In accordance with Chapter 26.2. of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, organizations and individual entrepreneurs have the right to choose the Simplified Taxation System (STS) as their taxation system. The application of the simplified tax system provides for the exemption of organizations from the obligation to pay income tax, property tax, and value added tax. Instead of the above-mentioned tax organizations and individual entrepreneurs using the simplified tax system, they pay tax in accordance with the tax rates established for the simplified tax system. In accordance with the Tax Code, the following rates are established for the simplified tax system:
- If the object of taxation is income , the tax rate is set at 6 percent .
- If the object of taxation is income reduced by the amount of expenses , the tax rate is set at 15 percent .
But Regions have the right to reduce these rates. We will consider such reductions for St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region.
Simplified “income minus expenses”: conditions for transition
In 2021, taxpayers will have the right to switch to the simplified tax system “income minus expenses” from next year (from 01/01/2020) subject to the following conditions:
- They do not engage in activities listed in paragraph 3 of Art. 346.12 Tax Code of the Russian Federation.
- The organization has no branches.
- The share of participation of other legal entities in the organization’s management company does not exceed 25%. There are some exceptions to this rule.
- The amount of income received by the taxpayer based on the results of 3 quarters of the current year did not exceed 112,500,000 rubles.
- The average number of employees a taxpayer has is no more than 100.
- The residual value of depreciable fixed assets (FPE) available as of October 1 of the current year does not exceed RUB 150,000,000.
In order to switch to the simplified tax system “income minus expenses”, you will need to submit a specially prepared application to the territorial Federal Tax Service by the end of the year. If a legal entity or individual entrepreneur has just registered, then such an application is submitted within 30 days from the date of registration (clause 3 of Article 346.13 of the Tax Code), otherwise the transition to the simplified tax system will be possible only from next year, provided that the application is submitted from October to December .
The notification form for the transition to the simplified tax system can be downloaded here.
Retention of the right to use the simplified tax system is conditioned by compliance with the above criteria and one more income limit - their maximum allowable amount for receipt per year of application of the simplified tax system (clause 4 of article 346.13 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). For 2021, this value is defined as 150,000,000 rubles.
To find out whether it is possible to have a separate division with simplified taxation, read the material “Opening a separate division under the simplified tax system .
New simplified tax rates in 2021
What rules were in force until 2021
On the simplified tax system, companies and entrepreneurs applied a rate of 6% for the simplified tax system “Income” and 15% for the simplified tax system “Income minus expenses”. In the regions, officials could lower rates for some industries. These bets were available as long as the simplifier did not exceed one of the limits:
- 150 million rubles of income under the simplified tax system since the beginning of the year;
- 100 employees based on the average number since the beginning of the year, including employees under employment contracts and civil servants’ agreements;
- 150 million rubles for the residual value of fixed assets;
- For organizations there is a limit on the share of participation in their authorized capital of other companies - 25%.
After exceeding one of the indicators, the simplifier lost the right to apply the simplified tax system and switched to OSNO from the beginning of the quarter in which the excess occurred.
What rules apply from 2021
As long as an entrepreneur or company has not violated the usual limits, they continue to apply rates of 6% for the simplified tax system “Income” and 15% for the simplified tax system “Income minus expenses” or approved preferential rates in the region.
Rates change if, from the beginning of the calendar year, there is an excess of:
- income under the simplified tax system exceeded 150 million rubles, but did not exceed 200 million rubles;
- the average number of employees exceeded 100 people, but did not exceed 130.
Then the tax is calculated at rates of 8% for the simplified tax system “Income” and 20% for the simplified tax system “Income minus expenses”. This is done from the beginning of the quarter in which the excess occurred. In this case, there are no regional benefits: in all regions, rates of 8% and 20% apply.
If, from the beginning of the year, revenue exceeds 200 million rubles, and the average number of employees is 130 people, then the company or individual entrepreneur will lose the right to use the simplified tax system. You will have to switch to OSNO and pay income tax, property tax and VAT from the beginning of the quarter in which the excess occurred.
Example: how to use the progressive scale of rates according to the simplified tax system
During the 1st quarter of 2021 , the company earned 58 million rubles using the simplified tax system “Income”. The region has established a preferential rate for the simplified tax system “Income” - 3%. We calculate the payment for the 1st quarter: 58 million * 3% = 1.74 million rubles. The company will reduce this amount by paid insurance premiums and sick leave at the expense of the employer.
For the 2nd quarter of 2021 , the company earned 62 million rubles, respectively, for the first half of the year - 120 million rubles. We calculate the payment for the 2nd quarter: 120 million * 3% = 3.6 million rubles. When calculating the final amount payable, the accountant will reduce the calculated value by insurance premiums and payment for the 1st quarter.
In the 3rd quarter of 2021 , the company earned 40 million rubles, respectively, in 9 months - 160 million rubles. We are calculating the payment for the 3rd quarter: based on the results of 9 months, the income limit of 150 million rubles has been exceeded, but the amount of 200 million has not yet been reached. Therefore, we calculate the payment for the 3rd quarter as follows: 120 million * 3% + 40 million * 8% = 3.6 million + 3.2 million = 6.8 million rubles. The accountant will reduce this amount by insurance premiums and payments for the 1st and 2nd quarters. For 2021, income amounted to 190 million, since in the 4th quarter the taxpayer earned 30 million rubles. Therefore, we continue to apply the 8% rate. Let's calculate the payment for the year: 120 million * 3% + 70 million * 8% = 3.6 million + 5.6 million = 9.2 million rubles. From this value we subtract the insurance premiums paid during the year and advances for the first three quarters.
How to change the simplified tax system rate in Kontur.Accounting
When calculating an advance payment or tax for the year, the service monitors whether limits are exceeded based on information in the system. If one of the limits is violated, the service will prompt you to apply a higher rate. This will happen when you start working on the Tax Accrual document. You will see a warning:
To change your bid, follow these steps:
- Go to the “Organization details” page using the link in the notification or through the main menu.
- On the page, check the “Enter by quarter” box.
- After this, enter the required rate in the quarter in which the excess occurred.
Then save the “Tax Accrual” document - the service will automatically recalculate the tax amount at the new rate.
Taxes under the simplified tax system “income minus expenses”
Taxpayers using the simplified tax system are exempt from paying:
- property tax, except for real estate, the value of which is determined as cadastral (this, in particular, office, retail and service premises and buildings);
- VAT (with rare exceptions);
- income tax (for self-employed persons - personal income tax), except for income in the form of dividends and income taxed at special rates.
Other taxes, fees and contributions are paid on a general basis.
Read about what rules to follow when applying the simplified tax system in 2018-2019 in terms of insurance premiums.
If taxpayers have chosen a taxation system such as the simplified “income minus expenses” with a rate of 15%, then they must maintain KUDiR. You must have all documents confirming expenses and their payment. “Simplified” taxpayers are required to conduct cash transactions in accordance with the general procedure. And also submit tax and statistical reporting.
For information about the “simplified” option not to use online cash registers when providing services to the population (except for public catering services) until July 1, 2019, read the publication “A deferment for online cash registers has been introduced.”
Taxpayers who have chosen income-minus-expenses taxation are not exempt from performing the duties prescribed for tax agents. In addition, they must comply with all controlling person regulations if they hold relevant interests in controlled foreign companies.
What percentage is the tax on the simplified tax system “income minus expenses”
The rate for the simplified tax system “income minus expenses” is set at 15% based on clause 2 of Art. 346.20 of the Internal Revenue Code. Subjects of the Russian Federation may set reduced tax rates - from 5 to 15%.
The establishment of the right to such a reduction is due to the provision of regions with the opportunity to stimulate the development of certain types of activities or an increase in the number of taxpayers of certain groups. Payers of the simplified tax system do not have the obligation to confirm their right to apply a preferential regional tax rate (letter of the Ministry of Finance dated October 21, 2013 No. 03-11-11/43791).
Rates for payers with income above 150 million or with more than 100 employees
Since 2021, the norms of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation related to the loss of the right to the simplified tax system have been revised. “Simplified” residents do not lose the right to a special regime, but are required to use increased tax rates if (clauses 1.1, 2.1 of Article 346.20 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation as amended by Federal Law No. 266-FZ of July 31, 2020):
- their income since the beginning of the year amounted to less than 200 million, but more than 150 million rubles;
- the average number of employees was less than 130, but more than 100 people.
The Tax Code of the Russian Federation does not allow regions to reduce rates in such a situation. Therefore, the St. Petersburg law does not apply to these cases. If a company or individual entrepreneur exceeded the limits on income and number, but remained within acceptable limits, from the beginning of the quarter in which this happened, tax on income over 150 million rubles. accrued at the rate:
- 8% for the object “income”;
- 20% for the “income-expenses” object.
Having received an income of over 200 million rubles. or having recruited more than 130 employees, the taxpayer will lose the right to “simplified taxation”.
STS “income minus expenses” 15%: minimum tax
For simplifiers who have chosen “income minus expenses” as the object of taxation under the simplified tax system (rate 15%), a special tax is established in the amount of 1% of the total amount of income received during the year. A single tax in the established minimum amount is paid if the calculated tax amount (tax rate multiplied by the difference between income and expenses) for the year is less than the minimum.
The minimum tax is paid at the end of the year when submitting a tax return. In this case, taxpayers make advance payments on the basis of calculations made in the generally established manner.
For information on calculating the minimum tax, read the article “How to calculate the minimum tax under the simplified tax system in 2018-2019?”
Tax according to the simplified tax system in St. Petersburg is 0% for new individual entrepreneurs
The category of “simplified” payers to whom the legislators of the northern capital decided to provide a “tax holiday” are individuals registering for the first time as an individual entrepreneur with the Federal Tax Service of St. Petersburg (Article 1.1 of Law No. 185-36).
Tax holidays apply to those individual entrepreneurs who have chosen to conduct business in the following areas:
- manufacturing industry (section “C” of the Classifier OKVED 2) and production, with some exceptions (production of wine, cider and other fermented drinks, including beer, palm oil, tobacco, medicines, distillation, mixing, purification of alcohols; according chemical industry and metallurgy);
- professional, scientific and technical activities (section “M” according to OKVED 2, also with a number of exceptions - architecture and engineering planning, technical testing, etc., advertising, marketing, accounting services, activities of head offices and management consultations, veterinary services);
- healthcare and social services according to OKVED 2, excl. Class "Activities in the field of health care").
Another condition for applying tax holidays under the simplified tax system in St. Petersburg is the number of employees of the new individual entrepreneur. There should be no more than 15 people on average per year. The calculation includes, incl. part-time workers and contractors under GPC agreements.
Newly created individual entrepreneurs that simultaneously meet all the above requirements do not pay a single tax under the simplified tax system during the first 2 tax periods from the date of state registration (clause 4 of Article 346.20 of the Tax Code), that is, they apply a 0% rate.
The zero rate under the “tax holiday” will last until the beginning of 2024.
Simplified “income minus expenses”: does the rate change?
For taxpayers using the simplified tax system “income minus expenses,” the tax rate (regional differentiated) can be revised annually. All changes are made through the adoption of relevant laws by the constituent entities of the Federation. The law establishing a new differentiated rate is adopted before the end of the year with the goal that a different tax rate will be in effect in the new tax period.
Recently, many subjects of the Federation have begun to use differentiated rates, which are 2-3 times lower than the maximum. This suggests that regional governments are interested in creating acceptable conditions for the development of small businesses.
Simplified tax system “income minus expenses”: changes in 2018-2019
There have been few changes relating only to the simplified tax system “income minus expenses” since 2017: the BCC for paying the minimum tax has become the same as for the regular tax paid under the simplified tax system. But there are changes common to the special regime, and they are quite significant:
- The benefit on insurance premiums has been canceled for some simplifiers named in Art. 427 Tax Code of the Russian Federation;
- the moratorium on routine inspections of small businesses was extended until 2022;
- the application of the deflator coefficient to the value of income limits has been suspended for several years (from 2021 to 2021).
For more information about the deflator coefficient in 2017-2020, read the material “New income limits under the simplified tax system will not change until 2021” .
Individual entrepreneur on the simplified tax system “income minus expenses”
The simplified tax system “income minus expenses” is applied to individual entrepreneurs under the same conditions that apply to legal entities (Article 346.12 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation):
- They carry out activities not prohibited by clause 3 of Art. 346.12 Tax Code of the Russian Federation.
- The established annual income limit is observed. At the same time, to begin applying the regime, the 9-month IP limit may not be observed (letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated March 1, 2013 No. 03-11-09/6114).
- The average number of employees does not exceed 100.
- The residual value of depreciable fixed assets is less than RUB 150,000,000.
Newly registered individual entrepreneurs whose activities are related to production, provision of social services or scientific activities have the right to apply a preferential tax rate of 0% during the first 2 years of operation.
Read more about preferential simplified taxation rates in this article.
Rate for simplified tax system “income” in St. Petersburg
In general, “simplified” people in St. Petersburg pay 6% single tax on their income. The reduction is provided only for certain categories of payers, the list of which is quite limited. At the same time, additional conditions are put forward for the application of the benefit.
According to the simplified tax system for “income”, the rate in St. Petersburg will be 1% if the taxpayer simultaneously meets the following requirements:
- pays the average monthly salary to employees not lower than the established regional minimum wage;
- its main activity as of December 1, 2020 is preferential.
In 2021, the regional minimum wage in St. Petersburg did not change. For commercial organizations it is approved at the level of 19,000 rubles. (in this case, the tariff rate or salary should not be less than 14,300 rubles), for budgetary ones it is equal to the federal one - 12,792 rubles. (Regional agreement No. 343/19-C dated December 27, 2019).
The following types of activities according to OKVED 2 codes are eligible for benefits:
- 55 – provision of places for temporary residence, with the exception of code 55.9 (applies to places in dormitories for students, schoolchildren, other students of educational institutions, seasonal workers, etc.);
- 79 – activities of travel agencies and other companies in the field of tourism;
- 86.90.4 – activities of sanatorium and resort organizations.
The code of the main activity can be checked using an extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, Unified State Register of Individual Entrepreneurs on the website of the Federal Tax Service.
Which taxation system is better: “income minus expenses” or “income”?
Those who are looking for an answer to the question of which is more profitable: the simplified tax system “income minus expenses” or the simplified tax system “income”, you need to analyze your planned activities. Thus, a large share of documented and economically justified costs makes the choice of the “income minus expenses” object justified, and their absence - the “income” object.
The current regional legislation also plays an important role in this choice, because constituent entities of the Russian Federation can set their own differentiated tax rates both for individual groups of taxpayers and for specific types of activities.
Rates for taxpayers affected by the coronavirus pandemic
In 2021, St. Petersburg had reduced rates for another category of taxpayers - individual entrepreneurs and legal entities whose main activity is classified as industries affected by the coronavirus pandemic (Article 1.2 of Law No. 185-36). The list of such industries is given in the Appendix to Law No. 185-36, and the rates were:
- 3% for simplified tax system “income”;
- 5% - for the simplified tax system “income minus expenses”.
To apply these rates, it was also necessary to comply with the condition of paying the average salary to employees in an amount not lower than the regional minimum wage in 2021.
These rates do not apply when calculating tax for 2021.
Results
If a decision is made to apply the simplified tax system “income minus expenses” and all the conditions for switching to this regime are met, then a notification must be submitted to the tax authority. The deadline for submitting the notification and the moment from which it will be possible to begin to apply the simplified tax system of 15% differ for existing and newly registered taxpayers. The general tax rate for the “income minus expenses” object is set at 15%, but can be reduced by decision of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. A special feature of the application of the simplified tax system of 15% is the payer’s obligation to pay the minimum tax if the calculated tax is less than 1% of the amount of income received.
Tax rates under the simplified tax system in the Leningrad region in 2020
In accordance with the Regional Law of the Leningrad Region dated September 23, 2009 “On establishing the tax rate levied in connection with the application of the simplified taxation system in the territory of the Leningrad Region” for organizations and individual entrepreneurs located on the simplified tax system with the object of taxation, income reduced by the amount of expenses is established tax rate of 5 percent, instead of 15 percent specified in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.
For taxpayers of the simplified tax system with an income object, this law establishes the following rates:
1% for the following types of activities (OKVED)
- Spinning cotton fibers
- Carded spinning of wool fibers
- Spinning combed wool fibers
- Production of natural silk, artificial and synthetic fibers
- Preparation and spinning of other textile fibers
- Finishing of fabrics and textile products
- Production of lace mesh and curtain-tulle fabric, as well as lace and embroidered products, in pieces, in the form of strips or individual embroideries
- Felt and felt production
- Manufacture of knitted or crocheted clothing and clothing accessories for young children
- Production of knitted and knitted clothing
- Production of wooden tableware and kitchen utensils
- Production of wooden figurines and wooden decorations, mosaics and inlaid wood, caskets, cases for jewelry or knives
- Production of products from cork, straw and weaving materials; production of basket and wicker products
- Manufacture of other paper and cardboard products
- Production of household and decorative ceramic products
- Production of other ceramic products
- Production of games and toys
- Production of folk arts and crafts.
3% for the following types of activities (OKVED)
- Growing vegetables in open ground
- Growing vegetables in protected soil
- Growing mushrooms and truffles
- Floriculture
- Growing other fruit and berry crops
- Growing seeds of fruit and berry crops
- Growing seedlings
- Breeding dairy cattle
- Sheep and goat farming
- Production of raw sheep and goat milk
- Beekeeping
- Breeding rabbits and other fur-bearing animals on farms
- Freshwater fishing
- Fish farming
- Processing and canning of fish, crustaceans and molluscs
- Production of cheese and cheese products
- Activities of independent tour guides and tour guides in the provision of excursion tourism services
- Preschool education
- Activities of sanatorium and resort organizations
- Providing social services without providing accommodation for the elderly and disabled.
For all other types of activities, the rate is set in accordance with the Tax Code of the Russian Federation at 6 percent.
