An example of an indirect tax. tax code

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

Taxes in modern society perform two functions. On the one hand, they fill the budget (the main economic instrument of the state), and on the other hand, they regulate the economy, make it possible to equalize social standards and prioritize the development of industries that society needs. A coherent system of these payments in a codified form is legislatively fixed by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Functionally, it consists of two parts: a general one, which establishes the integrating principles of the tax system, and a special one, which reveals the mechanism of each individual tax or fee. Separate chapters in the second part of the Tax Code are value added tax (VAT) and excise duty (or simply excise). This article will be devoted to their consideration.

Government tax policy

The peculiarity of tax regulation lies in the fact that the state changes the macroeconomic environment by varying tax rates. This is the policy of taxes. Characteristically, they must comply with the reproductive principle, i.e., contribute to the growth of social production, to an increase in labor productivity. Howevertax regulation is a delicate matter, therefore, when changing the tax rate, one should be sensitive to the pulse of the economic situation.

Clearly, its regularities are demonstrated by the Laffer curve, named after an economist from the University of Los Angeles, who discovered the principle of dependence of budget revenues on the tax rate. He displayed the functional dependence classically: on the abscissa axis - the percentage levied by the state to the treasury, on the ordinate axis - the amount of tax received. At first, this curve increases. The economic meaning of this is as follows: production in this segment increases faster than the tax rate, respectively, and the economy is progressing, and tax revenues are increasing. However, at the level of 40–50% of the tax rate (for the countries of the 1st world) and 35–40% (for the countries of the 3rd world), the curve reaches a maximum and begins to decrease. In this case, the tax policy is said to be discriminatory. With relatively high incomes of the working population, the tax burden is 40–45% of their income level.

Therefore, a consistent reduction in the proportion of the tax burden in relation to the population's income is considered to be an indicator of the progressiveness of social policy.

Direct and indirect taxes

Taxes according to the nature of the tax exemption are divided into direct and indirect. The basis of taxation for direct taxes is income (salary, profit, rent, interest) or property (land, house, securities) owned by the taxpayer. Examples of direct taxes are land tax, taxes onincome, property, transport tax, income tax. An indirect tax, unlike a direct one, has a fundamentally different character - surcharges on a price or tariff.

However, for the good of the case, we will comment on the circumstances of the formation of the income tax tax base. The term “indirect” is also found there, but in this aspect it has nothing to do with indirect taxes (profit tax, as we already mentioned, is direct). In this interpretation, the similarity of the name is not associated with the characteristics of the tax itself, but with the process of determining its value. When determining the tax base, direct costs associated with the main production are deducted from it, and indirect costs are not deducted. Income tax in such a purely economic way contributes to greater specialization of the company, minimizing its non-production costs.

As for indirect taxes, the outstanding German economist Karl Marx commented on their essence in the hidden, hidden in every purchase, withdrawal of funds from citizens by the state. It seems that consumers are just buying a product, so they can not control the appetites of the budget. In fact, the consumer acts as the payer, while the seller of goods and services acts as a collector of indirect taxes and an intermediary in transferring them to the state.

The following net indirect taxes apply in Russia: value added tax (VAT), excises and customs duties.

Indirect taxes. VAT

VAT was first introduced in France, in 1958 it was pilot tested, and then implemented. In the 70s, it was borrowed by other European countries. In Russia, the Law "On VAT" was adopted in 1992 by the Government of Yegor Gaidar. First, its rate was 28%, which created a significant tax burden, and then it was reduced twice: to 20% and 18%, respectively.

Indirect tax VAT is successfully spreading in the world's tax systems. What is the reason for its popularity? Most likely, in insensitivity to crisis phenomena in the economy and acyclicity, because not production, but consumption is taxed.

The main directions of the Russian budget policy for 2012 and for the period up to 2014 emphasize the leading role of VAT in the federal tax system. This tax accounts for 32-35% of federal tax revenue.

VAT as an example of an indirect tax assumes that the tax base (according to Article 146 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation) is the sale of goods and services in Russia, the transfer of goods and the provision of services for which no deduction is expected, installation and construction work performed for one's own needs, import of goods into the territory of the Russian Federation.

Preferential treatment in the VAT tax base

The Tax Code excludes certain transactions from the extremely wide scope of VAT taxation: the circulation of rubles and foreign currency, the transfer of property by a company to its successor, the transfer of property for the statutory activities of non-profit organizations, the transfer of property as an investment, the return of the down paymenta participant in a business partnership and society, privatization by individuals of state and municipal apartments, confiscation, inheritance of property.

Indirect tax VAT also involves a number of preferential tax rates. First, the zero rate. It is used for exported goods defined by the FTZ (Customs Free Zone) regime. It is also used in relation to services for loading, transporting, accompanying exported goods related to the international transit of goods through the territory of Russia and for the transportation of luggage and passengers if they are not sent from the territory of the Russian Federation.

However, if we talk further about such a complex tax as VAT, then it also applies a reduced rate (10%) for food, children's goods, media and book products. Thus, federal tax legislation offers a simplified tax regime for these categories of goods by lowering their prices and, accordingly, increasing demand for them. As you can see, indirect taxes in the Russian Federation operate in a certain area that is not related to production cycles, and their inflow to the budget is more even.

What else is included in the VAT tax base

Legal entities and individual entrepreneurs, when filling out a VAT tax return, also include in the taxable base:

• Advances received. The exception is similar payments for goods subject to a 0% rate (see above) and for products with a production cycle longer than 6 months.
• Funds with "financial aid" status, butreceived in exchange for goods and services sold.
• Interest on trade credit, promissory notes, bonds in terms of exceeding the refinancing rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.
• The transferred compensation under insurance contracts in case of default by the counterparty.

But there is an exception to the rule: a legal entity or individual entrepreneur, whose income for the previous 3 months amounted to no more than 2 million rubles, writes a corresponding application to the tax service and is exempted from paying VAT for 12 months.

On the complexity of determining the VAT base

We considered an example of indirect VAT tax in accordance with Chapter 21 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation only in terms of the formation of the tax base. Why one example? In order for readers to appreciate the complexity of its calculation according to primary documents. For a large manufacturing enterprise, the competent preparation of a VAT tax return, which entails the non-application of pen alties by the tax authorities, is relevant and important. This is a job, really qualified, requiring specific knowledge of the auditor. This area of activity is determined by Law N 943-1 "On Russian Tax Authorities" dated 1991-21-03. VAT, others - income tax. Much less common are generalists who can do both.

On the methodology of VAT tax audits

Let's take a look"inner kitchen" of the tax, concerning the verification, for example, of the indirect VAT tax. Generally speaking, inspections are cameral, field and include both of the previous types. According to the degree of coverage of the tax base, they are divided into thematic and complex, continuous and selective.

How does a desk audit of VAT work? Tax inspectors carry it out directly in their office. At their service are the tax declarations previously provided by the legal entity or individual entrepreneur being checked and the registers of its accounting and primary documents required during the check itself. An on-site audit is carried out directly at the accounting department of a legal entity (entrepreneur).

As a rule, on the eve of the planned on-site comprehensive documentary VAT audit, a desk audit of the VAT reporting provided by the taxpayer and the calculations provided for them is carried out in order to subsequently determine its discrepancies with the actually determined tax auditors according to primary tax documents.

VAT, as an example of an indirect tax, demonstrates two directions for auditing an enterprise's statements by auditors: the completeness of the VAT tax base presented in them and the correctness of tax deductions used by accountants.

Analysis of the purchase of goods during the VAT audit

During a comprehensive check, the availability of primary documents on suppliers is first carefully checked. Regarding suppliers, the inclusion of goods and services provided by them both in the taxable base and in the deduction (determined in accordance with Article No. 171-173 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation) can be takentaken into account only under certain conditions. There must be a primary document - an invoice from the supplier, which, according to accounting, is credited to the account allocated to it, the operation on it is included in the corresponding reporting tax period (meaning the corresponding tax declaration).

An example of such a refund can be the return of the excess of actually paid VAT over a certain Tax Code of the Russian Federation in the following situation: a book publishing company purchases paper and paints, while paying an 18% tax, but finished marketable products (books) are subject to a 10% tax. Based on the above, the excess of the tax on the purchase of paper and paints over the tax on the sale of books is included in the tax deduction.

Analysis of the sale of goods during the VAT audit

The sale of goods is tracked based on invoices issued by the audited entity and its sales log (a specific consolidated tax register, but in fact a handwritten tax return database).

This check concerns the compliance of accounting registers in terms of settlements with suppliers and contractors and settlements with accountable persons. In this case, the second copies of invoices must be attached to the journal.

Indirect VAT tax is determined by the principle of non-fictitious transactions (for the supply of each product there must be an appropriate cashless payment - from the company's current account, or from the cash desk - in cash). Thus, possible attempts to return VAT to the enterprise according to the actualoperations.

The tax authorities check operations on account K-tu 201 01 610 and on account K-tu 201 04 610. If there is no invoice for the sale of goods (services), a counter tax audit is carried out on it in the accounting department of the counterparty of the legal entity. If it is not there either, the transaction is fictitious, and this is an economic crime. At the same time, attention is drawn to the chronological order of the preparation and registration of invoices. Also selectively-counter checks are appointed for large deliveries for which there are invoices.

Example of a tax error when selling a product

The supplier company must have competent legal support for the execution of contracts. The point is that the sale of services and goods should always be subject to an increase in their price by the amount of VAT. The parties concluding the contract are obliged to clearly define the mandatory details of the specified price - with tax or without tax. The contract indicates the price without VAT, it is it that acts as the tax base. Therefore, it is highly desirable to allocate the amount of VAT in a separate line in the contract itself.

The latter is due to the fact that, according to Art. 424 of the Civil Code of Russia, the parties pay the price of the goods according to the details specified in the contract.

Finishing our review of VAT, we note that, due to its universal nature, it is one of the most complex in its methodology among the taxes existing in the Russian Federation.

Excise duty. Tax base

Indirect taxes in the Russian Federation (except for the largest of them - value added tax) include federal tax - exciseduty (often referred to as an abbreviation - excise) and customs duties. It is levied on certain groups of goods both when they are sold on the territory of Russia, and when they are moved across the Russian border. It is transferred to the budget of a legal entity and individual entrepreneurs, and the actual payers are consumers, since it is included in the price of the goods they buy. Since the amount of tax is included in the price of the goods, it is obvious that the indirect tax is the excise duty.

As a rule, cars, alcoholic products, diesel fuel, motor oils, beer, straight-run and motor gasoline, alcohol and alcohol-containing products, tobacco products are excisable.

According to Article 182 of the Tax Code, the object of taxation is the sale of excisable goods produced in Russia by the taxpayer, the receipt and posting of these products, certain types of transfer of goods (tolling scheme), operations of the movement of excisable goods outside Russia.

Rep. 1 p. 6 art. 182 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation fixes the occurrence of an excisable object during the confiscation and posting of ownerless goods with this indirect tax. Is the object of taxation and the transfer of excisable property to the authorized capital of companies.

Excise taxation procedure

The export of excisable goods is not subject to excise duty, transfer between divisions of a manufacturing enterprise, the initial transfer of confiscated goods for subsequent industrial processing,property in the port SEZ.

The current excise duty rates for the period up to 2015 are presented in Art. 193 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

Russia.

The tax period for the internal sale of excisable goods is a month, for those transported across the border - according to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

Example of determining the amount of excise duty

Initial conditions: Distillery produces vodka with an ethyl alcohol content of 40%. Its production is characterized by a monthly volume of 500 liters. The current tax rate is 210 rubles per liter of anhydrous ethyl alcohol. The amount of excise tax on purchased ethyl alcohol is 1650 rubles.

Decision: The taxable base will be: 500 x 40%=200 l.

The amount of excise tax corresponding to the sold vodka: 200 liters x 210 rubles=42,000 rubles.

Amount of excise payable: 42,000 – 1650=40,350 rubles

Conclusion

Indirect taxes are an indispensable attribute of the modern tax system. Of particular importance in it is VAT, which provides the largest amount of tax budget revenues (33-35% for Russia). It should be noted that the VAT tax rate is an important incentive for economic development. It is not surprising that during the period of growtheconomic potential of the country, since 1992, the VAT rate in Russia has decreased from 28% to 18%.

Note that the excise is an indirect tax, but rather specific. Although it has an order of magnitude smaller share in tax revenues than VAT, however, its rates are an indicator of the attitude of the state to the middle class.