A tax audit has come to you. What a manager needs to know

In accordance with Art. 87 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, tax authorities conduct desk and field tax audits of taxpayers.

A desk audit is an audit conducted at the location of the tax authority on the basis of tax returns and documents submitted by the taxpayer.

From the point of view of the tax authorities On-site tax audit is one of the most effective tax control measures, based on the results of which additional taxes, fees and penalties are assessed and collected, and the taxpayer is held accountable. From the taxpayer’s point of view, an on-site tax audit is the most frequent source of conflicts between the taxpayer and the tax authority, which abuses its powers and arbitrarily (in its favor) interprets the legislation on taxes and fees.

Therefore, it is very important today that the taxpayer’s head is legally aware of the procedure for conducting an on-site tax audit and recording its results.

What points should the taxpayer know in this case and ensure that the tax authorities comply with them?

First of all, about The basis for conducting an on-site tax audit is only the decision of the head (his deputy) of the tax authority. The said decision must contain: the name of the tax authority; decision number and date of its adoption; name of the taxpayer (tax agent, fee payer) or full name. an individual entrepreneur in respect of whom an audit is ordered (in the case of an on-site tax audit of a branch or representative office of a taxpayer-organization, in addition to the name of the organization, the name of the branch or representative office at which the audit is ordered, as well as the reason code for registration); taxpayer identification number; the period of financial and economic activity of the taxpayer (tax agent, payer of the fee) or its branch or representative office for which the audit is carried out; audit issues (types of taxes for which the audit is carried out); Full name, positions and class ranks (special ranks) of persons included in the audit team, including employees of the federal tax police, other law enforcement and regulatory authorities (if these persons are involved in tax audits); signature of the person who made the decision, indicating his full name, position and class rank.

Taxpayers need to carefully consider the following details of this decision:

a) who signed the decision to order an on-site tax audit;

b) who is mentioned in the decision as the person carrying out the tax audit.

All these issues are important for the subsequent appeal of this decision, in the event that it is signed by an official of the tax authority who does not have the authority to sign this document, as well as in the case of an appeal of the act of the tax authority drawn up based on the results of a tax audit carried out by the inspection team in an illegal composition.

Secondly, an on-site tax audit in relation to one taxpayer (fee payer, tax agent) can be carried out for one or several taxes.
Thirdly, the taxpayer should be aware that a tax audit can only cover three calendar years of the taxpayer’s activities immediately preceding the year of the audit.
It is prohibited for tax authorities to conduct repeated on-site tax audits on the same taxes payable or paid by the taxpayer for an already audited tax period. , except for cases when such an audit is carried out in connection with the reorganization or liquidation of the taxpayer organization or by a higher tax authority in order to control the activities of the tax authority that conducted the audit. It should be noted here that control check is carried out only on the basis of a reasoned decision of a higher authority and only for the purpose of monitoring the body that conducted the initial inspection; therefore, the inspectors who conducted the on-site inspection do not have the right to conduct a control inspection (since they cannot control themselves). Before starting a control audit, inspectors must present the taxpayer's head with their official identification and a resolution to conduct a control on-site inspection. If the controllers have not submitted these documents, you have the right not to allow them into the company’s office. After reading the resolution, pay attention to who signed it. Keep in mind: the head of the tax inspectorate cannot sign a resolution to conduct a control audit. It is signed by the head of the department or interregional inspection (or their deputies). A resolution that contains the signature of an unauthorized person or does not indicate the reasons for the inspection is invalid (Article 87 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). The form of the resolution was approved by order of the Ministry of Taxes and Taxes of Russia dated October 8, 1999 No. AP-3-16/318. Any deviation from it gives you the right to refuse the inspectors.
The taxpayer should also be aware that the tax authority does not have the right to conduct two or more on-site tax audits on the same taxes for the same period within one calendar year.
An on-site tax audit cannot last more than two months. In exceptional cases, a higher tax authority may increase the duration of an on-site tax audit to three months. When conducting on-site inspections of organizations with branches and representative offices, the inspection period is increased by one month to conduct an inspection of each branch and representative office.
Tax authorities have the right to inspect branches and representative offices of a taxpayer, regardless of the inspection of the taxpayer himself.
The inspection period includes the time the inspectors are actually present on the territory of the inspected taxpayer, fee payer or tax agent. The specified periods do not count the periods between the delivery to the taxpayer (tax agent) of the requirement to submit documents in accordance with Article 93 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and the submission of the documents requested during the audit.

The procedure for processing the results of an on-site tax audit is established by Art. 100 Tax Code of the Russian Federation, in accordance with which, based on the results of an on-site tax audit, no later than two months after drawing up a certificate of the audit, authorized officials of the tax authorities must draw up a tax audit report in the prescribed form. The form of the on-site tax audit report is established by Instruction No. 60 dated April 10, 2000 “On the procedure for drawing up an on-site tax audit report and proceedings in cases of violations of the legislation on taxes and fees.” The instructions also provide requirements for the execution and content of the on-site tax audit report. The on-site tax audit report is signed by officials of the tax authorities and the head of the organization being inspected, either by an individual entrepreneur or their representatives. A corresponding entry is made in the act regarding the refusal of the organization’s representatives to sign the act. In the event that these persons evade receiving a tax audit report, this must be reflected in the tax audit report.

Clause 2 art. 100 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation establishes requirements for the content of the tax audit report.

IN The tax audit report must indicate:

documented facts of tax offenses identified during the audit, or the absence thereof; conclusions and proposals of inspectors to eliminate identified violations; links to articles of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation providing for liability for this type of tax offense.

The specified requirements for the content of the tax audit report are important because, on the basis of this act, the head of the tax authority makes a decision to bring the taxpayer to tax liability, which must also be motivated. Therefore, violations in the execution of an inspection report can significantly strengthen the taxpayer’s position in an arbitration appeal against the relevant act, action (inaction) of the tax authority or its official. In particular, the federal arbitration courts of the districts in their decisions have repeatedly pointed out the unfoundedness of the claims of the tax authorities, which were not supported by the corresponding arguments contained in the tax audit report.

According to paragraph 6 of Art. 100 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, after the expiration of the two-week period for submitting objections to the tax audit report, within 14 days the head of the tax authority (his deputy) reviews the tax audit report, as well as documents and materials submitted by the taxpayer. If the taxpayer submits objections, the head of the tax authority considers the inspection materials and objections in the presence of representatives of the taxpayer, respectively, notifying them of the place and time of consideration of these materials. Failure to comply with this procedure, in combination with other circumstances, may serve as a basis for invalidating the decision of the tax authority to hold the taxpayer liable.

However, there are often cases when, after receiving objections to the head of the tax authority and considering the audit materials, he can issue an act on the appointment of additional control measures, Part 2 of Art. 101 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). What should a manager know in this case?

If the tax inspectorate has appointed additional measures, then when re-examining the audit materials, the general procedure for holding the taxpayer accountable must be followed. Inspectors are obliged to familiarize the organization with the materials obtained as a result of additional control, and it (the organization) has the right to send its objections to the head of the tax authority. Then the tax authorities must inform the company about the place and time for consideration of objections.

According to the information letter dated March 17, 2003 No. 71 of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation, the timing of additional measures is also limited. So in the information letter it is stated that “ Carrying out additional tax control measures on the basis of subparagraph 3 of paragraph 2 of Article 101 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation does not change the procedure for calculating the statute of limitations provided for in Article 115 of the Code”, which means that in accordance with paragraph 1 of Article 115 of the Tax Code, tax authorities can go to court to collect tax sanctions from the organization no later than six months “from the date of discovery of the tax offense and the drawing up of the corresponding act.” Thus, if tax authorities hope to collect fines from you in court, their time for additional control is regulated.

And one more important detail.

The adoption by the tax authority of a decision to carry out additional tax control measures indicates that, having examined the audit materials taking into account the objections of the head of the taxpayer, he did not consider them sufficient to make a decision on bringing or refusing to bring the company to tax liability. If, based on the results of a tax audit, a decision has already been made to hold the taxpayer liable for taxation (or to refuse to hold him accountable), then the decision to carry out additional measures will be illegal.

When faced with such problems, we advise you to write a complaint to a higher inspection or go to court. We would also like to remind you that there is no need to delay the trial, because according to paragraph 4 of Art. 198 of the Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, a three-month period is provided for filing a complaint with the court from the date of delivery of each decision.

Summoning a witness for questioning is one of the popular activities of tax inspectors. For any business owner or employee, receiving a call from the tax authorities or a summons for questioning is a real stress. What should I do? Is it possible not to come? What should I say? The answers to these questions cannot be found in the Tax Code - there is only a short article with a minimum of information about the interrogation of a witness. Here are some tips that have been tested in practice.

Don't answer phone calls

According to paragraph 1 of Art. 91 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, any individual who may be aware of any circumstances relevant to the implementation of tax control may be called as a witness to testify.

The Tax Code does not regulate in any way the procedure for calling a witness for questioning. In practice, inspectors take advantage of this and call for questioning either by phone call or by summons demanding to appear for questioning as a witness.

You can safely not respond to a call from the tax office, because such a summons for questioning does not oblige you to anything and is not provided for by law. You will be surprised, but Tax officials' threats to forcefully bring you in for questioning if you fail to appear are also not provided for by law.

Tax legislation has not yet decided on the form of the document that can be used to summon you for questioning. Tax inspectors fill out their subpoenas on a “who knows what” basis. Some, by analogy with the Code of Criminal Procedure, illegally threaten arrest in case of failure to appear, some vaguely explain on what issues they will have to testify, and some do the opposite - they do not specify the purpose of interrogating the witness. Such vagueness is created on purpose so that the taxpayer does not have time to prepare, he could be taken by surprise and receive the necessary information. Often, another surprise awaits the witness - in order to more effectively extract information, tax officials often organize “psychological pressure groups” and, through intimidation, force the witness to testify.

Check the protocol

The protocol of interrogation of a witness is drawn up in the form approved by Order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated May 31, 2007 No. MM-3-06/338. The protocol must be filled out by the inspector verbatim, in the first person. The witness must ensure that all his testimony is included in the protocol without distortions or additions. If any technical means (audio or video recording) will be used during interrogation, the witness must be warned about this. An appropriate note about this must be made in the protocol. In addition, if anyone other than the witness and the inspector is present during the interrogation, this should also be reflected in the protocol. If a witness has any comments on the recording of testimony, he has the right to reflect them in the appropriate section of the protocol.

Please pay special attention to the fact that tax officials’ violation of the procedure for collecting evidence, conducting interrogations and filling out protocols may result in their being unable to use this evidence in court. Thus, an accountant of one of the Moscow factories was summoned for questioning as a witness. At the end of the interrogation, due to an oversight by the tax inspector, the accountant did not sign the section in the protocol where he confirms that he is familiar with the responsibility for giving false testimony. In court, such a protocol was crossed out from the list of evidence, and the information obtained by the tax authorities was not taken into account in the trial.

Prepare for tax questions

As a rule, either the directors of the organization being inspected or the heads of counterparty companies are questioned as witnesses. Tax officials most often use witness interrogations when they want to prove an organization’s work with shell companies. During such interrogations, tax officials ask the following groups of questions:

1) what is the order of relationships between legal entities, namely:

How and when this counterparty was selected,

Where did you get information about him from?

How were contacts made?

Who signed the contract and other documents and how?

What contacts, details, etc. are there?

2) the reality of the business transactions being carried out, the conclusion and execution of the contract:

What services were provided, what goods were supplied,

How goods were transferred, transported, where they were stored, etc.

3) questions to the manager: who, when and how appointed him to this position, what his job responsibilities are, whether he signed contracts and other documents on behalf of the organization.

It is worth going to interrogation with a clearly formulated version of events.

How to behave during interrogation

You came under a summons for questioning at the tax office, and a group of tax officials began to put psychological pressure on you, demanding certain explanations that you are not ready to give. In Art. 51 of the Constitution states that everyone can exercise their right not to testify against their close relatives and themselves. You should not be afraid of tax authorities, because you have the right not to answer their questions and leave the inspection at any time. The tax service is not a law enforcement agency: they do not have the right to detain you.

The presence of a competent lawyer at the interrogation will not be superfluous. This helps psychologically and ensures that exactly the information that the witness wants to give to the tax inspectorate is included in the interrogation protocol. Tax officials can turn your accountant out the door, who will want to explain “how the matter was,” but they will not be able to deprive you of the right to qualified legal assistance (Article 48 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation).

What happens if you don’t show up?

The financial director of the company was summoned for questioning by the tax office. The witness appeared for questioning only because the diligent tax inspector, trying to get him to appear to obtain the necessary testimony, began to threaten the witness with criminal prosecution. Such threats from tax officials are legally illegal and indirectly indicate that the tax office has nothing serious to do with you. It is important to remember: the Criminal Code is not applicable in tax legal relations. The liability of a witness who is summoned for questioning by the tax office is provided only by Art. 128 of the Tax Code: “Failure to appear or evasion of appearance without good reason by a person called as a witness in a tax offense case entails a fine of 1,000 rubles. Unlawful refusal of a witness to testify or giving knowingly false testimony entails a fine of 3,000 rubles.”

At the same time, the witness during interrogation at the tax office should remember that, according to Art. 51 of the Constitution you have the right not to testify. It is impossible to hold a witness accountable for exercising a constitutional right.

Sometimes it's better to remain silent

The interrogation record, together with other evidence, can serve in court as evidence of your bad faith. We know of a case where the director and accountant of a transport company got confused, forgot and gave different testimony during interrogation at the tax office, and then during interrogation in court. All this had a negative impact on the court’s opinion of the taxpayer. The decision was made in favor of the tax inspectorate. If you do not have a completely reliable version of events, you do not remember something or cannot explain it, it is better not to go to the tax office for questioning at all. It is worth sacrificing several thousand rubles for a fine so that your words are not used against you. It is better to spend this time on qualitatively preparing for the court hearing yourself and preparing your employees.

The procedure for conducting an inspection by any state. the body is as follows:

Say hello and turn on the voice recorder. Turn on the recorder and record openly. You say: “Gentlemen, inspectors, one second. This is a voice recorder, it’s on. Please speak.”

If you are afraid to turn on the recorder and record everything that happens on it, then assign (assign) to each inspector one of your employees with a tablet and paper and let him record every action, every step, every word of the inspectors. It is necessary to record openly and exactly what is happening and/or being said, without your own conclusions or comments. If necessary, show the reviewer what you write down.

If you are afraid to do this too, then let the “assigned” employees remember everything that happens and is said.
Remember:
“Staff members are so “reasonable” that they think that these representatives of suppressive groups are there out of necessity, or perform some useful function, or have something to prove to them. This is all nonsense.
... There are no good agents of authorities or suppressive groups. The longer you try to be nice to them, the worse it will be for you. And the sooner you understand this, the happier you will be.” L.R. Hubbard work dated December 26, 1966.

Ask to see their ID personality. They are obliged to do this. They are required to hold them in their hands at a distance accessible to you for reading.

Rewrite all identity data for yourself all police officers (tax office, Ministry of Emergency Situations, Federal Migration Service, etc.). Do not forget to write down the name of the authority that issued the certificate and the period until which it is valid. Remember, often “stray” comrades who have “confused” the territory for inspection come to check. Sometimes they come for inspection with IDs that have expired. Calmly ask such comrades to leave the premises.

Ask to see the Inspection Order.

Make a copy of the Resolution. They are obliged to allow you to make a copy, they are obliged.

Compare the names of the inspectors from the certificates with the data specified in the Resolution. It often happens that “extra” police officers not specified in the Resolution come to check. Also ask them to leave the premises.

Present your documents(passports). The director may also present the Minutes of the meeting of Participants (founders) on his appointment as a director. There will be nothing wrong if you present a rental agreement for the premises and notarized copies of the constituent documents. Please keep the original articles of incorporation out of the office. For government agencies, notarized copies are sufficient.

Ask from the inspectors boss's phone number, who sent them for verification, and call him, having found out whether he really sent them to you for verification. Usually they give the telephone number to the duty station. Remember: at least 30% of inspection orders are completely fake. Those. written out by the operas themselves. And another 20% of the Resolutions were actually signed by the chief, but just like in the first case, they were not registered in the inspection log at the Internal Affairs Directorate. I took these data from the police officers themselves and are confirmed by various sources and my practice.

Give the inspectors the Checklist book. and let them write themselves in this book.

Check the correctness of the drafting (content) of the Resolution for compliance with laws. As of May 1, 2009, I did not find the form of the Resolution approved by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. For now, use the standards of Article 14 of Law 294-FZ.

If everything is correct, show them all the documents they request. If not, invite them to stop (not start) the check and leave the premises. If they refuse to leave the premises, then comply with their demands. There are different situations in business and here you need to be reasonable in providing documents and information.

Do not leave inspectors without attention and complete control. Record on a tape recorder or paper all their actions, words, absolutely everything.

Remember: inspection of the premises, inspection of drawers, cabinets, personal belongings, seizure of anything, occurs only in the presence of two witnesses who are not interested in the outcome of the inspection. Witnesses are not brought by police officers with them and are not appointed from among them or from among your employees. This point is chronically violated.

Do not answer questions if you do not know the answer or are not sure that the answer is correct and it will not harm you. But don't be silent either. Say whatever you want, give evasive answers, etc.

Read all Protocols, Acts, etc. carefully. and feel free to write down all your disagreements there. Don't refuse to sign. This does not work. It is better to write down in the protocols (and other documents) everything that you do not agree with and that, in your opinion, the inspectors did wrong.

Remember that if you strictly follow the letter of the law, then government officials have the right to inspect the enterprise only in the presence of the general manager. Director (IP) or other person to whom the general. the director issued a power of attorney for the right to represent the interests of the enterprise on the basis of Article 185 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. According to Art. 2.4 and 25.3. Code of Administrative Offenses, according to Article 40 of the Federal Law on “LLC”, Law 129 of the Federal Law “On State Registration...” the only legal representative of a legal entity is the general. director (director, executive director). In the absence of a legal representative of a legal entity, the inspection can be carried out in the presence of two representatives of the district Administration.

Based on the results of the inspection, they are required to draw up an Inspection Report and, if there were violations, then a Protocol on Administrative Offense.

If they inspected your premises, tables, cabinets, personal belongings (Article 27.7 of the Administrative Code), etc., then they were obliged to do this in the presence of 2 disinterested witnesses and, based on the results of the inspection, they were obliged to draw up an Inspection Protocol. This point is also constantly violated by them.

If they decide to confiscate some documents and things from you, then a Seizure Protocol is also drawn up (Article 15 of the Federal Law “On Operational Investigations”), with a detailed list of the seized documents attached. And here, employees of the authorities constantly make mistakes.

It is necessary to remember this - any check, and whatever its results, this is just the first step, which does not yet talk about any punishments. Those. here, at this step, no decision on punishment is made. This is just a statement of some facts from the point of view of the inspectors and nothing more.

After checking, your actions are as follows

Take a walk. While walking, direct your attention to the objects around you. You need to take a little break from the negative emotions you received during the test.

Write down on paper all your negative emotions, if any, and when you finish, tear up what you wrote. Write down your decisions and realizations on a separate sheet of paper. In the process of writing out negative emotions, you (it is possible) will have reasonable decisions and awareness.

Describe the entire process of testing “as-is” yourself. You and your lawyer will need the facts. Describe the progress of the inspection without any distortion.

Let each of your employees who was in one way or another related to the inspection describe the situation and everything that he saw “as-is.”

Make a printout of the voice recording.

Collect all the Resolutions, Acts, Protocols, etc. that the police officer left for you based on the results of the check.

Study everything stated in paragraphs 3-6. Pay attention to the links that are present in the official documents of the inspectors. Explore them all.

Collect and study all the information about exactly how the inspectors should have acted. (See the CD with materials). While studying these materials, write down those articles of laws that were violated by the inspectors. Write down exactly what was violated.

Do a full inspection of your enterprise yourself or with the help of specialists for violations of the laws of the Russian Federation.

Create a program to eliminate deficiencies and begin to implement it, starting with those deficiencies that were identified during the audit.

If you have been given a date for consideration of your case literally the next day, and you do not have time to prepare well, then file ANY complaint addressed to the head of the Authority and express your disagreement with the results of the inspection and ask to postpone the consideration of your administrative offense to a later date. They are required to give you up to two weeks.

Quickly eliminating your shortcomings, prepare a Report notification (complaint), following the following algorithm (the following steps):

Give the reality factor about when the check took place, what, who was checked, who checked. The boss reading the complaint should not guess who and what you are.

Give confirmation to the system. You don't fight the system and you don't blame the system. Give confirmation to your boss. It is quite possible that he did not send anyone anywhere. Thank your boss for the opportunity to bring more order to your business.

In this section, describe all violations of the inspectors, indicating exactly what was violated, what was said in violation of the law, and what was done in violation of the law. Exactly quote the articles of the laws that were violated by them.

Invite your boss to take administrative (if necessary criminal) measures against his employees who have violated the law. Give your boss exact quotes from the laws on the basis of which he must punish his subordinates. Show him the way he should act towards his subordinates.

This item is not required in the first report. You operate along a gradient of ethical actions. When sending a complaint to the prosecutor's office, in this paragraph indicate the procedure for the prosecutor's office to verify compliance with the law on the part of the police. Remember, it is the direct responsibility of the prosecutor’s office to monitor the legality of police activities.

Write that you have eliminated the shortcomings that the inspectors found.

Referring to Art. 26.2. clause 3 of the Administrative Code, etc. suggest that, due to the violations committed by the inspectors, you should not be punished and the case should be dropped.

Direct your boss's attention to compliance with the laws of the Russian Federation and wish him success in his work.

Please attach copies of the following to your complaint:
- Explanatory notes from your employees, from which the inspectors’ violations follow, but there is no description of your violations.
  
  protocols, acts and other documents confirming that you have eliminated all violations.
  
  orders to punish your employees who committed violations.
  
  Any other documents confirming that the shortcomings have been eliminated and there is nothing to punish you for, but it is necessary to settle the ethics of the employees of the authorities.

Give one copy of this document to the office of the authority, ensuring that they put a mark on the acceptance of this document on the second copy.

With the third copy, go to the senior inspector, let him read your complaint and ask him what he thinks about all this. Ask if there is a legal way to end the case. If there is antagonism, settle it. If that doesn't work, move on to the next step.

Leave the third copy. with the senior inspectors, and with the fourth, go to an appointment with the head of all inspectors. Let him read your complaint and ask what you should do next. Usually this is where it all ends.

If not, then wait for the date of consideration of the case and come to the consideration of the case about the admin. violation with your lawyer by your representative (preliminarily write out a simple form of power of attorney for him on the basis of Articles 185 - 186 of the Civil Code) or a lawyer. Don’t make excuses, don’t blame, direct the conversation towards resolving the situation. If you encounter harsh criticism..., stop this conversation and let him issue a Resolution regarding your violation.

Write down all your disagreements in this resolution.

Next, your actions are as follows:

Prepare (let a competent lawyer or lawyer prepare it) applications to the court for (there may be options here):

Illegal actions of law enforcement officers.

To recognize as illegal a non-normative legal act of an authority.

Apply to the court.

Win the case, it is usually not difficult at all.

Complete the establishment of order in the business (possibly its legalization) and complete the implementation of the State of Emergency. See the book "Ethics".

Keep all the legal nuances of your organization entered and implemented.

What legislators and people who advocate for the application of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in relation to entrepreneurs cannot understand is that this problem cannot be solved with harsh measures, cameras and punishments. And the fact that it is the government that is responsible for ensuring that the entrepreneur pays taxes voluntarily and enjoys it. It's not hard to do. And this is the topic of the following articles.

Enjoy your life and pay your taxes. Yes, pay, despite the fact that taxes are stolen, despite the fact that a significant part of your taxes goes to the personal consumption of the owners of the financial and economic pyramid created on this planet.

You can only get out of the swamp by walking through it. And being a conscientious tax payer, you and your “neighbor” will be able to influence the authorities using ethical methods, in order to change the tax system, making it at least acceptable.

In some article I read that in 2008 more than 3 billion rubles were spent on tax reform and changes in tax legislation. I don't know if this is true or not. I know something else for sure (and I’m ready to personally do it, once and for all, for the same three billion rubles), the Tax Code can fit on 50 pages, it can be made simple, understandable to everyone, and not changed for decades.

I know that the state apparatus and all budget expenditures can easily fit within 10% of the total taxation of your “dirty” profits, and I am ready to prove this to anyone with facts and figures. And you know, not much needs to be done for this. All you need is your desire to do it, your intention and your actions towards this goal.

This work was written based on the laws of Russia and the personal experience of the author in 2009 ( based on materials from http://www.legalbis.ru)

I personally own a small office. I received a letter asking me to explain how I use it, don't I rent it out?. To my question on what basis this explanation is required from me, as an individual, I did not receive a clear answer. A couple of times he reminded me about the presumption of innocence, that in order to demand an explanation, I would have to present some kind of document, such as a rental agreement from me to someone or an inspection report, which would indicate that during the inspection it was discovered that I am renting out this property and I have income. But no, there are no papers, just "we want you to bring us a certificate of absence of a certificate", because the premises are non-residential, which means Maybe serve as a source of income for subsequent taxation of personal income tax.
But it's not specific to my situation. (please do not use my identity - the office is not rented out to anyone - all taxes and other payments related to this property are paid regularly!).
The thing is, if you think about it, everyone who has:
- two or more objects residential real estate
- garage(s)
- any car
in theory Maybe receive income that must be subject to personal income tax - rent out an “extra” apartment or garage or taxi in your car.
I think everyone will now be called to the tax office to give explanations just because you own it?
And to avoid problems later:
Tax Code of the Russian Federation Article 31. Rights of tax authorities
1. Tax authorities have the right:
... 4) summon taxpayers to the tax authorities on the basis of a written notification, payers of fees or tax agents to provide explanations in connection with their payment (withholding and transfer) of taxes and fees or in connection with a tax audit, as well as in other cases related to their implementation of legislation on taxes and fees;
5) suspend operations on the accounts of a taxpayer, fee payer or tax agent in banks and seize the taxpayer's property, payer of the fee or tax agent in the “procedure” provided for by this Code;
Click to expand...

An individual is a taxpayer of Income Tax. But the tax service, following the rest of the government, forgot about the Constitution, which guarantees us the Presumption of Innocence:
Article 49
1. Everyone accused of committing a crime is considered innocent until his guilt is proven in the manner prescribed by federal law and established by a court verdict that has entered into legal force.
2. The accused is not required to prove his innocence.
3. Irremovable doubts about a person’s guilt are interpreted in favor of the accused.
Click to expand...

They do if there is suspicion of tax evasion (personal income tax) from rental. Only the tax office forgot that this requires an Act (or any other document, such as a Statement from a neighbor, which will provide information that the apartment is for rent), after which the owner of the property (or car, if a test purchase was made for "taxation" ") becomes a suspect.
That is, let’s say you have several apartments and you rent them out. The police, together with the tax authorities, can conduct a raid on these apartments, and if they run into the tenants, and they tell them that the apartment has been rented for money for more than 1 year, then the owner, if he has not paid personal income tax on the rental, becomes suspected or accused of tax evasion (Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, Article 198).

The visit of the tax authorities can hardly be called a friendly event. Fortunately, on-site inspections are now carried out quite rarely - the brave employees of the Federal Tax Service are increasingly limited to desk inspections. And yet you always need to be prepared for the fact that one day employees of this department will knock on the doors of your company. The main thing in such cases is not to panic and quickly build the right strategy for interacting with uninvited guests. Let's figure out how to do this.

Tax audit of an organization: features

Let us remind you: an on-site tax audit is an event based on the results of which the tax authorities assess additional taxes, fees and penalties, hold the taxpayer accountable (both tax and administrative) and engage in other legalized types of extortion.

Scheduled on-site inspections are carried out once every three years, and extraordinary ones - a maximum of once a year. Unscheduled inspections usually begin if the tax and law enforcement authorities have repeatedly received complaints from clients, counterparties, competitors or simply “concerned” citizens.

For an entrepreneur, tax audits become a chronic source of conflicts with the Federal Tax Service, which abuses its powers. Tax officials often arbitrarily (in their favor) interpret tax legislation and commit a lot of both minor and very significant offenses. The situation is aggravated by the fact that in 2015 the legislator provided employees of the Federal Tax Service with new opportunities.

Rights and powers of tax inspectors

Federal Tax Service employees directly involved in inspections are vested with a very wide range of powers. They can carry out the following activities:

inventory – in order to verify the accuracy of the data contained in your documents;
inspection of any premises related to your commercial activities (shops, warehouses, retail outlets, workshops, etc.);
requesting documents (for subsequent verification at the Federal Tax Service Inspectorate);
seizure of documents (to identify and confirm any tax violations);
conducting an examination (theoretically, with the involvement of an independent third-party expert);
obtaining an expert opinion (with all the conclusions that the expert considered necessary to indicate in this act);
questioning of witnesses who may be knowledgeable on issues important to tax officials;
calling witnesses directly to the Federal Tax Service (for subsequent questioning);
engaging a translator if some of your documents are in a foreign language.

As you can see, the list is quite solid. However, this does not mean that tax officers have the right to everything. Your task is to ensure that they do not go beyond their powers (and, if possible, to suppress all excesses of this kind).

Out of the blue

Sometimes tax authorities come completely unexpectedly. You did not receive notifications or warnings (or received the corresponding document literally the day before the visit), and the Federal Tax Service is already on the doorstep. How legal is this?

The fact is that the decision to check must first be sent to the head of the company by mail. And not just send, but wait for a response in which the manager must confirm receipt of the letter with the decision and notification. It is clear that the letter does not always arrive the very next day after sending, and you do not check your mailbox every day. But the Federal Tax Service is not interested in this - employees simply count 6 days from the moment the correspondence was sent and come with a check, even if they have not received a response. But the warning requirement is considered fulfilled only after receiving a confirmation letter! Consequently, a tax audit without warning should be considered unlawful. You can’t just keep the inspectors out—that’s fraught. But you will have an additional “ace up your sleeve” if you subsequently have to appeal the decision of the tax authority.

Procedure

If you learned about the upcoming visit of the inspectors at least a day or two in advance, you need to urgently start preparing for the meeting of the “guests”.

Immediately bring the primary documentation into compliance with the counterparties’ papers. Their first and second copies of all documents must be absolutely identical. Pay attention to signatures and seals, numbering, dates.
Inform your counterparties that they may be receiving a counter-inspection. They will have to confirm to tax inspectors the fact of economic activity, otherwise the money transferred to counterparties (attributable to expenses) will most likely be recognized as additional income. For you, this will mean additional taxes and fines and penalties.
Prepare the office. Leave there only those papers, the presence of which will be justified and legal from a legal point of view. Remember: no unnecessary information! Irrelevant documents, seals and stamps - take them all home temporarily. Your task is to limit as much as possible the information that inspectors can get to.

And here it is, the moment of truth - the inspectors are on the threshold. The tax audit has arrived, and something needs to be done next.

Ask on what basis the inspection is being carried out (based on citizen complaints or as a result of the expiration of the previous order).
Ask to see the inspection order and read it carefully. Often the inspection team includes people who are not designated in any way in the resolution. This may be a simple consequence of staff turnover, but the presence of such persons is a serious offense. You have the right not to let “extra inspectors” through the threshold or to act a little more cunningly (this will be discussed in more detail below).
Record all conversations with inspectors on a voice recorder. The recording may become additional evidence of any offense if inspectors commit one.
Maintain your composure and always think before you say anything. Almost all experienced tax specialists are good psychologists. It is possible that they will provoke you with “slippery” questions or even exert psychological pressure. If the questions clearly go beyond the scope of business communication, resolutely refuse to answer them (you can appeal to Article 51 of the Constitution, which allows citizens not to testify against themselves and their loved ones).

If you follow these simple rules, surviving a tax raid will become much easier. By the way, you can fight the arbitrariness of inspectors in other ways - more ambiguous, but very effective. Some of them may seem ugly to you. Whether to use them or not is a matter of personal choice.

Tricks and cheat codes

The experience of many entrepreneurs allows us to identify several effective counteractions. With their help, you can minimize the likelihood of being subject to fines and additional payments.

Never try to bribe tax officials. This is pure suicide. Remember the advice to record all conversations on a voice recorder? So, tax inspectors do the same thing, and often record what is happening on video.
If you notice that tax officials have committed a couple of minor offenses, it is not necessary to immediately incriminate and expose your visitors. Record all the mistakes they made (illegal requests for documents, unlawful demands for information, provocative questions), and then, after making a conclusion, challenge them in a departmental manner. There is a high chance that the actions of the inspectors will be officially recognized as unlawful, and the final inspection report will be invalid.
The same can be done if the commission includes people who are not on the list. Record the fact of their presence, clarify their names and positions, and after issuing the act, contact the Federal Tax Service with a complaint. A gross violation of the procedural order leads to the cancellation of the decision made by the inspection commission.
Carefully check the report based on the results of the on-site inspection. The amount of accrued fines will be indicated both in this act and in the request for payment of taxes (or in the decision to prosecute, if it comes to that). It is possible that the tax authorities indicate certain amounts in the act, and others in the request or decision. This discrepancy is another good reason for declaring the tax officials’ decision illegal.
In case of an unforeseen event, such as the imposition of a property penalty or blocking of an account, you can create a reserve current account.

Always look at the situation to see if it is worth using the methods listed above. Remember that poorly taken measures can sometimes turn against you. The statement that during a tax audit you need to do everything possible - they say, in a critical situation, all means are good - is incorrect.

The most common procedural violations during inspections

So, the scheme is clear: a violation - a complaint in a departmental or judicial manner - declaring the conclusion of the inspection commission illegal (or at least canceling a separate decision). This combination does not always work, but quite often, and with due persistence you can achieve your goal. And if you don’t like to take risks, just carefully monitor the progress of the audit and immediately point out to the Federal Tax Service employees their mistakes.

Very often, tax authorities arbitrarily expand the audit questions. Studying information not related to the taxes and tax periods reflected in the original resolution is prohibited - a new decision and a separate audit are required.
Inspectors do not have the right to check periods that they have already “processed” before. There are three exceptions: liquidation (or reorganization) of a company, submission of an updated tax return and the adoption of a decision by a higher tax authority to audit the activities of a lower one. This rule is often ignored.
Another gross violation is carrying out more than two on-site inspections within one year. The third and subsequent ones are considered unacceptable (in accordance with Article 89 of the Labor Code).
Only the Federal Tax Service body with which you are registered can carry out an inspection. Inspections carried out by an inappropriate body are rare, but possible.
You can submit objections based on the results of the inspection within 15 days. Sometimes inspectors play a trick and ask the accountant to sign a report with the wrong date. As a result, the period for filing a complaint is artificially shortened (often by just two weeks).
Threats and psychological pressure are methods widely used by tax officials. Direct threats of administrative liability and transparent hints of dishonesty are equally unacceptable.
Seizure of documents without a reasoned and justified decision.

There can be many tricks and violations, and some of them are almost impossible to recognize. It’s not possible to protect yourself 100% – alas, but this is true. You can only minimize the risks by following the recommendations above.

In 2015, tax audits of organizations began to be more “hardcore” in nature due to the expansion of the powers of the Federal Tax Service. But you shouldn’t be afraid of inspectors - they are not omnipotent. Don’t lose your head, show them your absolute readiness to defend your interests - and everything will end well for you. Tax officials prefer not to get involved with entrepreneurs who can fend for themselves.