Meals for employees on a buffet basis. Reimbursement for meals, buffet or salary increase

Svetlana Posledovskaya, financial law expert

Article review: Nadezhda Shorokhova, tax consultant of the company UHY "Yans-Audit"

Often, the obligation to provide free meals is prescribed in employment contracts with employees. There are many ways to feed, one of them is built on the principle of a buffet. It does not matter whether the company buys products on its own or concludes a service contract with a catering company. Eating from a buffet, each employee has the right to choose the type and amount of food consumed. In this case, it is impossible to determine who ate how much and calculate the amount of income in kind that was received by each employee. This means that income cannot be personalized. Based on this, companies do not charge personal income tax on the cost of such food for employees.

Previously, officials explained that when paying for the cost of food for employees, the latter receive income in kind, subject to personal income tax (subclause 1, clause 2, article 211 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). The employer is obliged to keep records of income received from him by employees in the tax period (clause 1, article 230 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). In this case, the income of each employee can be calculated based on the total cost of the food provided and data from the time sheet or other similar documents (letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 06/19/2007 No. 03-11-04/2/167). Some judges confirm the need to accrue personal income tax on the cost of such meals (post. FAS PO dated June 22, 2009 No. A55-14976 / 2008).

Recently, the financial department expressed a similar position (letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated April 18, 2012 No. 03-04-06 / 6-117). However, it should be noted that it is impossible to state with certainty that this letter from the Ministry of Finance of Russia refers specifically to free meals for employees, when it is impossible to determine who ate how much, and it is impossible to calculate the amount of income in kind. The fact is that in the question of the company, which applied for clarification to the financial department, it is said that "food will be provided on account of the wages of employees." That is, it follows from the question that the company can determine how much food costs to allocate to each employee.

The Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation in its letter holds a different opinion (paragraph 8 of the letter of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated June 21, 1999 No. 42). He pointed out that the value of a material good is included in the income of a particular employee, if the amount of income can be determined in relation to this individual. However, by calculation - impersonally, based on the total cost of food and the number of employees - this cannot be done.

Adheres to a similar position and part of the arbitrators. Thus, the judges sided with the companies and recognized the additional personal income tax charges as unreasonable. They noted that employees received meals in the amount determined not by the company, but independently. Also, the inspection did not provide evidence of the consumption of products by specific employees and in the amount that was purchased and reflected in the financial statements (FAS SZO dated February 21, 2008 No. A56-30516 / 2006, FAS ZSO dated January 31, 2007 No. F04-9358 / 2006 (30538-A45-15), FAS UO dated 08.20.2009 No. F09-5950 / 09-C2).

Thus, if a company does not impose personal income tax on the cost of catering to employees in the form of a buffet, there is a risk of claims from controllers. If the company is not ready to take risks, it is necessary to keep a personalized account of income from the products provided and withhold personal income tax from it.

Insurance premiums are also paid for a specific employee (clause 1, article 7 of the Federal Law of July 24, 2009 No. 212-FZ). Therefore, if it is impossible to personify income, then contributions are not paid. However, here, as in the situation with personal income tax, there is a risk that controllers will decide to determine the amount of payments in kind in favor of each individual employee by calculation. Which will lead to additional assessment of fees, penalties and fines. And it will be possible to defend your position only in court.

Tax consequences in terms of income tax

The regulatory authorities are sure that if there is no distribution of food costs by the type of buffet among employees and there is no documentary evidence of such distribution, then it is impossible to attribute the costs to expenses for the purpose of calculating income tax (letters of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 04.03.2008 No. 03-03-06 /1/133, Federal Tax Service of Russia for Moscow dated April 13, 2011 No. 16-15/035625). They base this conclusion on the fact that the costs of free meals provided for by labor and (or) collective agreements are considered in tax legislation as expenses only if they are part of the wage system (clause 25, article 255 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). And the inclusion of amounts in the composition of labor costs suggests the possibility of identifying a specific amount of income for each employee.

From the position of controllers, we can conclude that if the cost of food is not personalized, which means that personal income tax and insurance premiums are not charged from it, then it will not be possible to attribute it to expenses. Even if the obligation to organize meals for employees is spelled out in labor and (or) collective agreements.

The Moscow District Court did not agree with such conclusions and indicated the following (post. FAS MO dated 04/06/2012 No. A40-65744 / 11-90-285). The Company has the right to take into account in the composition of labor costs for the purposes of calculating income tax the costs of paying for the meals of employees.

The main thing is that such free meals should be provided for by a collective or labor agreement. The argument that there is no reason to take into account such costs in the case when meals are organized on a buffet basis (due to the impossibility of determining the actual income of each employee) is untenable.

Such a circumstance in itself does not indicate the illegality of recognizing labor costs when calculating the income tax base.

The arbitrators of the Volga-Vyatka District (Decree of the FAS VVO dated July 19, 2011 No. A29-11750 / 2009) consider it lawful, when calculating income tax, to include the costs of organizing a buffet as other expenses related to production and sales (subparagraph 49, paragraph 1 article 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). In this case, the inspectorate considered that the firm had unlawfully included the costs of purchasing food products in the expenses. Since the fact of providing employees with individual meals is not documented. Recognizing the decision of the inspectorate as invalid regarding the additional charge of income tax, the judges proceeded from the fact that the company documented and substantiated the disputed costs and proved the fact of the use of food products in production activities.

To confirm the reasonableness of the costs of products, acts were presented for their write-off, requirements-waybills, commodity reports. The food was purchased to provide workers with meals in accordance with the terms of their employment contracts. Consequently, the costs of their acquisition are associated with providing workers with normal working conditions.

By its decision of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation (determination of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation of December 15, 2011 No. VAC-14312/11), he refused to transfer the case to the Presidium for review by way of supervision.

Thus, it is most likely impossible to defend expenses on income tax without litigation.

Tax consequences in terms of VAT

In the cases under consideration in the Volga-Vyatka and Moscow districts, the arbitrators not only recognized the legitimacy of profit expenses, but also indicated that the cost of products transferred to the employee is not subject to VAT. The main thing is that the condition for catering should be spelled out in labor or collective agreements. Otherwise, the provision of food to employees will be regarded by the tax authorities as a gratuitous transfer, which is subject to taxation. It is not possible to deduct VAT from the food supplier as the products are not used in transactions subject to VAT.

EXAMPLE
Based on the collective agreement, the company provides its employees with free buffet meals. The firm hired a specialized organization to deliver meals to the office.
In June, the company transferred 236,000 rubles for food. (including VAT - 36,000 rubles). Since it is not possible to personalize the costs, the company does not impose personal income tax and insurance premiums on meals. VAT is not charged on the cost of meals, "input" VAT (36,000 rubles) is not deductible. The cost of food is taken into account as an expense for income tax purposes.

DEBIT 60 CREDIT 51
- 236,000 rubles. - paid the cost of meals to the supplier;

DEBIT 26 (91-2 sub-account "Other expenses") CREDIT 60
- 236,000 rubles. - reflects the cost of meals received from the supplier.

Payment for meals for employees (buffet)
It is possible to talk about the taxation of such income only if the condition for providing workers with food is contained in the labor or collective agreements.
Even so, it is not always possible to determine what costs the firm has incurred in relation to a particular employee.
When determining the base for personal income tax, the employee's income received in kind (clause 1, article 210 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation) is taken into account. These include the provision by the company of food to its employees (subclause 1, clause 2, article 211 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). In this case, the tax base is defined as the cost of goods calculated on the basis of their prices (Article 105.3 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
If the employer provides employees with food on their own, then, taking into account the clarifications of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated April 18, 2012 No. 03-04-06 / 6-117, the income of each employee can be calculated based on the total cost of the food provided and data from the time sheet or other similar documents .
If food is provided to employees by a specialized company, and the employer pays for it by transferring remuneration to such an enterprise on the basis of a service agreement concluded with it, then the employer has no grounds for including these amounts in the tax base for personal income tax of employees.
In all cases, if the provision of food is provided for in a collective or individual labor contract in a certain value amount, the amount of income for each employee, calculated taking into account these time sheets, is subject to personal income tax. A similar approach is applied when using the coupon system. In such a situation, the employer has the right to adjust the employee's taxable income for the past calendar month by the amount of coupons unused and returned to him by a specific employee.

Sometimes caring employers provide their employees with buffet lunches - various dishes and drinks are freely available, which employees can take at their discretion. Let's talk about the tax features of cost accounting for such meals and how to avoid disputes with inspectors.

"Official-conflict-free" option

The scheme of actions for this option is as follows.

1. Include a condition on the provision of free lunches in the collective or employment contracts.

2. Take a written application from each employee asking for a part of the salary in the form of free meals Art. 131 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. After all, the cost of meals becomes part of the wages in non-monetary form. Recall that the share of "non-monetary" wages should not exceed 20% of the accrued monthly salary. p. 1 section. II Letters of the Ministry of Finance of January 17, 2011 No. 03-04-06 / 6-1.

3. Charge VAT on the cost of lunches, because the transfer of free lunches to employees is a sale subject to VAT sub. 1 p. 1 art. 146, paragraph 2 of Art. 154 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation; Letters of the Ministry of Finance dated 08.27.2012 No. 03-07-11 / 325; Federal Tax Service for Moscow dated 03.03.2010 No. 16-15/22410. Some courts agree with this. Decree of the FAS MO dated April 27, 2009 No. KA-A40 / 3229-09-2.

4. Deduct input VAT on purchased meals. There should be no difficulties with justifying the deduction at all, because you have charged tax on the cost of the buffet. And this deduction of input VAT can "sweeten" the need to charge VAT on the cost of meals. After all, if the tax base is calculated based on the cost of products, then the amount of VAT charged will be equal to the amount of deductions. And the budget will not have to pay anything.

5. Determine the cost of meals for each employee on a monthly basis.

For example, you can mark every day those who came to the canteen and then determine the cost of a monthly meal for each of them. And you can make it even simpler: to determine the "eating" (from among those who wrote an application for food) according to the time sheet - according to the principle "if you came to work, then you went to the canteen." Moreover, the Ministry of Finance is not against such an approach, but , .

6. Calculate personal income tax and insurance premiums - from the cost of food, including VAT. The amount of contributions is taken into account in the "profitable" expenses.

7. Take into account the cost of meals when calculating income tax as part of labor costs pp. 4, 25 Art. 255 Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

This option is not only safe (the inspectors will not find fault), but also very beneficial for the company. After all, the tax burden is quite feasible.

Of course, employees may not be very happy that personal income tax will be withheld from their salary. However, they will be fed! And if someone does not want to dine, then he can always refuse to participate in corporate catering.

Option with disputes and court

There may be many versions of this option. And any deviation from the scheme described in the previous version can lead to disputes.

Let's consider various possible nitpicks of inspectors on specific taxes.

We do not charge personal income tax and insurance premiums: there are chances to fight off claims

Free lunches are nothing but in-kind income for employees. And this income, according to the Ministry of Finance, is subject to personal income tax Art. 211 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation; Letters of the Ministry of Finance dated January 30, 2013 No. 03-04-06 / 6-29, dated April 18, 2012 No. 03-04-06 / 6-117. The same is true for insurance premiums. Part 1 Art. 7 of the Law of July 24, 2009 No. 212-FZ; p. 4 Letters of the Ministry of Health and Social Development dated 05.08.2010 No. 2519-19.

TELLING THE MANAGER

Organization of the buffet for employees at the expense of the company does not involve a large tax burden.

However, when organizing a buffet, it is simply impossible to accurately determine the income of each employee. You can’t force everyone to write down after dinner what he ate today.

At the same time, the Ministry of Finance believes that an organization that provides meals to employees, in order to perform the functions of a tax agent, "should take all possible measures to evaluate and account for the economic benefits received by employees » Art. 226 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation; Letter of the Ministry of Finance dated January 30, 2013 No. 03-04-06/6-29. So, it is necessary to determine the amount of income of each of the employees. At least indirectly - as we have already said above Letters of the Ministry of Finance of April 18, 2012 No. 03-04-06 / 6-117, of June 19, 2007 No. 03-11-04 / 2/167. The main thing is that, following the results, the cost of all meals should be distributed among employees and transferred from it to the personal income tax budget. Please note that sometimes courts support tax officials who charge additional personal income tax in such situations Decrees of the FAS PO dated 06/22/2009 No. A55-14976 / 2008; FAS 9 AAC dated December 23, 2011 No. 09-AP -33112/2011-AK.

However, you can argue with inspectors and not charge personal income tax on the cost of meals using the following arguments:

• if the amount of income cannot be determined, then there is no object of personal income tax taxation itself. This position has long been voiced by the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation paragraph 8 of the Information letter of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court dated 21.06.99 No. 42. Federal arbitration courts also generally support the taxpayer in Decrees of the FAS UO dated 08.20.2009 No. Ф09-5950 / 09-С2; FAS DVO dated 06/15/2009 No. F03-2484 / 2009; FAS SKO dated 12.03.2008 No. F08-478 / 08-265A. This argument will also work to justify why you did not charge insurance premiums;
• The Ministry of Finance in its letters explains that if it is impossible to individualize employees' lunches, then personal income tax does not arise. Letters of the Ministry of Finance of April 15, 2008 No. 03-04-06-01 / 86, of January 30, 2013 No. 03-04-06 / 6-29. These clarifications can at least save the organization from fines and penalties. sub. 3 p. 1 art. 111 Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

Income tax: took into account the cost of meals in expenses without personification - there will be problems

According to the Ministry of Finance, buffet costs can be included in labor costs that are taken into account for income tax purposes if:

• provision of lunches is stipulated in the collective or labor agreement with the employee paragraph 25 of Art. 270, paras. 4, 25 Art. 255 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation; Letters of the Ministry of Finance dated 06/04/2012 No. 03-03-06 / 1/292, dated 03/04/2008 No. 03-03-06 / 1/133;
• it is possible to determine the income of each worker a Letters of the Ministry of Finance of August 30, 2012 No. 03-04-06 / 6-262; Federal Tax Service for Moscow dated April 13, 2011 No. 16-15 / [email protected] .

If any of these conditions is not met, then, in the opinion of the inspectors, you simply donate meals, and it is impossible to say exactly to whom. articles 129, 135 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. This means that this is not a wage at all and the cost of lunches are related to expenses that are not taken into account for tax purposes. Art. 270 Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

There are cases when organizations managed to defend the accounting of the costs of a "non-personalized" smorgasbord as wages - in those situations, the provision of lunches was provided for in the labor and collective agreements.

The company organizes a buffet for its employees. Is it necessary to withhold personal income tax and accrue insurance premiums from the potential income of buffet participants - read the article.

Question: But I would like to get an answer on question #1126463. You didn't say a word about personal income tax and insurance premiums. Will additional documents be required for confirmation, since the organization cannot calculate them. For example an order. estimate, etc.

Answer: In your case, when catering on the basis of the "buffet" principle, it is impossible to organize a personalized account of the income in kind that could be received by everyone who participated in the buffet. Therefore, you do not need to withhold personal income tax and accrue insurance premiums from the potential income of buffet participants.

Rationale

How to tax the cost of free meals for employees at the initiative of the organization

The taxation of transactions related to the organization of free meals for employees depends on whether personal records are kept of the costs of free meals for each employee.

The cost of food provided to employees free of charge is recognized as income in kind. This conclusion follows from subparagraph 1 of paragraph 2 of Article 211 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

If personal accounting of food expenses is maintained (for example, using coupons), then the organization is obliged to withhold personal income tax from the amount of such income.

Withhold personal income tax even if free meals are provided due to production needs (for example, in accordance with biological safety requirements). This is stated in the letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated December 4, 2012 No. 03-04-06 / 6-340.

The basis for calculating personal income tax is the cost of the food provided, determined according to the rules of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, including VAT (clause 1, article 211 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Withhold personal income tax at the expense of any cash payments in favor of the employee (clause 4 of article 226 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

An exception is the cost of food provided to employees who are involved in seasonal field work. In this case, personal income tax does not need to be withheld (clause 44, article 217 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

If it is not possible to maintain personalized records (for example, if an organization purchases drinking water, tea or coffee for employees and there is no possibility of accounting for individual consumption), it is impossible to estimate the economic benefit received by each employee. Consequently, income subject to personal income tax does not arise (letters of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated March 21, 2016 No. 03-04-05 / 15542, dated January 30, 2013 No. 03-04-06 / 6-29).

Personal income tax is subject to employee income (). When providing free meals, economic benefits received in kind are recognized as income. To correctly calculate the tax, income must be estimated (). But if free meals are organized on a buffet basis, it is impossible to determine the amount of income received by each employee. In such a situation, it is impossible to withhold personal income tax. This point of view is confirmed by the resolutions of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the North-Western District of February 21, 2008 No. A56-30516 / 2006 and the Volga District of November 16, 2006 No. A12-4773 / 06-C36.

Nevertheless, the regulatory authorities require organizations to perform the duties of tax agents, provided for in paragraph 1 of Article 230 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, and ensure individual accounting of all employees' income in tax accounting registers, including those received by them in the form of free meals. In particular, in letters dated April 18, 2012 No. 03-04-06 / 6-117, dated June 19, 2007 No. 03-11-04 / 2/167, the Ministry of Finance of Russia recommends determining the amount of such income based on the total cost of the provided food and data of the time sheet (other similar documents). But in practice, it is more expedient to organize a record of visits to the dining room by each employee of the organization. This will allow a more objective assessment of the income received by him. If the organization cannot determine the amount of income for employees in the form of free meals on a buffet basis, then it will be determined by the tax department by calculation (). There are examples of court decisions confirming the legitimacy of such an approach (see, for example, the resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Volga District of June 22, 2009 No. A55-14976 / 2008).

Only in relation to the payment of corporate holidays, the financial department agrees that in this case it is not necessary to pay personal income tax, since there is no way to personify and evaluate the economic benefits received by each employee.

Insurance premiums

If, when providing free meals, it is impossible to determine the amount of income received by each employee (buffet, holding corporate events), then insurance premiums do not need to be charged from the cost of free meals. Insurance contributions are subject to payments and other remuneration to citizens under labor (civil law) contracts, that is, targeted payments to specific employees. This follows from the provisions of paragraph 1 of Article 420 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation,

In a letter, the Russian Ministry of Finance proposed an option acceptable for companies - the cost of food under the "buffet" system for employees is exempt from taxation by income tax, VAT.

VAT

The objects of VAT are transactions for the sale of goods and the transfer of property rights.

When providing employees with free food, the object of VAT does not arise, since the implementation involves the transfer of ownership of goods on a reimbursable basis, that is, on a paid basis. But this is the latest version of the official position, and earlier representatives of departments thought otherwise.

Thus, representatives of the Ministry of Finance in letters dated 11.02.2014 No. 03-04-05 / 5487, dated 08.07.2014 No. 03-07-11 / 33013 * insisted that the transfer of ownership of goods on a gratuitous basis is recognized as a sale falling under taxation of VAT.

Letter No. 16-15/123500 of the Federal Tax Service of Russia for Moscow dated November 27, 2013, justified the VAT taxation of the cost of free meals provided to employees as follows.

When a company transfers ownership of goods to specific persons, an object of VAT taxation arises. In this case, the tax base is determined as the cost of these goods (works, services).

If the condition on free meals is included in the employment contract, the VAT object does not arise

The main argument for not including the cost of free meals for staff in the VAT base is the condition that the provision of free meals for workers be reflected in the collective agreement. In this case, these relations will relate to labor, and not civil law, and will not be related to the sale of goods (services), and will not be subject to VAT, respectively (Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Moscow District dated July 2, 2014 No. F05-6369 / 2014).

In a recent decision dated March 31, 2015 No. 307-KG15-2001, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation refused to transfer the cassation appeal to the Federal Tax Service Inspectorate for consideration by the Judicial Collegium for Economic Disputes of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.

The cassation appeal challenged the additional charge of VAT, income tax on the episode of understatement of taxes in the amount of income received from the sale of public catering products to employees of the company.

The collective agreement of the company provided for the obligation to provide its employees with food. The company, fulfilling these obligations, compensated food for employees, calculating personal income tax from these payments.

The courts of two instances recognized that these payments are of a compensatory nature, therefore, the additional charge of VAT and income tax is not justified, with which the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation also agreed (see Table 1).

Table 1: Free food is not subject to VAT if it is provided for in the employment contract

Analyzing court decisions on the issue of additional VAT charging in connection with taking into account income from operations related to the sale of food products to employees, it is noticeable that inspectors charge additional VAT on the amount of the cost of meals provided to employees free of charge.

If the collective agreement indicates that the employer, as social guarantees, assumes the obligation to provide staff with free meals, then all controversial issues are removed. Moreover, paragraph 25 of Article 270, Article 255 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation determine that the costs in the form of payment for the cost of food for employees are taken into account for the purposes of taxation of profits if such food is provided in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation, or provided for by labor or collective agreements.

income tax

The conditions for accepting expenses for free meals for employees for profit tax purposes are the same - the supply of food must be specified in the employment or collective agreement.

For income tax purposes, labor costs include any accruals to employees, both in cash and in kind. Also, “salary” expenses include incentive accruals and allowances, compensation payments related to the mode of work or working conditions, bonuses, one-time incentive accruals and expenses associated with the maintenance of employees and provided for by labor or collective agreements (Article 255 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation) (see .table 2).

Table 2: Costs for free meals are taken into account when taxing profits

personal income tax

Catering expenses are not related to the wage system, are not the employee's income, and therefore should not be included in the personal income tax base. This conclusion of the appellate instance is set out in the decision of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the West Siberian District dated March 13, 2013 in case No. A81-2317 / 2012, while the court of first instance believed that the provision of catering services for “rotation workers” is subject to personal income tax.

The employer has entered into an agreement with the contractor for the provision of catering services for employees. The terms of the contract stipulated that the contractor provided meals to employees in accordance with the applications, which indicated the number and name of the staff, the period and location of the catering point.

The Court of Appeal considered that the food costs incurred were not related to the wage system, were not the employee's income, and were not related to his personal needs. These expenses represent the employer's expenses for organizing the labor process in hard-to-reach places and are not subject to inclusion in the personal income tax base. In addition, the costs of catering for staff in the "shift method" mode are carried out in the interests of the employer. In this case, there is no fact that the employee received income as his benefits subject to personal income tax.

THEM. Khomenko, for the journal "Regulatory acts for an accountant"

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In a letter, the Russian Ministry of Finance proposed an option acceptable for companies - the cost of food under the "buffet" system for employees is exempt from taxation by income tax, VAT.

VAT

The objects of VAT are transactions for the sale of goods and the transfer of property rights.

When providing employees with free food, the object of VAT does not arise, since the implementation involves the transfer of ownership of goods on a reimbursable basis, that is, on a paid basis. But this is the latest version of the official position, and earlier departments thought otherwise.

Thus, representatives of the Ministry of Finance in letters dated 11.02.2014 No. 03-04-05 / 5487, dated 08.07.2014 No. 03-07-11 / 33013 * insisted that the transfer of ownership of goods on a gratuitous basis is recognized as a sale falling under taxation of VAT.

In pursuance of this order, the company with a third-party company for the provision of services for the organization of daily corporate
public catering system "buffet". The services provided are confirmed by the contract, acts of acceptance and transfer of services, on payment for services.

Since the employer attributed the listed costs to labor costs and accepted them for profit tax purposes, there is no taxable base for VAT in this case.

The courts of first and appeal instances that the General Regulations on Remuneration, Material Incentives and Social Guarantees for Employees provides for the provision of employees working in the fields with free meals.

An additional agreement to the employment contracts provided: "The employer provides the employee with free three meals a day on a buffet basis."

Local acts of the company and employment contracts stipulate that providing hot meals to field workers is one of the components of wages, that is, one of the components of wages. In support of the reasonableness of expenses for food products, acts for the write-off of products, requirements-waybills, commodity reports are presented. Food products were purchased by the taxpayer to provide employees with hot meals in accordance with the terms of labor contracts, therefore, the costs of their purchase are related to the company's activities to provide employees with normal working conditions.

Therefore, the judges concluded that in this case, when calculating income tax, the inclusion of expenses for the purchase of products in expenses
lawful, in view of which the cost of food is not subject to VAT.

personal income tax

Catering expenses are not related to the wage system, are not the employee's income, and therefore should not be included in the personal income tax base. This conclusion of the appellate instance is set out in the decision of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the West Siberian District dated March 13, 2013 in case No. A81-2317 / 2012, while the court of first instance believed that the provision of catering services for “rotation workers” is subject to personal income tax.

The employer has entered into an agreement with the contractor for the provision of catering services for employees. The terms of the contract stipulated that the contractor provided meals to employees in accordance with the applications, which indicated the number and name of the staff, the period and location of the catering point.

The Court of Appeal considered that the food costs incurred were not related to the wage system, were not the employee's income, and were not related to his personal needs. These expenses represent the employer's expenses for organizing the labor process in hard-to-reach places and are not subject to inclusion in the personal income tax base. In addition, the costs of catering for staff in the "shift method" mode are carried out in the interests of the employer. In this case, there is no fact that the employee received income as his taxable personal income tax.

THEM. Khomenko, for the journal "Regulatory acts for an accountant"