If you did not pay for the goods (work, service) on time or, on the contrary, received an advance payment, but the goods were not shipped (the work was not performed, the services were not provided), then you become a debtor and you have accounts payable. And if you do not repay this debt before the expiration of the limitation period, then the counterparty will no longer be able to collect this creditor from you. But in this case, do you have income?
According to the Ministry of Finance, overdue accounts payable are included in income taxed under the simplified tax system Letter of the Ministry of Finance dated 08/07/2013 No. 03-11-06/2/31883. And the rationale is quite simple. Accounts payable written off due to the expiration of the limitation period are non-operating income clause 18 art. 250 Tax Code of the Russian Federation. And under the simplified tax system, income is both income from sales and non-operating income. clause 1 art. 346.15 Tax Code of the Russian Federation.
So, if you do not want to argue with the tax authorities, then regardless of what object of taxation you have chosen (“income” or “income minus expenses”), include the amount of unclaimed accounts payable in income as of the date of expiration of the statute of limitations. Moreover, the income will have to include the full amount of the creditor, that is, taking into account VAT, if it was formed on goods (work, services) purchased from the general regime.
SITUATION 1. The creditor was formed based on the advance received. That is, you received an advance payment for delivery, but the goods were never shipped to the buyer. What's going on with you? You include the advance in income on the date of its receipt clause 1 art. 346.15, paragraph 1 of Art. 346.17 Tax Code of the Russian Federation; Decision of the Supreme Arbitration Court of January 20, 2006 No. 4294/05. And if the written-off creditor is then included in income, then double taxation of the same amount will result.
SITUATION 2. A creditor was formed for purchased goods. That is, you received goods from the supplier, but never paid for them yourself. What's going on in this case? If you sell unpaid goods, then you will have to pay tax under the simplified tax system on the entire sale price. After all, you will not be able to reduce your income either by the purchase price of goods or by VAT on them, since they have not been paid subp. 23 clause 1 art. 346.16, paragraph 2 of Art. 346.17 Tax Code of the Russian Federation. So here, too, when the written-off creditor for goods is included in the income, double taxation of the same amounts results.
If you are ready to argue with the tax authorities, when writing off accounts payable for an advance received and goods purchased, you may not include the amount of debt in income under the simplified tax system, arguing that the same amounts cannot be taxed twice. However, tax authorities may not like this and they may impose additional taxes. Then it is possible that you will have to defend your point of view in court.
Accounts receivable for enterprises determines a certain responsibility, namely the write-off of this kind of debt in those categories when it is recognized as unrealistic for collection.
A big mistake of many accountants is to reflect accounts receivable not in documents, but using the cash method to account for income and expenses, which is typical for entrepreneurs and legal entities conducting their business activities according to the simplified tax system (simplified taxation system).
Debt becomes a receivable when the conditions for recording expenses cannot be met. They are indicated in paragraph No. 16 of the Accounting Regulations. accounting “Expenses of the organization”, which is approved by the Order of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation.
In order to write off receivables, the following reasons must be present:
The order and the provisions of Article 195 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation determine the period of limitation, its total period is three years. However, the duration of the period can be changed by agreement of the parties, as defined in Article 198 of the Civil Code of Russia.
Some requirements may be satisfied over longer or, conversely, shorter periods. For example, the period of claim for the execution of the consequences of an invalid transaction may be 10 years.
Which requirements are subject to reduced deadlines:
The limitation period begins on the day following the date on which the claim must be fulfilled.
Sometimes the parties do not specify the exact deadlines for the fulfillment of obligations; in such cases, the period begins from the moment the requirements for fulfillment of the terms of the contract are presented.
The Civil Code considers situations in which it is possible to suspend the limitation period:
Since the write-off of debtors’ debt under the simplified tax system occurs as a result of the expiration of the statute of limitations, it is important to know in what cases this period ends:
The second reason why it is possible to write off receivables under the simplified tax system is the liquidation of the counterparty. As a result of liquidation, obligations are terminated, but in some cases, claims obligations may fall on the shoulders of another legal entity. Read more about liquidation and bankruptcy of a company.
It should be understood that upon liquidation, the organization loses not only statues and rights, but also the entry in the Unified State Register is canceled.
After the publication of the liquidation order, all rights of the creditor must be respected, the commission determines the amount of receivables and lenders, and then notifies them of the liquidation of the enterprise. At the time of approval of the order to liquidate the company, another order is also issued, which speaks of payments to creditors in order of priority.
The order of payments may be violated if there are obligations that are guaranteed by a pledge of the property of the liquidated enterprise.
Debt write-off under the simplified tax system must be indicated in the accounting certificate. If the reason why a receivable is written off under the simplified tax system is an order to liquidate the enterprise, then a copy of the liquidation certificate or an extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities is attached to the certificate. If the limitation period has expired, a calculation of the claim period is attached to the statement.
The organization ceases its activities after making an entry in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, after which an order is issued to write off the debt under the simplified tax system.
The duration of the limitation period may be changed by agreement of the parties.
At first glance, not writing off receivables under the simplified tax system does not entail any consequences, however, this is not so. With a simplified tax system, accounts receivable will not be reflected; the “income” item in this case does not take into account expenses that reduce income by a certain amount.
Also, the law does not provide the opportunity to apply to non-operating expenses for income tax under a simplified taxation system. It follows from this that an entrepreneur or legal entity has no reason to keep records of receivables as expenses.
The cash method determines receivables as income in the event of liquidation of the creditor. For a taxpayer under the simplified tax system, the day the debt is written off is the day the income is received, but in fact such income does not bring any benefit.
In other words, it will again have to be included in income. So, when using a simplified system, it is advisable to take care to cover all advances with delivery before the expiration of the statute of limitations, or to return the advance payment for a failed shipment. In the latter case, in particular, the taxpayer has the right to reduce the income of the reporting (tax) period in which the refund is made by the amount of the prepayment. This is directly provided for in paragraph. 3 p. 1 art. 346.17 of the Internal Revenue Code. Write-off of “receivables” will go unaccounted for. As for written-off receivables, this is exactly the case that will go unnoticed for the tax accounting of “simplified people.” Thus, “simplified people” who have chosen income as an object of taxation do not, in principle, take into account expenses.
Write-off of receivables in case of registration Attention Meanwhile, representatives of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation indicated that the obligation to take into account income in the form of overdue “creditor” applies to the tax period in which the statute of limitations expired, regardless of whether an inventory of obligations was carried out or not. Strictly speaking, Apparently, the exclusion of the taxpayer’s ability to independently choose the period for accounting for income by manipulating the date of writing off the “creditor” is one of the reasons why representatives of the Ministry of Finance instruct income tax payers to take it into account on the last day of the reporting period (tax) period in which the occurrence occurs grounds for writing off the debt, and not on the date of writing off the debt (Letter of the department dated December 27, 2007 N 03-03-06/1/894).
Regulations on accounting and financial reporting). Write-off of receivables and payables: accounting for taxation The list of expenses that can be recognized when calculating the single tax on the simplified tax system with the object of taxation “income reduced by the amount of expenses” is given in paragraph 1 of Art. 346.16 of the Tax Code and is closed. At the same time, the written off uncollectible “receivable” is not named in it.
There is no reference in it to the possibility of being guided by the composition of non-operating expenses for income tax, which includes losses from writing off bad debts (clause 2, clause 2, article 265 of the Tax Code). So the “simplified” people have no reason to take into account “receivables” that are unrealistic for collection in their expenses.
The Tax Code stipulates that, regardless of the chosen object of taxation, “simplers”, when calculating the single tax, take into account income from sales and non-operating income, determined in accordance with Art. Art. 249 and 250 of the Code, respectively. In turn, the number of non-operating incomes subject to inclusion in the tax base under clause 18 of Art. 250 of the Tax Code, amounts of accounts payable written off due to the expiration of the statute of limitations or for other reasons have been introduced. An exception is written off debts for the payment of taxes and fees, as well as penalties and fines to budgets of various levels, as well as debts for insurance premiums and corresponding amounts of penalties and fines to extra-budgetary funds (clauses
To do this, the organization carries out an inventory, the results of which are reflected in the report. This document can be drawn up using the INV-17 form. After the act, an order from the head of the company for write-off is issued. The order is drawn up and signed last - after the act and accounting certificate (justification).
Important
Do not forget to attach to the act other documents confirming the occurrence of the debt - invoices, certificates of work performed, contracts with counterparties, etc. Untimely If you do not write off the “receivable” in a timely manner, the relevant officials of the organization, as well as the company itself, may be held liable in accordance with the law. Since incorrect reflection of the current economic situation of an enterprise distorts accounting and tax reporting, officials may be subject to an administrative fine of 5 to 10 thousand rubles (Part.
In tax accounting, any debt for which one of the conditions below is met is considered bad and must be written off:
Please note: If information from the register is excluded for a legal entity before 09/01/2014, this does not allow the debt to be written off as bad; you must wait until any of the first three conditions are met.
Otherwise, the presence of “hanging accounts receivable” may have a negative impact not only on reporting, but also on economic activity itself as a whole. Accounting rules regulate the possibility of withdrawing debts from the balance sheet only in two cases:
That is why it is important to write off the debt as soon as any of the 4 reasons for writing it off arise. Otherwise, it will remain “hanging on the balance sheet,” which will lead to a number of unpleasant consequences.
Procedure Due to low sales or supply volumes, lack of own funds and an unstable situation in the economic market, counterparties are not always able to “pay their bills” on time. And since this does not happen, then the debts need to be written off, and as quickly as possible.
Date of publication of the article: 08/10/2012 O. Privolnova If a debt, whether a “debtor” or a “creditor,” is determined to be unrecoverable, it must be written off. Considering the cash method of recognizing income and expenses, when applying the simplified tax system, this event, in theory, should not have any tax consequences. However, there are still exceptions to this rule. According to Art.
346.17 of the Tax Code, income and expenses when applying the simplified tax system are recognized in tax accounting on a cash basis. Thus, according to paragraph 1 of this article, the date of receipt of income is the day of receipt of funds in bank accounts and (or) to the cash desk, receipt of other property (work, services) and (or) property rights. According to paragraph 2 of Art. 346.17 of the Code, expenses of a taxpayer are recognized as expenses after they are actually paid.
Attention
Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Part 1 of this article provides for the imposition of a fine on a legal entity in the amount of 10 thousand rubles for a single violation. If it is repeated, the fine increases 3 times and amounts to 30 thousand rubles. Write-off of receivables under the simplified tax system for income In accounting under the simplified tax system, the write-off of “receivables” can be carried out:
If the reserve has been created, then the write-off is accounted for by posting: D-t K-t 63 62 (71, 73, 76...) In the same case, if the reserve has not been created, or its funds are not enough to completely write off the debt, it is reflected in accounting should be made by posting: D-t K-t 91, subaccount “Other expenses” 62 (71, 73, 76...) Postings should be made in the reporting period when debt collection is no longer possible.
Civil Code, if by law or other legal acts the fulfillment of the obligation of a liquidated legal entity is not assigned to another person, then with its liquidation it terminates. And, as already mentioned, for the purpose of recognizing expenses on the simplified tax system, payment also means the termination of the obligation of the taxpayer, who is the purchaser of goods (work, services), to the seller, which is directly related to the supply of these goods (performance of work, provision of services).A The expiration of the statute of limitations does not apply to the methods of terminating obligations. Consequently, if the debt is written off for this reason, the expenses cannot be considered paid and it will not be possible to take them into account in the tax base under the simplified tax system. One way or another, it should be borne in mind that if the debt is not written off for valid reasons, this is not a reason to do not include its amount in income.
Specialists of the Ministry of Finance of Russia insist on this in Letters dated December 25, 2008 N 03-11-05/314, dated July 3, 2009 N 03-11-06/2/118. A similar point of view is shared by experts from the Federal Tax Service in Letter No. KE-4-3/2303 dated February 14, 2011. In the situation under consideration, the “simplified” person does not receive either money or property, but the debt is, in fact, repaid.
Simply put, on the date the debt is written off, you need to make an entry about income in the Book of Income and Expenses (approved by Order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated December 31, 2008 N 154n). However, if the accounts payable are written off due to the liquidation of the supplier, its amount “ Simplified" also has the right to include it in expenses. The fact is that, according to Art.
This fact in itself has negative consequences, and in conditions of growing inflation, the negative connotation is even more pronounced. The law allows you to write off debt that is impossible to collect. There are certain grounds and procedures for carrying out the procedure.
Grounds You can write off the debt of counterparties only if there are appropriate grounds specified in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation:
Debts cannot be recognized as unrecoverable for other reasons not specified in the above list.
Any entrepreneurial activity is based on relationships with counterparties. Based on the results of working with a certain circle of persons, organizations and individual entrepreneurs under the simplified taxation regime may form an unfulfilled obligation, the term of the claim for which expires. In this regard, it is important to know how accounts receivable and payable are recorded and written off under the simplified tax system.
Accounts receivable - the amount of obligations of counterparties for an over-transferred advance to the state budget for tax reimbursement, an excess of the amount of payment to personnel if wages were overpaid. Creditor – debts to suppliers, customers, employees, budgetary and extra-budgetary funds.
According to the accounting regulations (BU), the company is obliged to regularly monitor the status of mutual settlements, actively work to collect debts, so as not to delay the time for claiming funds, and reflect business transactions on the termination of the debt. Timely write-off of illiquid, uncollectible debt allows the company to generate reliable information about its property and financial position.
The grounds for terminating obligations and writing off in tax accounting (TA) accounts payable (KZ) and receivables (RA) are the following:
The documentary basis for the write-off of DZ and KZ is the inventory list, a written order of the executive body of the company
In accounting, KZ and DZ are closed on the balance sheet for the reasons specified in Regulation No. 34n dated July 29, 1998 by order of the Ministry of Finance:
According to Chapter 12 Art. 196 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the generally established period for claiming obligations is thirty-six months. In exceptional cases, the time period may be shortened or extended. For example, claims regarding the quality of goods are accepted by the court no later than twenty-four months, for work based on a contract - within a year, the right to compensation for damage in an incident in maritime transportation is retained by the injured party for ten years, 240 are provided for claiming compensation for environmental damage. months.
The calculation of the limitation period begins from the day the debt arose, the violation of the right, or the time when the party could have learned about these circumstances. For example, the buyer did not pay for the delivery on the day of shipment, which is regulated by the terms of the transaction. Then it is from the moment of formation of the implementation that the period begins to flow.
Art. 203 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation determines the procedure for interrupting the limitation period upon the fact that the debtor has committed actions confirming the existence of a debt, affecting the amount of obligations and the procedure for their fulfillment. For example, if the debtor approached the counterparty with a proposal to enter into a debt restructuring agreement, he thereby recognized its validity. From the moment the debtor’s letter is registered in the recipient’s incoming correspondence, the limitation period is recalculated.
The statute of limitations is three years
It is worth noting that the legal time of demand applies to all obligations, both the principal debt and penalties. The conclusion of an assignment agreement (change of person in the agreement) does not change the claim period.
This is a controversial reason for writing off creditors and debtors, since there is an extensive practice of regulatory authorities filing claims against companies for unlawful actions. Despite the position of the Federal Tax Service, the judicial authorities take the side of the taxpayer in disputes.
A legal entity is authorized to carry out entrepreneurial activities within the period of time from the moment of registration in the Federal Tax Service Inspectorate system until liquidation and exclusion from the unified state register.
We list the main tasks of registering the write-off of DZ and KZ:
According to the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the first day of calculation of the limitation period is the moment of non-fulfillment of obligations. For example, according to the terms of the contract, the tenant must make a payment for the use of real estate by the 10th day of the current month. The debtor did not transfer the funds, so the first day of the debt period will be the 11th, provided that the counterparty does not show itself during the claim period and does not take action to repay the debt.
Writing off receivables and creditors with simplification allows you to avoid losses
If contractual relations have not been formalized between the parties to the obligation, then the starting point will be the last documentary claim against the defaulter. To terminate the debt of a liquidated company, it is enough to obtain an extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities through free access to the Federal Tax Service Inspectorate portal. The moment the debtor is excluded from the register will become the basis for writing off the creditor and debtor even before the expiration of the term.
When a company has a debt in mutual settlements with an individual who is recognized as missing by a government agency, or a death certificate has been issued, the date of the act will become the permissible moment for writing off the debt. The publication of an official document confirming the insolvency of the debtor and the impossibility of fulfilling claims also becomes the basis for deregistration of debt and debt.
For 2018, the legislation determines the minimum number of facts of conducting an inventory of obligations - at least once a calendar year. It is allowed to carry out the procedure more often. Initially, the head of the company issues an order appointing responsible persons, members of the commission to participate in the procedure, the date of the event and the deadline for documentation.
Next, the inventory commission begins to evaluate and analyze the obligations, check the period of existence of the debt and the grounds for writing it off. The following documents must confirm the status of the debt:
The existence of debt must have written confirmation
Based on the results of the work, an inventory list INV-17 is formed. Currently, companies are not required to use this form; they can develop their own, add the necessary columns and approve it by internal regulations.
If the debt is written off not on the basis of expiration, the accountant is recommended to draw up a free-form certificate recording information about the circumstances of the debt, the actions of the counterparty and the grounds for termination of obligations.
The final stage of documenting the procedure for repaying receivables and creditors is the issuance by the executive body of a legal entity of an order of any form with the appointment of a deadline for the execution of actions and responsible persons. It is important to strictly monitor the statute of limitations of debts, take inventory in a timely manner, and write off obligations, so as not to receive comments from inspection bodies and requirements for making adjustments to tax and accounting reporting.
Based on the generated and signed documents, the accounting service prepares postings to accounting and accounting departments. It is important to know that accounting regulations recommend creating special reserves to cover debts. If, during a desk audit, distortion of reporting by more than one tenth is revealed, the official may be brought to administrative liability in the form of a fine under Art. 15.11 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.
Tax accounting under the simplified system is carried out in accordance with Art. 346.16 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, that is, the basis for calculating tax payable is formed by subtracting the amounts of costs from revenue. Accounts receivable are not included in the list of regulated expense items, therefore, its closure is not reflected in the accounting system.
A special point is the repayment of accounts payable by writing off the company’s tax accounting on a simplified basis, since, according to Art. 346.15 such postings form non-operating income. The code does not provide for strict deadlines for increasing the tax base at the expense of a closed creditor, but inspection authorities recommend carrying out the procedure during the period when the basis arises. With regards to the Income and Expense Book, the moment the transaction is recorded may coincide with the expiration date of the claim period or the last day of the reporting period.
Incorrect data in reports may result in penalties
If the amount of the creditor for obligations to the supplier includes VAT, it is also subject to inclusion in non-operating income. An important point worth highlighting is that it will not be possible to recognize the cost of unpaid goods as expenses, since this contradicts the conditions of Art. Art. 346.17 Tax Code of the Russian Federation. An exception is the situation during the liquidation of a company to which there is a contract, then under Art. 419 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, debts completely cease to exist, and the cost of materials and services can be included in expenses.
The amount of write-off of accounts payable with an expired statute of limitations of the company on the simplified tax system does not increase the tax base if it is a tax, fees, contributions, penalties, canceled or reduced by decision of the executive branch of extra-budgetary and budgetary funds (Article 346.15, paragraph 1, Article 1.1 ). This rule also applies to unclaimed interest on profits, obligations of parties participating in more than half of each other’s authorized capital for debt forgiveness operations in order to increase assets.
Typical transactions for writing off short circuits and faults are shown in the table.
The receivable is subject to accounting for the balance on the account. 007 within the next sixty months after the date of write-off. This need is justified by the likelihood of circumstances arising in which the debt becomes not hopeless and can be repaid. Write-off of accounts payable amounts under the simplified tax system; income minus expenses according to general recommendations is not taken into account on the balance sheet, but the company has the right to create a separate account to reflect it.
Off-balance sheet accounting is intended to ensure the safety of property and record obligations that are potentially recoverable. The information is used for a general assessment of the financial and property position of a legal entity, as well as monitoring the possibility of satisfying requirements.
