of the Chief

The head manages the current activities of the department, interacts with other departments of the tax service, deals with personnel issues, draws up job descriptions for employees, monitors the employees’ performance of their duties and their compliance with labor regulations, and plans activities.

The chief is personally responsible for the work of the department, compliance with current legislation, and the safety of the property included in the department.

Job of a state tax inspector

State tax inspectors, in accordance with their specifications, check taxpayers for compliance with tax legislation. Inspections of legal entities and individuals have their own characteristics, and there are also differences between on-site and desk inspections.

In addition, the responsibilities of tax inspectors include monitoring the timely payment of taxes and fees, maintaining tax statistics, and working with violators of tax laws (imposing various sanctions).

To perform their duties efficiently, tax inspectors systematically improve their professional level, undergo advanced training and retraining courses.

Goals and features of the “camera room”

The main purpose of a desk audit is to ensure that tax obligations are formed correctly in a declaration or calculation. In other words, a desk audit can confirm that the taxpayer has correctly calculated the amount of tax, or refute this. Also, during the audit, data from the reporting will be checked with information about the amounts of taxes already transferred in order to establish the presence of arrears or overpayments.

Within the framework of the “camera chamber”, in addition to checking the control ratios and the accuracy of filling out the declaration, other tax control measures can be carried out. Thus, in cases directly specified in the article of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, additional documents can be requested from the taxpayer confirming the data specified in the declaration. For example, this is allowed when discrepancies are identified between the information in the declaration and the information available to the inspectorate (clause 3 of Art. Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Receive requests from the Federal Tax Service for free and send the requested documents via the Internet

For more details, see: “The Federal Tax Service requires documents: which requests need to be answered and which can be ignored.”

Also, during a desk audit, the Federal Tax Service may conduct so-called counter audits, that is, request documents and information from third parties (Article 93.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). They can be both parties to those contracts that the taxpayer himself entered into, and counterparties of the second, third and subsequent links (resolution of the Arbitration Court of the Ural District dated 02.08.18 No. F09-4001/18). For more details, see: “The Federal Tax Service Inspectorate requested data on the counterparty or transaction: when is it legal, and what will happen if you do not respond to the request.”

In addition, when conducting a “camera chamber”, the Federal Tax Service may call the management of the inspected organization or entrepreneur to the inspectorate to give explanations (subclause 4, clause 1, article of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Tax authorities also have the right to interrogate any other persons, including taxpayer employees, and seize documents (Articles and Tax Code of the Russian Federation). In some cases, inspections of premises, territories, documents and objects are permissible (clause 1 of Art. Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

IMPORTANT FOR THE PERIOD OF QUARANTINE DUE TO CORONAVIRUS . Until June 1, 2021, any control activities related to direct contact with taxpayers are prohibited. We are talking about interrogations, seizure of documents, inspections, calls to the Federal Tax Service, etc. (letter of the Federal Tax Service dated 04/09/20 No. SD-4-2 / [email protected] ).

How to get a personal income tax deduction

Individuals have the right to receive standard, social, property and investment deductions when calculating and paying personal income tax (clause 3 of Article 210 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
Some types of deductions can be provided by the employer, that is, when deducting personal income tax from the salary, the accountant will immediately take into account the deduction and reduce the tax base for it. He will do this if the employee submits the appropriate application and documents, that is, receiving a deduction at work is of a declarative nature. The main document for issuing a standard deduction is the employee’s application; in other cases, it is a notice of the right to deduction, which is issued by the Federal Tax Service after checking the supporting documents submitted by the taxpayer to the regulatory authority. How to fill out the 3-NDFL declaration for investment deduction, we wrote here

That is, the deduction when calculating wages is not always applied. In this case, you can independently declare your right to deduction and return the overpaid personal income tax from the budget by sending a 3-personal income tax declaration at the end of the year to the tax office. This can be done either in person at the inspectorate or through the taxpayer’s personal account (PA) by registering on the official website of the tax office. The second option saves a lot of effort and time, and also provides undeniable advantages, which we will discuss below.

How to fill out 3-NDFL to receive a property deduction for a mortgage is described in the article provided in ConsultantPlus. You will find even more useful information if you sign up for a free trial access to K+

Deadlines for desk checks

As a general rule, a desk audit lasts three months from the date of reporting. VAT returns “by default” must be checked within a shortened period of two months (Clause 2 of Article of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

IMPORTANT DURING THE QUARANTINE DUE TO CORONAVIRUS. Despite the fact that the days from March 30 to April 30, 2021 have been declared non-working, the tax authorities conduct desk audits within the usual time limits (letter of the Federal Tax Service dated April 10, 2020 No. EA-4-15 / [ email protected] ; see “Cameral checks” on VAT and tax refunds will be processed within normal timeframes.")

In most cases, it is impossible to extend the period of the “camera chamber”. An exception applies to VAT returns. The tax inspectorate may extend the period for auditing such a report from the reduced two to the standard three months if signs of violation of tax legislation are detected (clause 2 of Article 2 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Check and submit an electronic VAT return for free

The above inspection periods begin to run from the day the inspection received the declaration or calculation (letter of the Ministry of Finance dated December 22, 2017 No. 03-02-07/1/85955, clause 2.2 of the Federal Tax Service letter dated July 16, 2013 No. AS-4-2/ 12705). The rules for ending the desk audit period are the same as for any other deadlines (Article 6.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). This means that the “camera room” must end on the corresponding date after three (two) months. If this day falls on a weekend or holiday, the end date is moved to the next business day. And if there is no corresponding date in the month in which the audit is completed, then the audit must end on the last day of that month.

ATTENTION. The Federal Tax Service cannot suspend the period during a desk audit.

The expiration of the “camera chamber” period means that inspectors must stop all “external” inspection activities. That is, they will not be able to send requests for the submission of documents (to both the taxpayer and third parties), conduct interrogations, inspections, seizures, etc. But “internal” events can continue. The fact is that drawing up an inspection report outside its deadline is not a significant violation of the procedure and does not entail the unconditional cancellation of the decision of the Federal Tax Service (clause 14 of article 101 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, clause 3 of the letter of the Ministry of Finance dated March 23, 2018 No. 03-02-07/ 1/18400).

ATTENTION. If you submit an updated declaration before the end of the chamber meeting, the verification of the primary reports will immediately stop. And the inspection period will begin to run again (clause 9.1 of Art. Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Decision on the inspection report

Based on all available tax audit materials (desk audit report, written objections of the organization to the act, documents requested from the organization or its counterparties), the inspectorate makes a final decision based on the results of the desk audit and formalizes it (clause 1 of Article 101 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). For more information about the timing, procedure and rules for processing a decision based on the results of a desk tax audit, see How a decision is made based on the results of a tax audit.

In a visual form, the stages of conducting a desk audit, the procedure for processing its results, the document flow diagram and options for actions of inspectors in various situations are presented in the letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated December 15, 2011 No. AS-4-2/21396, which was sent to all tax inspectorates.

The procedure for holding a camera room

Desk inspection can be divided into two stages: automated control and in-depth inspection. Automated control of reporting occurs virtually without the participation of tax officials. After the data from the declaration (calculation) is loaded into the inspection information system, the computer itself checks the correctness of filling out the reporting lines and verifies the control ratios.

Also, information from declarations is “run” through special databases - the so-called automatic control systems (ACS). The most famous of them is ASK VAT-2, with the help of which a “cross-check” of the data of all VAT returns is carried out and “gaps” in the value added chains are identified. That is, situations are discovered when tax is accepted for deduction, but at the next stage is not transferred to the budget.

ATTENTION . The risk of additional charges during a desk audit for VAT can be reduced if you check received and issued invoices with counterparties in advance.

Carry out automatic reconciliation of invoices with counterparties Connect to the service

If, based on the results of automated control, errors, discrepancies or inconsistencies are found in reporting, this is a reason for an in-depth check. An extended check is also carried out if the declaration states benefits or the amount of VAT to be refunded. In addition, reporting on taxes related to the use of natural resources is subject to a mandatory in-depth audit (clauses 3, 6, 8 and 9 of Art. Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Division of the desk audit department by sector

A desk service may have several subsections. The quantity depends on the service territory covered by a specific division of the Federal Tax Service

Each is assigned individual functions, detailed in local management instructions, which are developed and approved by the head of the department, using tax and labor law.

The contents of the instructions for each department look like this:

Desk inspection department 1, what does it do;
what is the number of employees;
Full name of the head;
detailed job description for each employee, etc.

Let's consider an example of constructing sectors of the office department using the example of Federal Tax Service No. 43, Moscow

The department consists of 6 sectors, each working with a corresponding category of taxpayers.

Office audit department 1 - responsible for 3-NDFL, 4-NDFL, administers insurance premiums and trading fees for individual entrepreneurs.
Office audit department 2 – administers VAT issues for organizations, monitors the completeness of payment, the legality of refunds, and the application of the 0% tax rate.
Department of Desk Inspections 3 – his department is responsible for income tax. Inspectors are also responsible for reporting personal income tax. persons During the audit, they study the composition of taxable income, tax deductions, the procedure for withholding and contributing to the budget, and verify the correctness of the 6-NDFL and 2-NDFL declarations.
Department of Desk Inspections 4 – deals with issues of the unified social tax, as well as transport land and property tax for both organizations and individuals. Persons
Department of desk audits 5 - oversees the issues and reporting of organizations working under the simplified simplified tax system and UTII.
Department of Desk Inspections 6 – deals with debtors and residents who did not submit reports on time. Department employees summarize the results of the audit, communicate with taxpayers, prepare reports, lists of violators for submission to the legal department and the debt settlement department.

There is no single rule for the distribution of functions between sectors. Each inspection branch establishes its own operating procedure, depending on the territory it controls.

In each specific Federal Tax Service, there may be more or fewer subsections of the cameral department. The distribution of categories of taxpayers served by each subsection may also be different.

In-depth desk audit

At this stage, control measures are carried out by the tax inspector. He must make sure that the taxpayer did not commit any violations when filling out the declaration and calculating the amount of tax.

To do this, the inspector sends requests for the submission of documents and information both to the taxpayer himself and to other persons (including counterparties of the second and subsequent links). If necessary, it is possible to interrogate witnesses, conduct examinations, seize documents or inspect territories, premises, documents and objects.

IMPORTANT DURING THE QUARANTINE DUE TO CORONAVIRUS. Until June 1, 2021, any control measures related to direct contact with taxpayers are prohibited (letter of the Federal Tax Service dated 04/09/20 No. SD-4-2 / [email protected] ).

Also, as part of an in-depth audit, the inspector may send the taxpayer a message about errors identified in the reporting. It may contain a requirement to provide explanations or to submit an updated tax return (Clause 3 of Article of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Receive requirements and send requests to the Federal Tax Service via the Internet for free

IMPORTANT DURING THE QUARANTINE DUE TO CORONAVIRUS. If a request for documents or explanations is received between March 1 and May 31, 2021, the response period is extended by 20 working days. An exception is the case when the demand is sent as part of a desk audit of a VAT return. In this situation, the deadline for submitting documents can be postponed by 10 working days (clause 3 of the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated 04/02/20 No. 409; see: “The deadline for submitting documents at the request of the Federal Tax Service has been extended”).

Desk audit of VAT refund declaration

As already noted, in relation to VAT returns, including those in which the amount of tax to be refunded is declared, a two-month “delay period” has been established. It can be extended for another month if signs of violations are identified (clause 2 of Art. Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

IMPORTANT DURING THE QUARANTINE DUE TO CORONAVIRUS. Declaring the days from March 30 to April 30 as non-working days does not change the timing of desk audits of VAT returns and tax refunds (letter of the Federal Tax Service dated April 10, 2020 No. EA-4-15 / [email protected] ).

It should also be taken into account that when refunding VAT, an in-depth desk audit is always carried out. This means that in addition to the automated reconciliation of control ratios and verification of the declaration under the ASK VAT-2, inspectors will most likely request from the taxpayer invoices and primary documents on applied deductions (clause 8 of Article of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). In addition, tax authorities will conduct counter-inspections of counterparties to ensure the reality of the transactions and amounts claimed for reimbursement.

Connect to the service for automatic reconciliation of invoices with counterparties

If, as a result, contradictions or discrepancies emerge, then the inspectors may additionally request a sales book, a purchase book, a log of received and issued invoices (clause 8.1 of Article of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, letter of the Federal Tax Service dated August 10, 2015 No. SD-4-15 / [email protected] ). Also, inspectors have the right to inspect, in the presence of witnesses, the territory and premises of the taxpayer to ensure the availability of resources to carry out the operations declared in the declaration (clause 2 of Art., clauses 1 and 3 of Art. Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

IMPORTANT FOR THE PERIOD OF QUARANTINE DUE TO CORONAVIRUS . If the request for the submission of documents in the “camera chamber” of the VAT declaration is received during the period from March 1 to May 31, 2021, then the response period is extended by 10 working days (clause 3 of the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated April 2, 2020 No. 409). And any “contact” control activities, including inspection of the territories and premises of taxpayers, are prohibited until June 1, 2021 (letter of the Federal Tax Service dated 04/09/20 No. SD-4-2 / [email protected] ).

Check the counterparty for signs of a shell company and the presence of disqualified persons

Report on the results of a desk audit

If no violations are detected, the supervisory authority does not take any additional actions. But if the presence of violations is established, a report is drawn up (according to KND 1160098) within 10 days after the end of the inspection activities. A copy of it is given to the taxpayer within five days. The latest law has given one month to file objections to the act. After the expiration of this period, the head of the Federal Tax Service will decide the issue of holding the payer accountable for a tax offense. The results are disputed in a higher authority and in the Arbitration Court.

Legal documents

Art. 88 Tax Code of the Russian Federation
246
286
173
174
386
346.13
Ch. 26.3
Ch. 28
398
Ch. 34
Art. 88 Tax Code of the Russian Federation
06.11.2015 No. ED-4-15/19395
Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated July 30, 2013 No. 57