Simplified Taxation System (SST)

Main article: Taxes in Russia

Automated simplified taxation system

Main article: AUSN (Automated simplified taxation system)

Who has the right to simplify

2025: Increasing the USN limit to 450 million rubles in revenue and introducing VAT on revenues of 60 million and more

In the course of a large-scale tax reform, on the one hand, the range of business classification on the USN is expanding from 265.8 to 450 million rubles, but the main blow comes from VAT obligations on revenues of 60 million rubles and more.

The entire business at the USN from 2025 will be at a rate of 6% of revenue or 15% on operating profitability (income minus expenses). Earlier, when the limit of 200 million rubles was exceeded, the rate increased to 8% of revenue and 20% of profit.

When paying VAT, deductions are allowed - the rate of 20% (10% for preferential categories, as for large businesses), but with the ability to receive deductions or the rate of 5% VAT for income up to 250 million rubles per year and 7% for income over 250 million rubles per year, but without deductions.

2018-2024

Criteria for the use of the USN in 2018 for JSC, LLC and individual entrepreneurs:

1) The number of employees is not more than 100 people

2) The residual value for the transition to the USN and for the application of the USN is no more than 150 million rubles.

The PI applies this limit only for the application of the USN. IPs switch to USN even if the cost of their OS exceeds the limit.

3) The share of participation of other legal entities is not more than 25%

4) The limit for the application of the USN for income received for the entire tax period - for paying tax under the USN in 2023 at a rate of 6%, income should be no more than 188.55 million rubles.

If revenues in 2023 exceed 188.55 million rubles and will not exceed 251.4 million rubles, the tax is paid at an increased rate of 8%

To preserve the right to apply the USN in 2023, income should not exceed 251.4 million rubles.

5) There must be no branches (representative offices allowed)

Payment terms, penalties and penalties for non-payment

According to the rules for April 2015, a single tax must be paid no later than the 25th of the next month. That is:

• For the 1st quarter - no later than April 25;
• For the half-year - no later than July 25;
• For 9 months - no later than October 25.

And to submit a tax return on a single tax, legal entities are obliged until March 31 of the next year (clause 1.1 of article 346.23 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation), and individual entrepreneurs - until April 30 of the next year (clause 1.2 of article 346.23 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

If advance payments have not been paid on time, then penalties are charged to them. According to the tax legislation (clause 4 of article 75 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation), the amount of the penalty is 1/300 of the refinancing rate of the Central Bank on the day of delay. Such a penalty amount is charged for each day of late payments.

Violation of the procedure and deadlines for payment of advance payments for a single tax on the USN is not the basis for attracting Jurassic. a person, individual entrepreneur or official (accountant or director) is liable. There is no penalty for overdue advance payments. If the taxpayer has expired the deadlines for submitting a declaration on a single tax to the tax office, then in this case a fine is already provided. The amount of the fine, according to paragraph 2 of Art. 119 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, is equal to 5% of the unpaid amount for each month (full or incomplete). But the Tax Code provides for restrictions on the amount of the fine - it cannot be less than 1000 rubles, but should not exceed 30% of the amount of unpaid tax (paragraph 1 of article 119 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation)^[1].

How to maintain the right to simplification

What three steps will help preserve the right to simplification

Reduce revenue to maximum limit

Step 1. Reduce future income so that it fits into the limit. There are two of the easiest ways to get around the income limit. Let's consider each of them in detail.

Method 1. Business fragmentation. The essence of the method boils down to the fact that the owners of the company create several controlled simplistic organizations and transfer part of contracts and transactions to them. The number of firms depends on the estimated annual revenue. For example, your company plans to receive 120 million rubles. In order to maintain the right to simplified work in 2016, it is necessary that the income for the last nine months of 2015 does not exceed 51.615 million rubles. (Order Ministry of Economic Development Russia of 29.10.2014 No. 685). You can fulfill this condition by creating two more companies:

120 million rubles. - 51.615 million rubles. = 68.385 million rubles.

This amount, in turn, will have to be distributed between the two created companies. However, this method must be applied with extreme caution in order to avoid claims from the tax authorities. Therefore, it is advised to pay attention to the following nuances.

Firstly, do not create controlled organizations in the form of representative offices or branches, otherwise the right to simplify is immediately canceled (subp. 1 paragraph 3 of Art. 346.12 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). All of these firms should be formally independent of and not affiliated with the main company. The optimal number of controlled companies is no more than five.

Secondly, involve all firms in the business at once. Do not use them in turn, replacing one with the other as you approach the limit.

Thirdly, prepare the rationale and purpose of business fragmentation. Otherwise, the tax authorities will consider the optimization unreasonable and will deprive the right to a special regime, adding additional income tax arrears, penalties and fines. The following arguments will help to avoid such consequences: a large number of controlled companies are associated with risk diversification, franchising, liquidation of non-core assets, and the opening of new business areas.

Example. According to the results of the exit tax audit of the Karpinsky Khimleskhoz, the inspectors additionally charged the organization with almost 14.7 million rubles, believing that the owners deliberately crushed the business so as not to lose the right to a special regime. However, the owners of the enterprise did not agree with this decision. Three arguments helped them win the case. First: the activities of both organizations are not duplicated, one of them is engaged in logging, the other is processing. Second: each of the organizations conducts real business activities, and also deducts taxes to the budget. Third: the work is carried out by different employees, each enterprise has its own staff (resolution of the FAS of the Ural District of 08.08.2013 in case No. A60- 43809⁄2012).

Method 2. Mediation agreement. For this method, you need to find or create one or more friendly organizations (this can be an individual entrepreneur, a company on a general or simplified taxation system, a foreign company), on behalf of which your company will sell goods on its own behalf, receiving an agency fee for this. The essence of the scheme is that your company becomes an intermediary and pays tax only from the commission received. As a rule, it is small, which makes it possible to make multi-billion dollar transactions without exceeding the limit on annual revenue. The amount of agency remuneration can even be meager, up to 0.5% of revenue. Trading companies often use the proposed method. They create foreign enterprises in offshore or low-tax jurisdictions, and Russian organizations, as agents of these firms, sell goods in our country.

Pay attention! The advantage of mediation is that it covers the crushing of the business. After all, in fact, counterparties purchase goods from your company, not suspecting that it is a link in a chain created to save on taxes^[2]

Monitor the value of fixed assets

Step 2. Find out which fixed assets can be disposed of at least temporarily. The limit on the residual value of the property can be bypassed by using one of three methods.

Method 1. Revaluation of fixed assets. The value of assets should be reduced, but this can only be done by receiving an opinion from an independent appraiser on the need to revalue them (order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia of 13.10.2003 No. 91n). The reasons for this can be completely different, for example, wear and tear, obsolescence, sale of some production facilities.

Method 2. Asset fragmentation. In this case, everything that exceeds the limit of 100 million rubles is simply transferred free of charge to a friendly company. To transfer assets, you can either reorganize in the form of an allocation (then the new successor company will receive them), or deposit fixed assets in a simple partnership. You can continue to use fixed assets if you rent them or lease them from a friendly organization into which you transfer them. The fact is that fixed assets leased or under a lease agreement are not included in the USN limit, even if they are listed on the balance sheet.

Method 3. Inventory and conservation. In the first case, obsolete and unused assets are simply written off the balance sheet. For example, during the inventory, the enterprise found refrigeration plants that had not been used for more than two years: some of them were in unsuitable condition, and some were subject to expensive repairs (it was easier to buy new ones than to repair old ones). This property was written off from the organization's balance sheet "due to the impossibility of use due to unsuitability for further operation." In the second case, fixed assets are transferred to the category of spare. And according to paragraph 3 of Article 256 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, fixed assets transferred for conservation over three months ago are not recognized as depreciable. Therefore, they are not taken into account when determining the limit.

Pay attention! If you choose the first method for yourself, then the revaluation at the enterprise will have to be carried out every year (paragraph 15 of the order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 30.01.2001 No. 26n). This, in turn, will complicate accounting.

Staff reform

Step 3. Carry out regular reforms. The limit on the average annual number of employees can be bypassed if "excess" personnel are re-registered in controlled organizations. To legally use the work of such employees, you can order from these organizations to carry out certain projects. In addition, you can transfer part of the organization's employees to part-time work or register as part-time employees. Some can be removed from the state and involved in the performance of their duties on the basis of civil law contracts. For example, an assistant accountant can be fired and then hired to maintain accounting for one year, at the end of which it is easy to conclude a new contract for the next year. When calculating the average number, such employees are not taken into account (order of Rosstat dated 28.10.13 No. 428). However, there is one nuance in the scheme. In fact, such employees will work full time in the company, and if this fact is revealed by labor inspectors during interrogation, the contract is recognized as labor. Let me remind you that they had such a right from January 1, 2014 (Article 12 of the Federal Law of 28.12.2013 No. 421-FZ). Many businesses do just that, especially those in trade. Most often, civil law contracts are used, transferring 30-40% of personnel to them.

Pay attention! In no case should outstaffing be used to optimize the headcount. Let me remind you that borrowed labor is prohibited by law (Federal Law of 05.05.14 No. 116-FZ). "

Notes