Counter check of documents: terms, requirements and features

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Regularly, employees of the Federal Tax Service conduct various checks in relation to numerous taxpayers. Their main goal is to identify various violations of the law committed by different companies or individual entrepreneurs. Inspections can be field or cameral, and in any case they cause a negative reaction from the company's managers and accountants. Often, additional studies are carried out, which include a counter check. It is carried out in relation to counterparties of the audited company. Its main goal is to clarify various complex issues.

Research Concept

A cross tax audit is carried out in a situation where, in the process of studying an organization, additional questions arise for counterparties.

Verification usually involves documents related to a transaction, so a limited amount of documentation is requested.

Purpose of the event

The essence of the counter check is to clarify differentcircumstances and details of a particular transaction, which, for various reasons, may be recognized as illegal. As a result of such a transaction, the company's revenue usually increases or decreases significantly. Therefore, there are doubts among the inspectors as to whether such an operation is legal. Often, it leads to the fact that the tax deductions of the company are reduced.

Initiates a counter check to achieve several goals at once. These include:

• checking the authenticity and legality of the documents submitted by the company;
• examine information in similar documents from different companies to make sure that there are no intentional corrections;
• reconciliation of information about various financial transactions performed by the company and its partners;
• confirmation of the existence of specific contractors, as well as the fact that they are really engaged in entrepreneurial activities.

If various serious violations are revealed during a cross-check, both companies are held accountable. Typically, such a study is carried out if a transaction is made for an amount exceeding 100 million rubles.

When else is the event held?

Research is usually implemented in several situations:

• the company made a major deal, on the basis of which the amount of various taxes decreased;
• suspecting inspectors have suspicions about how reliable and high-quality the company's reporting is;
• during the inventory, various goods are identified that were notcorrectly credited by employees of the enterprise;
• during the settlement it is established that the company has fake documents;
• documentation found to be misleading;
• there are no various contracts with other firms to which funds were transferred or goods were sent;
• Miscellaneous agreements with other companies in the company are incorrectly executed, for example, there are corrections in the documentation or all prints are unclear;
• discrepancies are revealed in the reporting forms of the company and its counterparties.

Even minor violations and discrepancies in documents can become the basis for a counter tax audit in relation to the organization's numerous counterparties. Therefore, all business leaders should ensure that there are no errors in the documentation.

Procedure steps

Cross-checks should only be carried out when multiple requirements are taken into account. Therefore, the tax inspectors themselves must follow certain conditions. The procedure is divided into successive steps:

• various errors or dubious information are initially identified regarding various transactions made by the audited firm with other companies;
• the inspector sends a request to the counterparty, on the basis of which the head of the organization must prepare a certain package of documents related to cooperation between companies;
• documentation must be prepared by the enterprisewithin five days, after which the responsible representative of the company must personally bring these papers to the department of the Federal Tax Service, and they can also be sent by mail using a valuable letter with a description of the attachment;
• next, the inspector checks the documentation received from the counterparty;
• compare the data available in the documents of different enterprises;
• According to the results of the audit, a conclusion is formed by the employees of the Federal Tax Service, and it must be transferred to both companies.

If during the inspection various violations are revealed, then the audited companies are held administratively liable, and legal proceedings may also begin.

During a counter check, the Federal Tax Service can punish counterparties only for violating the deadlines during which the company must transfer documents. This leads to the fact that the accounting department of the enterprise does not conduct a preliminary check of the papers before sending them, which can lead to negative consequences for both organizations. If serious errors are detected, then the inspectors can initiate an unscheduled on-site inspection of such a counterparty. Therefore, the firm will not be able to escape punishment.

Verification is carried out only if there are objective reasons, therefore, in their absence, the counterparty may refuse to provide the necessary documentation.

Due dates

The deadlines for cross-checking must be observed by companies without fail. As soon as a request is received from the employees of the Federal Tax Service, the company mustprepare documentation related to a specific counterparty or transaction within 5 days.

It is business days that are taken into account, and at the same time the company can report that it does not have the requested documents. If the deadlines are violated, the company will be held administratively liable.

What period is checked?

The period for which the documents are requested must match the period within which the original company is checked. If the employees of the Federal Tax Service require documents that are not related to this period, then this is a violation, so the company may refuse to prepare this documentation.

A firm may refuse to transfer securities that are solely related to its business activities, and at the same time do not relate to the company being audited. In this case, the counterparty cannot be held administratively liable.

What documents are requested?

Counter-party verification is considered quite common. As part of its implementation, various documents may be requested from organizations, and the legislation lacks precise information on the list and volume of these papers, which often leads to disputes between inspectors and heads of various enterprises.

FTS employees should only request documents related to the counterparty, but are often included in the package of paper documents:

• staffing of the enterprise;
• route sheets;
• information about intermediaries.

Some documentsdo provide a lot of information about the company being audited directly, but some papers should not be requested as part of such a study.

Often conducting a counter tax audit leads to the fact that litigation begins as to whether certain documents were requested correctly. Judicial practice shows that most often the courts take the side of the tax inspectorate, since the legislation does not contain information about exactly what documents can be requested.

Under what conditions is research considered legitimate?

Counter verification of documents will be legal only if certain significant conditions are met. These requirements include:

• request requiring documents from the company is handed directly to the company representative against receipt or sent by mail with a return receipt to prove that the company actually received this documentation;
• if the counterparty is registered with another department of the Federal Tax Service, then a request is sent from the corresponding department, since the company may not accept different requests from another department;
• request should contain only optimal documents related to the company's counterparty being checked;
• The document must state the reason for the study, so if the information is vague, unclear, or general, the firm mayrefuse to prepare documentation;
• often the company does not have the necessary documents, so it must notify the employees of the Federal Tax Service within five days, and the refusal must be justified by significant reasons.

Only under such conditions is a counter desk audit legitimate, so it will not be possible to challenge its results in court.

Responsibility for violations

Contractors who refuse to transfer documents or violate the deadlines for the preparation of papers are subject to administrative liability. In this case, a counter field check is carried out in relation to them, and a fine of 5 thousand rubles is imposed.

Authorized persons pay a fine in the amount of 300 to 500 rubles. Additionally, employees of the Federal Tax Service send a second request. Therefore, in any case, firms will have to prepare and submit the necessary documentation for study.

How are the requirements of inspectors properly satisfied?

In order for the requirements for a cross check to be fully satisfied, the counterparty of the audited organization must comply with certain conditions:

• is transmitted to the inspectors of the requested package of documents, and the procedure is performed within five days after receiving the request in any way possible, for example, by mail or in person with the inspector of the Federal Tax Service;
• copies of the originals must be transmitted, which are certified by the seal of the company and the signature of the head;
• Inspectors cannot require notarizationdocumentation;
• if there is a multipage document in the specified list, then it needs to be stitched and signed at the stitching site;
• each page must be well printed and numbered;
• on the back of the last sheet, you need to put a seal, and the head or responsible person of the company signs.

If the documentation is prepared correctly, then all the requirements of the Federal Tax Service will be satisfied, so there will be no various violations or errors. The company will not be held administratively liable.

Can I refuse to transfer documentation?

The legislation does not regulate the exact list of securities that may be requested by employees of the Federal Tax Service from counterparties of the company being audited. This often leads to disagreements between inspectors and heads of firms, as papers are requested that are not related to various important transactions.

Often, personal documents of companies, staff lists or other papers are requested. Due to them, inspectors check the existence of relations between different companies. If the firm refuses to prepare such documentation, then it may be held liable. In this case, you will have to go to court, but usually judges take the side of the Federal Tax Service.

If the deadlines for the provision of papers are violated, then a fine of 5 thousand rubles is imposed.

What should I do if the requested documents were previously submitted?

Based on Art. 93 Tax Code employees of the Federal Tax Service cannot demand from counterpartiesaudited company re-preparation of certain documentation that was previously required during a desk or on-site audit.

But although this information is available in the legislation, it is still desirable to prepare documents in order to prevent inspectors from filing a lawsuit with the court.

Consequences of the cross check

Each company must take into account the requirements of the inspectors so that, following the results of the verification of the counterparty, there is no such situation when an unscheduled study of the company will be carried out.

Often there is a situation when there are no necessary documents requested as part of a cross check. The explanatory note is compiled by the company's employees under such conditions. It contains information that specific documents have been lost or are simply missing from the firm.

The implications of such research for counterparties include:

• if discrepancies are found in the documents, the counterparty can be checked;
• the company may be held administratively liable if violations are actually detected;
• if signs of fraud are found at all, the main purpose of which is to conceal income, then the company and officials may be held criminally liable.

Therefore, firms must take a responsible approach to the formation and storage of various documentation that is formed in the process of cooperation with other organizations.

How to make outresults?

The counter check is considered to be a fairly operational process, at the end of which an intermediate act is formed. It records all detected violations and discrepancies in the documentation.

In addition, information from unofficial accounting records is entered. Testimony of persons involved in entering data into company records may be given.

Conclusion

As part of the audit of a company, the tax inspectorate can carry out a cross-check of various documents from counterparties of this organization. As part of this procedure, different documents are requested for specific periods of time.

For many enterprises, such an inspection can lead to negative consequences, represented by bringing to administrative responsibility or conducting an unscheduled on-site inspection. Therefore, all documents related to cooperation with other companies must contain up-to-date information.