Submitting reports to the Federal Tax Service
You can submit tax returns on paper or electronically. Let's talk about the pros and cons of each method.
What do they submit to the Federal Tax Service?
Individual entrepreneurs and organizations submit tax and accounting reports to the Federal Tax Service.
With the help of tax reporting, organizations and individual entrepreneurs report to the Federal Tax Service about their income, expenses, tax benefits and main sources of profit. This is necessary to calculate the amount of mandatory taxes and fees for the next year.
There are two types of tax reporting:
- Tax return;
- Tax calculation of advance payment.
Accounting statements are information about the property and finances of an organization, as well as the final results of its economic activities in the reporting period. In addition, employers report to the tax authorities on behalf of employees. They provide:
- Average number of employees;
- Certificate in form 2-NDFL;
- Calculation according to form 6-NDFL;
- Calculation of insurance premiums
Important
: from 2021 the NSR report is cancelled. Information on the number of employees will be included in the calculation of insurance premiums.
How to submit reports to the Federal Tax Service
Paper reports can be sent by mail or come to the tax office in person. Electronic reporting is downloaded on the Federal Tax Service website or through a special operator.
When sending reports by mail, you need to make an inventory of the attachment and save the receipt with information about the shipment. In this case, the date of submission of reports is considered to be the day when the documents were accepted by postal employees. This method has two disadvantages: the shipment can take a very long time, and there is always a risk that it may be lost.
Personal visit
If you don’t want to wait for the letter to reach the tax office, you can go there yourself or send an authorized employee. The date of the visit will be considered the date of reporting. The advantage of this method is that the Federal Tax Service specialists will immediately check all the documents and point out possible errors.
Federal Tax Service portal
Reports can be submitted electronically in the taxpayer’s personal account on the Federal Tax Service website. Like a personal visit to the tax office, this method is free and safe. However, to work on the portal, the user needs an electronic signature - ES - and a crypto provider. The user must configure the software for operation himself - there are no consultants or technical support on the portal.
EDF operator
The most convenient way to submit reports is through an EDF operator. By connecting to the reporting service, you receive an electronic signature embedded in it and all the necessary software. A specialist sets up your work computer - you don’t have to install programs yourself. In the service, you send reports to the tax office and see at what stage the documents are.
Who submits only electronic reports?
Organizations that pay VAT provide the declaration only in electronic form. This applies to all organizations on OSNO, as well as those special regimes that indicate VAT on invoices.
They also report to the tax authorities via the Internet, organizations that:
Have the status of the largest taxpayer;
They have more than 100 employees.
The limitation on the number of employees also applies to newly created and reorganized LLCs. All other companies can choose between electronic and paper reporting.
How to submit reports online
Creating a report
Reporting services have all forms of reports. They are constantly updated and brought into compliance with legal requirements. This form can be filled out in the service or uploaded a ready-made document created in another program.
The report editor will check the document for errors and suggest what needs to be corrected. The finished report is sent to the tax office using the “Submit” button.
Statuses
In the service you can check at what stage of processing the report is. Statuses will help with this:
- Created
– the report has been generated or downloaded and saved in the system. - Sent
– the report has been sent to the regulatory authority. Confirmation of the dispatch date has been received from the electronic document management operator. - Accepted
– notification of receipt of the document has been received from the regulatory authority. - Processed
– an entry notification or protocol has been received.
Transaction information, that is, processing status, can be printed or sent by email.
"Astral.Report 5.0" is a simple and convenient service for submitting reports online. Fill out forms quickly and without errors, submit reports and respond to tax requirements on time. Switch to electronic reporting easily and conveniently.
How to connect to the Astral Report 5.0 service
To work with secure document flow, a qualified electronic signature is required. It is created when connecting to the service and is included in the license price. Even if you already have an electronic signature, you won’t be able to use it to work in the service - it requires other settings.
To connect to Astral Report 5.0:
Electronic reporting to the Pension Fund of Russia
Form SZV-STAZH
No later than March 1, all policyholders must submit to the Pension Fund information about the length of service of the insured persons (Clause 2, Article 11 of Federal Law No. 27-FZ dated 01.04.96; hereinafter Law No. 27-FZ). You must report in the form SZV-STAZH, ODV-1 and other forms approved by Resolution of the Pension Fund Board of December 6, 2018 No. 507p.
The method of presenting information about length of service depends on the number of insured persons included in the report. If the number is 25 or more people, information must be submitted electronically. If the report reflects 24 people or less, you can present the information “on paper”. This rule is enshrined in paragraph 2 of Article 8 of Law No. 27-FZ.
Fill out and submit SZV-STAZH (SZV-ISKH, SZV-KORR) and EDV-1 via the Internet Submit for free
Form SZV-M
No later than the 15th day of each month, policyholders must submit to the Pension Fund information about the insured persons in the SZV-M form (this information includes full name, SNILS and TIN). This obligation is provided for in paragraph 2.2 of Article 11 of the Federal Law of 01.04.96 No. 27-FZ.
The method of submitting information on the SZV-M form depends on the number of insured persons included in the report. If the number is 25 or more people, information must be submitted electronically. If the report reflects 24 people or less, you can present the information “on paper”. This rule is enshrined in paragraph 2 of Article 8 of the Federal Law of 01.04.96 No. 27-FZ.
Fill out, check and submit the SZV-M via the Internet Submit for free
Form SZV-TD
In connection with the advent of electronic work books, the SZV-TD form was introduced.
In 2021, it must be taken if the employee joined the staff, transferred to another permanent job, submitted an application to choose the form of the work record book (paper or electronic) or quit. In each of these cases, the deadline for submitting the report is no later than the 15th day of the month following the one in which the corresponding event occurred. If information is submitted for the first time, you must simultaneously provide information about your employment with the same policyholder as of January 1, 2021.
If the employee got a job in 2021 or earlier, and in 2021 did not quit, was not transferred, and did not apply to choose the form of the work book, he must proceed as follows. Submit SZV-TD for it as of January 1, 2021 no later than February 15, 2021 (see “General reporting on the SZV-TD form: who must submit information before February 15 and how to fill out the report”).
In 2021 and beyond, when hiring or dismissing an employee, you will need to submit the SZV-TD no later than the working day following the day the relevant order or other personnel document is issued. When transferring to another permanent job and when submitting an application to choose the work book form, SZV-TD must be submitted no later than the 15th day of the month following the one in which this event occurred. If there is no employment, transfer, dismissal or application regarding the work record, then there is no need to submit a report.
Policyholders who employed 25 or more insured persons in the previous month must submit the SZV-TD via the Internet. To do this, you can use the free program of the Pension Fund, or you can use any other service.
Fill out and submit the SZV-TD via the Internet Submit for free
Registers of insured persons
Employers who pay additional insurance contributions for a funded pension for their employees must create registers of insured persons in the DSV-3 form. Registers are submitted to the Pension Fund no later than the 20th day of the month following the quarter in which additional contributions were transferred.
The method of presenting information in the DSV-3 form depends on the number of personnel for the previous reporting period. If the number of employees is 25 insured persons or more, the report is submitted in electronic form, in other cases the report can be submitted on paper (Part 7, Article 9 of Federal Law No. 56-FZ of April 30, 2008).
Fill out and submit DSV-3 online for free
Fines for violators
If a taxpayer who is required to report to the Federal Tax Service in electronic form submits a report “on paper”, he will have to pay a fine of 200 rubles. (Article 119.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
For policyholders who violate the procedure for submitting information to the Pension Fund in the form of electronic documents, a sanction of 1,000 rubles is provided. (Article 17 of Law No. 27-FZ).
An insured who does not comply with the procedure for submitting Form 4-FSS in electronic form will be fined 200 rubles. (clause 2 of article 26.30 of Law No. 125-FZ).
Note that in practice, submitting paper reports instead of electronic ones often leads to other, more unpleasant consequences for business. Violators simply risk ruining relations with representatives of regulatory authorities. Officials take violators seriously and treat their reports, as well as their activities, more skeptically than the reports of bona fide payers. In addition, controllers are beginning to more often use various formal grounds for refusing to accept reports. And this, in turn, is fraught with fines for violating reporting deadlines.
Tax reporting
Tax reporting in electronic form in accordance with Article 80 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation is submitted by all taxpayers whose average number of employees exceeds 100 people. The largest taxpayers also report only according to the TKS.
There are exceptions when reporting must be done electronically and for those with fewer than 100 employees.
VAT declarations. It is always submitted only electronically, including updated declarations. There are exceptions to this rule. The following can submit declarations on paper:
- tax agents who are not VAT payers and do not conduct intermediary activities with the issuance of invoices on their own behalf (clause 5 of Article 174 and clause 3 of Article 80 of the Tax Code). Tax agents who purchase recyclable materials do not fall under this exception. They submit declarations electronically;
- legal successors of organizations operating under special regime;
- foreign organizations that provide electronic services in Russia, and foreign tax agents.
Forms 2-NDFL, 6-NDFL and calculation of insurance premiums. These reports can be submitted on paper only if in the reporting period there were up to 10 people who received payments. All other employers must submit these reports electronically (paragraph 6, paragraph 2, article 230, paragraph 10, article 431 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
Note! Since 2021, form 2-NDFL has been combined with 6-NDFL. When submitting reports for 2021, you need to submit two forms as usual: 2-NDFL and 6-NDFL, and from the report for 2021 you will need to submit only 6-NDFL.
Forms 4-FSS, SZV-STAZH, SZV-M, SZV-TD. If these reports are provided for 25 or more people, they must be submitted strictly electronically. It is possible that this rule will change in 2021. The Ministry of Labor has prepared a bill in which it proposes to oblige employers to submit electronic reports if there are more than 10 employees.
What is EO
Electronic reporting (ER) - provision of established forms of reports to the Social Insurance Fund, Pension Fund of the Russian Federation, tax authorities and Rosstat - is used by organizations and individual entrepreneurs both on a mandatory and voluntary basis.
This depends on the type of tax and the size of the taxpayer’s staff. How to submit reports to the tax office electronically for free - register a personal account and receive an electronic signature. The services of specialized operators are more convenient in that they allow you to generate and check reports before sending them.
Reporting to the Social Insurance Fund in electronic form
4-FSS
Insurers must report quarterly on contributions to compulsory social insurance against industrial accidents and occupational diseases in Form 4-FSS. The method of presentation depends on the average number of insured persons. Thus, calculations in form 4-FSS must be sent via the Internet if the average number of employees for the previous period exceeds 25 people. This also applies to newly created (including reorganized) companies with more than 25 employees. All other contribution payers can submit 4-FSS both online and on paper.
Please note: the method of submitting Form 4-FSS affects the deadlines. Reports in paper form should be submitted no later than the 20th day of the calendar month following the reporting period. You can report electronically no later than the 25th (Clause 1, Article 24 of Federal Law No. 125-FZ of July 24, 1998).
Fill out and submit 4‑FSS online using the current form
Registers of information for payment of sick leave
Since January 2021, in all regions, employees receive sick leave benefits not from employers, but directly from the Social Insurance Fund. Employers are required to submit to the social insurance fund registers of information necessary for the appointment and payment of benefits (see “Starting 2021, benefits will be paid directly from the Social Insurance Fund in all regions of Russia”).
The method of presenting the register depends on the average number of individuals who received payments from a given employer. If the average number of employees for the previous billing period exceeds 25 people, registers must be submitted via the Internet. This also applies to newly created (including reorganized) companies with more than 25 employees. All other employers can submit registers both online and on paper (clause 4 of the regulation approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated December 30, 2020 No. 2375).
Note that when submitting registers, those policyholders who use web services to prepare and check reports (for example, the system for sending reports “Kontur.Extern”) feel most comfortable. There, all current formats are installed automatically, without user intervention. The test program is also updated automatically. If the data entered by the policyholder does not correspond to the control ratios, the system will certainly warn him about this and tell him how to correct the errors.
Create and submit registers through “Kontur.Extern”
Voluntary submission of EO
In all other cases, reporting in electronic form is submitted at the request of the taxpayer or policyholder. Over the past few years, there has been a noticeable trend towards the transfer of reporting submitted by companies in all fields of activity to reporting through electronic channels.
This is convenient for regulatory authorities because it reduces the time for processing paper reports and brings everything to a single format.
This is convenient for legal entities and individual entrepreneurs, because it allows them to avoid exhausting visits to the tax office and funds and eliminates the possibility of disputes with government agencies about the timing of sending reports by mail in controversial cases.
Financial statements
Starting from 2021, all organizations without exception submit financial statements only in electronic form. In 2021, small businesses could still report on paper; from 2021, electronic accounting becomes mandatory for everyone.
To submit financial statements and audit reports, the taxpayer is required to use electronic files approved by:
- by order of the Federal Tax Service dated November 13, 2019 No. ММВ-7-1/ [email protected] - for all organizations except reorganized and liquidated ones;
- by letter of the Federal Tax Service dated November 25, 2019 No. VD-4-1/ [email protected] - for reorganized and liquidated organizations, including those who submit simplified accounting.
The date of submission of the financial statements and auditor's report is considered to be the date indicated in the acceptance receipt. The tax office will send this receipt to the organization within one business day after receiving the report.
The tax office will refuse to accept documents if:
- files are not presented in formats approved by the tax service;
- they are not signed with an enhanced qualified signature;
- The accounting records were mistakenly sent to another tax office, and not to the one where the organization is registered.
If the tax office discovers these errors, it is obliged to send the organization a notice of refusal to accept documents. The deadline for sending is one business day from the date of receipt of the report and conclusion. The organization needs to correct the errors and send the documents to the tax office again.
