Exemption from fines for non-payment of VAT when filing an updated return

Submitting an updated VAT return

It is necessary to submit an updated declaration form if the identified error directly affects the amount of the tax base and, as a consequence, the amount of the tax itself, which must be paid at the end of the tax period. In this case, it is not allowed to reflect correct data for past periods in the declaration for the current one; it is necessary to draw up an additional updated document for the quarter in which incorrect initial data was identified.

An error can lead to either an increase or a decrease in VAT payable. According to the first paragraph of clause 1 of Article 81, the obligation to submit an updated declaration arises only when the base and tax are understated, that is, if the original declaration contains a smaller amount of VAT than must be paid.

If the identified error or incompleteness of the reflected information did not lead to a reduction in the tax payable (for example, the tax base was initially overestimated), then the taxpayer retains the right to decide whether he will file an updated declaration or not (according to the second paragraph of paragraph 1 of Article 81) .

When submitting an amended return, you need to be prepared for the fact that the Federal Tax Service will conduct a desk audit, and in some cases, an on-site audit (if the tax was overpaid). Moreover, during the audit, tax authorities can check not only the correctness of VAT calculation, but also other taxes. All identified errors will have to be corrected, additional taxes, penalties, and, if necessary, a fine will be paid.

Tax agents are required to submit an updated return, regardless of whether the VAT payable is overstated or understated. In this case, information should be provided only for those taxpayers in respect of whom there were inaccuracies and incorrect information.

There is no need to submit an updated declaration:

1. If there is a need to reflect a tax deduction relating to previous periods. VAT can also be deducted in the current quarter; the Tax Code of the Russian Federation allows this.
2. If the detected deficiencies do not affect the VAT payable;
3. If errors were discovered by the tax authorities during audits. The Federal Tax Service will make the necessary adjustments on its own; submitting an updated form in this case will lead to repetition of information.

The place where the adjusted form is submitted is the tax office to which the company filed the original return. To fill out, you should use the declaration form that is relevant on the date of formation of the original document, that is, for the quarter in which changes are made.

The filing method is electronic, as is the case with a regular declaration form.

Procedure for submitting an update in 2020

How to submit an updated VAT return? Are there deadlines for filing an updated VAT return? Currently, taxpayers are required to file tax returns electronically. In accordance with paragraph 5 of Art. 174 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, declarations submitted on paper instead of the mandatory electronic format are considered unfiled.

These norms also apply to updated declarations (letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated March 20, 2015 No. GD-4-3 / [email protected] ). Therefore, in 2020 they are also submitted in electronic format.

But there are no specific deadlines for submitting clarifications. In this case, it is better to submit it immediately after independently identifying the error, since detection of this error by the tax authority can lead to a fine.

If an update is submitted during the period when the deadline for filing the reporting declaration has not yet expired, then it is considered not updated, but submitted on time (clause 2 of Article 81 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). If a clarifying return is submitted after the end of the period allotted for filing the report, but before the end of the tax payment, then the taxpayer can avoid liability if this error was not discovered earlier by the tax authority.

You can avoid being held accountable when submitting an update after the end of the tax payment period if:

• before filing such an amended declaration, the arrears of tax and penalties on the amended VAT declaration were paid;
• the tax authority did not detect this error if an audit was carried out before the clarification was submitted.

A payment order for additional payment of VAT on an updated declaration is drawn up in the usual form, indicating in it the period for which the additional payment is made and the type of payment corresponding to the repayment of the debt (ZD instead of TP).

If an updated declaration is submitted at the time of a desk audit of the previous declaration, then the tax office must stop the ongoing audit (clause 9.1 of Article 88 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Now a desk audit can begin after the clarification has been submitted.

If an amendment is submitted and the arrears are paid, but the penalty is not paid, a fine is imposed on the taxpayer (Resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated April 26, 2011 No. 11185/10).

The tax inspectorate may schedule a second on-site inspection when the taxpayer submits an updated return that reduces the amount of VAT, after completing the previous on-site inspection and drawing up a report on its results (subclause 2, paragraph 10, article 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated December 21, 2009 No. 03 -02-07/2-209 and Resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court dated March 16, 2010 No. 8163/09).

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In relation to taxpayers whose control is carried out in the form of tax monitoring, when they submit an updated declaration with a reduction in the amount of tax payable, an on-site inspection may also be assigned (subclause 4, clause 5.1, article 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

For information on how an on-site audit is carried out, read the material “Procedure for conducting an on-site tax audit (nuances).”

An updated declaration can relieve not only a tax sanction, but also an administrative fine for gross violation of the rules of accounting and presentation of financial statements. According to Article 15.11 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, such a violation is a distortion of accounting data, resulting in an understatement of taxes by at least 10 percent, or a distortion of any line of the accounting form by at least 10 percent. For such acts a fine of two to three thousand rubles is provided.

Penalty can be avoided if you submit an updated declaration in compliance with all the conditions provided for in the case where the “update” is submitted after the tax payment deadline. Plus, you need to correct the financial statements and submit them before they are approved (see “The law exempting from fines for corrected errors in financial statements will come into force on November 1, 2013”).

At the same time, submitting an updated declaration entails another consequence that is less pleasant for the taxpayer. When submitting an update for a given period, the accountant must be prepared for an on-site audit for that period. Even if more than three years have passed, tax authorities, contrary to the general rule, will be able to order such an audit.

Payment of VAT according to the updated declaration

Additional payment of VAT is required if a smaller amount of tax was previously transferred than required by the company’s primary documents, that is, if the tax base and, as a consequence, the tax itself are underestimated.

It is required to pay the missing amount of tax before submitting the “clarification”, and then tax penalties will not be applied to the company. Along with the VAT surcharge, penalties must also be calculated and paid. To be sure that the additional tax payment reached the addressee before the day the updated declaration was sent, you need to date it at least the next day.

A copy of the payment document confirming the fact of transfer of money should be attached to the updated declaration.

In case of overpayment of tax, it can be returned or offset against the payment of other taxes on the basis of an application submitted to the management of the Federal Tax Service.

“Utochnenka” will relieve you of a fine, even if the tax authorities have sent a request to submit explanations

Late payment of taxes is punishable by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation with a fine of 20 percent of the amount not transferred to the budget.

However, sanctions can be avoided by filing adjusted returns. Moreover, there will be no fine, even if you do this outside the deadline for submitting the form. The main thing is to have time to submit a “clarification” before the tax authorities discover an error that led to an underpayment of money to the treasury in the initial declaration. At the same time, as the tax service notes, if a company received a request from the Federal Tax Service to provide explanations on the reports received, this does not mean that the tax authorities found an error in it.

Letter of the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation dated August 20, 2018 No. AS-4-15/16075

Editor's note:

This position was first stated by the fiscal authorities in a letter dated February 21, 2018 No. SA-4-9/ [email protected] Therefore, if the company pays the arrears and penalties before submitting the “clarification,” but after receiving the request to submit clarifications, there will be no fine. It is worth adding that senior judges consider the fine in the case under consideration to be lawful.

According to the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, if the taxpayer eliminates the violations after the tax authorities send him a request to provide explanations for the reporting, then liability for underpayment of tax cannot be avoided (definitions dated March 27, 2017 No. 305-KG17-1782, dated October 10, 2016 No. 305-KG16 -12560).

Deadlines for updated VAT returns

The Tax Code of the Russian Federation does not establish specific dates for filing

An updated VAT return must be submitted upon discovery of errors, omissions, incorrect or unaccounted for information. At the same time, it is stipulated that if the updated document is submitted before the deadline for filing the VAT return, then the tax office perceives the corrected version as submitted. This refers to the correction of errors identified in the current period.

If the “clarification” is submitted after the deadline for filing VAT reports, but before the deadline for paying the tax, then responsibility for incorrectly submitted initial information does not occur. There is also no need to charge penalties. You only need to pay the correct amount of tax on time.

When submitting an adjustment form after the tax payment deadline, you must first pay the missing amount of the “added” tax, as well as penalties. In this case, tax sanctions will also not be applied (if the corrected return was filed before it became known that tax errors had been identified or the upcoming on-site audit).

Judicial practice ↑

Judicial practice on filing an amended VAT return is ambiguous. In some cases, the courts support tax authorities, and in others, entrepreneurs.

If tax authorities issue a fine on an adjusted VAT return for an amount of tax not paid on time, the taxpayer can challenge this decision in court if the tax and penalties were paid before the tax authorities learned about it.

If the taxpayer fails to pay the penalty, this is not a tax offense. Almost all courts share this opinion. However, some courts recognize the legality of imposing a fine for non-payment of penalties.

After all, they are an integral part of releasing the taxpayer from liability under Art. 122 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

An example of this is the resolution of the FAS of the West Siberian District dated 08/18/2005 in case No. F04-5295/2005(13965-A27-27) and the resolution of the FAS of the East Siberian District dated 09/06/2005 in case No. A19-3063/05- 40-Ф02-4384/05-С1.

Also, the courts are clearly on the side of the business if tax authorities conduct several desk audits based on the same updated declaration.

An exception to the rule is the submission of several declarations in a row marked “updated” for the same tax, for the same tax period.

An example of filling out an updated VAT return

An updated declaration is an independent form that includes information that was not filled out correctly in the original declaration or was not included in it initially. When filling out, the difference between the original and corrected data is not shown, but only the correct indicators are reflected.

To fill out, you should take the same VAT declaration form as for the initial submission.

The “clarification” includes all the same sheets that were provided in the original form with the replacement of incorrect data with correct ones, as well as the addition of previously not reflected information.

Sections 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and their appendices have a special field that is filled in only when clarifications are submitted - 001 “Indicator of the relevance of previously submitted information.”

• 8 and 9 – taxpayers fill in with information about generated and submitted invoices;
• 10 and 11 – prepared by tax agents;
• Section 12 – completed by persons who do not pay VAT, but have provided an invoice to their client.

The field indicator 001 in these sections can take one of two values:

• 0 – if necessary, change the reflected indicators in this section; in the remaining fields of the section with the “0” attribute, the correct data is filled in;
• 1 – if changes do not need to be made to the section, since the previously submitted information is correct, dashes are placed in the remaining fields (information from the previously submitted report is not duplicated in order to reduce the volume of the updated document).

The title page also has a field that is required to be filled in when submitting an amended report - adjustment number, in which the number corresponding to the serial number of making adjustments to the declaration is entered. When submitting a “clarification” for the first time, “001” is entered, then with each subsequent correction, “002”, “003”, etc., in increasing order.

Examples of filling out sections 8 and 9 in various cases

What errors do not affect the tax amount?

If any erroneous data is discovered that does not affect the amount of tax payable, the declarant may not generate an updated VAT return. There is a tax provision that contains errors that do not affect the amount of tax, but you still need to submit clarification:

• If errors were made in the invoice journal.
• When clarifying data by sections and 10.
• When the log data itself changes.

All this is necessary to avoid controversial situations with tax authorities during desk audits.

Covering letter for the updated VAT return

An explanatory document called a covering letter should be attached to the “clarification”; this document can also be called an explanatory note. It is needed for tax authorities; the explanatory note describes the reasons for re-filing the declaration, as well as basic information about the corrections being made.

Unlike the clarified declaration for the cover letter, the standard form has not been approved, and therefore companies independently draw up a convenient document.

It is recommended to include in the form:

• Details of the tax office where documents are submitted;
• Details of the reporting company;
• Name of the tax for which adjustments are made;
• A link to an article of the tax code that prescribes the right or obligation to file an updated declaration (clause 81 of article);
• The time period in which errors were detected;
• Reason for submitting the “clarification”;
• Names of fields to be edited;
• Corrected values ​​of incorrect indicators;
• Confirmation that additional VAT and penalties have been paid (payment order attached);
• Details by which the amounts are transferred;
• Appendix with a list of attached documentation;
• Signatures of responsible persons.

If necessary, the tax office may require additional explanatory documentation.

What questions might there be?

If submitted before the due date

You also need to slip in a copy of the payment slip, which confirms that the taxpayer has paid the tax and penalties. During a desk audit, tax authorities may also request the primary documents on which an error was identified. The procedure for filing an updated VAT return is specified in Art. Eighty-one Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

What are the risks of filing an adjustment to the declaration (consequences)?

For the standard for filling out a VAT return for export, see here. Find out who the VAT tax agent is here. If the taxpayer submits an updated return to the tax office when the desk audit of the initial return has not yet been completed and the report has not been drawn up (or has not yet been handed over to the taxpayer) , then this can lead to certain consequences. In this case, the tax authorities will stop the desk audit of the initial declaration and begin to inspect the updated one.

Filing an amended return cannot be without consequences for the taxpayer. “Minimal” consequences are a desk audit. If the taxpayer finds an error in the calculations, which leads to an overestimation of the tax base, tax officials may also order an on-site audit, especially if it has not been carried out for a long time. If a corrective declaration for an increase is submitted, the tax authorities will only conduct a desk audit.

What if the “clarification” is submitted during the period of a desk audit?

• Details of payment documents according to which the missing tax amounts were transferred.
• Signature of either the manager or the chief accountant, if he has such capabilities.

Payment of VAT An updated VAT return is a document that is submitted to the tax authorities if the taxpayer made an error in tax calculations. Content

Cheat sheet for correcting personal data in the RSV

The Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation has issued detailed instructions on the procedure for clarifying the DAM related to incorrect reflection of employee personal data. The general procedure for filing updated declarations, set out in Art. 81 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation also applies to this case, but there are nuances. Personal data includes the following details:

• TIN;
• SNILS;
• FULL NAME.;
• Date of Birth;
• citizenship;
• floor;
• code of the type of identity document.