The procedure for filling out form 6-NDFL. How not to make mistakes when filling out 6-NDFL

If there are no grounds for filing 6-NDFL, it is recommended to notify the Federal Tax Service about this before the deadline for submitting the calculation. There are no legal requirements for providing zero calculations or written notification, but a letter to the tax office about failure to provide 6-NDFL will help avoid imposing a fine on the company. This document notifies tax authority specialists in advance about the reasons for the absence of income tax calculations in the database for an enterprise or individual entrepreneur.

Business entities that act as a tax agent in relations with employees must submit Form 6-NDFL to the Federal Tax Service. If the enterprise does not use the services of hired personnel, then the obligation to provide income tax calculations does not arise (letter of the Federal Tax Service No. BS-4-11/4901 dated March 23, 2016).

The situation is different for those individual entrepreneurs and legal entities that accrued income to employees at the beginning of the year, but in the second and subsequent quarters there were no wage expenses - they must continue to prepare 6-personal income tax until the end of the reporting year. The reason is that the calculation form reflects the data on an accrual basis.

When you don’t have to submit a calculation using Form 6-NDFL:

the business entity did not have hired personnel during the reporting period;
since the beginning of the year, employees have not received income from the employer;
the enterprise did not operate in the designated time range.

The fine for failure to provide 6-NDFL is provided for in Art. 126 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. It is the practice of tax authorities to prosecute all taxpayers who are registered in their database but have not filed a report. This can be prevented in two ways:

generate and send a zero calculation, which is not provided for by regulations, but must be accepted by the Federal Tax Service, which is confirmed by a letter dated 05/04/2016 under No. BS-4-11/ [email protected] ;
notify the Federal Tax Service in writing that there are no grounds for filling out 6-NDFL.

The fine for failure to provide 6-NDFL is equal to 1000 rubles for each month of delay (clause 1.2 of Article 126 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Every day of delay in filing a document is taken into account. The full fine is also imposed for incomplete monthly intervals (even if there is only 1 day in an incomplete month).

Letter to the tax office regarding non-provision of 6-NDFL

It is recommended to notify tax authorities of the absence of grounds for filling out form 6-NDFL in advance - before the expiration of the period allotted for submitting this calculation. The message is in written form; there is no universal text template. The letter must include the following information:

information about the addressee - the name of the Federal Tax Service that serves the taxpayer;
details by which the individual entrepreneur or legal entity sending the letter can be identified;
brief explanations of the reasons for failure to submit Form 6-NDFL, indicating links to the regulatory framework;
in the justification, you can include references to letters from the Federal Tax Service confirming the right of taxpayers not to submit calculations in the absence of a tax base for personal income tax;
the period for which the business entity does not generate personal income tax calculations;
if necessary, additional explanations are provided about the circumstances that led to the absence of a taxable amount for personal income tax, for example, lack of activity;
signature of the head of the company.

If the letter is signed not by the director, but by an authorized representative, along with the notification, you must also send a copy of the power of attorney, which gives authority to the signatory. Explanations are assigned an outgoing number, which is recorded in the outgoing correspondence log.

6-NDFL: to provide or not

Submission of the 6-NDFL calculation is the responsibility of tax agents (Article 226 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). To begin to fulfill this responsibility, you must:

be a company, individual entrepreneur, a person who has established a law office, a separate division of a foreign or domestic company;
issue income to individuals during the reporting period.

For tax agents, presentation of 6-NDFL:

it is absolutely mandatory if at least one payment was made to an individual during the reporting period (the amount does not matter);
it is possible (but not necessary) if payments were not made (in a situation of lack of staff, financial difficulties, etc.) - in the form of a zero calculation.

In the first case, failure to submit 6-NDFL within the time limits stipulated by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation may lead to 2 troubles: a fine and (or) blocking of the account.

K+ experts explained in detail how long it will take for the tax inspectorate to make a decision to suspend transactions on accounts. Get trial online access to K+ for free and proceed to the explanations.

The second situation is not a reason for negative consequences, however, various kinds of “tax surprises” can introduce chaos and confusion, which can temporarily deprive the company of the ability to function normally.

Some of these surprises include:

high probability of rejection of zero 6-personal income tax by software at the stage of receipt of the report by tax authorities;
factors of objective (for example, software failure) and subjective (for example, an inspector making an erroneous decision) properties.

In this situation, the suspension of account transactions may prevent the tax agent from functioning normally if the inspectors do not receive 6-NDFL from him.

Additional insurance, which will be discussed in the next section, will help you avoid negative consequences.

6-NDFL: to provide or not

Submission of the 6-NDFL calculation is the responsibility of tax agents (Article 226 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). To begin to fulfill this responsibility, you must:

be a company, individual entrepreneur, a person who has established a law office, a separate division of a foreign or domestic company;
issue income to individuals during the reporting period.

For details of the duties and responsibilities of tax agents for personal income tax, see the article “Tax agent for personal income tax: who is, responsibilities and BCC.”

For tax agents, presentation of 6-NDFL:

it is absolutely mandatory if at least one payment was made to an individual during the reporting period (the amount does not matter);
it is possible (but not necessary) if payments were not made (in a situation of lack of staff, financial difficulties, etc.) - in the form of a zero calculation.

In the first case, failure to submit 6-NDFL within the time limits stipulated by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation may lead to 2 troubles: a fine and (or) blocking of the account.

Some of these surprises include:

high probability of rejection of zero 6-personal income tax by software at the stage of receipt of the report by tax authorities;
factors of objective (for example, software failure) and subjective (for example, an inspector making an erroneous decision) properties.

In this situation, the suspension of account transactions may prevent the tax agent from functioning normally if the inspectors do not receive 6-NDFL from him.

Read more in the article “Is it possible to avoid blocking an account for failure to submit 6-NDFL?”

Additional insurance, which will be discussed in the next section, will help you avoid negative consequences.

How to fill out the 6-NDFL report: learning the rules

How to fill out form 6-NDFL? The order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated October 14, 2015 No. ММВ-7-11/ [email protected] , approving the procedure for preparing this report.

Filling out 6-NDFL is carried out taking into account the following requirements set out in Appendix 2 to the order of the Federal Tax Service:

the basis for filling out the report is data from tax registers for personal income tax (mandatory for maintaining by each tax agent);
the number of report pages is not limited and depends on the amount of data (taking into account the rows and cells provided by the report);
for each report indicator - 1 field (except for dates and decimal fractions - the order of their reflection is regulated by paragraphs 1.5, 1.6 of the application);
in the absence of any total indicators, 0 is entered in the cells intended for them, and dashes are inserted in empty familiar spaces;
direction of filling cells - from left to right;
When preparing a paper version of the report, it is not allowed: filling it out with multi-colored ink (only black, purple and blue are allowed), correcting erroneous entries with a correction pencil (or other means), double-sided printing, as well as using a method of fastening that leads to damage to report sheets;
for a report generated using software, it is allowed to have no borders of familiar spaces and to cross out empty cells, print in Courier New font 16–18 points high, and changing the size of the location and size of the details’ values is not allowed.

“Salary” prepayment: sample in 6-NDFL

When filling out 6-NDFL, it is necessary to take into account all income of individuals subject to personal income tax. A “salary” advance is such income for each employee. However, for the purpose of calculating personal income tax, it has the following distinctive features:

an advance is a part of “salary” income paid in advance, personal income tax on which is not separately determined, withheld or transferred to the budget;
the advance in 6-NDFL is not reflected separately, but is included in the total earnings accrued for the entire past month (advance + final payment) - this total amount is reflected in the report;
the date of reflection of the advance in 6-NDFL is the day of accrual of earnings - according to clause 2 of Art. 223 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, it falls on the last day of the month for which salaries are calculated.

Let's look at the features of reflecting an advance in 6-NDFL (filling example).

Rustrans LLC employs 38 people: drivers, couriers, dispatchers. The monthly total earnings of all employees of the company is 1,216,000 rubles, for 9 months - 10,944,000 rubles.

The advance is issued in a fixed amount (each employee 10,000 rubles), and the final payment is made personally in accordance with the time worked and the tariff rate (salary).

The issuance of earned money is carried out within the time limits established by the Regulations on the remuneration of Rustrans LLC:

advance payment - on the 20th of each month;
final payment is made on the 5th day of the month following the month worked.

To simplify the example, we will assume that employees of Rustrans LLC do not have rights to deductions and, apart from the advance payment and final payment, did not receive any other income in the current period.

Section 1 of the 6-NDFL declaration for 9 months will look like this:

line 010 - “salary” tax rate (13%);
line 020 - total amount of accrued earnings 10,944,000 rubles. (RUB 1,216,000 × 9 months);
line 040 and line 070 - calculated and withheld “salary” personal income tax = 1,422,720 rubles. (RUB 10,944,000 × 13%).

A sample of filling out 6-NDFL in 2020-2021 (section 1) is presented below:

We will explain how to place data in the second section of 6-NDFL (filling procedure) in the next section.

Completing section 1

Let us recall that in Sect. 1 of the calculation indicates the amounts of accrued income, calculated and withheld tax, generalized for all individuals, on an accrual basis from the beginning of the tax period at the appropriate tax rate. When filling out this section, tax agents make the following mistakes:

1) filling out section 1 not with an accrual total . This directly contradicts clause 3.1 of the Order >;

2) inclusion in line 020 “Amount of accrued income” of income not subject to personal income tax . In accordance with clause 3.3 of the Procedure, this line should reflect the amount of accrued income generalized for all individuals on an accrual basis from the beginning of the tax period. At the same time, income not subject to personal income tax in accordance with Art. 217 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation , are not reflected in the calculation ( Letter of the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation dated 01.08.2016 No. BS-4-11 / [email protected] >);

3) reflection in line 070 “Amount of tax withheld” of tax amounts that will be withheld only in the next reporting period . Such an error, as a rule, is made when indicating personal income tax on wages that were accrued in one reporting period and paid in another (for example, when paying wages for March in April). Taking into account the fact that tax is withheld from wages upon direct payment, in relation to the example given, the amount of tax should be indicated in the report for the half-year, and not in the report for the first quarter;

4) indication in line 080 “Amount of tax not withheld by the tax agent” of the tax, the obligation to withhold and transfer which has not yet occurred . In accordance with clause 3.3 of the Procedure, line 080 of the calculation indicates the total amount of tax not withheld by the tax agent, cumulatively from the beginning of the tax period in cases where the tax agent does not have the opportunity to withhold the calculated amount of tax.

Completing section 2

According to clause 4.1 of the Procedure in section. 2 calculations indicate the dates of actual receipt by individuals of income and tax withholding, the timing of tax transfer and the amounts of income actually received and withheld tax generalized for all individuals.

The Federal Tax Service has repeatedly explained that in section. 2 calculations reflect only those transactions that were carried out during the last three months of the reporting period ( letters dated July 21, 2017 No. BS-4-11/ [email protected] , dated January 16, 2017 No. BS-4-11/499 , dated May 22, 2017 No. BS-4-11/9569 ). For example, when filling out the calculation for 2021 in its section. 2 reflects transactions performed in October, November and December 2021.

Despite this, some tax agents continue to fill out section. 2 calculations on an accrual basis from the beginning of the year, which is a gross violation .

In accordance with clause 4.2 of the Procedure, when filling out section. 2 calculations, blocks from lines 100 - 140 are filled out separately for each tax payment deadline, including in cases where different types of income have the same date of actual receipt, but different tax payment deadlines. This is indicated in letters of the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation dated 03/18/2016 No. BS-4-11/ [email protected] , dated 05/11/2016 No. BS-4-11/8312 . For example, on May 31, 2017, wages for May and vacation pay for June were paid. Despite the fact that the date of actual receipt of the said income on the basis of Art. 223 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation recognizes one day - 05/31/2017, data on it is included in section. 2 calculations in separate blocks due to the fact that the timing of tax transfers for these incomes is different:

– for vacation pay, the tax payment deadline falls on 05/31/2017;

– for wages – as of 06/01/2017.

The Federal Tax Service in Letter No. GD-4-11/ [email protected] ( clause 19 ) also notes that (wages, holiday pay, sick leave, etc. into separate groups is a violation of the procedure for filling out the calculation .

When filling out lines 100 - 140 for various types of income, the most common mistakes are incorrectly indicating the date of actual receipt of income (line 100), the date of tax withholding (line 110) and the deadline for transferring tax (line 120) . Next, we’ll look at how to correctly fill out such lines.

Payment of wages

In accordance with paragraph 2 of Art. 223 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation , when receiving income in the form of wages, the date of actual receipt of such income is recognized as the last day of the month for which income was accrued for work duties performed in accordance with the employment agreement (contract).

Vacation pay

In accordance with paragraphs. 1 clause 1 art. 223 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the date of actual receipt of income in the form of vacation pay is defined as the day of payment of income, including the transfer of income to the taxpayer’s bank accounts or, on his behalf, to the accounts of third parties.

According to paragraph 4 of Art. 226 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, tax agents are required to withhold the accrued amount of tax directly from the taxpayer’s income upon their actual payment, taking into account the specifics established by this paragraph.

When paying income to a taxpayer in the form of vacation pay, tax agents are required to transfer the amounts of calculated and withheld tax no later than the last day of the month in which such payments were made ( clause 6 of Article 226 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation ).

The employee of the institution goes on vacation from 06/01/2017. The amount of vacation pay for June 2021 (RUB 7,000) was paid to the employee on May 25, 2017. The amount of personal income tax calculated from vacation pay was 910 rubles.
In Sect. 2 calculations for the first half of 2021, this operation will be reflected as follows:
– line 100 indicates 05/25/2017;
– on line 110 – 05.25.2017;
– on line 120 – 05/31/2017;
– on line 130 – 7,000;
– on line 140 – 910.

The order of reflection in Sect. 2 calculations of operations for paid vacation with subsequent dismissal are explained in the Letter of the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation dated May 11, 2016 No. BS-3-11 / [email protected] Let’s assume that vacation payment was made on March 15, 2017. In this case, in Sect. 2 calculations for the first quarter of 2021, such an operation will be reflected as follows:

– line 100 indicates 03/15/2017;

– on line 110 – 03/15/2017;

– on line 120 – 03/31/2017;

– on lines 130, 140 – the corresponding total indicators.

Sick leave payment

The date of actual receipt of income in the form of temporary disability benefits is the day of payment of income, including the transfer of income to the taxpayer’s bank accounts or, on his behalf, to the accounts of third parties (clause 1, clause 1, article 223 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation ).

Tax agents are required to withhold tax from benefits upon their actual payment ( Clause 4 of Article 226 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation ). At the same time, tax agents are required to transfer the calculated and withheld tax when paying the taxpayer income in the form of temporary disability benefits (including benefits for caring for a sick child) no later than the last day of the month in which such payments were made ( clause 6 of Article 226 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation ).

The employee was on sick leave from June 5 to June 9, 2021. The benefit was paid on June 15, 2021 after the presentation of a certificate of temporary incapacity for work.
In Sect. 2 calculations of 6-NDFL, these transactions will be reflected as follows:
– on line 100 – 06/15/2017;
– on line 110 – 06/15/2017;
– on line 120 – 06/30/2017;
– on lines 130, 140 – the corresponding total indicators.

It is worth noting that the reflection of transactions on payment of sick leave in the calculation is reflected upon the fact of payment of benefits. If income in the form of temporary disability benefits is accrued in one reporting period and paid in another, such income, as well as the tax calculated on it, are reflected in section. 1 and 2 calculations in the period in which the benefit was paid ( Letter of the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation dated 01.08.2016 No. BS-4-11 / [email protected] ).

The temporary disability benefit accrued to the employee for June 2021 was transferred on July 5, 2021.
This operation is to be reflected in Section. 1, 2 calculations for nine months of 2021. At the same time, when filling out section. 2 calculations, the operation to pay benefits in July is reflected as follows:
– on line 100 – 07/05/2017;
– on line 110 – 07/05/2017;
– on line 120 – 07/31/2017;
– on lines 130, 140 – the corresponding total indicators.
Since the benefit was actually transferred in July, the grounds for reflecting this operation in lines 020 and 040 of section. 1 calculations for the first half of 2021 are missing. The presence of values in the specified lines will be considered an error ( clause 9 of Letter No. ГД -4-11/ [email protected] ).

Payment of bonuses

In order to reflect the amount of premiums in the calculation, it is necessary to correctly determine the date of actual payment. Here is what the Federal Tax Service explains about this:

6-NDFL in 2020 - 2021: sample of filling out the second section

The procedure for filling out the second section of 6-NDFL is regulated by clauses 4.1–4.2 of section IV of the Federal Tax Service order No. ММВ-7-11/ [email protected] :

blocks pp. 100–140 must be filled out, reflecting the dates and amounts of actual receipt of income and withholding of personal income tax, as well as the timing of its transfer;
data is provided for the last 3 months of the reporting period;
blocks of the specified lines are filled out separately for each period of personal income tax transfer (including for income that has the same dates of actual receipt).

When filling out section 2 of the 6-NDFL declaration in the situation of employees receiving an advance and final payment, the following must be taken into account (example continued):

3 blocks, pp. 100–140, are filled in, despite the fact that there were 6 payments (advance payments took place on 07/19/20XX, 08/20/20XX and 09/20/20XX, final payment - on 07/05/20XX, 08/05/20XX and 09/05/20XX);
on page 100 in 6-NDFL - the dates of actual receipt of “salary” income (06/30/20XX, 07/31/20XX and 08/31/20XX);
on page 110 - dates of tax withholding from final “salary” payments;
on page 120 - the deadline allowed by law for the transfer of personal income tax (for wages, this date is the day following the issuance of wages, clause 6 of Article 226 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation);
on pp. 130 and 140 - earnings (including advance) and personal income tax calculated from its amount.

A sample of filling out form 6-NDFL (section 2) is presented below:

Section 2 included the June earnings of employees, but did not include the September earnings of employees - this is a feature of the carryover payments, which were discussed in the previous sections. Page 110 is filled out in accordance with the date of issue of the second (final) amount of earnings stipulated by the local act of Rustrans LLC - monthly on the 5th. A separate explanation is required on page 120, which is devoted to the timing of the transfer of personal income tax; this will be discussed in the next section.

6-NDFL in 2021 - 2021: sample of filling out the second section

The procedure for filling out the second section of 6-NDFL is regulated by clauses 4.1–4.2 of section IV of the Federal Tax Service order No. ММВ-7-11/ [email protected] :

blocks pp. 100–140 must be filled out, reflecting the dates and amounts of actual receipt of income and withholding of personal income tax, as well as the timing of its transfer;
data is provided for the last 3 months of the reporting period;
blocks of the specified lines are filled out separately for each period of personal income tax transfer (including for income that has the same dates of actual receipt).

When filling out section 2 of the 6-NDFL declaration in the situation of employees receiving an advance and final payment, the following must be taken into account (example continued):

3 blocks, pp. 100–140, are filled in, despite the fact that there were 6 payments (advance payments took place on 07/19/20XX, 08/20/20XX and 09/20/20XX, final payment - on 07/05/20XX, 08/05/20XX and 09/05/20XX);
on page 100 in 6-NDFL - the dates of actual receipt of “salary” income (06/30/20XX, 07/31/20XX and 08/31/20XX);
on page 110 - dates of tax withholding from final “salary” payments;
on page 120 - the deadline allowed by law for the transfer of personal income tax (for wages, this date is the day following the issuance of wages, clause 6 of Article 226 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation);
on pp. 130 and 140 - earnings (including advance) and personal income tax calculated from its amount.

A sample of filling out form 6-NDFL (section 2) is presented below:

Instructions for filling out line 120 in 6-NDFL

A description of the rules for filling out page 120 is given in clause 4.2 of the Procedure approved by Order of the Federal Tax Service No. ММВ-7-11/ [email protected] The cells of the specified line contain the date no later than which the personal income tax must be transferred.

Here you should not confuse 2 dates - the actual transfer of personal income tax (the day the payment order is received by the bank) and the deadline for transferring the tax. For page 120, the date of the payment does not matter.

To correctly indicate the deadline for tax remittance, you must proceed from the requirements of tax legislation. The period indicated on page 120 depends on the type of income received by the individual.

For example, the deadline for transferring personal income tax (clause 6 of Article 226 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation):

from salaries and bonuses - no later than the day following the day of cash issuance (from cash receipts or money received from the bank for “salary” purposes), or the day of transfer to the employee’s card;
vacation and sick pay - no later than the last day of the month in which they were paid.

An important nuance in filling out page 120 lies in the need to shift the date indicated on it by 1 or several days if the deadline for transferring personal income tax falls on a non-working day (weekend or holiday).

In this situation, the rule established by paragraph 7 of Art. 6.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation: the last day of the period for payment of income tax is considered to be the next working day following a weekend or holiday.

In the previously discussed example, the tax payment deadline in July was shifted to 2 weekends. From the “salary” income received on 07/05/2019, personal income tax is withheld on the day of payment of income - 07/05/2019, but the deadline for transferring the tax is not 07/06/2019 (Saturday is a day off), but the first working day after rest - 07/08/2019.

Deadline for submitting a letter

There is, of course, no specific deadline for submitting the letter. The letter is submitted solely at the discretion of the tax agent. However, if you have already decided to send a letter to the tax authorities, it is better to submit it immediately after the end of each reporting campaign and not wait until 10 days have passed. After all, if the 6-NDFL calculation is not submitted within 10 working days from the date of its submission, the Federal Tax Service will be able to block the bank accounts of the organization (clause 6 of article 6.1, clause 3.2 of article 76 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). During this period, tax authorities should be reminded that they may not expect a payment from you.

Non-standard situations in 6-NDFL: how to fill out correctly?

Filling out form 6-NDFL in non-standard situations raises many questions among specialists whose responsibilities include personal income tax reporting.

Maternity benefit in 6-NDFL

Payment of maternity leave in some companies is a relatively rare event. At the same time, some employers seek to support expectant mothers and compensate them for the loss of earnings when they go on maternity leave.

When reflecting such payments in 6-NDFL, the following must be taken into account:

maternity benefit (maternity benefits) is the employee’s income that is not subject to personal income tax and is not reflected in the 6-NDFL report;
Additional payment to a maternity leaver before her actual earnings is not considered a benefit and is subject to personal income tax in the full amount (if the amount paid exceeded the amount of maternity benefit paid by social insurance), which requires reflection in 6-personal income tax.

Line by line filling out 6-NDFL (letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated 08/01/2016 No. BS-4-11/ [email protected] ):

date of receipt of income (p. 100) - the day the maternity worker receives the additional payment;
date of personal income tax withholding (page 110) - coincides with the above;
The tax payment deadline (page 120) is the next day after the additional payment is issued.

Advances under the GPC agreement

Hiring individuals to perform work (provide services) is often practiced by employers if the work performed is one-time in nature or there are no specialists with the required qualifications on staff.

In such situations, a civil law agreement (CLA) is concluded between the customer and the contractor, one of the conditions of which may be an agreement on the payment of advances during the execution of work.

An advance under a GPC agreement is fundamentally different from a “salary advance”; each advance payment to the contractor is equated to the payment of income that requires reflection in 6-NDFL (letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated July 21, 2017 No. 03-04-06/46733, dated May 26, 2014 No. 03-04 -06/24982).

For example, if during the quarter 3 advances were paid to the contractor and the final payment was made, all these 4 events must be reflected in 6-NDFL in separate blocks on pages 100–140 for each date the money was received by the contractor.

Gift for a pensioner

Often employers do not ignore former employees - they give pensioners gifts and provide other financial assistance. Such an obligation is usually enshrined in a collective agreement or other internal act. For 6-NDFL this means the following:

the cost of the gift is reflected in the report on line 020;
when calculating personal income tax, a deduction is applied (no more than 4,000 rubles per tax period) - it must be indicated on page 030;
calculated tax (p. 040) is calculated from the difference between the value of the gift and the tax deduction using a rate of 13%;
in section 2 of 6-NDFL, “gift” income is detailed: on pages 100 and 130 it is necessary to show the date and amount of income, and pages 110, 120 and 140 are filled in with zeros (if cash income was not given to the pensioner and it is not possible to withhold personal income tax).

At the end of the calendar year, amounts of income tax not withheld by the tax agent are subject to reflection on page 080 of the 6-NDFL report.

When you need to explain to tax authorities the reasons for not submitting 6-NDFL

A tax agent may need to send a letter regarding non-submission of 6-NDFL if:

calculation of 6-NDFL for the reporting period was not provided on legal grounds (payments were not made to individuals);
There is a need to ensure that the current account is not blocked.

In fact, explaining to tax authorities the reasons for not submitting 6-NDFL is a voluntary additional (optional) measure on the part of the businessman, since tax authorities have repeatedly confirmed the unnecessaryness of such a procedure as submitting a zero 6-NDFL (letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated 06/08/2016 No. ZN-19-17/97 , dated 08/01/2016 No. BS-4-11/ [email protected] (question 1)).

If there were payments to individuals in at least one of the previous periods, the report will not be zero until the end of the year. Because The form is filled in with a cumulative total.

There is no need to submit zero calculation 6-NDFL

All tax agents must submit calculations using Form 6-NDFL (clause 2 of Article 230 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Tax agents are, as a rule, employers or customers under civil contracts under which individuals receive income.

At the same time, if during the reporting period an organization or individual entrepreneur did not accrue or pay any income to individuals, did not withhold tax and did not transfer personal income tax to the budget, then there is no need to submit 6-NDFL calculations. The fact is that in such a situation, an organization or individual entrepreneur is not recognized as a tax agent. The conclusion is confirmed by paragraph 3 of paragraph 2 of Article 230 of the Tax Code and letters of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated March 23, 2016 No. BS-4-11/4901 and dated May 4, 2016 No. BS-4-11/7928.

An organization or individual entrepreneur has the right to submit a zero calculation of 6-NDFL to the INFS (despite the fact that they are not obliged to do this). The tax office, in turn, must accept a zero calculation.The tax office, in turn, must accept a zero calculation.

How to submit an explanation to the tax office about the failure to provide 6-NDFL

When filling out explanations about failure to submit 6-NDFL, you must remember that:

It is better to hand them over to the tax authorities during the period allotted to tax agents for providing 6-NDFL (1 month from the end of the reporting period);
in the head part of the explanations, it is necessary to indicate the details of the merchant and the Federal Tax Service, to which the corresponding 6-NDFL should have been received;
explanations are formulated in a laconic form (without excessive detail), but indicating all the necessary nuances;
The manager or authorized representative must sign the explanations (in this case, attach a copy of the power of attorney to the explanations);
explanations must be recorded in the outgoing correspondence journal.

The listed conditions are not requirements established by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation for explanations addressed to tax authorities in the event of a merchant’s failure to submit 6-NDFL. However, compliance by a merchant with these rules will allow tax authorities to:

clearly identify the reasons and motives for non-submission of 6-NDFL;
avoid the negative consequences of such failure to submit (fine and (or) suspension of account transactions).

And a merchant who provides clearly formulated explanations in a timely manner will avoid sudden blocking of his accounts and hasty issuance of additional explanations to controllers.

What to write in the explanations about failure to provide 6-NDFL

If the tax agent did not send 6-NDFL to the tax authorities, but paid income to individuals, he will not have to write explanations - punishment in the form of a fine and suspension of account transactions will most likely overtake him. And explanations won't help here.

If the merchant did not make payments to individuals and did not file 6-NDFL in this regard, but considered it necessary to warn the tax authorities about this, it is recommended to indicate the following data in the text of the letter:

It is better to title the explanations so that the reason for their direction becomes immediately clear, for example: “Explanations regarding the failure to submit 6-personal income tax for the 1st quarter of 2021.”
In the first paragraph, it would be useful to indicate the reason for submitting explanations, for example: “In order to avoid suspension of transactions on accounts under clause 3.2 of Art. 76 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation...".
Explain the reason for failure to fulfill the obligation to provide a calculation with reference to the articles of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. The wording may be as follows: “Company XXX did not pay income to individuals in the 1st quarter of 2021, therefore it is not recognized as a tax agent for personal income tax and is not obliged to provide a 6-personal income tax calculation in accordance with Art. 226 and 230 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.”
Add additional arguments to the explanation text. For example, refer to letters from the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated 06/08/2016 No. ZN-19-17/97, dated 08/01/2016 No. BS-4-11/ [email protected] , confirming the possibility of not filing 6-NDFL in a situation of non-payment of income to individuals in the reporting period period.

What to write in the explanations about failure to provide 6-NDFL

It is better to title the explanations so that the reason for their direction becomes immediately clear, for example: “Explanations in connection with the failure to submit 6-personal income tax for the 1st quarter of 20XX.”
In the first paragraph, it would be useful to indicate the reason for submitting explanations, for example: “In order to avoid suspension of transactions on accounts under clause 3.2 of Art. 76 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation...".
Explain the reason for failure to fulfill the obligation to provide a calculation with reference to the articles of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. The wording may be as follows: “Company XXX did not pay income to individuals in the 1st quarter of 2021, therefore it is not recognized as a tax agent for personal income tax and is not obliged to provide a 6-personal income tax calculation in accordance with Art. 226 and 230 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.”
Add additional arguments to the explanation text. For example, refer to the letters of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated 06/08/2016 No. ZN-19-17/97 , dated 08/01/2016 No. BS-4-11/ [email protected] , confirming the possibility of not filing 6-NDFL in a situation of non-payment of income to individuals in the reporting period period.

To help in drawing up mandatory explanations (if they are requested by tax authorities), you can study the article “Explanatory note to the tax office upon request - sample” .

Letter of no activity

In practice, there are situations when an organization is unable to carry out its financial and economic activities for a long period of time. It should be remembered that when filling out documents with the Russian pension fund, territorial tax authority and social insurance fund for the purpose of submitting mandatory reporting, the head of the enterprise must necessarily provide the above authorities with an information letter about the absence of his activities.

Such a notification is issued, as a rule, on the letterhead of a legal entity, indicating the period of non-performance of activities and attaching documents confirming this circumstance. In other words, in order to reduce costs when the organization does not carry out business activities, the latter can send a document to the reporting authorities that will confirm that the company’s work has been suspended. This document will be called in practice a letter of absence of activity.

We notify the tax office by letter

There is no legally established form for notifying the tax inspectorate about the absence of an organization’s activities. Therefore, it is possible for a legal entity to issue such a letter in any form with the desired content of the following information:

The name and address of the Federal Tax Service, which will be the addressee of the letter.
Organizational form and corporate name of the legal entity notifying the Federal Tax Service.
Legal address and address of the location of the executive body of the company.
TIN, KPP, OGRN and other details of the organization (you can use the letterhead of a legal entity, which already contains all its corporate features).
The name of the document, in this case: “Letter on the absence of activities and objects of taxation.”
The text of the letter must contain:

name of the organization and an indication of its legal form in accordance with the Unified State Register of Legal Entities;
temporary period of suspension of activities;
attachment of documents confirming that the organization does not carry out statutory activities;
types of taxes for which there is no object of taxation of the company.

The letter must be endorsed by the manager and chief accountant, if the legal entity has. person, and is also certified by the seal of the organization.

A sample letter to the tax authority looks like this:

It is recommended to send the document itself to the Federal Tax Service in one of the following ways:

by registered mail with a detailed list of the contents and a notification, which, after delivery to the tax inspector, will be returned to the organization’s address or to its post office box;
hand over in person to the tax office by the head of the organization or an authorized person with the obligatory affixing on the second copy of the letter by the tax authority specialist accepting the document, the date, signature and stamp indicating its acceptance;
send through a special courier service;
submit by referral through your personal legal account. persons on the Federal Tax Service website, signing the document with a qualified digital signature.

All of the above methods are aimed at providing evidence of the company sending a notification letter.

Letter stating that there is no obligation to submit 2-NDFL calculations

It is optimal to clarify the algorithm for providing or not providing 2-NDFL calculations by calling the specific tax service at the place of registration of the organization. Each may have its own rules. There are several options for the development of events in this situation:

The IRS does not require any documentation in this regard at all. A rare, successful case for the company employee responsible for document flow and not entirely legally literate.
Tax authorities require a letter to be sent to their address stating that there is no obligation to provide 2-NDFL calculations. And they don’t ask for any more supporting documents.
In addition to the letter, the tax officer informs you that in order to legally formalize the transaction, you will need a certificate from a banking organization as a basis. She must report that no funds were withdrawn from the company’s current account to credit employees’ salaries.

You need to be prepared for any option. Thus, the attached form and sample letter are convenient for reporting.

Situations

Organizations are created to bring profit to their owners. When this does not happen, they are not tax agents. But they don’t fulfill their main function either. Sending employees on unpaid leave or other reasons for not providing 2-NDFL calculations most often arise in companies:

Young, newly formed. It takes them a certain amount of time to “build up”. Therefore, for the first year or two, such an organization may well operate in the red, without attracting close attention from tax authorities.
In a crisis. Even stable, unfavorable times are in this form. After all, paying wages to employees is one of the main expense items.

The second situation is threatening for the company. Moreover, if it remains in such a “frozen” state for a long time, then this raises questions from the tax authorities. The latter organize various inspections of such companies. After all, it is possible that in this way an organization can evade paying due taxes.

Periodicity

In the vast majority of cases, 2-NDFL calculations are submitted once a year. Information is provided for each employee who is registered in the organization separately. The deadline for this is April 1. Moreover, if this date falls on a weekend, then the “border” becomes the weekday preceding this date.

Moreover, it is interesting that simultaneously with hiring an employee, a legal entity or individual entrepreneur automatically agrees to provide appropriate reporting to the tax authorities. All responsibility for this process lies with the head of the company.

Thus, the letter stating that there is no obligation to provide a 2-NDFL calculation is also sent only once a year.

Beyond taxes

Some payments to employees are not taxed, so there is no need to provide a 2-NDFL calculation for these payments either. These include:

Payments upon dismissal. There is no need to worry if the dismissal occurred at the beginning of the reporting period. Payments upon dismissal are not taxed. But if the employee was entitled to compensation for unused vacation, then it is impossible to do without replenishing the tax base. When making calculations regarding vacation, 2-NDFL will have to be submitted during the reporting period, even if the employee quit.
Travel expenses for employees. But they should not exceed 700 rubles per day when traveling on business in Russia and 2,500 rubles per day when sending an employee to foreign countries.

Components of a document

Actually, the letter will consist of just one phrase. Everything else is a “mandatory program” accepted in business communication. These include:

Drawing up a letter on a specialized company letterhead. Communication with the tax service must be conducted at a decent level. If official forms are not at hand or do not exist in nature, then the sender’s company details are simply listed at the top of the letter stating that there is no obligation to submit a 2-NDFL calculation. This way it will be possible to identify the message in the general flow of correspondence.
The name and number of the specific division of the Federal Tax Service to which the paper is sent. It is very important that the company is registered within the area of responsibility of this section of the tax office.
Signature of the head of the organization.
If possible, print.
Date the letter was written.
If such a system is accepted, then the number of the message sent.

The letter can be registered in the outgoing correspondence journal.

Text of the letter

Although the message should be concise, it should reflect the fundamentally important points. In the sample letter provided for download, in its main part it is stated:

Full name of the sender's organization, its INN, KPP.
The year for which the 2-NDFL calculation must be provided.
Did the organization conduct economic and financial activities?
Whether wages were paid to employees. The letter does not indicate the exact reason why it was not paid.
Do employees registered with the organization apply for seniority?

The last column is important because, from a legal point of view, employees who are registered with the company, in some cases, can count on accrual of experience for any activity.

Features of drawing up different types of statements

Different types of applications can be sent to the tax office. They are divided into types depending on the purpose of the direction and content.

About obtaining a TIN

Any tax payer is registered with the Federal Tax Service. Registration is carried out within 5 days after sending the application. The latter is compiled according to form No. 2-2-Accounting, established by order of the Federal Tax Service No. YAK-7-6 / [email protected] dated August 11, 2011.

About the deduction

A deduction is an amount that reduces the calculation base when determining tax. There are these types of deductions:

Regular.
Child deduction.
For investment.

Tax refunds are made based on the application. Its form is established by order of the Federal Tax Service No. ММВ-7-8 / [email protected] dated February 14, 2021.

On issuing a certificate stating that the payer has no debts

The payer may request information about the presence/absence of tax debts. To do this you need to request a certificate. It may be needed, for example, when obtaining a mortgage.

The application form has not been approved. That is, the document can be drawn up in free form. However, it is recommended to adhere to the standard structure: “header”, title, text with a formulated request, signature and date.

For a refund or offset of tax that was overpaid

A company may mistakenly pay too much in taxes. To get a refund, you need to send an application to the tax office. You need to formulate your request in the “body” of the document. It could be:

refund;
offset of funds against future payments.

The application must be submitted within 3 years from the date of overpayment. Funds must be returned within a month from the date of receipt of the tax paper. The application can be submitted in electronic format. To do this, you need to go to your personal account of the Federal Tax Service.

About deferment of payment

Sometimes individuals or legal entities cannot pay taxes on time. In this case, they can request an installment plan. The amounts for which the installment plan is issued cannot exceed the value of the debtor's property on which the tax is paid. To receive the benefit, you must fill out an application in the form specified in Appendix No. 1, approved by Order of the Federal Tax Service No. ММВ-7-8 / [email protected] dated September 28, 2010.

About the issuance of benefits

A number of payers can reduce the amount of taxes on land, transport and property, or cancel the payment altogether. In particular, the benefit is given to military personnel, disabled people of the first and second groups, pensioners and persons who have earned the status of Hero of the Russian Federation. You will also need to submit an application to receive benefits.