Problems with the sale of agricultural products with VAT. Working according to new rules

In May of this year, with the active participation of the Federal Tax Service (FTS), large exporters and traders signed the “Charter in the field of turnover of agricultural products,” promising to cooperate only with bona fide market participants. In particular, try to purchase grain without VAT directly from agricultural producers or intermediary firms working only under commission agreements, on behalf of or on behalf of the manufacturer. By mid-August, about 450 companies had signed the document.

Working according to new rules

The initiative to change the rules of the game in the grain market came from the Federal Tax Service. According to the service, annual budget losses from “gray” export operations with grain and sunflower oil amounted to 65 billion rubles, and for domestic contracts - more than 100 billion rubles.

The “Rules of Conduct for Signatories of the Charter,” sent to large exporters and signed by Varvara Burlevich, head of the tax risk analysis and tax audit planning department of the Control Directorate of the Federal Tax Service of Russia (available to the editors), contains an open ultimatum for participants in “gray” VAT optimization schemes for grain exports. “We once again confirm our readiness to protect, with all the powers given to us by the state authorities, bona fide market players from malicious “criminal groups.” Based on the current market conditions, we understand that most of the products should be purchased by you without VAT. We hope to see this happen starting in the third quarter of 2017. This will automatically mean for us that the export market has been restructured. If your procurement scheme from July 1, 2017 moves towards purchases with VAT from elevators (groups of companies) previously seen in VAT schemes, this will automatically mean for us a collusion between you and such elevators." At the same time, at the June International Grain Round in Gelendzhik, representatives of the Federal Tax Service admitted that punitive measures have risks associated with stagnation of the agricultural market and its production in general.

Chairman of the State Duma Expert Council on Tax Legislation, KPMG partner Mikhail Orlov knows that interaction between tax authorities and entrepreneurs is not easy, and yet he advised the latter to use the Federal Tax Service’s readiness for constructive dialogue right now. “Tax officials do not always see a business purpose in a particular delivery scheme, and businesses do not believe that tax officials will be ready to waive claims if the business “plays by the rules,” he says. “Today, the Federal Tax Service has colossal tools to find abuses on the part of taxpayers. I don’t believe that with the existing capabilities of tax control, it is possible to build any new tax evasion scheme that the tax authorities will not know about for a long time.”

According to the director general of the Institute for Agricultural Market Studies ( ICAR) Dmitry Rylko, in fact, 70% of the volume of previous exports were declared illegitimate by the Federal Tax Service. “We see that the potential of the schemes proposed by the department and recorded in the Charter is limited,” he notes. — Many buyers use previous suppliers, hopefully without whitewashing VAT. There are few farms in the south that are able to work directly with exporters for a long time.” It has become extremely difficult for exporters to work with agricultural producers and intermediaries who are VAT payers, since a huge package of documents is required to prove the legality of this tax. There are intermediaries on the market who work without VAT under the simplified taxation system (STS), but they have serious restrictions on turnover. They are forced to open more and more new companies. And in this case, questions to them may no longer arise from tax officials, but from their colleagues from law enforcement agencies, the expert adds.

An August survey by Agroinvestor among participants in the grain export market showed that in just a month, new rules of the game, proposed by the Federal Tax Service, were indeed established in this segment. Director of the analytical center " SovEkon“Andrei Sizov believes that there is an obvious “whitewashing” of the grain market. A clear sign of this process is that almost all major exporters now set two purchase prices at ports with a difference of 10%: for grain with and without VAT. Previously, there was only one price. “While there were no problems with the budget, they turned a blind eye to VAT, most of which is false,” explains Sizov. “As soon as difficulties with filling the budget increased, the Federal Tax Service was required to stop the situation.” According to the expert, the tax authorities’ demand to completely restructure the procurement system was fulfilled by the overwhelming majority of exporters. And now all other market participants are forced to adapt to them. A decrease in the volume of transactions on the market is now unlikely, since this very successful period for exporters coincided with the factors of high world grain prices and a weak ruble. The president Russian Grain Union (RZS) Arkady Zlochevsky agrees with Sizov: “Only these two factors compensated for the loss of liquidity in the market and did not destroy export activity.”

Although there are those who are in no hurry to join the Charter. For example, TD, one of the top 10 grain exporters, Commonwealth"(as of mid-August). “Those who did not sign the Charter did so, apparently, for reasons of principle, since many of its requirements limit the freedom of choice of partners,” comments commercial director of Globex Grain (engaged in grain exports) Alexander Grigoryants. Now exporting companies that reimburse VAT have taken on some of the functions of fiscal authorities, virtually conducting an investigation for every transaction. Exporters are forced to check the integrity of not only their direct suppliers, but also the agricultural producers behind them, as well as all contractors providing transport, logistics, forwarding and other services. Unscrupulousness of any of them may serve as a formal reason for refusal of VAT refund. However, according to suppliers, some signatories of the Charter are free to comply with it. “Many exporters, when purchasing grain without VAT, turn a blind eye to its origin, since they are not going to demand a tax deduction from the Federal Tax Service,” adds Grigoryants. — It all depends on how urgently the grain is needed. If a ship is already loading at the port, some accept everything, apparently preferring in case of tax claims to subsequently sue the Federal Tax Service.”

President (NZS) Pavel Skurikhin also does not believe in unconditional compliance by the signatories of the Charter with its provisions. “The current season started with unfavorable weather conditions. The market for trading operations during the harvesting campaign usually collapses under the harvester due to a lack of funds from farms,” he says. “If the Charter, which is largely populist in nature, seems unacceptable to the industry in the current difficult economic conditions within the country, then, of course, the market will look for new opportunities to evade VAT.”

"Gray" schemes

The taxation system in the format of the Unified Agricultural Tax (USAT) does not work in “white” conditions, Zlochevsky is convinced. It is inevitably accompanied by VAT laundering. If you honestly observe all the parameters of economic activity, then the Unified Agricultural Tax is unprofitable for the manufacturer compared to the general taxation system (OSNO). This is precisely the reason for the long-term existence of the “gray” grain market. Estimated RZS, only 30% of grain producers work at OSNO, and in the export-oriented southern regions this figure is approximately three times less. The imbalance in the conditions of commercial activity of farmers has led to the emergence of many intermediary companies that form commodity consignments of grain for traders and carry out delivery to ports for subsequent export.

Until recently, the vast majority of these intermediaries were involved in “gray” VAT laundering schemes. This process looked like this: grain was purchased from an agricultural producer using the Unified Agricultural Tax, and then the owner changed several times as a result of purchase and sale transactions between fly-by-night companies registered in the names of dummies. At this stage, fake documents were prepared to generate a tax deduction. At the end of the supply chain, the exporter purchased grain with VAT, which was subsequently required to be refunded. And fly-by-night companies that were supposed to pay VAT to the budget were reorganized at the time of the inspection and had no ownership.

This scheme is also relevant for the second most popular export agricultural product - sunflower oil. However, in this case, a significantly smaller volume of exports and a limited number of processing companies significantly simplify the tax control process for the Federal Tax Service.

The scheme for illegally generating tax deductions is not new and is often used in cases where the manufacturer of an export product is not a VAT payer. In the simplest versions of this scheme, scammers simply use fictitious deliveries. According to the deputy head of the Federal Tax Service for the Krasnodar Territory, Vasily Kokhan, several intermediary companies have recently been identified that supplied grain to exporters only on paper, i.e., they formed an artificial trade turnover and subsequently applied for tax deductions. In the case of fictitious deliveries, the exporter can easily be prosecuted, but in real transactions, it is the Federal Tax Service that is obliged to prove the “lack of due diligence” of the exporter if legal proceedings begin. Such precedents are known. Among the most notorious, we can recall the case of UNK-Agroproduct in December 2012 and the very recent example of TC Russian Oils. Both companies, which challenged the refusal of the Krasnodar Federal Tax Service to refund VAT, won their first cases in the regional arbitration court. Thus, Russian Oils, whose former head Igor Chernyshov was recently indicted for fraud in obtaining tax deductions, at the beginning of 2016 successfully challenged the refusal of a tax deduction of 88 million rubles. And this despite the absence of a supplier company at the registration address and transport of the carrier company, the presence of four grain reseller companies registered at the same legal address and having empty current accounts in one bank.

As stated in the Federal Tax Service’s response to Agroinvestor’s request, in 2015-2017 a number of criminal cases were initiated under the article “fraud” against several companies that unreasonably reimbursed VAT amounts from the budget (as well as attempted such reimbursement) and were among the top 50 largest grain exporters. In addition, a significant number of criminal cases were initiated under the article “non-payment of taxes on an especially large scale” against suppliers of exporting companies who deliberately did not pay VAT to the budget. The practice of tax administration by the Federal Tax Service shows that if a direct contract, including VAT, is concluded with a supplier who is not a manufacturer, then the risk of such supplier not paying VAT to the budget is extremely high.

A transition period is needed

According to Zlochevsky, it would be more appropriate to make such changes in the market in winter or early spring, when liquidity is not critical. “I cannot say that the measures of the Federal Tax Service are wrong, but they are extremely untimely,” he emphasizes. In addition, earlier during the period of mass harvest, intermediaries bought grain from farms, albeit at not the highest prices, but this gave farmers financial support and left time for work in the field. Now they are forced to spend time and resources themselves searching for buyers. According to RZS, now there is actually a strengthening of state regulation of the market through the forceful pressure of the Federal Tax Service on the intermediary link. “We are categorically against the use of measures to “whitewash” the market as a tool for regulating it,” says Zlochevsky. “The market will regulate itself sooner or later, but for now it will continue to look for workarounds.”

CEO of the largest grain exporting company TH "RIF" Vadim Sarkisov is convinced that the market has already responded to strengthening measures to combat VAT laundering, and now the Federal Tax Service should not have serious complaints. “There have already been major changes,” he says. — We try to purchase products directly from manufacturers. Many of them now independently deliver grain to exporters. Grain is now imported 99% without VAT.” More than 500 suppliers cooperate with Rif. According to the top manager, these are “smart people”; almost all of them understood that it was necessary to change the principles of work in accordance with the Charter. Although their personal income has probably decreased, he believes.

Until the beginning of June, the lion’s share of grain was supplied by CPT (from the CPT format - “carriage paid to”) from commercial companies, but now 90% of purchases are without VAT, says the general director of another large export company “ Krasnodarzernoprodukt-Expo" Evgeniy Sidyukov. “We work directly with agricultural producers, and 90% of them use unified agricultural tax. To independently export grain, we hire transport companies that also work without VAT,” he says. — “Gray” schemes with refunds of “drawn” VAT are going away, now everyone has become more competitive in the sense of buying from farmers locally. The price at the port does not depend on the volume and is the same for a shipment of 100 tons or 1 thousand tons.” According to Sidyukov, all conscientious market participants benefited from the changes.

In general, the Federal Tax Service also has a positive assessment of the latest changes. “Due to the fact that the market is independently restructuring itself according to the rules adopted by market participants and prescribed in the Charter, a reaction from the Federal Tax Service is not required at the moment,” the service says in its response to Agroinvestor’s request. “Currently, the largest grain exporters, occupying more than 90% of the export market share, transfer over 70% of funds to agricultural producers and suppliers using the simplified tax system or under agency agreements excluding VAT.” Based on the results of the third quarter of 2017, the Federal Tax Service expects that the grain export market will be completely transparent. However, if unscrupulous market intermediaries resume or continue their activities to illegally optimize VAT, this will inevitably entail retaliatory measures, the Federal Tax Service promises.

It will not be easy to eradicate illegal transactions with VAT on the grain market, a member of the company’s board of directors is convinced “ Agroko» (Belgorod region) Alexey Ivanov. “It is wrong to first create a defective legislative framework, and then use force to force market participants to adhere to this framework,” he believes. The top manager is also confident that the schemes will not change significantly, they will simply shift to other regions. Previously, VAT laundering was mainly carried out by companies from the North Caucasus, but now, for example, this will be practiced in the Urals or Siberia.

According to Ivanov, unscrupulous intermediaries are not yet going to leave the market. But at the same time, companies that previously collaborated with them and have switched to “white” operating schemes will still not be able to count on tax amnesty. “I know colleagues who have received notifications of on-site tax audits and do not expect anything good from them,” he shares. “The authorities are used to taking shortcuts. And market participants are afraid that now a team will follow to the courts, which will begin to make “correct” decisions based on the results of tax audits and impose additional VAT on everyone along with penalties and fines.”

This summer, market participants agreed to stop covering VAT and actually stopped doing it because they got scared, says Vladimir Voitsekh, commercial director of the Krasnodar trading company Krates. “The pressure on traders is very serious. Several of my colleagues have already been arrested specifically in cases related to VAT transactions,” he says. — All grain suppliers for exporters now work without VAT, because no one needs problems. We have to play fair." Concerns among market participants reach the point that many are afraid of facing non-refund of absolutely legally declared and confirmed VAT at the end of the year. Up to a situation where the product manufacturer operates under OSNO conditions and this tax deduction can be lost. In many ways, the behavior of market participants will depend on how the Federal Tax Service begins to accept reporting on the results of the third quarter. Zlochevsky characterizes this scenario as the least favorable. “We are actively negotiating with the Federal Tax Service so that the forceful option is postponed until at least January 1, 2018. Now you can’t use hard pressure,” he believes. “The market will rebuild in any case, but a transition period is necessary.”

Added problems to everyone

Practical measures of the Federal Tax Service to “whitewash” the grain market resulted, among other things, in requiring a significant package of additional documents from agricultural producers, carriers and intermediaries. Moreover, the initial verification of these securities should be carried out mainly by end buyers. For some players in the market, this adds a host of never-before-seen challenges. First of all, the farmers on the Unified Agricultural Tax suffer, who were saved by the preferential tax regime from the bureaucracy. “There have been large-scale changes in the requirements for documents for transporting grain,” says Kirill Kazantsev, head of the legal department of the Krasnodar transport aggregator “Unified Center for Grain Carriers.” “That’s why it’s now much easier for us to work with companies that are not VAT payers. VAT payer intermediaries seem to still be working as before, but their operational activities have become much more complicated.”

The package of documents that, according to the new rules, an agricultural producer must collect is large. It is necessary to fill out several declarations, attach the results of laboratory analysis, a bank statement about your own tax activity and from the statistical office, certified cards with sample signatures and a seal, and all this in order to legally sell 100-200 tons of grain. In such conditions, many give up on working “the white way.” “Contracts have become more complex, there is more responsibility, and this still scares agricultural producers,” notes Sidyukov. Most agricultural producers have lost qualified accounting personnel. “They don’t have the ability to cope with paperwork, set up VAT accounting and at the same time work in the field,” explains Zlochevsky. — Ministry of Agriculture and the Federal Tax Service should organize some kind of accounting outsourcing for agricultural producers on the Unified Agricultural Tax and stimulate it from the state. Otherwise, a massive transition of farmers to OSNO is unrealistic.”

The key question remains how the market restructuring will affect the economy of agricultural producers on the Unified Agricultural Tax. From the point of view of the Federal Tax Service, “agricultural producers demonstrate a desire and readiness to work directly with exporters and processors. In addition, this season they hope to receive more favorable prices for grain due to rising prices on the foreign market, as well as through direct sales contracts with exporters, which, in turn, can increase margins and provide opportunities to invest in their business". The only beneficiary of the market restructuring will be the state, says Vitaly Sheremet, head of the practice for working with companies in the agro-industrial sector of KPMG. “Traders and producers will have to pay for this,” he thinks. “The distribution, in my opinion, will be towards farmers: their margins are higher than those of traders, and strong competition will force them to bear these costs.” However, according to the expert, it is premature to talk about bankruptcy, since sufficient profitability remains in the sector even with a slight drop in prices.

If everyone worked with VAT, then everyone would benefit: producers, processors, and exporters, Zlochevsky argues. If commodity supply chains are built primarily without VAT, then this will become a solution to the problem only for exporters who have no longer faced the risks associated with possible non-refund of the tax. With this scheme, processors are forced to take into account VAT without receiving any compensation, and manufacturers will simply lose money by selling products 10% cheaper than VAT payers.

According to the director of sales of crop production of the agricultural holding "Kuban" Vladimir Zagrebelny, large holdings and farms, which have always received increased attention from exporters, felt virtually no change. Small farms and farmers whose production volume was less than 200 tons of grain were affected. They were faced with the acute issue of selling products. Due to the insignificant volume and the inability to coordinate actions among themselves, farmers were left without the attention of exporters, who physically do not have the opportunity to cover all small farms. “Small farms have only one way to deal with the current situation - joining into associations or being absorbed by larger players,” the manager is sure. According to the NHS, about 10% of agricultural enterprises leave the market every year. “Against the backdrop of low profitability in grain production, a decrease in the amount of per-hectare state support, and high debt burden of agricultural enterprises (more than 2 trillion rubles at the beginning of 2017), the next negative changes in the industry caused by the new rules of the game from the Federal Tax Service are inevitable,” Skurikhin fears.

New requirements also added problems for exporters. Now all of them must provide the Federal Tax Service with information on weekly cash flows, as well as a weekly updated register of suppliers, which must indicate the TIN of the counterparties, the shipper, details of the contract and specifications for the contract, the volume of supply according to the specification and the actual products delivered, its name, specification delivery date. According to Alexander Grigoryants, the speed of concluding contracts has dropped several times. “Our company collects all the necessary documents for any transaction or simply does not enter into a contract. It happens that we spend a week working on one contract, which previously took half an hour,” he says. — And more than half of such transactions. Often during this time the goods go somewhere because the supplier changes his mind or sells to others.”

Intermediary companies that brought grain purchased from farms to the ports suffered the most from the innovations. Especially if, even before the introduction of new rules, they provided loans to farmers by supplying them with fuel, seeds, and mineral fertilizers. “Such intermediaries did a lot of useful things for farmers and facilitated purchases for exporters, but now they are out of business, since the new rules of the Federal Tax Service directly prohibit signatories of the Charter from purchasing goods from traders who pay VAT if they were previously purchased from an agricultural producer using a simplified taxation system.” , says Grigoryants. Since the overwhelming number of grain producers that are exported are located on the Unified Agricultural Tax, the intermediary cannot sell it with VAT to the exporter, even if he imposes tax on payment. According to the Charter, exporters simply will not buy it.

Intermediary companies will now have to play by new rules and pay taxes and, obviously, look for new ways to maintain profitability by including a fair price for their services in the cost of the parties that they form for traders, comments Vitaly Sheremet. One of the possible options is the consolidation of existing intermediaries in order to maintain an acceptable level of profit, another is the transition to agency schemes.

« Agroinvestor» interviewed about 10 relatively large grain buyers from farmers from the Krasnodar Territory who place advertisements on the website Furazh.ru. As it turned out, the real margin for intermediaries is now 10-15 kopecks/kg of delivered grain, that is, approximately 1.5-2%. Among these companies, there are those who work under an agency agreement and those who work without it. Most of the respondents practice the simplified tax system, but absolutely everyone transports grain to ports without VAT.

Dmitry Rylko sees the situation differently. According to him, some intermediary companies have already split into smaller ones in order to be able to work under the simplified tax system. Some went to the pre-export market. Those who have real assets, for example in the form of elevators, began to work “white-handed”. Since the beginning of July, the volume of transactions initially fell, but then returned to the predicted high level. “There is a lot of grain on the market now, so I think exports will not be affected,” says the expert.

Refuse from the Unified Agricultural Tax

The State Duma several times considered bills that would force Unified Agricultural Tax payers to become VAT payers, but in the end they were all rejected. According to the government, in order to pay VAT, farmers can voluntarily switch to OSNO. Recently, the Fat and Oil Union put forward a legislative initiative providing for the transfer of VAT by the buyer of agricultural products not to the seller, but directly to the budget. This idea destroys the concept of VAT, and, more importantly, solves the problem of buyers by shifting the headache to suppliers, says Mikhail Orlov from the State Duma expert council. “The Unified Agricultural Tax has proven itself very well, so it is unlikely that it will be cancelled,” he adds. “I think that the state is ready for such a reform - to create an opportunity for payers of the unified agricultural tax and the simplified tax system to maintain their status as VAT payers.”

Globally, the issue can only be resolved by abolishing the Unified Agricultural Tax, Alexey Ivanov from Agroko is sure. “It doesn’t provide any economic benefits,” he says. — It is easier for small farmers to switch to the simplified tax system. The transition from the Unified Agricultural Tax will stimulate agricultural producers to work schemes that are more costly in terms of cost, and therefore increase productivity.” The appeal of the participants of the International Grain Round to the legislative and executive authorities directly states that it is necessary to abandon the Unified Agricultural Tax while maintaining a zero rate of income tax and other tax benefits for agricultural producers.

What should intermediaries do?

The Federal Tax Service's recommendations for exporters contain a list of more than 300 intermediary companies that are considered “knowingly non-fulfilling tax obligations by suppliers.” Cooperation with them may have tax consequences. At the same time, the department promises to adjust this list after each declaration period. “The intermediaries from the black list find themselves in a difficult position,” says Arkady Zlochevsky from RZS. — Exporters and large processors stopped working with them. Now these companies are moving to other markets, in particular to the domestic market, or collaborating with small exporters who are not signatories to the Charter.” Commercial Director of the Rasskazovsky Elevator Complex (Tambov Region) Vladimir Neustroev is convinced that control cannot be established only over export supply chains. “Without whitewashing the domestic market, there can be no effective fight against VAT launderers,” he believes. “In our region, all companies practicing “gray” schemes for export supplies have already reoriented their activities towards domestic buyers.”

If a company sells agricultural products purchased from the public, VAT must be paid as required by paragraph 4 of Article 154 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

When selling agricultural products and their processed products purchased
for individuals (who are not taxpayers), according to the list approved by the Government of the Russian Federation (with the exception of excisable goods), the tax base is determined
as the difference between the price determined in accordance with Article 105.3 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, taking into account tax
and the purchase price of said products.

List of agricultural products

The list of agricultural products for the sale of which this procedure applies was approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of May 16, 2001 No. 383.

Here is the list:

The price determined in accordance with Article 105.3 of the Tax Code is the price
at which the company sells agricultural products. However, this amount must be compared with the market price for the same batch of the same product.

If, as a result of a price check by the Federal Tax Service, it turns out that the price established in the purchase and sale agreement is outside the range of market prices, the proceeds (and, therefore,
and VAT) will have to be recalculated based on the market price.

Making a purchase from an individual

The purchase of agricultural products from an individual is formalized by a purchase and sale agreement or a sales and purchase act. A standard form is provided for the trade and procurement act
(Form No. OP-5, approved by Decree of the State Statistics Committee of Russia dated December 25, 1998 No. 132).

note

The company must report to its tax office the amount paid to an individual when purchasing agricultural products from him. To do this, the accountant must fill out a certificate
on the income of an individual (form No. 2-NDFL).

The certificate must be submitted to the inspection no later than March 1 of the year following the year in which the money was paid (clause 5 of Article 226 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Separate accounting

In practice, difficulties with calculating VAT arise for those firms that purchase agricultural products from both individuals and organizations.

In order to pay the tax correctly in this case, you need to organize separate accounting of agricultural products purchased:

• from individuals who are not tax payers;
• from organizations and entrepreneurs.

The best way out in this situation is to organize a separate quantitative and total accounting of products purchased from the population, and take into account the purchase and sale of such products
in separate magazines.

If this is not possible, you will have to draw up an accounting statement confirming the purchase price and the selling price of the products purchased from the population.

An example will show how to make such a calculation.

EXAMPLE OF COMPLETING A CERTIFICATE ABOUT THE PURCHASE PRICE AND SALES PRICE OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS

LLC "Urozhay" purchases grain both from the population and from other companies. Warehouse facilities do not allow organizing separate quantitative and total accounting of grain purchased from the population.

According to the accounting policy, the company accounts for the disposal of inventories using the FIFO method.

In August the following were purchased (excluding VAT):

• 120 tons of grain from organizations, including:

• 3 tons of grain from the population, including:

In the same month the following were sold:

• August 15 – 35 tons at a price of 1450 rubles. per ton, including VAT;
• August 25 – 56 tons at a price of 1,490 rubles. per ton, including VAT.

Let us assume that these prices correspond to market prices.

The Harvest accountant uses the following subaccounts to account 41 “Goods”:

• 41-1 “Agricultural products purchased from organizations and entrepreneurs”
• 41-2 “Agricultural products purchased from the population.”

The table below shows the calculation of the write-off of the cost of grain in August using the FIFO method:

Thus, the grain balance at the end of the month is 32 tons, including:

• for subaccount 41-1 – 30.8 tons at a price of 1190 rubles/t;
• for subaccount 41-2 – 1.2 tons at a price of 1280 rubles/t.

In total, in August, 1.8 tons (1.5 + 0.3) of grain were sold, purchased from the population, the cost (purchase price) of which was 2199 rubles. (1830 + 369). This grain was sold
August 25 at a price of RUB 1,490/t, including VAT.

Thus, on the proceeds from the sale of grain purchased from the population, you will need to pay VAT:

(1.8 t × 1490 rub./t - 2199 rub.) × 10%: 110% = 44 rub.

If separate accounting of products purchased from the public and from other companies is not organized, tax authorities will recalculate the tax on all transactions based on the full sales amount.

What should a taxpayer selling agricultural products and their processed products, which are included in the list approved by the Government of the Russian Federation, take into account?

According to the general rule, VAT when a taxpayer sells goods (products) is determined based on the cost of these goods (products) (clause 1 of Article 154 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). A special procedure for calculating tax in clause 4 of this article is provided for transactions involving the sale of agricultural products and processed products purchased from individuals (who are not VAT payers), which are included in the government List. The tax base in this case is calculated as the difference between the price determined in accordance with Art. 105.3 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, taking into account tax and the purchase price of the specified products. We will talk about the nuances of using this special order within the framework of this article.

A special procedure for calculating the tax base.

According to paragraph 4 of Art. 154 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, when selling agricultural products and products of their processing purchased from individuals (who are not taxpayers), according to the list approved by the Government of the Russian Federation (except for excisable goods), the tax base is determined as the difference between the price determined in accordance with Art. 105.3 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, taking into account tax and the purchase price of the specified products.

The essence of the special procedure established by this paragraph is that it is calculated from the inter-price difference and using settlement rates - 10/110 or 18/118. Let us add that many types of products purchased from individuals are subject to clause 2 of Art. 164 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, that is, they are subject to VAT at a rate of 10%.

The tax base (or inter-price difference) in the analyzed situation is calculated using the formula:

This procedure allows you to pay VAT on sales in a smaller amount, since the tax in this case is calculated not on the entire cost of products sold, but on the inter-price difference. True, the scope of application of the indicated preference (and the provision of a tax advantage to certain categories of persons is precisely a preference) is limited by a number of additional conditions. Let's analyze these conditions.

The purchased products must be included in the List

* For example, if the List indicates only the type of agricultural product, and its processed products are not mentioned, then to the named processed products, clause 4 of Art. 154 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation does not apply (see Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated January 26, 2005 No. 03-04-04/01).

For your information:

The List, in particular, includes livestock, poultry and rabbits in live weight, meat and by-products of livestock and poultry, milk and dairy products, eggs, raw rabbit skins, mink, arctic fox, fox and nutria, fish of all types (recreational fishing), bee honey, beeswax, wax, grains and leguminous crops, oilseeds (except hemp), sugar beets, potatoes, open- and protected-ground vegetables, melons, food and feed crops, pome and stone fruits, grapes, citrus fruits, tea leaves , cultivated and wild nuts and berries, cultivated and wild (fresh) mushrooms.

Example 1.

The taxpayer purchased 245 kg of red beets from an individual at a price of 18 rubles. per kg. Subsequently, the beets were sold at a price of 25 rubles. per kg.

Beetroot is named in the List (it belongs to open ground vegetables).

Consequently, when it is implemented, the tax base for the purpose of calculating VAT is determined as the inter-price difference in the manner established by clause 4 of Art. 154 Tax Code of the Russian Federation. In this case, the tax base will be 1,715 rubles. ((25 - 18) rub. x 245 kg).

Accordingly, operations for the sale of goods (products) that are not included in this List are subject to VAT in the general manner on the basis of clause 1 of Art. 154 Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

Products must be purchased from individuals

* But subject to the actual purchase of products from the population (see Resolution of the AS PA dated August 25, 2016 No. F06-11507/2016 in case No. A65-25498/2015).

By virtue of paragraph 2 of Art. 11 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, citizens of the Russian Federation, foreign citizens and stateless persons are recognized as individuals.

At the same time, the above paragraph mentions another category of individuals - these are persons engaged in entrepreneurial activities without forming a legal entity. The latter include individual entrepreneurs and heads of peasant (farm) households.

Moreover, about entrepreneurial activity (as a criterion that makes it possible to distinguish ordinary individuals from entrepreneurs and heads of farms) in paragraph 4 of Art. 154 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation is not mentioned. It only contains a clause about tax evaders. And, as is known, VAT defaulters can also be entrepreneurs who apply special tax regimes (for example, the simplified tax system).

Meanwhile, this circumstance is interpreted by law enforcement practice not in favor of entrepreneurs. Both officials (see Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated December 7, 2006 No. 03-04-11/234) and the courts (see Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service dated December 3, 2013 in case No. A12-6633/2013) believe that the effect of clause 4 Art. 154 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation does not apply to entrepreneurs with special regimes.

Example 2.

Let's use the data from the previous example.

The taxpayer purchased beets for further sale from a farmer - an individual entrepreneur.

In this case, the tax base is determined according to the general rule established in paragraph 1 of Art. 154 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, that is, from the full cost of products sold: 6,125 rubles. (RUB 25 x 245 kg).

Processed products.

Literally, operations in respect of which the rule established by clause 4 of Art. 154 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation are defined as follows: when selling agricultural products and their processed products purchased from individuals (who are not taxpayers).

Based on the construction of the phrase, it turns out that processed products seem to be excluded from the context of the analyzed norm. Although the title of the List refers specifically to agricultural products and their processed products (with the exception of excisable goods) purchased from individuals.

As a result, in practice, disputes often arise regarding the legality of calculating VAT on inter-price differences when selling products manufactured by the taxpayer from raw materials purchased from individuals. This is evidenced by examples of court decisions.

There are decisions in which a different point of view was expressed: the right to determine the tax base for VAT as the difference between the sales price and the acquisition price, including when selling products in the manufacture of which agricultural products named in the List and purchased from individuals were used, not who are payers of this tax.

In particular, the Twelfth Arbitration Court of Appeal in its Resolution dated August 22, 2013 in case No. A12-6633/2013 noted that, by virtue of direct instructions, the effect of clause 4 of Art. 154 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation applies not only to operations for the resale of agricultural products purchased from individuals, but also to operations for the sale of processed products.

Similar conclusions (that the special procedure for determining the tax base applies not only to situations where products purchased from individuals and products of their processing are resold in an unchanged (unprocessed) form, but also to cases of sale of finished products made from these products and products of their processing) were also made:

in the Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the North Caucasus Region dated January 16, 2007 No. F08-6441/06-2826A in case No. A32-24896/2005-60/971 (Decision of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated August 9, 2007 No. 8061/07 was upheld);

in the Resolution of the FAS UO dated 05/08/2009 No. F09-2751/09-S2 in case No. A07-13574/2008-A-BLV.

Attention should also be paid to the Resolution of the AS VSO dated July 30, 2015 in case No. A78-7926/2014, which clarifies that in relation to operations for the sale of processed products, for the production of which the taxpayer purchases agricultural raw materials from individuals, a special calculation procedure is also applied tax base, but provided that processed products from agricultural raw materials purchased from individuals are named in the List.

A different point of view is reflected in the Resolution of the FAS ZSO dated 06/08/2009 No. F04-2975/2009(6522-A03-42) in case No. A03-8680/2008: in relation to operations for the sale of meat delicacies and semi-finished products produced by the entrepreneur from meat purchased among the population, the tax base must be calculated in accordance with the generally established procedure (that is, in accordance with paragraph 1 of Article 154 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

There are few official letters on the issue under analysis, and, unfortunately, they do not always provide comprehensive explanations that exclude double interpretation.

In our opinion, the Ministry of Finance provided more precise wording in Letter No. 03-07-14/43942 dated July 11, 2017.

Officials actually indicated that the condition for applying the said tax preference is precisely the resale of agricultural products and processed products previously purchased from the population in an unchanged form. They literally said the following: the tax base for VAT is determined in the manner provided for in paragraph 4 of Art. 154 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, in the case of resale by the taxpayer of agricultural products and processed products purchased from individuals who are not tax payers.

In addition, financiers emphasized that if there is a sale of goods made from agricultural products purchased from individuals who are not taxpayers of value added tax, then, according to paragraph 1 of Article 154 of the Code, in such cases the tax base is determined based on the full cost of goods sold.

It is no coincidence that we quoted this phrase, since due to the lack of mention of the List in it, it can be interpreted in two ways. Products here mean:

or processed products produced by the taxpayer from agricultural products purchased from individuals that are not directly listed in the List;

or any processed products produced by the taxpayer from agricultural products purchased from individuals.

This means that each participant in tax legal relations (including tax authorities) can (and, most likely, will) interpret the explanations given in Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia No. 03-07-14/43942 in their favor. Which will inevitably lead to tax disputes, the outcome of which is difficult to predict.

The object of VAT taxation is all products and all kinds of services for sale in the Russian Federation. The exception is certain categories of products, materials and works approved at the legislative level. Food products are recognized as an object of taxation. In this case, different rates are applied, depending on the type and type of goods. In the article we will consider VAT on food products at a rate of 10% and 18%, and also give an example of transactions in the production of food products.

Objects of VAT taxation

The object of VAT taxation is considered to be sales within the state, with some exceptions. Food products are also subject to tax regardless of whether they are goods for resale or are food products.

The VAT rate on food products varies. It is possible to use tax rates of both 10% and 18%.

Taxation of food

A more detailed list for food producers, as well as for entities involved in their resale and import of goods across the border, is presented in a special List of Food Products.

If, upon resale, the supplier receives products at a preferential VAT rate of 10%, the goods must be sold at an acceptable rate. An incorrectly assessed tax rate by a supplier does not relieve the seller of further liability.

If an error is detected, the tax authorities have the right to recalculate the tax not received by the budget and charge fines and penalties if necessary.

When importing food goods into the territory of the Russian Federation at a rate of 0%, the buyer himself will have to determine the tax rate if the purpose of import is further sale. Based on the applied rate, the total amount to be paid to the budget is calculated.

VAT on food products at a rate of 10%

Many food products are considered socially significant. From a legal point of view, most of the most popular and consumed products fall under these criteria. According to the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, such products are taxed at a preferential rate of 10%. The list is quite extensive and consists of the following components:

• meat products, products made from it;
• milk and dairy products, products made from milk (kefir, ice cream);
• eggs and egg products;
• various cereals, other grains, feed mixtures;
• vegetable oil, margarine, edible fats used in food production;
• sugar, raw sugar;
• salt;
• flour and flour products, including pasta, bakery products, with the exception of some types of confectionery products;
• live fish, excluding valuable fish (sturgeon, trout, salmon);
• seafood, canned food, preserves, herring, frozen and chilled fish, not counting valuable commercial species, as well as their caviar, crabs, lobsters and other delicacies);
• baby food;
• diabetic products;
• vegetables, including potatoes.

The list of preferential food products that are subject to a 10% VAT rate is extensive and varied. But most goods recognized as delicacies are not recognized as socially significant products.

For a more precise definition and classification of food products in order to determine the required tax rate, it is worth turning not only to the provisions of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. A detailed list is also presented in the list of food products approved by the Government of the Russian Federation, the taxation of which should be carried out at a preferential rate of 10%.

Using the information from this list, you can get acquainted in more detail with food products for which preferential taxation is possible. Thus, not all dry-cured sausages are considered gourmet, only those that belong to the highest grade.

VAT on food products at a rate of 18%

Most food products are subject to 10% VAT. A detailed list is specified in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and the List of Goods. Other products are subject to sale on a different basis - using an 18 percent rate.

Such food products include gourmet goods and expensive food products:

1. When selling sausages and sausage products, you should pay attention to the fact that raw smoked and some types of dry-cured products, as well as balyk, carbonade, neck, pastrami and others, are sold at an 18% rate.
2. Of dairy products taxed at a 10 percent rate, an exception is made for fruit-based ice cream and butter.
3. Bakery products subject to taxation on a general basis include cakes, pastries and other confectionery.
4. When it comes to fish and seafood, taxation at an 18 percent rate is necessary for valuable commercial fish species (beluga, trout, salmon, omul and others), as well as products made from them. This also includes salmon, beluga caviar, crab meat, and lobsters.

Tax exemption

The food products themselves will be subject to mandatory VAT upon sale at a rate of either 10% or 18%. However, transactions with food products may be exempt from tax.

According to the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, such types of activities include the sale of food products by public catering organizations, the sale of food products in educational and medical institutions.

There is no taxation of organizations exempt from VAT due to low turnover and small revenue based on previous activities. Entities using preferential regimes, such as UTII, Unified Agricultural Tax, Simplified Tax System, PSN, are also not required to impose VAT on food products. These conditions affect production and further sale, including resale of goods.

Food production

Often, when producing food products, entities use a reduced sales rate, purchasing food raw materials at the basic rate of 18%. This happens for the reasons that in the manufacture of products, the further sale of which is possible using a 10% VAT, there are raw materials received from suppliers at a general rate. The legislation does not impose any special requirements. However, when asked for clarification by tax authorities, you should be prepared to provide relevant documentation. Having correctly executed invoices from suppliers allows you to fully accept incoming VAT on raw materials.

VAT on food products: postings

Example. The Vostok organization is engaged in the production of bakery products. Sales of baked goods are carried out at a rate of 10% VAT. To improve product quality, it was decided to use butter obtained from the supplier. Vostok LLC has the right to take into account input VAT on butter in full.

Dt 10 – Kt 62 – 10,000 rubles – purchase of butter.

Dt 19 - kt 62 - 1,800 rubles - tax allocated from the amount of purchase of raw materials.

D62 – Kt 90-1 – 44,000 rubles – products were shipped to the buyer.

Dt 90-3 – Kt 68 – 4,000 rubles – VAT on sales.

VAT. If the export transaction is not documented, then VAT must be accrued and paid on the date of shipment of the goods. For export deliveries, it is allowed to draw up a UPD instead of an invoice. The documents indicate a zero tax rate. In case of delivery to the Customs Union countries, confirmation (package of documents) must be submitted to the Federal Tax Service before the end of 180 days from the date of shipment to the buyer. The main documents that will confirm the fact of an export transaction are:

• Supply contract;
• Shipping documents;
• Invoices for goods (shipment), UTD, invoice;
• Application for import and payment of indirect taxes;
• Declaration of export transaction.

Such transactions are regulated by an agreement between Russia and the countries of the union adopted in 2010.

Accounting for VAT when exporting goods in 2018

At the same time, in the specified invoices, adjustment invoices, an appropriate inscription is made or a stamp is placed “VAT is calculated by the tax agent” (Clause 5 of Article 168 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). When selling goods, selling companies exempt from taxpayer obligations related to the calculation and payment of tax, and persons who are not taxpayers, make an appropriate entry in the contract or primary accounting document or put the mark “Without tax (VAT).”
COURT PRACTICE ON THE USE OF DATA FROM THE SOFTWARE COMPLEX “ASK NDS-2” Important! This means that from January 1, 2018, the sale of scrap and waste of ferrous and non-ferrous metals does not fall into the category of preferential operations.

Online magazine for accountants

The most significant changes have been made to the procedure for calculating VAT. Let's analyze the most significant of them. At the end of the year, legislators prepared a number of changes to VAT.

Let us remind you that the provision of services and performance of work is subject to VAT if the place of their implementation is recognized as the territory of the Russian Federation (Article 148 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Federal Law No. 335-FZ dated November 27, 2017 amended clause 1 of Art.

148 Tax Code of the Russian Federation. In the current version until 01/01/2018.

Payment of VAT by agricultural enterprises to the Unified Tax Tax from January 1, 2018

Attention

VAT is one of those types of taxes in the Russian Federation for which there is no single rate. Therefore, it can cause the most difficulties for entrepreneurs and accountants.

• 1 There is a choice, but not free
• 2 Zero tax
• 3 Reduced tax
• 4 Standard tax
• 5 Settlement rates: 10/110 and 18/118
• 6 Tax on invoice

There is a choice, but not a free one. In fact, VAT tax rates can take three, if not five different values.

Russian farmers will be required to pay VAT in 2018

These could be, for example, invoices that will confirm the correctness of filling out the VAT return during its desk audit (clause 8.1 of Article 88 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). In addition, taxpayers are recommended to translate all documents sent to confirm the preferential rate to the Federal Tax Service into Russian, i.e.

j. the entire primary report must be compiled in Russian and have a line-by-line translation (clause 9 of the order

Important

Ministry of Finance of Russia dated July 29, 1998 No. 34n as amended. dated 04/11/2018). The zero VAT rate is used in the following cases... So, the cases when the zero rate is applied are the following:

• when providing services for the international transportation of goods by sea, river, rail, planes and cars;
• during transportation and transshipment of oil and petroleum products, as well as natural gas outside the Russian Federation, taking into account the features of paragraphs.

VAT rate 2018

Buyers - tax agents are required to calculate and pay the appropriate amount of VAT to the budget, regardless of whether they fulfill the duties of a VAT payer or not. At the same time, tax agents who are VAT payers have the right to claim a tax deduction (clause 1 of Article 169 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

This means that, in fact, the buyer of goods will not pay VAT to the budget (paragraph 1, paragraph 3, article 170 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). WE RESPOND TO VAT REQUIREMENTS IN CONSIDERATION OF NEW RULES The list of transactions exempt from taxation by Federal Laws of July 18, 2017 has been changed.

No. 161-FZ, dated November 14, 2017, No. 316-FZ, clause 2 of Art. 149 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. From January 1, 2018, transactions for the sale of entrance tickets and passes for visiting attractions in oceanariums are exempt from VAT taxation (clause 20, clause 2, article 149 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Zero VAT rate and deductions for export of goods in 2018

According to Alexander Lemchik, managing partner of the law firm Lemchik, Krupsky and Partners, the long-term effect of providing such an opportunity to farmers will be negative, since they will have to face the need to check each transaction and each counterparty, an increase in staff to support this process, tax risks, which arise not after several years, but every quarter when filing each VAT return. Chairman of the Board of Soyuzmolok Andrey Danilenko noted that in recent years a lot of intermediaries have arisen between buyers and grain producers, who in fact did not pay VAT.

“In this regard, a compromise solution arose between the government and market participants to determine who can work with VAT and who can work without it.

Changes in the procedure for calculating VAT in 2018 (part 1)

In practice, this tax is calculated at five different rates:

• 10/110;
• 18/118.

Zero tax The first paragraph of Article 164 of the Tax Code specifies the categories of transactions that are exempt from paying the tax in question. But since, by law, they cannot not contribute money to the budget at all, there is a VAT rate of 0 percent.

First of all, companies that will sell goods abroad fall under this value. In this part, the zero VAT rate for exports is described in detail in Article 165 of the Tax Code. True, there is an important condition. Thus, the VAT rate - 0 - for export is applied only if the company proves that its goods have gone abroad. To do this, you need to submit the appropriate set of documents to the tax office. However, in terms of exports, starting from 2018, the zero rate can be abandoned.

Payment and refund of VAT when exporting goods in 2018

The specificity of this tax is that in some cases a tax refund is possible, which is the specifics of this procedure you need to know. Content

• 1 VAT refund: when possible
• 2 Required documents
  • 2.1 Some features of the application of the zero rate
• 3 VAT refund options
• 4 Step-by-step algorithm for VAT refund
  • 4.1 Stage 1
  • 4.2 Stage 2
  • 4.3 Stage 3
  • 4.4 Stage 4
  • 4.5 Stage 5
  • 4.6 Stage 6
  • 4.7 Stage 7
  • 4.8 Stage 8
• 5 Zero VAT rate for exports to the countries of the Customs Union
• 6 Conclusion
• 7 Video: VAT on exports

VAT refund: when possible Any foreign economic contacts with foreign partners involve the export of goods outside the country.
The desk audit has the following specifics:

1. Checking the exporter's company for the right to conduct such activities.
2. Reorganized companies that have changed their office location are checked with special care.

Discrepancies as a result of the verification are undesirable, because in this case the zero rate will not be allowed to apply. In the future, it is allowed to submit a package of documents for its use, but again the verification process will be the same.

It happens that documents are not provided within the allotted time; many entrepreneurs are interested in whether VAT will be refunded upon export. In this case, the options are:

• A tax of 10 or 18% is charged.

To obtain such a benefit, the following documents must be provided:

1. Export contract.
2. Statement regarding import and payment of indirect taxes.
3. Shipping documents.
4. Bank statements confirming receipt of revenue.

This process cannot be called simple, because you need to provide a package of documents and pass a tax audit, overcoming bureaucratic obstacles along the way. Video: VAT on exports Add a comment Popular articles Features and rates of export customs duties Rates of export customs duties 2018; Types of payments; What are the specific volumes...