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Overdue debts of the organization are subject to cancellation. But you need to comply with the deadlines and the correctness of registration from the position of accounting. How to write off accounts payable in 2019?

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Incorrect write-off of overdue accounts payable becomes a reason for claims from the tax inspectorate.

In order to avoid possible additional charges, it is necessary to correctly execute the operation. How to write off an overdue loan in 2019?

Basic moments

One of the main tasks of accounting is the formation of a reliable picture of the financial condition of the organization.

The presence of accounts payable, for which the limitation period has expired, distorts the real idea of ​​​​the obligations of a legal entity.

Accounts payable are the company's debts to third parties. For example, the company did not pay off the counterparties - did not pay for the delivered goods, did not pay the bank loan, did not return.

Another possible variant This is the receipt of an advance payment with the subsequent failure to fulfill obligations. For example, the company received payment, but did not ship the goods to the buyer or did not complete the agreed amount of work.

The expiration of the statute of limitations does not allow the creditor to collect debts by force.

Accordingly, unpaid debts for the organization become non-operating income.

And if you simply write off such a debt from accounting, it turns out that the organization withheld part of the profit.

And this is already a tax violation. What are the rules for writing off loan debts in 2019?

What it is

Accounts payable are debts to suppliers, buyers, the budget, funds, and other persons. Debt reflects an estimate of the organization's financial liabilities.

The variety of subjects of relationships in settlements determines the complexity of the effective management of accounts payable.

To a large extent, the current financial condition of the organization depends on how timely financial obligations are met.

Write-off accounts payable are included in income. Subsequently, the creditor cannot demand the return of the debt, since the debt is actually no longer there.

But so that no claims from the creditor really arise, you need to correctly calculate the statute of limitations.

The expiration of the statute of limitations on accounts payable allows the organization to write off debts. But is it really that important?

Advantages and disadvantages

The importance of managing accounts payable is that its condition is reflected in the indicators of solvency and liquidity of the enterprise.

Simply put, a large amount of bad, but not written off accounts payable reduces the solvency and financial attractiveness of the company.

But writing off debt on a loan has both advantages and disadvantages. It is beneficial to write off accounts payable in order to increase the taxable profit of the organization.

For example, in the reporting period, the organization suffered losses, the amount of which exceeded the amount of debt.

In such a situation, you will not have to pay off debt recognized as non-operating income.

It will be unprofitable to write off accounts payable in the tax period in which a profit was received that significantly exceeds the amount of debt.

It will not be possible to compensate for the debt due to write-off losses. All non-operating income must be included in the tax base.

Therefore, it is more expedient for an organization to extend the limitation period, if possible, which will allow write-offs to be made in a period with a lower tax burden.

Legal grounds

Regardless of the reason for the appearance of accounts payable, the requirement to confirm it is mandatory. primary documents. This rule follows from

In some cases, a break in the term allows you to legally defer the payment of taxes from an overdue creditor. It is enough for the debtor to take actions confirming the existence of the debt.

How to write off accounts payable

The organization's accounts payable are written off in the following order:

1. An inventory of settlements with all suppliers and buyers is carried out. It is important to carry out this procedure each reporting period.
2. Based on the results of the inventory, an act is drawn up with an explanatory note in any form attached, which explains the cause of the debt and its amount.
3. An accounting statement is issued on the basis of the results.
4. An order is issued to write off accounts payable.
5. Debt is being written off.
6. The necessary wiring is written.

For what reasons

The company is obliged to return debts on the loan. But it is not always possible to fulfill obligations.

The reasons may be:

• lack of demand for repayment of the debt;
• creditor as a legal entity;
• debt forgiveness;
• unknown location of the creditor, etc.

A period applies to accounts payable. At this time, creditors have the right to demand the fulfillment of financial obligations.

If the statute of limitations has expired, but no claims regarding the debt have been received, then the debt is written off, that is, it is recognized as irrecoverable.

Expired statute of limitations

Debt is written off in a standard manner. The nuance is that the Tax Code of the Russian Federation does not clearly establish when to write off debts to a liquidated creditor - at the time of its termination or after the expiration of the limitation period.

But in principle, any creditor has the right to forgive a debt. For example, if the debtor's financial condition is difficult, the parties may agree on partial reimbursement of the debt.

If the creditor believes that he will not be able to repay the full amount of the debt, then he can agree to partial repayment, forgiving the balance of the debt.

Reflection by postings

When debt is written off, income is generated. To display it, the account for writing off accounts payable in debt adjustment is used - account 91 “Other income”.

An operation to write off an expired debt is displayed as follows:

Dt 60 (62, 66, 67, 70, 71, 76) Kt 91 sub-account "Other income"

The record is made at the time of approval of the results of the inventory in the reporting period, when the limitation period has expired.

The basis is the results of the inventory, a written justification of the reasons for the write-off and the corresponding order.

How to write an accounting statement

The accounting statement becomes a written justification for the need to write off. Compile it based on the results of the inventory, indicating:

• the size of the debt;
• cause of occurrence;
• details of the creditor;
• grounds for write-off.

A sample accounting statement on accounts payable is possible. Guided by the act and the certificate, the head of the enterprise issues.

Nuances with USN

Under the simplified tax system, the exact timing of the write-off of accounts payable is not defined. Therefore, after drawing up the inventory act, the write-off can be carried out:

• after the expiration of the statute of limitations;
• on the last day of the tax period.

In addition, when income does not include advances written off for outstanding obligations, since these advances are recognized in income at the time they are received.

Important! A written-off "creditor" under the simplified tax system always refers to income, regardless of whether the "income" or "income minus expenses" mode is used.

VAT recovery

As a rule, an organization's accounts payable are formed due to the purchase of goods (services, works) and the receipt of advances.

For purchased goods subject to VAT and in the presence of a correctly executed VAT, the following is deductible:

Dt 68 sub-account "VAT" Kt19

The write-off of accounts payable does not apply to cases where the VAT accepted for deduction is subject to recovery. Accordingly, when writing off debts on loans, VAT is not restored.

As for VAT on the advance payment received, it is calculated for payment to the budget at the time of receipt of the advance payment. So, in this case, recovery will not work.

For taxation purposes, VAT from an advance payment can be deducted when fulfilling obligations on account of an advance payment or when amending an agreement and returning an advance payment.

When writing off accounts payable, advance VAT from the seller is not accepted.

sample act

Documentary confirmation of the presence of overdue accounts payable is identified in the inventory process.

Unfulfilled obligations of the organization are recorded in the act of inventory. This document, together with the accounting statement, becomes the basis for writing off the "creditor" and issuing the appropriate order.

An act is drawn up in an arbitrary form. The act of inventory of financial obligations of the company indicates:

• details of the creditor;
• account numbers;
• the amount of the debt;
• additional circumstances (confirmed / not confirmed debt, expired).

A.I. Dybov, taxation expert

Accounting for the write-off of uncollectible accounts receivable

The Letters of the Ministry of Finance and the Federal Tax Service mentioned in the article can be found: section “Financial and personnel consultations” of the ConsultantPlus system

IN ideal world buyers always pay on time for the delivered goods, sellers honestly ship products against the advance payment received, borrowers pay interest on time and return the principal amount of the debt exactly on the day established by the contract. In the real world, things are different. And it’s good if the debtor simply violated the deadlines, because he may not pay at all. Then sooner or later the moment will come when the debt becomes uncollectible. Losing money is bad in itself. But even worse, if you can not include this amount in tax expenses. We will talk about how to do at least this, as well as accounting for the corresponding operations.

Let us warn you right away: simplistic people are not entitled to reduce income by the amount of bad receivables, regardless of the transaction that resulted in it. They will be interested in this material only in terms of accounting and paragraph 1 of Art. 346.16 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation; Letter of the Ministry of Finance dated July 22, 2013 No. 03-11-11/28614.

Before becoming hopeless, debt must ... exist in principle

This means that the existence of a debt and its amount must be proved by something other than an agreement or a debit balance on an account, for example, 62 “Settlements with buyers and customers” or 76 “Settlements with various debtors and creditors”.

You will also need consignment notes, acts of work performed, payment orders for the transfer of an advance or a loan, bank statements confirming that no money has come from the buyer, etc. what inspectors do not convince t paragraph 1 of Art. 252 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation; clause 77 of the Regulations, approved. Order of the Ministry of Finance dated July 29, 1998 No. 34n (hereinafter - Regulation No. 34n); Letter of the Federal Tax Service of December 6, 2010 No. ШС-37-3 / 16955; Decrees of the FAS DVO of August 13, 2013 No. Ф03-2605 / 2013; 15 ААС dated 01.10.2014 No. 15AP-14583/2014; 18 ААС dated 01/30/2013 No. 18AP-12064/2012; 20 ААС dated September 30, 2014 No. А68-7085/2013.

But suppose, according to all the documents, it turns out that there is a debt. For what reason can it be transformed into a hopeless one?

Reasons for hopelessness

To begin with, we list the tax reasons as a list, and then we will consider each of its points separately. So, for tax purposes, a receivable is recognized as uncollectible if paragraph 2 of Art. 266 Tax Code of the Russian Federation:

• <или>the limitation period has expired;

• <или>the bailiff issued a decision on the completion of the enforcement proceedings and the return of the writ of execution to the creditor due to the fact that he did not find the debtor or his property sufficient to pay off the obligations;
• <или>the debtor organization is liquidated;
• <или>obligations are terminated due to insurmountable circumstances or by an act of a state body.

Remember that any of these events, more precisely, whichever happens first, will be suitable as a basis for recognizing a debt as uncollectible. So, after the liquidation of the debtor, there is no need to wait until the limitation period ends, and vice versa Letter of the Ministry of Finance of June 22, 2011 No. 03-03-06/1/373.

In accounting, there is no such detailed list of reasons for writing off obligations, only the expiration of the limitation period is directly mentioned clause 77 of Regulation No. 34n. However, purely economically, a tax list is used for these purposes, which can be fixed in the accounting policy. However, you also have the right to expand this list by prescribing more liberal conditions for recognizing debts as bad for accounting purposes, unless, of course, they are dictated economic reasons. But then it should be remembered that there will be differences between tax and accounting accounting, since in the latter the debt will be written off earlier.

Now, as we agreed, let's dwell on each of the "hopeless" tax reasons separately.

Expiration of the statute of limitations

The statute of limitations is the period during which you can apply to the court for debt collection. Didn't apply? In this case, the court will not consider the claim if the debtor declares that the statute of limitations has passed, which means that you no longer have legal ways to receive what is due Art. 195, paragraph 1 of Art. 200 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

At the same time, you need to understand that by suing the debtor, you completely lose the opportunity to recognize the debt as bad and write it off due to the expiration of the limitation period. You will have to prove the “hopelessness” of the obligation by referring to other circumstances listed in the list (decree of the bailiff, liquidation of the debtor, etc.). The same applies if you find out that the debtor is in the process of bankruptcy and Letters of the Ministry of Finance dated May 18, 2012 No. 03-03-06 / 1/250, dated March 4, 2013 No. 03-03-06 / 1/6313, dated May 29, 2013 No. 03-03-06 / 1/19566.

In order to correctly determine the date of expiration of the limitation period (and, therefore, the date when the obligation becomes uncollectible), we need to know its start date, total duration, and also the end date, taking into account the interruption or suspension of the period. This is what we'll do.

Start countdown

If the start date of the term falls on a weekend or holiday, this does not mean anything: the period begins as if nothing had happened Art. 191 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. When exactly does this period start? It all depends on the wording of the contract. Some examples can be found in the table.

The way the deadline is set paragraph 2 of Art. 200 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation	Example
	Formulation of the contract	Determining the start date of the limitation period if the counterparty fails to fulfill the obligation
Commitment with a specific deadline	The buyer is obliged to pay for the goods within 3 working days from the date of their acceptance	The buyer accepted the goods on Wednesday, 10/15/2014. Three working days for payment are 10/16/2014, 10/17/2014 and 10/20/2014 (Thursday, Friday and Monday respectively). From 10/21/2014 (Tuesday) the limitation period begins
	The borrower must repay the loan amount no later than 02.10.2014 (Thursday)	The beginning of the limitation period - 03.10.2014 (Friday)
The deadline for fulfilling the obligation is determined by the moment of demand or not set at all	After receiving the advance payment, the contractor is obliged to provide the service within 2 working days from the date of receipt of the customer's application	The customer transferred the advance and on Wednesday, 10/29/2014, submitted an application to the service provider. Neither 10/30/2014 nor 10/31/2014 (Thursday and Friday, respectively) services were provided. The beginning of the limitation period - 01.11.2014 (Saturday)
	After signing the act of completed work, the customer must pay for them on the next working day following the day of request by the contractor	The customer received the claim on 10/20/2014 (Monday), but did not transfer the money on 10/21/2014 (Tuesday), therefore 10/22/2014 (Wednesday) is the first day of the limitation period
	The parties did not provide for the terms of payment in the contract	On 10/23/2014 (Thursday), the seller demanded from the buyer that on 10/24/2014 (Friday) he paid for the previously shipped goods. The counterparty did not fulfill the requirement, and from 10/25/2014 (Saturday) the limitation period began

As you can see, the beginning of the limitation period cannot be determined from the data of accounting alone, since you will most likely make a posting reflecting the amount of debt before the deadline runs out. So, for example, you will show the buyer's debt on the day the goods are shipped, and not on the day they are paid, established by the contract. We are no longer talking about a loan issued for several years. According to it, the limitation period will begin only on the day following the day of the return of the amount established by the agreement. Although the lender will reflect the issued amount in the account on the day it is paid to the borrower.

General and special limitation periods

Well, the start date is clear to us. Now you should understand what its duration is. Everyone is hearing general term limitation period - 3 years paragraph 1 of Art. 196 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. But there are also special ones.

So, only 1 year is given to you to deal with the debt under the contract for the carriage of goods and transport expedition, 2 years are allotted for filing claims under property insurance contracts paragraph 3 of Art. 797, paragraph 1 of Art. 966 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation; Art. 13 of the Law of June 30, 2003 No. 87-FZ. These are not all options, but the rest are exotic and not worth your attention.

End of term

ATTENTION

A day off (non-working holiday) shifts to the next weekday the end date of the limitation period, but not the date of its start.

If the limitation period was not interrupted and not suspended (which will be discussed a little later), it ends after 3 years (1 year, 2 years - depending on the type of contract) on the same date of the calendar month that it began. Let's say the term started on July 17, after 3 years on July 17 it ended. However, if the second July 17 in our example falls on a weekend or holiday, the statute of limitations is moved to the next business day. This is especially true for long holidays like the January holidays or May celebrations in Art. 193 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation; Decrees of the FAS MO dated May 21, 2013 No. A40-87035 / 12-102-796; FAS PO dated 08/01/2014 No. A55-12319 / 2013; FAS UO dated September 29, 2011 No. F09-4683/11.

Example. Calculation of the limitation period

/ condition / Under the contract, the carrier that received the advance payment undertakes to fulfill the order no later than the next business day following the day the order was received from the customer. The application was received on 10/30/2013, the carrier did not fulfill its obligations. The customer did not go to court, and the carrier was not liquidated. Determine when the one-year limitation period for this obligation will expire. paragraph 3 of Art. 797 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

/ solution / The statute of limitations is calculated as follows:

Termination of the term

If it follows from the actions of the counterparty that he acknowledged the existence of the debt, the limitation period will be interrupted and will begin anew Art. 203 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. Then, from the day the debt appears to the date of its full write-off, much more than 3 years can pass (1 year, 2 years - depending on the situation).

Therefore, if the debtor, assessing the hopelessness of the obligation, does not take into account that the limitation period has been interrupted, he will incorrectly determine the expiration date, which means that he will prematurely write off the debt as tax expenses. This will certainly come up when checking. Decree 9 AAS dated October 22, 2014 No. 09AP-38804/2014.

WE WARN YOUR LAWYER

If the creditor is interested in interrupting the limitation period, you need to check the authority of the employee who will sign the debt acknowledgment document on the part of the debtor (provided that this is not a director). These rights can be delegated to an employee by a power of attorney, job description, by order of the head, etc. Therefore, it is worth asking him for a copy of the relevant document and keeping it in case the creditor decides to sue or write off the debt after the statute of limitations has expired.

In the opinion of the SAC and the SC, the debtor recognizes obligations and thereby interrupts the limitation period, in particular if:

• <или>in some form, for example, by letter, said that he was ready to pay off the debt, or signed an act of reconciliation and Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court dated February 12, 2013 No. 13096/12;
• <или>partially paid the debt or repaid accrued penalties;
• <или>asked to change the contract, for example, to shift the payment date.

The most important nuance is that on the part of the debtor, the existence of obligations must be confirmed not by anyone, but by a person who has the authority to do so, arising from his job duties or power of attorney and Clause 20 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of November 12, 2001 No. 15, the Plenum of the Supreme Arbitration Court of November 15, 2001 No. 18. By default, the manager has such powers, and he delegates them to someone else.

But the chief accountant (and even more so an ordinary accountant) in most cases is not entitled to sign under the existence of a debt on behalf of the entire company and Qualification guide, approved. Decree of the Ministry of Labor of 21.08.98 No. 37. Therefore, only the accounting signature on the part of the debtor on the act of reconciliation does not interrupt the statute of limitations.

Example. Calculation of the interrupted limitation period

/ condition / According to the contract, the buyer had to pay the seller for the delivered goods no later than September 30, 2014, but did not do so. On February 12, 2015, he sent a letter signed by the director, in which he referred to a serious financial position and promised to pay off the debt at the first opportunity. On June 26, 2015, the parties conducted a reconciliation of debts, the results of which were certified by the chief accountants of the companies. The seller did not go to court, and the buyer was not liquidated. We will determine when the three-year limitation period for this obligation will expire.

/ solution / A break in the statute of limitations affects its duration as follows:

Suspension

Suspension differs from interruption in that it does not nullify the statute of limitations. That is, after the end of the suspension period, the period continues. True, the pause time is not counted in it.

It is as if the car drove for 15 minutes, then parked for 10 minutes, then started again and at the end of the journey, after 20 minutes, the driver was asked: “How long has the car been moving?” Of course, he will exclude the parking period (10 minutes) from the calculations and say that he moved for 35 minutes (15 minutes + 20 minutes).

So it is with the suspension of the statute of limitations. Take a look at the table.

Period and reason for suspension*	Example	When should a reason appear (continue to exist) for it to suspend the term	The procedure for calculating the limitation period after its renewal
For the duration of the force majeure that prevented the filing of a claim sub. 1 p. 1 art. 202 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation	Flooding paralyzed the work of the creditor and the courts	In the last 6 months of the statute of limitations	If, after the end of the suspension period, the remaining limitation period is less than 6 months, it is extended to a full 6 months in paragraph 4 of Art. 202 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. Exception - the lawsuit was left without consideration due to the actions (inaction) of the plaintiff paragraph 3 of Art. 204 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation
For the period of the moratorium on the fulfillment of obligations imposed by the government sub. 3 p. 1 art. 202 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation	For the period of abnormal frosts and before the start of the sowing campaign, a moratorium was announced on the collection of payment from agricultural enterprises
From the date of filing the claim to the date the court issued a ruling by which it left the claim without consideration paragraph 1 of Art. 204 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation	The creditor filed a claim with the court, but, without petitioning for the consideration of the case without him, twice did not appear at the hearings, and the defendant did not demand that the dispute be heard on the merits from p. 9 h. 1 art. 148 APK RF	Doesn't matter
From the date of conclusion of the mediation agreement to the date of completion of the procedure**, but not more than 180 days paragraph 3 of Art. 202 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation; paragraph 1 of Art. 8, art. 13 of the Law of July 27, 2010 No. 193-FZ	-

* The reasons most often encountered in economic practice are given. You will find a complete list in paragraph 1 of Art. 202 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

** Mediation is a paid procedure for out-of-court settlement of a dispute with the help of one or more individuals - mediators who are independent of the parties to the conflict. If the disputants agree, the procedure ends with the signing of a mediation agreement. If not, the mediation is terminated, for example, at the request of one of the parties or the mediator articles 2, 14 of the Law of July 27, 2010 No. 193-FZ.

Example. Calculation of the suspended limitation period

/ condition / The agreed date of payment by the customer for the services rendered to him is 09/30/2014. However, the customer did not transfer the money either on that day or later. On 06/01/2015, the performer applied to the court, but he left the claim without consideration due to the fault of the performer. The ruling on this was made on 08/31/2015. The contractor no longer tried to collect the debt, the customer was not liquidated. What is the total length of the statute of limitations in this case?

/ solution / The suspension period will affect the statute of limitations as follows:

Since September 1, 2013, the Civil Code of the Russian Federation stipulates that, in any case, the limitation period cannot be more than 10 years from the date the obligation arose. Experts have not yet agreed on how to interpret this rule when interrupting or suspending the statute of limitations. But for most economic situations, this problem is hardly relevant: it is doubtful that the term was interrupted (suspended) so often that it went beyond the ten-year period, counting from the day the debt appeared.

With the expiration of the statute of limitations, we are done. Let us turn to other reasons for recognizing debts as bad.

End of enforcement proceedings due to impossibility of collection

You will find interpretations of the new norm of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation on the limitation period for claims:

Suppose you did not wait for the statute of limitations to expire, went to court and won the process. In the final, you received a writ of execution for debt collection and handed it over to the bailiff. And after some time, he only shrugged his shoulders: it was not possible to find a counterparty or his property sufficient to repay obligations. In this case, a decision is made to complete the enforcement proceedings and return the writ of execution. sub. 3, 4 p. 1 art. 46 of the Law of October 2, 2007 No. 229-FZ (hereinafter - Law No. 229-FZ).

If the court did not recognize the existence of a debt (part of the debt), it cannot become hopeless, the debt simply did not exist initially. Therefore, it is impossible to write off the corresponding amount as expenses. Letter of the Ministry of Finance of September 18, 2009 No. 03-03-06/1/591.

In principle, nothing prevents you within 3 years from the date of entry into force of the court decision to re-try to collect the debt through the bailiff. paragraph 1 of Art. 21, paragraph 4 of Art. 46 of Law No. 229-FZ. What if you get lucky? But in life everyone understands: if nothing was found the first time, it is unlikely that it will ever be found. This is probably why the Tax Code introduced a rule on turning an obligation into a hopeless e paragraph 2 of Art. 266 Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

The date that the bailiff will put on the decision will most likely be different from the date you received a copy of the document. Which of them is considered the day of the transformation of the receivable into a bad one? We can assume - the second, because even according to the law, in the best case, a copy will be with the creditor after a day and paragraph 7 of Art. 47 of Law No. 229-FZ. The main thing is to fix the date of receipt, for example, in the log of incoming correspondence. At worst, a postal stamp on the envelope will do.

However, the specialist of the Ministry of Finance has a different opinion.

FROM AUTHENTIC SOURCES

Adviser of the State Civil Service of the Russian Federation, 3rd class

“If the bailiff issued a decision to end the enforcement proceedings and return the writ of execution, for the purposes of taxation of profits, the receivables are recognized as uncollectible on the date of the decision. That is, it will be the date indicated in the resolution.

But let's say you, having received a bailiff's order, wrote off a bad debt as an expense. And then they decided: the attempt is not torture - and turned to the bailiff with a writ of execution again. And, lo and behold, he managed to collect all or part of the debt. Then after that significant event you must include the amount received:

• for tax purposes - into non-operating income Art. 250 Tax Code of the Russian Federation;
• for accounting purposes - to other income clause 7 PBU 9/99.

Sometimes it happens that, having won the court and received a writ of execution, the creditor does not apply to the bailiff for debt collection within 3 years allotted for this from the date the court decision comes into force. Then, in order to write off the debt in tax accounting, you will have to wait for the liquidation of the debtor organization: no other reason from the current list paragraph 2 of Art. 266 Tax Code of the Russian Federation not suitable for this situation. Unless, of course, a law is passed later, separately recognizing such obligations as terminated and paragraph 2 of Art. 266 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation; Art. 417 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

Liquidation of the debtor organization

The reasons why a company that owes you may cease to exist are different, but we will consider the three most common ones - the decision of participants, bankruptcy and forced exclusion from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities. The latter, however, is not liquidation, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.

The question common to all three situations is whether it is necessary to receive a paper extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities confirming the liquidation of the debtor, or is a printout from the FTS website sufficient?

Information from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities can be found: website of the Federal Tax Service

Officials believe that there is no way without an extract: the data from the website of the tax service does not mean anything Letters of the Ministry of Finance dated February 20, 2007 No. 03-03-06 / 1/105, dated March 14, 2014 No. 03-03-06 / 1/11063. And if you are not eager to argue with the tax office and you know for sure that there is no counterparty anymore, it is better to get a document. Moreover, it is advisable to hurry up with a request to the IFTS so that the paper gets to you in the same quarter in which the organization was liquidated. If an extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities comes to you later and, on this basis, the debt will be written off in the quarter of its receipt, and not in the quarter of the liquidation of the company, a dispute with the tax authorities is likely, albeit with high chances of success Decree 20 of the AAC dated 03.03.2014 No. A68-5375 / 2013.

Now let's go through the nuances associated with the liquidation of the debtor organization, depending on the reasons for what happened.

Liquidation of the debtor company by decision of the participants or due to bankruptcy

The procedures for liquidating a company for these two reasons are very different and often lengthy, but one thing is important for you - until the debtor is liquidated and an entry about it appears in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, his debt is not considered hopeless for tax purposes.

ATTENTION

The debt of a bankrupt organization becomes uncollectible on the day of its exclusion from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, and the debt of a bankrupt individual entrepreneur - on the day the court issued the appropriate ruling.

It may well be that the hopelessness of waiting for money will become clear to you long before this moment. For example, when during the bankruptcy procedure it was discovered that the property of the debtor company would definitely not be enough to pay off obligations to you. Either the court has already declared the company bankrupt, but so far it has not been excluded from the register of legal entities - this may well take more than 2 months in pp. 1, 2 art. 149 of the Law of October 26, 2002 No. 127-FZ. The law is inexorable: if the debtor organization is not liquidated, for tax purposes its obligations to you are not hopeless paragraph 2 of Art. 266 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation; Letters of the Ministry of Finance dated 03/04/2013 No. 03-03-06/1/6313, dated 04/11/2008 No. 03-03-06/1/276.

If a person has withdrawn from registration as an individual entrepreneur, this does not extinguish his obligations assumed during the commercial activity and ch. 26 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

In case of bankruptcy of an individual entrepreneur, the debt becomes uncollectible on the day when the court issued an appropriate ruling paragraph 1 of Art. 212 of the Law of October 26, 2002 No. 127-FZ; Letter of the Ministry of Finance dated September 28, 2009 No. 03-03-06 / 2/183; Decree 15 AAC dated 07.08.2014 No. 15AP-3173/2014.

Exclusion of an inactive debtor organization from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities

If you look through the tax list of grounds for recognizing debts as bad, then you will not find such a ground as in the subheading. That is why the Ministry of Finance for a long time refused to recognize the right of creditors to take into account in expenses the receivables of companies forcibly deleted from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities by the decision of the Federal Tax Service Inspectorate due to the fact that they paragraph 1 of Art. 21.1 of the Law of 08.08.2001 No. 129-FZ; Letter of the Ministry of Finance dated February 27, 2013 No. 03-03-06/1/5556:

• did not submit tax returns;
• did not make transactions on at least one bank account.

However, common sense has always suggested that legal consequences the exclusion of a company from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities is equivalent to its liquidation. The courts adhered to this logic when making decisions in favor of creditors, and finally, since September 2014, the same rule has been enshrined directly in the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. The financial department will no longer be able to dismiss this, and now the debt of such companies can be safely included in expenses for tax purposes. paragraph 2 of Art. 64.2 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (ed., valid from 09/01/2014); Decrees of the FAS VSO dated September 27, 2012 No. A19-8821 / 2011; FAS SZO dated February 9, 2011 No. A56-14027 / 2010; 13 ААС dated 03/22/2011 No. А56-41073/2010.

Termination of an obligation by the impossibility of performance

According to the law, the debts of a deceased person (including an individual entrepreneur) are jointly and severally liable for his heirs. But only within the value of the inherited property. Thus, obligations in an amount exceeding this cost are terminated precisely because of the impossibility of fulfillment - you have no one else to ask articles 416, 1175 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

Now an example suggested by arbitration practice. The landlord tried to recover rent arrears from the entrepreneur-tenant, but the latter was able to prove that he did not sign the contract and did not see the property in his eyes. Some unidentified person was appointed guilty, who actually used the property. But, of course, the landlord can't get anything from him. As a result, the court recognized that the obligations were terminated and the receivables can be included in non-operating expenses. Decree of the FAS UO dated November 30, 2012 No. F09-11741 / 12.

It is rather difficult to imagine other situations in which obligations are terminated by the impossibility of performance and, on this basis, are written off for tax purposes.

An act of a state body as a basis for terminating an obligation

Until 2013 in art. 266 of the Tax Code there was no such separate reason for the termination of the obligation as the decision of the bailiff to end the enforcement proceedings. And at that time, it was this document that the courts considered to be the very act of a state body, on the basis of which it was possible to write off the debt in tax accounting e Decree 7 of the AAC dated November 30, 2012 No. A27-9618 / 12; 13 AAS of October 26, 2012 No. А21-4165/2012; 20 ААС dated April 28, 2012 No. А68-10005/11.

But now this is no longer needed. Then in what other cases, based on the act of the state body, you have the right to recognize the obligation as terminated Art. 417 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and include it in the cost?

Based on the arbitration practice available to us, we can say that creditors almost never use this basis for profit tax purposes.

Thus, in 2010, the SAC recognized as bad debt the value of shares and shares seized from the company's ownership without any compensation by order of governments and Resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court dated November 30, 2010 No. 9167/10. An anti-example - the Bank of Russia revokes the license from the bank, the company's money hangs on the account or deposit. Is this grounds for writing off accounts receivable? No, since the bank is subject to liquidation and within the framework of this procedure, the owner of the account (deposit) may receive something Letters of the Federal Tax Service for Moscow No. 16-15/008610 dated February 3, 2009, No. 16-15/109658@ dated November 11, 2011.

Thus, the act of a state body, along with the impossibility of fulfilling obligations, is a very controversial basis for recognizing debts as uncollectible in tax accounting and it should be used only in the most obvious cases. Otherwise, it is better to wait until another reason appears from the list of Art. 266 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, for example, the limitation period will expire or the debtor is liquidated.

Additional conditions for recognizing debts as uncollectible according to controllers

Well, we have analyzed the conditions for the recognition and write-off of bad debts, directly established by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and other laws. But the Federal Tax Service, the Ministry of Finance and their subordinates would not be themselves if they had not come up with additional obstacles. However, in fairness, we note that some of them are quite reasonable.

The debt must be related to the sale of goods (works, services)

Now the argument from the subtitle is less and less common, but it has not completely disappeared from the practice of tax inspections. It is brought into the light of day in ambiguous situations, when a potentially bad debt arose, as it were, outside the usual scheme "I give you money or goods - you give me something in return." For example, we are talking about a debt that has not been paid off, acquired by assignment of a claim, or about the value of shares of a closed joint-stock company that have become useless and Letters of the Ministry of Finance dated October 30, 2007 No. 03-03-06 / 2/196, dated March 23, 2009 No. 03-03-06 / 1/176.

In the latter case, with shares, in 2009 the matter reached the Supreme Arbitration Court, and it decided that the shareholder, left with nothing after the liquidation of the joint-stock company, has the right to take into account for tax purposes the value of securities that have turned into ordinary paper. Later, in 2010, the court, as we have already mentioned, recognized as a bad debt the cost of shares seized from the company free of charge by the state m Resolutions of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court No. 2115/09 dated June 9, 2009, No. 9167/10 dated November 30, 2010.

And although it was shares that were the subject of disputes, the conclusions of the SAC can be considered universal for any unusual debts. It is also noteworthy that since then, neither the Ministry of Finance nor the Federal Tax Service has issued any more letters in which they would try to bend their line.

By the way, when it came to non-returned loans, which were not initially connected with the sale of goods, works or services, the financial department never doubted their hopelessness. Letters of the Ministry of Finance of April 22, 2010 No. 03-03-06 / 1/283, of December 13, 2011 No. 03-03-06 / 2/195.

However, to be sure, we asked a ministry specialist whether all debts can become bad or if there are any exceptions.

FROM AUTHENTIC SOURCES

“ Subject to the conditions established by paragraph 2 of Art. 266 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, any debt can be recognized as bad, even if it is not related to the sale of goods, works, services.

Ministry of Finance of Russia

The creditor is obliged to make efforts to collect the debt

Another argument that is going out of fashion among the tax authorities, but still flickering in arbitration practice. We think the fiscal rationale is clear: since you did not try to get what was due, then the economic feasibility of spending in the form of bad debt written off is doubtful. paragraph 1 of Art. 252 Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

However, this is the rare case when the actions of the IFTS run counter to the explanations of the Ministry of Finance. He has been writing for a long time (and quite correctly) that the ability to include the amount of bad receivables in tax expenses is in no way tied to your efforts to collect it. There is a reason for "hopelessness" - there is a written off debt. Arbitration courts remember this well. Letter of the Ministry of Finance dated September 30, 2005 No. 03-03-04 / 2/68; Decrees 4 of the AAC dated 08.09.2014 No. A58-683 / 2014; 5 ААС dated 03/20/2013 No. 05AP-2122/2013; 9 ААС of 04/02/2014 No. 09AP-7102/2014; 15 ААС dated 06/04/2013 No. 15AP-4266/2013.

A debt forgiven by a settlement agreement cannot be hopeless

There is only one case when this statement is unambiguously true - you write off the debt without any conditions, that is, in fact, you give the corresponding amount to the debtor. Then, of course, it is impossible to take it into account for tax purposes, like any “gratuitous” expenses. However, such a situation is a rarity; amicable agreements in court are not concluded in order to lose everything. This can be done without arbitration paragraph 2 of Art. 248, paragraph 16 of Art. 270 Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

WARNING THE MANAGER

If the creditor forgives part of the debt with the condition that the rest be paid without going to court, and against the background of the fact that he did not actively try to collect what was due, he loses not only the forgiven amount of money, but also the opportunity to take it into account for tax purposes. It is better to file a lawsuit and already in the course of the proceedings to conclude settlement agreement to be approved by the court. Then the forgiven part of the debt will at least reduce taxable income.

Nevertheless, the Ministry of Finance and its subordinates at one time were inclined to consider any debt forgiven as a gift, regardless of the terms of the settlement agreement. Letter of the Ministry of Finance of August 21, 2009 No. 03-03-06/1/541. One of these disputes came to the attention of YOU. The seller, in exchange for paying off 2/3 of the receivable, forgave the buyer for the remaining 1/3 and included it in expenses. The tax authorities refused to recognize the legitimacy of this, but the supplier's judges supported it. Among others, they put forward a very sound argument t Resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court dated 15.07.2010 No. 2833/10.

It is as follows. If the seller had not tried to collect what was owed during the statute of limitations, he would have calmly written off the entire amount of the debt as an expense when the period expired. And he tried. And according to the settlement agreement approved by the court, he even knocked out something. It turns out unfairly: if you do nothing, you take into account the bad receivables for tax purposes in full, if you do, you lose the right to “hopeless” part of the amount.

For details on tax accounting for debt forgiveness transactions with a creditor and a debtor, you can find:

As the explanations of the Federal Tax Service show, the service put up with the withdrawal of YOU, but at the same time indicate that you should be ready to explain to the inspectors the expediency of the terms of the settlement agreement that led to the cancellation of part of the debt. Simply put, you need to show what you see for yourself as a benefit from what happened. It won’t work - I’ll have to say goodbye to expenses Letters of the Federal Tax Service No. SA-4-7/13193@ dated 12.08.2011 (p. 18), dated 01.21.2014 No. GD-4-3/617.

What could be such a benefit? In the case considered by YOU, it is obvious: to get at least something instead of zero. This argument is also found in the decisions of lower courts in Decree 9 AAS dated 12.05.2011 No. 09AP-9801/2011-AK. Another example from the practice of the Supreme Arbitration Court - the court did not consider the forgiveness of debt on interest on a loan in exchange for the return of its principal amount as a gratuitous transaction. paragraph 3 of the Information letter of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court dated December 21, 2005 No. 104.

Sometimes the parties agree on the forgiveness of part of the debt with the condition of paying off the remaining part, without going to court, respectively, without the approval of the settlement agreement. In this case, the creditor will have to prove to the inspectors that he tried his best to knock out the debt from the counterparty, but nothing came of it and he was forced to agree to a world settlement in the hope of receiving at least part of the amount. In addition, it allowed him to avoid legal costs. If the creditor does not take care of this, they will not be allowed to write off the forgiven debt as expenses, and the court will not help Decrees of the FAS SKO dated 04/08/2013 No. A32-9533 / 2009, dated 03/12/2014 No. A32-27645 / 2012; FAS PO dated 08/01/2013 No. A55-27138 / 2012; FAS UO dated April 22, 2014 No. Ф09-1388/14.

There are guarantors - there is no "hopelessness"

This is exactly how the Ministry of Finance argues ingenuously. At first glance, everything is correct: if the readiness to fulfill the obligation, in addition to the main debtor, was shown by someone else and signed this in the contract, then he should be paid if something happens. Where does the hopeless debt come from here? Art. 361 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation; Letter of the Ministry of Finance dated 09.06.2014 No. 03-03-10/27603?

ATTENTION

If there is a guarantor, the decision of the bailiff to end the enforcement proceedings due to the impossibility of collecting the debt from the main debtor does not make the obligation hopeless. You still have a chance to recover the debt from the guarantor.

But where.

Let's start with the statute of limitations.

The guarantee agreement may specify the period during which the guarantor is ready to pay "for that guy." In the same cases, when the term of the guarantee is not established in the contract, it is terminated if you Not sue the guarantor within paragraph 4 of Art. 367 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation:

• <или>years from the date of maturity of the main obligation;
• <или>2 years from the date of conclusion of the surety agreement, if the main agreement does not provide for the payment term and cannot be determined by the moment of demand.

As you can see, the guarantee may well end before the statute of limitations expires. And when the last one is all out, there’s nothing to talk about at all - the debt is hopeless, regardless of the presence of a guarantor paragraph 1 of Art. 207 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation; Decree of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Central Organ of October 14, 2011 No. A35-10553 / 2010.

Now about the liquidation of the debtor organization. Everything is clear here: at the moment when the main debtor is deleted from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, all obligations of the guarantor, against whom you did not sue separately, cease, you no longer have the right to demand anything from him. Consequently, in this case, too, the debt becomes hopeless, regardless of the past guarantee, no matter how much the Ministry of Finance would like to Art. 419 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation;.

But if a claim against the guarantor is filed, and the debtor “ceased to be” later, the court will consider the case on the merits, and the opportunity to collect the debt remains. paragraph 1 of Art. 367 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation; Clause 21 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Arbitration Court of July 12, 2012 No. 42. Therefore, there is no reason to consider it hopeless.

At the death of an individual - the debtor, everything depends on the content of the guarantee agreement.

If it states that the guarantor retains his obligations to the heirs, who, as you remember, are liable for the debts of the deceased, then if the latter refuse to pay the bills, the guarantor must do this. But, like the heirs, within the value of the inheritance property. Accordingly, in this case, in the full amount, the debt of the deceased is really not bad debt. clause 62 of the Decree of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of May 29, 2012 No. 9.

At the end of the enforcement proceedings with the impossibility of collecting the debt from the main debtor, we can also confidently say that the presence of the guarantor will certainly prevent the recognition of the obligation as uncollectible. For if the main debtor does not have money, the guarantor may well have it, just sue paragraph 7 of the Information letter of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court dated 20.01.98 No. 28. And until you try to get funds from it, you cannot write off the debt as bad. When is it possible? See the already familiar list of reasons for this: the expiration of the limitation period, the liquidation of the surety company, etc. Letter of the Ministry of Finance of August 31, 2012 No. 03-03-06/2/96

Solidary debt ≠ bad debt

What is a joint debt? This is when several persons are equally responsible for the same obligation, among which there is no main debtor, that is, they are all equal. Accordingly, you can apply for payment both to each individually and to all at once. And as long as you have the opportunity to recover money from at least one of the solidary debtors, the obligation is not recognized as hopeless. Art. 323 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation; Letter of the Ministry of Finance dated 12.04.2012 No. 03-03-06/1/194.

In most cases, you should be aware of the "solidarity" of the receivable from the very beginning. So, if the agreement is signed by a member of a simple partnership conducting common business, he notifies the counterparty of his status. As a result, "comrades" are responsible for the debts of the community together. Finally, as has been said more than once, in connection with the death of an individual, the heirs assume his obligations jointly and severally within the value of the inherited property and pp. 1, 2 art. 1044, paragraph 2 of Art. 1047, paragraph 1 of Art. 1175 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

Read about the most important amendments to the first part of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, including the subsidiary obligations of participants who have not paid the company's Criminal Code, read:

But sometimes it happens that until some point you do not know anything about the "solidarity" of the debt. In particular, if the subsidiary entered into a transaction with you with the consent of the parent company or at its direction, the latter becomes a solidary debtor. LLC participants who have not paid their shares in the Criminal Code at the time of the conclusion of the agreement are also jointly and severally liable for the obligations of the company within the unpaid value of the share paragraph 2 of Art. 67.3, paragraph 1 of Art. 87 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

However, you are unlikely to find out about all this before you file a lawsuit or start bankruptcy proceedings. But as soon as you find out, you must be aware that until you try to recover what is due from all the defendants in the case, the debt will not become hopeless.

A little about the statute of limitations in the presence of solidary debtors. It starts for everyone at the same time, but it can end in different ways. How is this possible? Let's say you filed a claim for late payment of delivered goods to two solidary debtors. One remained silent, and the second replied with a letter in the style of "as soon as, so immediately!" signed by the director.

Assuming you no longer try to collect the debt, the statute of limitations will end after 3 years:

• for the first debtor - counting from the date of payment for the goods established by the contract paragraph 1 of Art. 196 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation;
• for the second debtor - counting from the date you received the letter in which the debt was recognized Art. 203 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

Consequently, the obligation will become uncollectible only when the period for presenting claims against the second debtor expires. The fact that by this time the term for relations with the first debtor will have time to expire does not play a role.

So, you have clearly defined: there is a debt, the reason to recognize it as hopeless has come, additional terms to write off accounts receivable, for which you do not want to quarrel with the tax authorities, are met. So now you have three questions:

• When can debt be written off?
• what documents to issue it;
• How to reflect what happened in tax and accounting?

In what period is bad debt written off and how to arrange it

By default - in the quarter when the debt acquired this status. In the same quarter, as a documentary justification for debt cancellation, you will need:

• primary, from which it follows that the receivable exists at all paragraph 1 of Art. 252 Tax Code of the Russian Federation;
• act of inventory of settlements with buyers, suppliers, other debtors and creditors. It has a uniform number INV-17, but nothing prevents you from developing your own clause 77 of Regulation No. 34n;
• order of the head, which fixes the hopelessness of the debt and orders to write off the corresponding amount from clause 77 of Regulation No. 34n. You can issue an order, for example, like this.

OOO "Neusledili"

ORDER
dated October 29, 2014 No. 123
About write-off of receivables

In connection with the expiration of the limitation period for the collection of debts from Denegnetinebudet LLC in the amount of 100,000 rubles, which arose on October 28, 2011 on the basis of the supply agreement dated October 22, 2011 No. 54 and the advance payment was transferred by payment order No. 231 dated October 23, 2011, in the absence facts of interruption (suspension) of the limitation period, according to Art. 196 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and clause 77 of the Regulation, approved. By order of the Ministry of Finance dated July 29, 1998 No. 34n,

I ORDER:

1. Chief accountant K.N. Rotozeyeva write off the specified amount in accounting and tax accounting by the date of publication of this order.

2. I reserve control over the execution of the order.

Familiarized with the order:

All other requirements of the IFTS for documenting the write-off of bad debts are illegal. So, inspectors are not entitled to insist that you submit a debt reconciliation act, since its implementation is your right, not an obligation. In general, similar papers to primary documentation do not apply Decree of the FAS Central Organ of October 17, 2013 No. A48-4654 / 2012.

Additional requirements of the Ministry of Finance to the procedure for writing off bad debts

Because bad debt reduces taxable income, officials go out of their way to make life difficult for the debt-foreclosure creditor. We have already considered what additional conditions they put forward for recognizing the obligation as uncollectible in principle. Now the turn has come to situations in which the inspectors do not argue with the very hopelessness of the debt, but illegally prevent it from being written off as expenses.

You can not write off the entire debt if there is a counter-debt

Suppose company A delivered goods to company B for 1000 rubles. No payment followed. After some time, firm B provided services to company A for 700 rubles. The latter answered the same - did not transfer a single ruble. And now, the statute of limitations has expired on the debt for the first delivery. What amount can company A include in expenses - the entire amount of 1000 rubles. or only 300 rubles. (1000 rubles - 700 rubles), that is, the difference between what is owed to her and what she owes?

The Ministry of Finance, of course, is in favor of the second option - the difference is written off as expenses. The rest of the company A can be set off against payment for the services rendered to it, and there is no question of hopelessness. However, officials have forgotten that according to the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, offsetting is a right, not an obligation. If company A used it - well, if not - the entire amount of 1000 rubles is considered hopeless for tax purposes. The Supreme Arbitration Court issued a similar verdict on the problem of creating a provision for doubtful debts. Art. 410 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation; Letter of the Ministry of Finance dated 04.10.2011 No. 03-03-06 / 1/620; Decision of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court dated March 19, 2013 No. 13598/12.

True, the position of the SAC is worth a conflict with the tax inspectorate, only if the hopelessness of the receivable occurs much earlier than the hopelessness of the creditor. In our example, the statute of limitations for payment for services rendered by company B to company A has not expired. This means that the latter has the right not to include in income a debt of 700 rubles, while expenses in the form of 1000 rubles. bad debts have already arisen. It turns out a kind of delay in the payment of income tax. And it can be extended, say, by periodically sending letters of repentance to company B with a promise to pay at the first opportunity.

But if, say, firm B goes into liquidation, both debts become bad at the same time. And arithmetically, it doesn’t matter at all what company A will do: it will include 1000 rubles. in expenses, and 700 rubles. in income or carry out a set-off and write off only 300 rubles for expenses. But in practice, the first option is preferable - there is a danger that the IFTS will not understand the nuances and simply include 700 rubles in income. And there, already in court, prove that the expenses were reduced by the same amount and there are no arrears.

If there is a reserve for doubtful debts, any debt is written off at his expense

You are well aware that the tax reserve for doubtful debts (RSD) forms only overdue debts for goods delivered, work performed or services rendered. That is, for example, the amount of the loan that the debtor is in no hurry to repay, or the amount of the advance against which the seller will not ship the goods in any way, is not included in the reserve. In addition, the value of RSD is limited to 10% of revenue calculated on an accrual basis from the beginning of the year, which means that due to exceeding the limit, even doubtful debt related to the sale of something may not be included in the reserve. pp. 1, 4 art. 266 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation; Letter of the Ministry of Finance dated 06/30/2011 No. 07-02-06 / 115.

At the same time, paragraph 5 of Art. 266 of the Tax Code states: in the presence of RSD, bad debts are written off at his expense and, only if the reserve is not enough, the balance is included in expenses separately. The Ministry of Finance interprets this norm unambiguously: even if the amount of bad debt did not form the RSD, it is first written off at its expense. And it doesn’t matter that this is, say, a debt under a loan agreement that you did not have the right to reserve at all Letter of the Ministry of Finance of July 17, 2012 No. 03-03-06/2/78.

However, YOU, unlike the ministry, reads Art. 266 of the Tax Code as a whole, not selectively. A complex interpretation leads to the only correct conclusion - unreserved bad debt reduces income separately, RSD does not affect its write-off. After this verdict, the IFTS will not be able to oppose you with something Resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court dated 17.06.2014 No. 4580/14.

Writing off the most popular types of debt

Now let's move on to writing off specific types of debt. Let's take bad debts that are often encountered: for goods delivered (work performed, services rendered), for the advance payment transferred, for a loan agreement, and, finally, for the assignment of a claim. In all cases, we will assume that you did not create a provision for doubtful debts.

An accounting nuance for accounts receivable written off due to the insolvency of the debtor (which is confirmed by the decision of the bailiff on the completion of enforcement proceedings) is that the amount of such debt must be kept on off-balance account 007 “Debt of insolvent debtors written off at a loss” for 5 years. For what? In order to check from time to time whether something has changed, suddenly the counterparty is ready to pay off the obligations

There is an opinion that the written-off receivable should be “stored” for 5 years on an off-balance account 007, regardless of the reasons for hopelessness. However, the Ministry of Finance Regulation No. 34n clearly states: this is relevant only when the debtor cannot pay his bills, that is, he simply does not have money. If the limitation period has expired, the debtor has been liquidated, and the like, then it is strange to talk about his insolvency.

Buyer's debt for unpaid goods (works, services)

The seller includes in the tax expenses the entire amount of the debt together with the VAT presented. Accept the latter for deduction due to the fact that the buyer has not paid, alas, I can’t paragraph 5 of Art. 171 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation; Letter of the Ministry of Finance of October 21, 2008 No. 03-03-06/1/596.

Contents of operation	Dt	CT
On the date of shipment
Goods shipped		90-1 "Revenue"
The cost of shipped goods is taken into account	90-2 "Cost of sales"	41 "Goods"
VAT charged	90-3 "Value Added Tax"	68 "Calculations on taxes and fees", subaccount "VAT"
As of the date of debt relief
Buyer bad debt written off	91-2 "Other expenses"	62 "Settlements with buyers and customers"
The written-off debt is reflected off the balance sheet to control the possibility of its collection (if the debt is written off due to the insolvency of the buyer)*	007 "Debt written off at a loss of insolvent debtors"

* For simplicity, such a record is not given in subsequent posting schemes.

The seller's debt on the advance payment, under which the shipment did not take place

As you know, having paid an advance payment and received an invoice, the buyer has the right to deduct the VAT listed as part of the advance payment. If the delivery took place or the parties agreed to break off relations, after which the seller would return the advance, the buyer, strictly in accordance with the Tax Code, would have to restore the advance VAT payable in the budget sub. 3 p. 3 art. 170, paragraph 12 of Art. 171 Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

But the debt has become hopeless, neither the first nor the second basis for the recovery of the advance VAT will ever come again. Nevertheless, this does not prevent the Ministry of Finance from requiring the buyer to restore the tax in this case. Letter of the Ministry of Finance No. 03-07-11/16527 dated April 11, 2014. As a result, the buyer has two options for how to write off bad debt in advance.

OPTION 1 (Ministry of Finance). Advance VAT is restored, the entire amount of the advance together with the specified tax is included in the expenses. For example, if the buyer transferred 118,000 rubles to the seller. (VAT 18,000 rubles), and then deducted 18,000 rubles, then when the receivable becomes uncollectible, he restores 18,000 rubles. VAT and reduces taxable income by 118,000 rubles. In the accounting it should be reflected as follows.

OPTION 2 (fully corresponding to NK, but risky). The buyer does not recover VAT, but includes the amount of the advance without this tax in the costs. In our example - 100,000 rubles. sub. 3 p. 3 art. 170, paragraph 1 of Art. 252 Tax Code of the Russian Federation

But be careful: in accounting for other expenses, the buyer writes off the entire amount of the debt - 118,000 rubles, and 18,000 rubles. VAT is charged to other income. The financial result, however, is the same - 100,000 rubles. loss. Postings on the date of debt cancellation will be as follows.

If the buyer initially did not accept advance VAT for deduction, since the Tax Code does not oblige him to do so, then he has only one way: to write off the entire amount of the debt together with the tax paid to the seller as expenses.

Debt of the borrower on the granted loan and interest

As soon as the borrower finds that the debt has become bad, he includes the principal amount of the loan in expenses. As for interest accrued up to and including the bad debt date, they undoubtedly increase costs. If the borrower continued to accrue interest, increasing tax revenues, then the corresponding amount is expensed as a bad debt only when it became bad debt due to:

• <или>expiration of the limitation period;
• <или>issuance by the bailiff of a decision on the completion of enforcement proceedings.

In all other situations, from the date the obligation became uncollectible, for example, after the liquidation of the borrowing company, interest was not subject to accrual. And if the lender mistakenly continued to do this, he will have to take into account interest not as bad debts, but as other reasonable non-operating expenses in the period when the error was discovered (subject to other conditions established by paragraph 1 of article 54 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation) sub. 20 p. 1 art. 265 Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

In accounting, writing off a bad loan obligation will look like this.

Contents of operation	Dt	CT
As of the loan disbursement date
Loan issued		51 "Settlement accounts"
On last number each month of using the loan
Loan interest accrued	76 "Settlements with various debtors and creditors", sub-account "Interest on loans issued"	91-1 "Other income"
As of the date of debt relief
Written off bad debt on the principal amount of the loan	91-2 "Other expenses"	58-3 "Granted loans"
Written off bad debt on interest	91-2 "Other expenses"
STORNO Excluded from other income are interest accrued after the unconditional termination of the borrower's obligations (liquidation, act of a state body, etc.)	76, sub-account "Interest on loans issued"	91-1 "Other income"

Debt acquired by assignment of a claim

What is an assignment transaction? The new creditor acquires the rights to the debt from the original creditor, or from someone who "bought" the debt from the original creditor and has now decided to assign it. During the assignment, VAT claims may or may not be presented to a new creditor, depending on whether the transaction is profitable for the “assignor”. The new creditor has the right to accept the tax deductible. When the input VAT will not be exactly, this is when the loan claim is assigned - this is a non-taxable operation paragraph 1 of Art. 382 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation; sub. 26 p. 3 art. 149, art. 155, sub. 1 p. 2 art. 171 Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

If the debtor pays off with a new creditor, he includes what he received in income, spent - in expenses, and calculates VAT from the positive difference (again, this does not apply to loans) sub. 26 p. 3 art. 149, paragraph 2 of Art. 155, paragraph 3 of Art. 279 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. But if the debt is hopeless, there will be no income. And in what amount should the costs be estimated - equal to the amount of the debtor's debt or the amount of the cost of acquiring it?

In numbers it looks like this. Suppose you bought a claim for 200,000 rubles. for the ruble The debtor successfully went bankrupt. What amount will reduce your taxable income - the first or the second?

Purely economically, of course, the ruble, since it was these funds that you actually spent on the deal and you lost them without receiving anything from the debtor. 200 000 rub. for you, unlike the original creditor, the value is virtual i.

We clarified this nuance with a specialist from the Ministry of Finance, and this is what they told us.

FROM AUTHENTIC SOURCES

“ An organization that acquired, for example, for 150 rubles. on the assignment of a claim, a debt in the amount of 200 rubles; if the debt is recognized as uncollectible, the right to include in expenses only the amount spent on acquiring the right to claim, that is, 150 rubles.

Ministry of Finance of Russia

Article 279 of the Tax Code establishes a special procedure for tax accounting for loss from the assignment of a claim for the original creditor. However, this norm has nothing to do with a new creditor who acquired a debt during an assignment, which then became hopeless. And indeed, the whole article. 279 is not for him.

But in accounting, everything is clear: expenses include the amount you spent on acquiring bad debt, regardless of its face value. After all, it is at the acquisition cost that the claim is listed as part of your financial investments, and the same value is written off when the hopelessness of the obligation becomes obvious. p. 3, p. 9, p. 21, p. 25, 26 PBU 19/02.

What else to consider when writing off a debt received by assignment of a claim? Its amount will have to be confirmed not only by the documents that issued the assignment, but also by the contract and the primary (or their certified copies), from which it follows that the acquired debt existed at all. If the debt stems from a supply contract, you need the contract itself between the original creditor and the debtor, plus an invoice. If a loan claim is acquired, a loan agreement is required, as well as a payment order for the transfer of its amount. And so on Decree 17 AAC dated 06.06.2011 No. 17AP-4034/2011-AK.

Here is a scheme for the correspondence of accounts for writing off bad debt acquired through the assignment of a claim.

Debt on sanctions for breach of contract

Given the negligence of the counterparty, whose obligations to you have become hopeless, you probably managed to charge him a penalty or a fine. And if the debtor recognized the fairness of the sanctions himself, for example, by reporting this in response to your claim, or the court did it for him, you were obliged to include contractual sanctions in accounting and tax income. sub. 20 p. 1 art. 265 Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

Writing off bad debt under sanctions in accounting will look like this.

It may sound naive, but still: the debtor, first of all, should strive not to correctly account for the bad debt for income tax purposes, but to ensure that the obligation does not become bad in principle. That is, it is necessary to regularly conduct an inventory and reconcile settlements, pull debtors, and not be afraid of the complexities of litigation. For what is the saved income tax compared to the irretrievably lost amount of debt?

In the event of the occurrence and non-payment by the enterprise of debts to its creditors in certain deadlines this debt is classified as overdue. If the creditor did not claim the overdue debt within the established period of time in court, in this case, the accounts payable are written off.

Grounds for the write-off procedure

There are the following grounds for writing off the company's debt to its creditors in the following cases:

• the expiration of the period specified for the limitation period (according to Article 196 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation - three years);
• termination of the activities of the creditor (Article 419 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation);
• when the creditor decides to forgive his debtor the amount of debt (Article 415 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation);
• upon the occurrence of events for which the creditor and debtor cannot be responsible (Article 416 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation);
• when issuing the act government agency it is impossible for the debtor organization to fulfill its obligations (Article 417 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation);
• if the creditor of the organization is an individual, then in the event of his death (Article 418 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

Debt cancellation process

The correctness of the procedure for writing off debts to creditors affects the accuracy of calculating profits in tax accounting and the accrual of penalties. As a result, the management of the enterprise should take a responsible approach to organizing the procedure for writing off their debts.

The entire procedure for writing off debt consists of the following steps, presented in Table 1.

Table 1. Debt cancellation procedure

Stages	Who implements	The essence of the stage	Documents are being drawn up	Note
1	Employees of the accounting department of an economic entity	At the end of the reporting period, an inventory procedure is carried out, during which the amounts of accounts payable are identified, incl. and overdue	Inventory acts (form INV-17)	For the timely identification of accounts payable, it is recommended to conduct an inventory on a regular basis. When carrying out the inventory procedure in common complex measures to write off debts to creditors, all accounts on which the organization keeps records of accounts payable and receivable are checked. During the inventory of debt, attention is drawn to debt to the budget and off-budget funds.
2	Employees of the company's accounting department	Prepare a certificate that reflects information on the identified amounts of accounts payable, incl. and with expired statute of limitations;	Reference	The certificate prepared by the accounting service of an economic entity must contain the following information: indication of the date and number of the agreement under which the overdue accounts payable arose; information on the necessary primary documents (invoices, acts, waybills, etc.); providing information on the expiration of the limitation period for claims; information about the lender.
3	Head of an economic entity	Prepare and issue an order to write off debts to creditors	Order to write off existing debts to creditors	An order to write off debts to creditors must contain the required details and necessary information: justification for writing off debts to certain creditors; it is obligatory to indicate references to legal documents (Civil Code of the Russian Federation, Tax Code of the Russian Federation, PBU, etc.); an indication of the recognition of the amount of debt written off to creditors for non-operating income (clause 18, article 250 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation); an indication of the position to which control over the execution of this order is entrusted. This usually indicates the position of the chief accountant. The order is prepared on the basis of the results of the inventory of debts with an overdue limitation period for claims and a certificate prepared by the employees of the accounting department of this business entity.
4	Accounting staff	Make bookkeeping entries for debt relief	Making changes to accounting records	Changes made to accounting registers are carried out in accounting and tax accounting. The write-off of obligations to creditors is reflected in the accounting at the expiration of the limitation period, otherwise the accounting department must submit an updated tax return in the next reporting period. Liabilities to creditors are written off for each existing overdue obligation.

From the presented steps for writing off debts, it can be seen that in the process of implementing this procedure, it is necessary to prepare certain documents.

Reflection in accounting

The write-off of obligations to creditors after the expiration of the limitation period is executed on the credit of account 91/1 and on the debit of those accounts on which it was taken into account:

• the write-off of overdue debts to suppliers is reflected - D 60;
• before other creditors - D 76;
• before the staff on remuneration - D 70, etc.

As a result entrepreneurial activity economic entities almost always have debts: either they themselves owe someone, or, conversely, someone owes them. Such debts are usually called accounts payable or accounts receivable, depending on who the debtor is.

Under accounts payable is understood the debt of the subject to other persons, which may be organizations, entrepreneurs, employees, founders. It is reflected in accounting as a liability of the organization. This debt may be due to:

• with suppliers and contractors for received material values work performed and services rendered;
• with buyers - on advances received on account of the forthcoming deliveries of goods, performance of work, provision of services under concluded contracts;
• with employees - on remuneration in the form of an accrued but not paid amount, as well as in terms of overspending on accountable amounts;
• with participants (founders) - on payment of declared dividends;
• with subsidiaries and dependent companies - for all types of operations performed by them;
• with lenders and creditors - on loans and credits;
• with the budget and off-budget funds - for taxes, fees and insurance premiums, etc.

The accounting regulation “Accounting statements of organizations” (PBU 4/99) (approved by order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 06.07.99 No. 43n) obliges the organization, when compiling financial statements - both interim and annual - to disclose indicators of accounts payable (clause 20 PBU 4/99). In the form of the balance sheet (approved by order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 02.7.10 No. 66n), a special line 1520 is provided for deciphering short-term accounts payable. The amounts of long-term accounts payable, if they are insignificant, are taken into account when forming the indicator entered in line 1450 “Other liabilities” of the balance sheet.

In the example given in the aforementioned order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia No. 66n, the example of filling out explanations for the balance sheet and the income statement contains table 5.4, in which it is proposed to provide data on accounts payable, the maturity of which, established by the agreement, has expired. Information on overdue receivables should be included in the table, whether or not the receivable is secured.

Write-off moment

In accounting, accounts payable continue to be taken into account until the date of its repayment. If the organization, for some reason, did not pay off the accounts payable and at the same time the creditor did not take any action in order to recover the amount due to him, then there comes a time when the economic entity has the right to write it off. And this can be done after the expiration of the statute of limitations.

Recall that the statute of limitations is the period for protecting the right on the claim of a person whose right has been violated. At the same time, the general limitation period is set at three years (Articles 195, 196 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

The running of the limitation period begins from the day when the creditor learned or should have known about the violation of his right. If the contract specifies a deadline for the performance of an obligation, then the limitation period begins to run from the day following the day of performance. If the term for performance is not provided for by the contract, then the limitation period begins from the moment when the creditor has the right to present a claim for the performance of the obligation (Article 200 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

An obligation that does not provide for a time limit for its performance and does not contain conditions that make it possible to determine this time period is obligated by civil law to be performed within a reasonable time after its occurrence. An obligation not fulfilled within a reasonable time, as well as an obligation, the term for the fulfillment of which is determined by the moment of demand, the debtor is obliged to fulfill within seven days from the date the creditor presents a demand for its fulfillment (clause 2, article 314 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). With this rule in mind civil law for obligations, the term for the performance of which is not determined by the contract, the calculation of the limitation period begins upon the expiration of seven days from the day the creditor submits a demand for the organization to fulfill its obligations. The document confirming the creditor's claim will be a letter received from him, a claim, a lawsuit, etc.

If the creditor does not declare his claims and does not take any actions in order to recover the amount of debt from the organization, then the limitation period begins to run after a reasonable period for fulfilling the obligation. A reasonable period is established by the organization independently, based on common sense and the timing of the fulfillment of obligations under similar agreements.

The limitation period is interrupted when a creditor's claim is brought (Article 203 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). It is also interrupted by some actions of the organization, indicating the recognition of the debt. These may include (clause 20 of the resolution of the plenums of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated November 12/15, 01 No. 15/18 “On some issues related to the application of the norms of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation on the limitation period”):

• recognition of the claim;
• partial repayment of debt both by the organization and by another person with its consent;
• payment of interest on principal;
• amendment of the contract by an authorized person, from which it follows that the debtor recognizes the existence of a debt, as well as the debtor's request for such a change in the contract (for example, a deferral or installment payment);
• acceptance of a collection order.

426).

After a break, the limitation period begins to be calculated anew, and the time elapsed before the break, in new term does not count (Article 203 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

Documents to write off

Amounts of accounts payable for which the limitation period has expired are written off for each obligation based on the inventory data, written justification and order (instruction) of the head of the organization (clause 78 of the Regulations on maintaining accounting and financial statements in the Russian Federation, approved. by order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated July 29, 1998 No. 34n).

Recall that the organization is obliged to conduct an inventory of property and liabilities before the preparation of annual financial statements. However, the head of the organization has the right to establish the number of inventories in the reporting year, the dates of their conduct, the list of property and obligations checked during each of them, etc. (clauses 27, 26 of the accounting regulations). With this in mind, when issuing an appropriate order, an inventory of settlements can be carried out at any time. At the same time, it is advisable to indicate in the order a partial inventory - only for settlements with suppliers and customers - and not a general one.

If the accounting policy of the organization determines the creation of reserves for doubtful debts both in accounting and in tax accounting, then an inventory of receivables should be carried out on the last day of each reporting (tax) period. Therefore, in this case, it is necessary to simultaneously conduct an inventory in terms of accounts payable.

Methodological guidelines for the inventory of property and financial obligations (approved by order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated June 13, 1995 No. 49) determine the procedure for its implementation. In the course of the inventory, all settlements with business partners are analyzed as of the next reporting date (the last day of the current calendar month), and amounts of accounts payable that are in excess of the limitation period are identified. Based on the results of its implementation, the inventory commission draws up an act of inventory of settlements with creditors.

From the start of action federal law dated 06.12.11 No. 402-FZ "On Accounting" forms of applied primary accounting documents are determined by the head of the economic entity on the proposal of the official responsible for accounting (clause 4, article 9 of Law No. 402-FZ). Moreover, each primary accounting document must contain all the mandatory details established by paragraph 2 of Article 9 of Law No. 402-FZ.

Although from January 1, 2013, the forms of primary accounting documents contained in the albums of unified forms of primary accounting documentation, are not mandatory for use, in our opinion, to draw up this act, you can use the unified form of the act of inventory of settlements with buyers, suppliers and other debtors and creditors (form No. INV-17, approved by the Decree of the State Statistics Committee of Russia dated 18.08.98 No. 88) . The act provides data not only on overdue accounts payable, but also on all accounts payable. It specifies:

• the name of the creditor;
• accounting accounts on which the debt is registered;
• amounts of debt agreed and not agreed with creditors;
• debts for which the statute of limitations has expired.

The act is drawn up on the basis of documented balances of the amounts on the relevant accounts. It is drawn up in two copies and signed by the members of the inventory commission. One copy of the act is transferred to the accounting department, the second remains in the commission.

It is advisable to attach a certificate to the act of inventory of calculations, which is the basis for drawing up this act. Such a certificate is compiled in the context of synthetic accounting accounts. For its compilation, data from accounting registers are used, as well as other documents justifying the amount of debt, including bilateral acts of reconciliation with counterparties. The certificate should contain the details of each creditor, the reason and date of the debt, its amount. When using unified forms of primary documents, this may be a certificate - an appendix to form No. INV-17.

Accounting

The accounting regulation “Income of the organization” (PBU 9/99) (approved by order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 06.05.99 No. 32n) prescribes to include in other income the amounts of accounts payable and depository debts for which the limitation period has expired. These amounts should be included in income reporting period when this event happened. The amounts of accounts payable are determined in the amounts in which this debt was reflected in the accounting of the organization (clauses 8, 10.4 and 16 of PBU 9/99).

Written-off accounts payable are reflected in other income as of the date of the inventory (clause 4, article 11 of Federal Law No. 402-FZ of 06.12.11 “On Accounting”, clause 10.4, paragraph 4, clause 16 PBU 9/99, clause 78 accounting regulations).

In accordance with the Instructions for the Application of the Chart of Accounts for Accounting for the Financial and Economic Activities of Organizations (approved by order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated October 31, 2000 No. 94n), other income is reflected in the credit of subaccount 1 "Other income" of account 91 "Other income and expenses" in correspondence with accounting accounts. And these can be the following accounts:

• 60 "Settlements with suppliers and contractors";
• 62 "Settlements with buyers and customers";
• 66 "Calculations on short-term credits and loans";
• 67 "Settlements on long-term credits and loans";
• 68 "Calculations on taxes and fees";
• 69 "Calculations for social insurance and security”;
• 70 “Settlements with personnel for wages”;
• 71 "Settlements with accountable persons";
• 73 "Settlements with personnel for other operations";
• 76 "Settlements with different debtors and creditors".

When writing off overdue accounts payable, there is no need to restore the amount of VAT previously accepted for deduction on purchased goods (works, services). After all, paragraph 3 of Article 170 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation establishes a closed list of cases when it is required to restore the tax. The case under consideration is not shown there. The fact that taxpayers do not have the obligation to restore the amount of VAT deductible when purchasing goods (works, services), in connection with the write-off of overdue accounts payable for these goods (works, services), was confirmed by the Ministry of Finance of Russia in a letter dated 06.21.13 No. 03 -07-11/23503.

Example 1

According to the results of the inventory conducted by the organization as of September 30, 2014, accounts payable with an expired limitation period for materials delivered in July 2011 were revealed. Their cost was 52,510 rubles, including VAT of 8,010 rubles. From the moment of receipt of the Inventory, payment for them has not been made, since then no claims have been made by the supplier. The statute of limitations ended on July 28, 2014.

In the accounting of the organization upon receipt of materials in July 2011, the following entries were made:

Debit 10 Credit 60

44 500 rub. - reflects the debt for the delivered materials;

Debit 19 Credit 60

8010 rub. - allocated VAT on supplied materials.

Since the materials were purchased for transactions subject to VAT, the organization had an invoice issued by their seller, and they were taken into account, which was confirmed by the relevant primary documents, the specified tax amount was deductible, although payment for the materials was not made :

Debit 68 subaccount "Calculations for VAT" Credit 19

8010 rub. - the VAT amount charged by the seller of materials is accepted for deduction.

In September 2014, when writing off accounts payable based on the results of the inventory, the following entry is made:

Debit 60 Credit 91-1

44 500 rub. - written off accounts payable on materials in connection with the expiration of the limitation period.

The moment of determining the tax base for VAT in accordance with paragraph 1 of Article 167 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation is the earliest of the following dates:

• day of shipment (transfer) of goods (works, services), property rights;
• the day of payment, partial payment on account of the forthcoming deliveries of goods (performance of work, provision of services), transfer of property rights.

The amount of VAT upon receipt of an advance payment is determined by the calculation method using the tax rate calculated as a percentage of the tax rate provided for in paragraph 2 or 3 of Article 164 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation (that is, 10 or 18%) to the tax base, taken as 100 and increased by the appropriate amount tax rate (clause 4, article 164 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Thus, upon receipt of advance payment, the seller has the moment of determining the tax base for VAT. In this regard, he is obliged to calculate the tax payable to the budget on an advance payment and draw up an invoice in the appropriate manner.

Accounts payable upon receipt by the organization of payment, partial payment on account of the forthcoming deliveries of goods by this organization (performance of work, provision of services, transfer of property rights), financiers recommended that they be reflected in the balance sheet in the assessment minus the amount of VAT payable (paid) to the budget in accordance with tax legislation (section II of the Recommendations to audit organizations, individual auditors and auditors when conducting an audit of the annual accounting (financial) statements for 2012, are given in the appendix to the letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 09.01.13 No. 07-02-18 / 01).

To summarize information on settlements with buyers and customers on accounting accounts, the instructions for using the chart of accounts provide for the use of account 62. This account is credited in correspondence with cash accounts, settlements for the amounts of payments received, including the amounts of advances received. The amounts of advances received are accounted for separately.

The debt to the budget in the form of VAT calculated from the prepayment received is recorded on the credit of account 68. At the same time, organizations independently determine the account corresponding with this account. As such, you can choose account 62, providing for it the corresponding sub-account. This can be account 19 "Value Added Tax on Acquired Values" or account 76.

Example 2

The organization received at the beginning of July 2011 an advance payment for the forthcoming supply of materials in the amount of 45,430 rubles. According to the contract, the materials were to be shipped before the end of this month. The materials were not delivered to the buyer, cash not returned. There were no claims from the creditor for 3 years. Based on the results of the inventory conducted at the end of September 2014, a decision was made to write off accounts payable.

Upon receipt of the advance payment in July 2011, the following entries were made in the accounting records:

Debit 51 Credit 62 sub-account "Calculations on advances received"

RUB 45,430 - prepayment received for the forthcoming supply of materials;

Debit 62 subaccount “VAT settlements from advances received” Credit 68 subaccount “VAT settlements”

6930 rub. (45,430 rubles: 118 × 18) - VAT has been charged on the advance payment.

When writing off this payable in September 2014, the following entry is made:

Debit 62 subaccount "Calculations on advances received" Credit 91-1

RUB 45,430 - written off accounts payable, for which the limitation period has expired.

VAT calculated and paid from the advance payment is not deductible when writing off accounts payable, since such a deduction is possible only in the event of termination of the contract and the return of the advance payment or the sale of goods (works, services) (clause 5 of article 171 and clause 6 of art. 172 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Therefore, the amount of calculated VAT recorded on the sub-account "Calculations for VAT from advances received" of account 62 is written off to other expenses:

Debit 91-2 Credit 62 sub-account “VAT settlements from advances received”

6930 rub. - reflects the amount of VAT calculated from the advance payment received.

Accounts payable of the organization, as mentioned above, may arise for the remuneration of employees or in connection with the overspending of the accountable amount. In some cases, even such debts have to be written off.

We remind you that the procedure for conducting cash transactions legal entities and simplified procedure for conducting cash transactions individual entrepreneurs and small businesses (approved by Bank of Russia instruction No. 3210-U dated March 11, 2014) instructs the cashier on the last day of issuing cash intended for payments wages, scholarships and other payments, put down in settlement- payroll(payroll) an imprint of a seal (stamp) or make an entry “deposited” opposite the names and initials of employees who have not been issued cash. At the same time, he calculates and records in the final line the amount of cash actually issued and the amount to be deposited, and the indicated amounts are compared with the total amount in the payroll (payroll) (clause 6.5 of the order). After that, the deposited funds are deposited in the bank.

Paragraph 6 of Article 226 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation obliges the tax agent to transfer to the budget the calculated and withheld amounts of personal income tax no later than the day the bank receives cash to pay salaries, as well as the day the income is transferred from the accounts of tax agents in the bank to the accounts of the taxpayer or, on his behalf, to the accounts of third parties. persons in banks. Moreover, this norm, according to officials, should be applied, including if wages were not issued to employees who were absent for various reasons.

Thus, the deposit of wages does not relieve the organization of the obligation to transfer the withheld personal income tax to the budget no later than the day the bank receives cash for the payment of wages.

Note that some arbitration courts also come to this position. Thus, the judges of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Urals District agreed with the tax authorities, who, when checking the personal income tax, charged the organization penalties for the late transfer of withheld tax amounts to the budget from the deposited wages, because:

• the legislator connects the tax agent's obligation to transfer the withheld personal income tax with the day he actually receives cash from the bank to pay income, and not with the day the employee of the company actually receives wages;
• depositing wages does not release the tax agent from the obligation to transfer the withheld personal income tax to the budget;
• wages are deposited excluding personal income tax

(Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Urals District dated 16.01.14 No. Ф09-13857/13).

Example 3

In June 2011, the employee left the organization. In July, she accrued a bonus to employees for the second quarter of this year in the amount of 946,270 rubles, including 14,470 rubles for a former employee. The employee was informed about the accrual, including by letter (with notification of receipt, which was received on August 4). But neither immediately, nor in the next three years, the dismissed employee did not apply for the money due to him. When carrying out an inventory of accounts payable in September 2014, the organization, after checking the expiration of the limitation period and confirming its expiration on August 4, wrote off the deposited premium amount.

When accruing a bonus to a former employee, personal income tax in the amount of 1,881 rubles was withheld from it. (((A rub. + 14,470 rubles) × 13% - A rub. × 13%), where A rub. - the amount of income subject to personal income tax, calculated on an accrual basis from the beginning of the calendar year to the date of dismissal of the employee, A rub. × 13% - the calculated amount of personal income tax from the specified income). The amount of the bonus due to the employee is 12,589 rubles. (14 470 - 1881) was deposited.

Withheld personal income tax was included in the total amount of tax withheld from bonus payments to employees for the second quarter. Its transfer to the account of the Treasury was carried out on the day of receipt of funds from the bank to the cash desk of the organization.

Calculation of the premium for the second quarter, its payment and delivery to the bank of the deposited amount of the premium former employee in July 2011 were accompanied by the following recordings:

Debit 20 Credit 70

RUB 931,800 (946 270 - 14 470) - the bonus for the second quarter was accrued to the employees of the organization;

Debit 20 Credit 76

RUB 14,470 - a bonus for the second quarter was accrued to a former employee;

Debit 70 Credit 68 subaccount "Calculations for personal income tax"

RUB 121,134 (931,800 rubles × 13%) - personal income tax withheld from bonuses paid to employees;

Debit 76 Credit 68 subaccount "Calculations for personal income tax"

1881 rub. - the amount of personal income tax was withheld from the bonus of the retired employee;

Debit 68 subaccount "Calculations for personal income tax" Credit 51

RUB 123,015 (121 015 + 1881) - the total amount of personal income tax withheld from employees from the bonus paid to them for the second quarter was transferred to the budget;

Debit 50 Credit 51

RUB 823,255 (946,270 – 123,015) - funds received to pay bonuses for the second quarter;

Debit 70 Credit 50

RUB 810,666 (823,255 – 12,589) - bonuses paid to employees for the second quarter;

Debit 76 Credit 76 sub-account 4 "Calculations on deposited amounts"

RUB 12,589 - the amount of the bonus not issued to the former employee was deposited;

Debit 50 Credit 51

RUB 12,589 - the deposited amount of the premium is handed over to the bank.

The write-off in September 2014 of the deposited amount of the premium is accompanied by the entry:

Debit 76-4 Credit 91-1

RUB 12,589 - the deposited amount of the dismissed employee's bonus is written off.

Article 231 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation provides for the return of the amount of personal income tax excessively withheld by a tax agent from the taxpayer's income. In this case, the refund is carried out by the tax agent on the basis of a written application of the taxpayer. Since the bonus was not paid to the employee, the tax agent, in principle, cannot receive such a statement from him.

The return to the tax agent of the amount of personal income tax transferred to the budget system of the Russian Federation is carried out by the tax authority in the manner prescribed by Article 78 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

Together with an application for a refund of the amount of tax withheld and transferred to the budget system of the Russian Federation, the tax agent is invited to submit to the tax authority an extract from the tax accounting register for the relevant tax period and documents confirming the excessive withholding and transfer of the amount of personal income tax.

Having seen these documents, the tax authorities will most likely refuse to refund, citing the fact that an application for a refund of the amount of overpaid tax can be filed within three years from the date of payment of the specified amount (clause 7, article 78 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Debit 51 Credit 68 subaccount "Calculations for personal income tax"

1881 rub. - returned the amount of overpaid personal income tax;

Debit 68 subaccount "Calculations for personal income tax" Credit 91-1

1881 rub. - the amount of personal income tax withheld from the bonus not received by the dismissed employee is taken into account in other income.

Not so often, but it happens that an organization has overdue accounts payable for dividend payments.

Accrued but not paid dividends, the shareholder may demand from joint-stock company within three years from the date of the decision to pay dividends or a longer period provided for by the charter of the company, which cannot exceed five years from the date of the decision to pay dividends. The deadline for filing a claim for the payment of unclaimed dividends, if it is missed, cannot be restored.

After such a period, declared and unclaimed dividends are restored as part of the company's retained earnings, and the obligation to pay them is terminated (clause 9, article 42 of the Federal Law of December 26, 1995 No. 208-FZ "On Joint Stock Companies").

For a member of the society with limited liability the circulation period is increased by an additional 60 days (or a smaller number of days allotted for the payment of dividends in accordance with the charter of the company or decision general meeting participants of the company on the distribution of profits between them), since the countdown in a similar norm established by clause 4 of Article 28 of the Federal Law of February 8, 1998 No. 14-FZ “On Limited Liability Companies” is conducted from the expiration of the dividend payment period (clause 3 of Art. 28 of Law No. 14-FZ).

As a tax agent, the company does not withhold from unpaid dividends:

• income tax if dividends are paid to a legal entity;
• personal income tax if dividends are paid to an individual, -

since such an obligation for the company arises only when the actual payment of income (dividends) to the shareholder (participant).

The write-off of accounts payable on dividends not claimed by the shareholder (member) within the established time limits is reflected by an entry on the debit of sub-account 2 “Calculations for the payment of income” of account 75-2 or on the debit of account 70, if the shareholder (member) of the company is an employee of the organization, and on the credit of account 84 "Retained earnings (uncovered loss)":

Debit 75-2 (70) Credit 84

The recovery of part of the profit not claimed by the shareholder (participant) is reflected.

To be continued

If the tax agent manages to convince the tax authorities that three years should be counted from the date when he found out about the excessive payment of tax, that is, from the moment the deposited amount was written off, then the possibility of refusal with the argument that the Tax Code of the Russian Federation does not contain a provision for tax refund is not ruled out. in the case under consideration, when personal income tax was not withheld, since the income was not physically paid to an individual. The amount of tax transferred to the budget in this case goes into the category of personal income tax paid at the expense of own funds tax agent, which is not allowed by paragraph 9 of Article 226 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

If the tax authorities return the amount of overpaid personal income tax, then the organization will have to take this amount into account in other income.

Under accounts payable is understood the debt of the subject to other persons, which may be organizations, entrepreneurs, employees, founders. It is reflected in accounting as a liability of the organization.

If three years have passed since the due date for the fulfillment of obligations, but during this period the parties signed an act of debt reconciliation, this act is the basis for interrupting the limitation period (letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 19.07.11 No. 03-03-06 / 1 /
426).

When an appropriate order is issued, an inventory of settlements can be carried out at any time. At the same time, it is advisable to indicate in the order a partial inventory - only for settlements with suppliers and customers - and not a general one.

Most characteristic appearance accounts payable is the debt to suppliers and contractors for the inventories supplied by them, services rendered, work performed.

The occurrence of accounts payable may be associated with the received prepayment for the goods supplied, work performed, services rendered.

Depositing wages does not release the organization from the obligation to transfer the withheld personal income tax to the budget no later than the day the bank receives cash to pay wages.

Since the funds were not paid to an individual, the amount of personal income tax transferred at the time becomes overpaid to the budget.

Vladimir ULYANOV, PBU expert