A tax audit is a form of tax control over compliance with the legislation on taxes and fees by taxpayers, payers of fees or tax agents. The Tax Code names two forms of such checks: cameral and visiting.

Taxpayers are aware of another form of tax audit - counter. There is no such concept in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation now, but there is an obligation to submit, at the request of the tax inspectorate, documents related to the activities of a certain counterparty. Naturally, these documents will give an idea about the taxpayer who submitted them, which means that they also bear the risk of tax sanctions.

To prevent tax audits from giving you unpleasant surprises, we recommend that you from time to time arrange total internal audits to identify potential tax risks and assess the completeness and timeliness of all reports. This service is available to our users free of charge.

All taxpayers repeatedly undergo a desk tax audit - after the submission of each declaration, calculation or other documents on tax obligations. Field tax audits are not carried out for all taxpayers, but selectively, for one or more taxes, and they may cover a period of up to three years preceding the year of the audit. The main differences between these two types of tax audits are shown in the table.

How much does a tax audit cost?

Any tax audit is a test for the taxpayer, which often results in the collection of significant amounts of tax arrears, penalties, and in some cases fines. You can get an idea of ​​these amounts from the official data of the Federal Tax Service.

Every year, the Federal Tax Service prepares a report on the results of business control. In 2016, the efficiency of one field tax audit increased by 54% compared to the previous year and amounted to 13.7 million rubles. For comparison, in 2013 the amount was almost 2 times less - 7.1 million rubles. The tax authorities believe that the risk-based approach to inspections has a positive effect, because the number of on-site inspections is decreasing, and their effectiveness is growing.

Field tax audits have become more selective, but at the same time almost 100% effective. In other words, if the tax inspectorate decided to conduct an on-site tax audit at your place, then you cannot do without additional charges. The average amount of additional penalties of 13.7 million rubles, as well as the average temperature in the hospital, of course, does not give an idea of ​​what financial sanctions a field tax audit will result in for a particular taxpayer. Nevertheless, it is possible to assume its consequences for your business, and they are very serious.

It is easier to prevent an on-site tax audit than to deal with its consequences later. At the same time, the risks of conducting it are not a secret, moreover, the tax authorities strongly recommend that taxpayers conduct such self-diagnosis. Next, we will consider in detail the risk criteria for an on-site tax audit.

According to the report of the Federal Tax Service for 2014-2017, it is planned:

• increase the effectiveness of work to counteract the use of tax evasion schemes , including with the use of offshore companies and one-day firms;
• improve the quality of control measures based on analytically elaborated spot checks in high-risk areas of activity;
• create a system for monitoring the use of cash registers and the completeness of accounting for revenue, based on the transfer of data to the tax authorities in electronic form (we wrote about this already started experiment in the article);
• to increase the efficiency of recovery of amounts accrued as a result of tax audits, with the adoption of a whole range of measures, including bringing to subsidiary liability the heads (founders) of organizations that evade taxes (that is, for the obligations of a legal entity, in particular, for tax, it will soon be possible to forget);
• improve the quality and effectiveness of desk audits, etc.

Somehow, against the backdrop of such an effective work of the (existing and planned) tax authorities, the presumption of good faith of the taxpayer, expressed in Article 3 (7) of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, does not look very convincing: “All fatal doubts, contradictions and ambiguities of legislative acts on taxes and fees taxpayer." One gets the impression that just as for doctors there are no healthy people, but there are those who have not been examined, so for the tax authorities there are no conscientious taxpayers, but there are still unverified ones.

Of course, not all taxpayers are of equal interest to the tax inspectorate. Still, the administrative resource of the Federal Tax Service is limited, and first of all, they will deal with large enterprises or very obvious violators of tax laws. You can work perfectly for many years without any problems with fiscals, for which you need to carefully follow the rules of tax accounting (plus accounting - for organizations), paperwork,.

How is a tax audit carried out?

A desk tax audit is carried out for the period and for the tax indicated in the submitted declaration. The tax inspectorate cannot make a decision on additional tax assessment, penalty interest or fine in respect of a tax or a period that is not reflected in the audited declaration.

The data from the received declaration is entered into the automated information system of the tax authorities (AIS Nalog), after which the control indicators are reconciled. It is also checked whether the deadline for submitting the declaration has been violated, whether there are any contradictions, errors or inconsistencies in the data or grounds for requesting supporting documents. If everything is in order, then the cameral tax audit ends here.

If the tax authorities have questions for you, they must demand in writing to provide the necessary explanations or make corrections to the declaration. The request must be answered within five business days. Such a response may be the submission of an amended tax return (if you agree with the comments of the tax authorities) or a reasoned written explanation of your position.

Here it must be taken into account that if the inspectors do not agree with your arguments, then an act of a cameral tax audit can be drawn up on the collection of arrears, the accrual of penalties and liability in the form of a fine. Within one month from the date of receipt of the act, the taxpayer may file objections to it, which must be considered within 10 working days.

Based on the results of consideration of the audit data and objections to the act, the head of the tax inspectorate must make a decision on bringing or refusing to hold liable. The tax authorities are obliged to inform the taxpayer about the time and place of consideration of the materials of the desk audit in order to be able to participate in the process personally or through their representative.

A decision that does not suit you based on the results of the chamber meeting can be further appealed - to a higher tax authority and to the court.

How is an on-site tax audit carried out?

An on-site tax audit is a much more complex, lengthy and negative event for the taxpayer than a desk audit. An on-site inspection begins from the day the decision to conduct it is made, which the inspectors must present to you along with their official IDs.

To carry out the check, you must provide the controllers with a room on your territory. If this is not possible, for example, due to the fact that the LLC is registered at a home address or is being checked by an individual entrepreneur who does not have an office, then an on-site tax audit will be carried out on the territory of the tax authority. In this case, there is a problem of transferring many of your documents to the tax office, so sometimes the inspectors agree to conduct an audit in a temporarily rented neighboring office.

During an on-site tax audit, the tax authorities not only study the documents, but also interview the taxpayer and his employees. Inspectors must have access to all documents related to the calculation and payment of taxes, including their originals. It is possible to carry out other tax control measures, such as:

• seizure of documents and objects;
• interrogation of witnesses;
• appointment of an expert;
• inspection;
• property inventory;
• involvement of a specialist, translator.

The term for conducting an on-site tax audit should not exceed two months, and for a branch or representative office - one month. The two-month period may be extended to four or even six months. In addition, the audit may be suspended for the reasons specified in paragraph 9 of Article 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation for up to six months. For the period of suspension of the on-site inspection, the activities of controllers are terminated, and the original documents are returned to the taxpayer (unless they were obtained as a result of seizure).

The field tax audit ends with the preparation of a certificate, which fixes the subject of the audit and the timing of its conduct. The certificate only fixes the deadline for the end of the field tax audit, and its results are reflected in the act.

Unlike a desk audit, an exit act must be drawn up without fail, even if no violations have been identified. An act of an on-site tax audit is drawn up within two months after a certificate of its completion. The act must be handed over to the taxpayer personally (or his representative), and if he evades receiving it, then the act is sent by mail, and is considered delivered on the sixth day from the date of sending a registered letter. The procedure for filing objections to the on-site inspection act, making a decision and appealing is the same as for a cameral inspection.

If you want to understand in detail how an on-site tax audit is carried out from the point of view of the tax authorities fulfilling their duties, we recommend that you read the letter of the Federal Tax Service dated July 25, 2013 N AS-4-2 / ​​13622 “On recommendations for conducting on-site tax audits » .

Risk criteria for conducting an on-site tax audit

Field tax audits are carried out according to the plan, which is an internal document of the Federal Tax Service. Unlike, which is published on the website of the Prosecutor General's Office, it is impossible to find such information in the public domain. For the selection of taxpayers included in the plan of field tax audits, a special Concept was created, approved by Order of the Federal Tax Service No. MM-3-06 / [email protected] dated May 30, 2007.

Each taxpayer must understand that the transparency of its activities, the completeness of the calculation and payment of taxes to the budget depends on the possibility of not including field tax audits in the plan.(From the Concept of the planning system for field tax audits)

The annex to this document contains 12 main criteriarecommended to taxpayers for self-assessment of the risks of conducting field tax audits:

1. The tax burden of the taxpayer is below its average level for the type of economic activity or in a particular industry. as the ratio of the amount of taxes paid and the turnover (revenue) of the taxpayer.
2. Losses for two or more years are reflected in tax or accounting reports.
3. workers below the average level by type of economic activity in the constituent entity of the Russian Federation. Such official data can be found on the Rosstat website.
4. Repeated approach to the limit value of the values ​​of indicators that give the right to apply special tax regimes to taxpayers. This refers to such indicators as: approaching the maximum level of income on the simplified tax system (in 2017 - 150 million rubles); sales area of ​​150 sq. m for UTII; the number of employees in a special regime (100 people for the simplified tax system and UTII or 15 people for PSN), etc.
5. Reflection by an individual entrepreneur of the amount of expense as close as possible to the amount of his income , received in a calendar year. This risk criterion applies to individual entrepreneurs on the general taxation system. The value of committed expenses in 83% or more of income is considered risky.
6. The outpacing growth rate of expenses over the growth rate of income from the sale of goods (works, services) - for organizations on OSNO.
7. The share of deductions from the amount of accrued tax exceeds 89% for a period of 12 months.
8. Non-submission by the taxpayer of explanations for the notification of the tax authority on the identification of inconsistencies in performance indicators. As you can see, it is risky not to respond to requests from the tax inspectorate based on the results of a desk audit of declarations.
9. Building financial and economic activities on the basis of concluding agreements with contractors-dealers or intermediaries without reasonable economic or other reasons (business purpose). Under the business purpose is meant that any activity of the taxpayer should be aimed at making a profit.
10. Repeated, more than two times, removal and registration with the tax authorities of the organization in connection with a change in the legal address (the so-called migration between tax inspectorates).
11. Significant ( by 10% or more) deviation of the level of profitability according to accounting data from the average level of profitability for this field of activity according to statistics.
12. Conducting financial and economic activities with a high tax risk. Suspicious, from the point of view of the tax authorities, are relations with partners -. The risk criterion, among other things, is the absence of: personal contacts of the management or authorized officials when discussing the terms of supply and signing contracts; information about the actual location of the counterparty and its areas; documentary confirmation of the powers of the head of the counterparty company or his representative; information on the state registration of the counterparty in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, etc.

Tax Audit Summary

Tax audits are an integral part of doing business, and as a taxpayer, you will always be under the control of the tax authorities. Although inspections, especially on-site inspections, can have serious adverse effects on you, there are ways to significantly reduce your risk:

• and, if possible, submit tax and accounting (for organizations) reports without errors.
• Pay taxes and advance payments in full and on time.
• Do not avoid communicating with the tax authorities, if they already have claims against you, you must give your explanations as soon as possible. Non-constructive behavior will be ignoring correspondence from the Federal Tax Service, attempts to evade delivery of acts or decisions. Letters from the Federal Tax Service are considered delivered on the sixth day after they were sent, so your arguments that you did not receive correspondence are unlikely to be accepted.
• Keep and keep all documents related to business activities, especially those that support expenses.
• If you are not an accounting specialist, then take care of obtaining.
• Evaluate your activities in terms of the risk criteria specified in the Concept.
• Observe.
• In case of risks of serious amounts of additional charges during tax audits, we recommend contacting narrow specialists - tax lawyers and consultants, outsourcers of high-quality accounting services.

Every manager always expects field tax audits with horror, because such events can reveal many shortcomings that will lead to penalties. To avoid negative consequences, it is necessary to prepare for such audits in advance, and for this you need to know exactly what the on-site tax audit checks and how exactly it is carried out. This will help to successfully pass it and not cause claims from the controlling state body. We will talk about this in this post.

General provisions

Tax audits, both for individual entrepreneurs and legal entities, can take place in two formats: . In the first case, the tax authorities check the papers at home, in the second, they will come directly to the organization.

The basis for an on-site inspection is the order of the head of the regional division of the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation or his deputy. Usually, the need for such an event arises if a number of violations of the current tax legislation were revealed during the in-house procedure. An inspection is usually carried out at the place of registration of the enterprise, but maybe in other cities, if there is one. Regulates such inspections of the Tax Code in force in the territory of the Russian Federation.

The audit can be both continuous and selective. The task of the first is to study all tax reporting, the second aims to look at only some papers that are suspicious. In practice, you can often see the first method as more complete and reliable.

There are restrictions

There are some limitations associated with this procedure. So, for example, verification of the same documents twice in one tax period cannot be carried out. Also, you can not look at documents that are more than three years old, they do not fall under the checks.

If we talk about the deadline that tax inspectorate employees must meet when doing their work on the road, then this is two months. But it can be increased up to 4 months, and in special situations up to six months (usually).

What can be checked

The on-site audit of the tax inspectorate is usually aimed at documents related to tax reporting. But the tax authorities may also require them to show them papers from the company's accounting department, if they consider that they are needed. You should be prepared for this.

First of all, the FTS requires the following:

• Does the taxpayer keep records, and is it correct.
• Is there a list of documents that is required by law.
• Whether all tax reporting has been provided, and whether any papers are being hidden.

The following documents are requested during the exit check.

Another equally important audit carried out by executive authorities is a tax audit. The Federal Tax Service of Russia checks compliance by legal entities and individual entrepreneurs with the legislation on taxes and fees.

The procedure for conducting tax audits is regulated, dedicated to tax control.

There are two types of audits: cameral (without leaving, conducted in the tax authority) and field (with a visit to the location of the organization).

During a desk tax audit, the tax authority analyzes the documents initially at the disposal of the tax authority in relation to the taxpayer, tax declarations, as well as documents provided by the taxpayer at the request of the inspector.

A desk audit is carried out within three months and does not require a special decision of the head of the tax authority to conduct it.

If a desk audit reveals errors, inconsistencies or contradictions in documents, the inspector asks the taxpayer for clarifications and requires correction of violations. The organization, in turn, may object, supporting its explanations on the fact of errors made with accounting documents. If, as a result of the audit, the fact of violation of tax legislation is nevertheless established, the tax authority will draw up an audit report.

An on-site audit is carried out on the basis of a decision of the management of the tax authority directly at the premises at the location of the organization being audited.

The subject of the audit is the correctness of the calculation and payment of one or more taxes for a certain period (no more than three years before the previous tax period).

An on-site inspection is carried out within two months (in exceptional cases, no more than four months, in especially exceptional cases, no more than six months).

The verification period may be suspended in connection with the demand for documents, the appointment of an examination, the translation of documents into Russian, and the receipt of information from foreign authorities. In this case, the actions of the tax authority on the territory of the legal entity being checked are terminated and all requested original documents are returned to the latter (not counting those seized during the seizure).

A repeated field audit is carried out in cases where a higher tax authority decides to check the quality of an earlier audit of your organization or if a taxpayer submits an updated tax return for the tax being audited with a tax amount less than previously declared.

The tax authority has the right:

• conduct an inventory of the taxpayer's property;
• inspect production, storage, trade and other premises and territories of the taxpayer;
• request the documents necessary for verification (in this case, the requirement to submit documents is transferred to the head or authorized representative of the organization personally against receipt);
• to seize documents if there is reason to believe that documents related to the subject of verification can be hidden from inspectors, replaced, changed or destroyed, for example, in case of refusal to provide documents (seizure is carried out only on the basis of a separate reasoned decision);
• call any natural person who may be aware of the circumstances relevant for the purposes of the verification, as a witness to testify;
• in case of obstructing the access of inspectors to the territory or premises of the taxpayer, draw up an act and independently determine the amount of tax payable;
• take photographs and videos during the inspection, copy documents;
• involve specialists with special knowledge and skills to participate in the inspection and other actions for the implementation of tax control;
• demand from your counterparty or from other persons who have documents (information) relating to the activities of the audited taxpayer, these documents (information);
• open premises or other places where documents and objects subject to seizure may be located if the person from whom the seizure is made refuses to voluntarily give access to documents;
• engage experts to clarify issues that require special knowledge in science, art, technology or craft (an expert examination is appointed on the basis of a separate resolution, while the taxpayer has the right to challenge the expert, propose experts, put questions to the expert, be present during the examination, get acquainted with the results of the examination, give explanations and submit objections to the expert's conclusions, ask for an additional or repeated examination).

The tax authority has no right:

• demand additional information and documents from the taxpayer, if their submission is not provided for by law;
• conduct more than one field audit for the same taxes for the same period;
• conduct more than two field tax audits per taxpayer during the year (with the exception of special cases);
• conduct field tax audits for the period for which tax monitoring is carried out;
• without the participation of attesting witnesses, inspect the territories, premises of the taxpayer, as well as inspect documents and objects;
• require notarization of copies of documents submitted to the tax authority;
• demand from the audited person the documents previously submitted to the tax authorities during cameral or on-site tax audits;
• seize documents and objects at night;
• put before the involved expert questions that go beyond the special knowledge of the expert;
• involve employees of the Federal Tax Service as witnesses;
• cause unlawful harm to the person being checked and his property.

A brief procedure for the appearance of inspectors from the Federal Tax Service at your office.

• Invite your lawyer or lawyer to provide you with legal support during the audit.
• Ask the inspector to present an official ID and a decision to conduct an inspection.
• Give the inspectors the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the documents related to the calculation and payment of taxes that are the subject of the audit.
• Issue the required documents to the inspectors personally (through a representative) or by registered mail, in electronic form or through the taxpayer's personal account within 10 days.
• If you are unable to submit the required documents within the established time limit, then you must notify the inspectors in writing within one day of the impossibility of submitting the documents within the specified timeframe, explaining the reasons, and the timeframe during which you can submit the required documents. Let me remind you that failure to submit documents and (or) other information to the tax authorities within the prescribed period entails a fine of 200 rubles. for each document not submitted in accordance with .
• Check that the inspection resolution on the production of a seizure, if any, is available.
• Check the correctness of the content of the seizure protocol and the descriptions to it (they should contain an exact indication of the name, quantity and individual characteristics of the items, and, if possible, the cost of the items).

Consequences of verification

Based on the results of the audit, an act is drawn up.

If you do not agree with the facts set forth in the tax audit report, as well as with the conclusions and proposals of the inspectors, then within one month from the date of receipt of the tax audit report, you must submit to the tax authority written objections to the specified act with the attachment of documents confirming your arguments (if any).

The head of the tax authority calls the taxpayer himself for consideration of the materials of the tax audit, who can give his explanations on all the circumstances related to the violations imputed to him.

As a result of consideration of the audit materials, the tax authority determines whether a tax offense has occurred, whether there are grounds for holding the taxpayer liable for committing a tax offense, as well as mitigating and aggravating circumstances.

Based on the results of consideration of the audit materials, the head of the tax authority may appoint additional tax control measures to obtain additional evidence (for a period not exceeding one month) or make a decision to hold the taxpayer liable or to refuse to hold liable.

The decision on holding liable for committing a tax offense shall indicate the amount of the identified arrears and penalties, as well as the amount of the fine, indicate the period during which the taxpayer has the right to appeal the decision, the procedure for appealing the decision. The decision shall enter into force upon the expiration of one month from the date of its delivery to the inspected person.

If the inspectors have violated the above rules for considering tax audit materials, for example, they did not provide the taxpayer with the opportunity to be present during the consideration of audit materials, the opportunity to give explanations, the decision to hold liable may be canceled by a higher tax authority.

In case of failure to voluntarily comply with the decision of the tax authority to hold the taxpayer liable for the violation, the tax authorities have the right to apply to the court.

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

Tax audit of an organization: features

Recall: an on-site tax audit is an event, as a result of which the tax authorities charge additional taxes, fees and penalties, hold the taxpayer liable (both tax and administrative), and engage in other legalized types of extortion.

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

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

Rights and powers of tax inspectors

Employees of the Federal Tax Service, directly involved in the audit, are endowed with a very wide range of powers. They can carry out the following activities:

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

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

Like snow on your head

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

The fact is that the decision to check must first be sent to the head of the company by mail. And not just send, but wait for a response in which the manager must confirm receipt of the letter with the decision and notification. It is clear that the letter does not always arrive right the next day after sending, and you do not check the mailbox every day. But the Federal Tax Service is not interested in this - employees simply count 6 days from the moment the correspondence was sent and come with a check, even if they never received a response. But after all, the requirement for a warning is considered fulfilled only after receiving a confirmation letter! Therefore, a tax audit without warning should be recognized as unlawful. It is simply impossible not to let the inspectors in - it is fraught. But you will have an additional “trump card up your sleeve” if you later have to appeal against the decision of the tax authority.

Procedure

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

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

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

1. Ask on what basis the check is being carried out (based on complaints from citizens or as a result of the expiration of the previous order).
2. Ask them to show you the decision to conduct an inspection and read it carefully. Often, the audit team includes people who are not identified in any way in the resolution. Perhaps this is a simple consequence of staff turnover, but the presence of such persons is a serious offense. You have the right not to let "extra inspectors" over the threshold or to act a little more cunningly (more on this below).
3. Record all conversations with inspectors on a dictaphone. The recording can become additional evidence of any offense if the inspectors commit one.
4. Keep your composure and always think before you say anything. Almost all experienced tax specialists are good psychologists. It is possible that they will provoke you with "slippery" questions or even exert psychological pressure. If questions are clearly beyond the scope of business communication, resolutely refuse to answer them (you can appeal to Article 51 of the Constitution, which allows citizens not to testify against themselves and their loved ones).

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

Tricks and cheat codes

The experience of many entrepreneurs allows us to identify several effective counter-actions. With their help, you can minimize the likelihood of falling under the pressure of fines and additional payments.

1. Never try to bribe tax officials. This is pure suicide. Remember the advice to record all conversations on a voice recorder? So, tax inspectors do the same, and often they also record what is happening on video.
2. If you notice that the tax authorities have committed a couple of minor offenses, it is not necessary to immediately incriminate and expose your visitors. Fix all the mistakes they made (illegal requests for documents, unlawful requests for information, provocative questions), and then, after the conclusion is made, challenge them in a departmental manner. There is a great chance that the actions of the inspectors will be officially recognized as illegal, and the final act of the inspection will be invalid.
3. The same can be done if the commission includes people who are not on the list. Record the fact of their presence, specify the full name and position, and after the issuance of the act, contact the Federal Tax Service with a complaint. A gross violation of the procedural order leads to the cancellation of the decision made by the inspection commission.
4. Carefully check the act on the basis of the on-site inspection. The amount of fines accrued will be indicated both in this act and in the demand for the payment of taxes (or in the decision to hold liable, if it comes to that). It is possible that the tax authorities indicate one amount in the act, and others in the demand or decision. This discrepancy is another good reason to declare the decision of tax officials illegal.
5. In case of an unforeseen event, such as the imposition of a property penalty or blocking of an account, you can open a reserve current account.

Always look at the situation whether it is worth using the listed methods. Remember that ineptly taken measures can sometimes turn against you. The statement that everything possible should be done during a tax audit - they say, in a critical situation, all means are good - is not true.

The most common procedural violations during inspections

So, the scheme is clear: violation - a complaint in a departmental or judicial order - recognition of the conclusion of the inspection commission as illegal (or at least the cancellation of a separate decision). Such a bundle does not always work, but quite often, and with due perseverance, you can achieve your goal. And if you don’t like to take risks, just carefully monitor the progress of the check and immediately point out to the FTS employees their mistakes.

1. Very often, tax authorities arbitrarily expand the questions of verification. The study of information that is not related to the taxes and tax periods reflected in the original decision is prohibited - a new decision and a separate check are needed.
2. The inspectors are not entitled to check the periods already “processed” by them before. There are three exceptions: the liquidation (or reorganization) of a company, the provision of an updated tax return and the adoption of a decision by a higher tax authority to audit the activities of a lower one. Often this rule is ignored.
3. Another gross violation is the conduct of more than two on-site inspections within one year. The third and subsequent are considered unacceptable (in accordance with Article 89 of the Labor Code).
4. Only the FTS body in which you are registered can carry out an audit. Conducting inspections by the wrong body is rare, but possible.
5. You can submit objections based on the results of the audit within 15 days. Sometimes inspectors go to the trick and offer the accountant to sign the act with the wrong date. As a result, the deadline for filing a complaint is artificially shortened (often by just two weeks).
6. Threats and psychological pressure are methods widely used by tax authorities. Direct threats of bringing to administrative responsibility and transparent hints of dishonesty are equally unacceptable.
7. Seizure of documents without a reasoned and justified decision.

There can be many tricks and violations, and some of them are almost impossible to recognize. It will not work to secure yourself 100% - alas, but it is so. You can only minimize the risks by following the recommendations above.

In 2015, tax audits of organizations became more “hardcore” due to the expansion of the powers of the Federal Tax Service. But you should not be afraid of the inspectors - they are not omnipotent. Do not lose your head, show them an absolute readiness to defend your interests - and everything will end well for you. Tax officials prefer not to get involved with entrepreneurs who can stand up for themselves.

Basis for verification

The basis for conducting an on-site tax audit in an organization is the decision of the head of the inspectorate or his deputy (paragraph 1, clause 1, article 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Its form was approved by order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated December 25, 2006 No. SAE-3-06 / 892.

As a general rule, the decision to conduct an on-site audit is made by the tax inspectorate at the location of the organization (paragraph 1, clause 2, article 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). However, in two cases, such a decision is made by the inspectorate in which the organization is registered, regardless of its location. This rule applies to:

• organizations that are recognized largest taxpayers (paragraph 2, clause 2, article 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation);

• organizations that have the status of a participant in the Skolkovo project (paragraph 3, clause 2, article 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Selection criteria for verification

The Tax Code does not establish under what circumstances the head of the inspectorate (his deputy) may decide to conduct an on-site inspection in an organization. At the same time, the order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated May 30, 2007 No. MM-3-06 / 333 approved the Concept of the planning system for on-site inspections and determined the criteria by which organizations are selected for the appointment of on-site inspections (order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated May 30, 2007 No. MM-3-06/333).

Selection criteria are specific circumstances or performance indicators in the presence of which the organization falls into the zone of risk of committing a tax offense. For the inspection, the presence of such factors will be the basis for including the organization in the plan of field inspections. So, for example, the basis for the appointment of an on-site inspection may be the frequent change of addresses by the organization or the reflection of a loss in the reporting for several years in a row.

The Concept does not say how many criteria an organization must meet in order to be included in the audit plan. Therefore, the inspection may appoint an on-site inspection in the organization both in the complete absence of these criteria, and in the presence of at least one of them.

In addition, the basis for the appointment of an on-site audit may be information prepared by the commissions for the legalization of the tax base, which are created in the tax inspectorates. In particular, an on-site inspection may be appointed if a representative of the organization does not appear at a meeting of such a commission without a good reason. This is stated in the letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated July 17, 2013 No. AS-4-2 / ​​12722.

An additional criterion for the appointment of an on-site inspection may be the organization's participation in a regional investment project. Subject to certain conditions, participants in such projects are entitled to special tax benefits. Therefore, in addition to the list of specific taxes, during inspections of such organizations, inspectorates can check the degree of their compliance with the conditions of the project and the indicators of its implementation. In other words, the inspectors will check the legality of the application of benefits due to participation in a regional investment project. This procedure follows from the provisions of Article 89.2 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. It applies both to current participants in regional investment projects and to those who have already lost this status.

Checking branches

If the organization has branches or representative offices, they can be checked both as part of a general on-site inspection (for the organization as a whole) and as part of an independent on-site inspection of a branch or representative office (paragraphs 1 and 2, clause 7, article 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation ). In the first case, the decision to conduct an audit will be made by the tax inspectorate at the location of the organization, in the second - by the tax inspectorate at the location of the branch or representative office (paragraphs 1 and 3, clause 2, article 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Separate divisions

Situation: can the inspection appoint and conduct an independent on-site inspection in a separate division of the organization? The division is neither a branch nor a representative office.

Answer: no, it cannot.

The inspectorate can conduct independent on-site inspections only in branches and representative offices of the organization (paragraph 2, clause 7, article 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). If an organization has one or more separate divisions that do not have the status of a representative office or branch, then the inspection is not entitled to appoint and conduct independent on-site inspections of such divisions. Similar clarifications are contained in the letters of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated July 31, 2008 No. 03-02-07 / 1-327 and the Ministry of Taxes of Russia dated February 24, 2004 No. 09-3-02 / 755. In arbitration practice, there are examples of court decisions that recognize the legitimacy of such a conclusion (see, for example, the decision of the Thirteenth Arbitration Court of Appeal dated March 4, 2009 No. A21-5116 / 2008).

Attention: some courts consider that conducting independent on-site inspections in separate subdivisions that do not have the status of a branch or representative office does not contradict the law (see, for example, resolutions of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the North Caucasus District of August 11, 2008 No. F08-4572 / 2008, Severo - Western District dated August 10, 2007 No. A42-12847 / 2005).

Inspection decision

The decision to conduct an on-site tax audit must contain:

• full and abbreviated name of the organization;

• subject of verification, that is, a list of specific taxes. As part of an on-site inspection of an organization, the inspectorate can assess the correctness of the calculation and timeliness of paying taxes of any kind. At the same time, the audit may affect both one type of tax and several (clauses 3 and 4 of article 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). As part of an independent on-site inspection of a branch or representative office, the inspectorate can control the correctness of the calculation and payment of any number of regional and (or) local taxes (paragraph 2, clause 7, article 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation);

• positions, surnames and initials of the inspection staff who will conduct the inspection.

This is stated in paragraph 4 of paragraph 2 of Article 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

Inspection Restrictions

Another limitation concerns the number of on-site inspections during one calendar year. During the specified period, the inspection can conduct no more than two on-site inspections both in the organization itself (paragraph 2, paragraph 5, article 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation), and in each of its branches or divisions (paragraph 4, paragraph 7, article 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation ).

When determining the total number of field inspections for an organization, independent inspections of branches and representative offices of this organization are not included in the calculation (paragraph 3, clause 5, article 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). For example, if during one calendar year the inspectorate conducted one on-site inspection of the organization as a whole (including an inspection of a branch) and one independent inspection of a branch, then by the end of this year the inspection will be able to conduct another on-site inspection of the organization.

The legislation does not establish a reverse relationship. Therefore, when calculating the number of on-site inspections for a particular branch (representative office), both independent on-site inspections of this branch (representative office) and its inspections as part of a general on-site inspection of the organization are taken into account. And if, for example, a branch of an organization was inspected twice during the year as part of general on-site inspections, the inspection will not be able to appoint another independent inspection of the branch.

The restriction on the number of on-site inspections within one calendar year does not apply to repeated on-site inspections (paragraph 2, clause 10 and clause 11, article 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). In addition, in exceptional cases, the head of the Federal Tax Service of Russia may appoint an additional on-site inspection in excess of the established limit (paragraph 2, clause 5, article 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). What cases are recognized as exceptional, the tax legislation does not specify.

In addition, tax inspectorates cannot conduct on-site audits for the periods that were controlled within the framework of tax monitoring. The exception is field inspections, which are carried out:

• by a higher tax authority in relation to the tax inspectorate that conducted tax monitoring;

• in case of early termination of tax monitoring;

• if the organization has not complied with the instructions given by the inspection within the framework of tax monitoring;

• if the organization has filed an updated declaration for the period that was monitored as part of tax monitoring, and reflected in this declaration a decrease in the amount of tax payable to the budget.

This follows from the provisions of paragraph 5.1 of Article 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

Place of inspection

An on-site tax audit is carried out on the territory of the organization upon presentation of a decision (paragraph 1, clause 1, article 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). The tax legislation does not oblige the inspectorate to warn the organization about the on-site inspection in advance. If the organization does not have the opportunity to provide premises for the inspection, the inspection can be carried out at the location of the inspection (paragraph 2, clause 1, article 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

The tax inspectorate is not entitled to postpone the start of an on-site tax audit to a later date after the decision to conduct it has been made. This possibility is not provided by the tax legislation, since the date of the decision is the starting point for determining the total duration of a tax audit . This is stated in the letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated November 18, 2010 No. AS-37-2 / 15853.

An independent on-site inspection of a branch (representative office) is carried out on the basis of a decision of the tax inspectorate at its location (paragraph 3, clause 2, article 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).