How to determine the place of sale of services to non-residents for the purpose of taxing CIT and VAT?

The concept of the place of implementation of works (services)

Article 148 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation establishes the specifics of determining the places of sale of services and works. Next, we will consider the main points of regulating relations to establish the place of sale of goods and services.

The place of sale of works and services is the place where the sale is carried out. The location depends on the type of work and services. First of all, any sale is related to real estate.

The list of works and services associated with such property is fixed in paragraph 1 of Article 148 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. This article establishes that immovable things include:

• subsoil areas;
• land;
• aircraft and ships;
• buildings and structures under construction.

The list is not exhaustive and can be expanded at the discretion of the tax authorities, but within the framework of tax legislation. For example, according to Article 132 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, property is the enterprise as a whole, with all its buildings and equipment.

If a Russian company carries out work and services on the territory of foreign countries, then the Russian address of the company is recognized as the place of sale of work and services.

This rule is enshrined in letter No. 03-07-08/10597 of the Ministry of Finance of Russia.

In this case, the Russian company has the right to deduct tax amounts under value added tax (VAT).

Article 148 does not determine the place of sale of works and services during production on a land plot.

In other words, regardless of whether the plot is located on Russian or foreign land, it is not the place of sale initially, since it does not have a legal address, but only a cadastral one.

How to determine the place of sale of services at the place of their actual provision

If the services are related to movable property

The place of sale of services directly related to movable property should be determined by the place of their actual provision. This means that such services are considered sold in Uzbekistan if they are provided on the territory of the republic. And, accordingly, on the contrary, the company provided services abroad, which means Uzbekistan is not their place of sale.

Such services include, in particular, installation, adjustment, assembly, processing, processing, repair, maintenance, storage of movable property.

Attention
: This rule for determining the place of sale does not apply to rental...

Conditions for recognizing the place of implementation of works (services)

The fundamental conditions are:

• location of the organization and individual taxpayer on the territory of Russia;
• the location of the buyer of works and services in Russia;
• carrying out activities of a foreign company in Russia.

If the place of sale is the Russian Federation, then the seller has an obligation to pay value added tax on sales turnover.

When selling goods and works, the tax base is determined depending on the conditions for the sale of goods and services. The base is enshrined in Article 153 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. The tax is paid in accordance with Chapter 21 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation if the organization is Russian.

If the company is foreign, but is registered with the Russian tax authorities, then it calculates VAT in the manner established for Russian companies. If a foreign company is not registered with Russian tax authorities, then the tax base is determined by the buyers.

It is the buyer in this case who will be the tax agent. This rule is valid provided that the buyer is registered in Russia (requirements under Article 161 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

The buyer pays VAT in full, but he has the right to a standard VAT deduction (in accordance with Article 171 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

How not to lose VAT when providing services to a foreign company

Export and import of services have always been one of the most controversial transactions when calculating VAT. This is due to the fact that, unlike the sale of goods for export and the production of work, the place of provision of services is quite difficult to determine. Correctly determining the place of service provision is important for both foreign and Russian companies. Since the answer to the question of where exactly the service was provided (in the Russian Federation or abroad) determines whether this service will be subject to VAT.

In 2006-2007, arbitration courts considered 60 cases related to determining the place of provision of work or services for tax purposes. Of these, taxpayers defended a favorable position for themselves in 35 cases, in 14 cases the victory went to the tax inspectorate, and in 11 the case was sent for re-examination (see).

Export and import of services are quite often used by international groups of companies (hidden affiliated holdings) in their business activities. This may be necessary both for real activities and for mutual financing or intercompany tax planning. Most often, the provision of services to a foreign organization is used as one of the ways to move the income of a Russian company abroad.

Naturally, when exporting a service, it is more profitable to move the place of its provision outside of Russia.
This is often beneficial when importing services, so that the Russian side does not have obligations as a tax agent (Article 161 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). However, when importing services, you need to first calculate what will be more profitable: not to act as a tax agent and not receive a VAT deduction, or to transfer the tax to the budget and deduct its amount (see table “”). EXPERT COMMENT Vladislav BRYZGALIN, director of the legal security agency “Tax Shield”: - The legal significance of the place of sale is that sales operations, by virtue of Article 146 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, are recognized as subject to VAT taxation only if they are carried out on the territory of the Russian Federation. Accordingly, if the place of sale of goods (works, services) is not the territory of Russia, then the obligation to pay VAT on such a transaction does not arise. Otherwise, when, according to the rules of Article 148 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the territory of Russia is recognized as the place of sale, the Russian person paying income to a foreign person acquires the status of a tax agent with the assumption of responsibilities for calculating, withholding and paying tax (Article 24 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). How should a Russian company provide services to a foreign one without legally paying VAT?

How to determine the place of service provision

The objects of VAT taxation are transactions involving the sale of goods (work, services) on the territory of the Russian Federation (Article 146 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). And the tax base for the sale, in particular, of services is determined by the taxpayer depending on the specifics of the sale of the services produced by him (Article 153 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). One of these features is the place of implementation. Thus, in order to correctly determine the tax base for services sold, it is necessary to determine what is considered the place of their sale for tax purposes.

The concept of “place of sale” in tax legislation is used only in relation to VAT. And if, as a rule, no errors arise with the place of sale of goods, since Article 147 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation gives an unambiguous interpretation of the concept in question, then the sale of works and services under contracts with foreign counterparties often raises many questions for taxpayers.

The Tax Code prescribes determining the place of sale of services in accordance with the following categories (Article 148 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation): • - location of the property with which the work and services are associated; • -place of actual provision of services; • -place of activity of the buyer of services; • - place of activity of the work performer, ). In order to determine in each specific case how it is most profitable for a Russian company to formalize its relations with a foreign one, we will consider several typical situations in more detail.

By property location

The place of implementation of work (services) related to movable property depends on the location of this property (subclause 2, clause 1, subclause 1, clause 1.1, article 148 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Thus, if the property is located in Russia, then the work (services) associated with it should be considered performed in Russia, regardless of whether the company performing them is registered in the Russian Federation. And vice versa, if a Russian company, which is a VAT payer, will carry out work (services) with movable property located on the territory of a foreign state, there is no need to pay VAT under such an agreement. First of all, this applies to organizations that are customers or performers under contracts with foreign contractors for the installation, assembly, processing, repair and maintenance of movable property. Often, when purchasing imported equipment, a Russian buyer orders its assembly and installation on site (on the territory of the Russian Federation) from a foreign supplier, which as a result leads to the need to pay VAT.

A lack of understanding of what can be classified as services related to movable property sometimes leads to disputes with regulatory authorities. For example, according to the tax authorities, payment of an agency fee to a foreign organization for attracting citizens and legal entities to enter into insurance contracts for cultural property (movable property) imposes the duties of a tax agent on the Russian company-principal. Tax authorities expressed this position in a case considered by the Federal Arbitration Court of the Northwestern District in resolution No. A56-40837/2005 dated June 23, 2006. But the court considered this position untenable, since the foreign company did not provide Russian services related to movable property. After all, the agent received remuneration for work (services) performed under an agency agreement, and not in connection with insurance of movable property.

At the place of actual provision of services

Companies engaged in the import or export of services in the field of culture, art, education (training), physical culture, tourism, recreation and sports should carefully study the subject of the contract before signing it. These types of activities should also be considered for the purposes of calculating VAT from the point of view of the place of their actual provision: on the territory of the Russian Federation (subclause 3, clause 1, article 148 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation) or outside the territory of the Russian Federation (subclause 3, clause 1.1, article 148 of the Tax Code) RF). Thus, if a company is not interested in paying VAT on these types of services, it needs to prove that the services are actually provided outside of Russia. Namely: to conclude an agreement outside of Russia and confirm that the agreement is also being executed outside of Russia. If it is more profitable for a company to pay VAT and apply deductions, it is necessary to prove that the contract for the provision of services was concluded and performed in the territory of the Russian Federation.

Arbitration practice will tell you exactly how to do this.

Thus, in the resolution of the Federal Arbitration Court of the North-Western District dated December 6, 2005 No. A56-8906/2005, a case was considered in relation to a Russian company that sold tours to foreign countries (that is, provided services outside the Russian Federation). At the same time, these tours included the delivery of tourists to the border of the Russian Federation and back. According to the tax authority, these transport services were subject to VAT as provided on the territory of the Russian Federation. However, the court, having examined contracts with tourists, tear-off coupons for tourist vouchers, found that services for transporting tourists to the border of the Russian Federation and back are included in the main tour and are inseparable from it. The court recognized that delivery is an auxiliary service and is not subject to separate taxation, since the company provides its main tourism services outside the Russian Federation. And in the resolution of the Federal Arbitration Court of the Moscow District dated November 23, 2006 No. KA-A40/11248-06, the opposite situation was considered. The Russian company provided foreign services for organizing river cruises on the territory of the Russian Federation, and also ensured the arrival and accommodation of tourists on the territory of the Russian Federation. At the same time, the Russian company paid VAT on the cost of services provided and, accordingly, accepted it for deduction. Tax officials, citing the fact that tourist vouchers are sold outside the territory of the Russian Federation, indicated that the company’s services are not subject to VAT, and denied tax deductions for payment for such services. But the court came to the conclusion that in fact the services were provided on the territory of the Russian Federation, and therefore the taxpayer included the proceeds from their sale in the VAT base, legally applying tax deductions.

The following case is an example of how the place of a contract can affect the determination of the place of supply of services and taxation. A hockey club that entered into an agreement with a foreign company to select a hockey player, assist in signing a contract with him and ensure the player’s arrival in Russia, lost in court, despite the fact that the services he consumed were provided outside of Russia. Russia was recognized as the actual place of provision of services, since both the contract for the provision of services and the act on services rendered indicated the city of Cherepovets as the place of preparation. Consequently, according to the court, the hockey club was obliged to withhold and transfer to the budget VAT on the income of a foreign company (resolution of the Federal Arbitration Court of the North-Western District dated February 28, 2006 No. A13-7889/2005-15).

At the place of activity of the buyer of services

All the examples discussed above concerned situations where the determination of the place of sale depended directly on the place of provision of services. At the same time, in some cases, the place of sale of services is determined by the location of the buyer. This means that the export of such services is not subject to VAT, which is why they are most often used in tax planning.

These are services such as:

• - transfer, assignment of patents, licenses, trademarks, copyrights or other similar rights, and this procedure concerns the transfer of rights, both exclusive and non-exclusive;

• -providing consulting, legal, accounting, engineering, advertising, marketing services, information processing services, as well as during R&D. Moreover, according to the Ministry of Finance (letter dated August 24, 2005 No. 03-04-08/224), this also includes audit services and audit-related services provided by Russian payers to foreign companies.

• - provision of personnel (outstaffing), if the personnel works at the place of activity of the buyer of this service. It should be noted that determining the place of provision of services at the buyer’s place of business in this case does not apply to the provision of agency services for personnel selection, for example, by recruitment agencies to third-party organizations. In order to qualify services as marketing without the risk of disputes, you can be guided by the letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated February 20, 2006 No. MM-6-03/183, which contains a fairly large list of market research procedures. Tax authorities have not published such a list regarding consulting services, so taxpayers often have to prove that specific services are consulting services in court.

OFFICIAL POSITION OF AN EMPLOYEE of one of the Moscow tax inspectorates: - In practice, when auditing income taxes, tax inspectors are guided by letter No. MM-6-03/183. So, indeed, to avoid disputes, it is better to focus on this document. To avoid disputes, it is advisable to draw up detailed documents confirming the provision of services and their essence. Moreover, it is desirable that these documents be drawn up in accordance with the Federal Law of November 21, 1996 No. 129-FZ “On Accounting”. The list of documents is as follows: contracts, customer assignments for specific services, certificates of completed work, contractor reports, invoices, payment orders. But first of all, consultations must be written. For example, in the resolution of the Federal Arbitration Court of the Moscow District dated March 10, 2006 No. KA-A40/1487-06, the court, confirming the position of the tax authorities that consulting services were not actually provided, took into account the fact that the company did not submit reports to the tax authority about the services provided. The payer's explanation that a significant part of the consulting services was provided orally was found by the court to be unconvincing. But in the resolution of September 26, 2006 No. KA-A40/8852-06-P, the same court took the side of the company after it established that the provision of consulting services by telephone is confirmed by the assignment of the foreign customer, the contractor’s report on the work performed, and materials for payment for consulting services.

The terms of the contract will help protect deductions

You should be very careful about the wording of the subject of the contract with a foreign counterparty-customer of services. In accordance with paragraph 4 of Article 148 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, documents confirming the place of performance of services are a contract with a foreign person and documents confirming the fact of provision of services (certificate of work or services performed). In addition, accompanying documents can confirm the reality of the services provided, for example, a marketing report, a report on the actions taken in connection with the concluded contract, letters from the contractor with a list of specialists providing services, etc. The inspectors should have no doubts about the unambiguous interpretation provisions of the agreement.

COMMENT EXPERT A

Vladislav BRYZGALIN, director of the legal security agency “Tax Shield”: - Based on the emergence of tax agent duties or their absence, a Russian taxpayer can plan the execution and execution of a transaction, and in this regard, select counterparties and territories in relation to a specific service. At the same time, it is necessary to take into account that proper documentary confirmation of the place of performance of work and provision of services is essential for determining the tax obligations of a taxpayer who is a Russian organization.

For example, in a case considered by the Federal Arbitration Court of the North-Western District (resolution No. A56-40837/2005 dated June 23, 2006), the taxpayer was able to prove that the services of a foreign agent, even if actually provided on the territory of Russia, are not subject to VAT. Therefore, the Russian organization did not rightfully have the duty of a tax agent. Since the agent’s services were related to the search for clients to conclude contracts relating to movable property, the tax authorities tried to prove that the place of provision of services should be considered the territory of Russia. However, the court found that the services specified in the agency agreement are exclusively services for finding clients and are not related to movable property. Therefore, the Russian organization lawfully reduced the tax base for profits by the amount of agency fees and did not transfer VAT to the budget.

And in another case considered by the same court (resolution of the Federal Arbitration Court of the North-Western District dated December 27, 2005 No. A56-6553/05) the situation was the opposite. A Russian organization provided services under an agency agreement for a foreign company. However, the Russian company, based on the terms of the contract, managed to prove that the services provided consisted of consultations and information processing, therefore, the place of provision of these services is the buyer’s place of business. Therefore, these services were not legally subject to VAT.

OFFICIAL POSITION OF THE EMPLOYEE OF THE INDIRECT TAX DEPARTMENT of the Regional Inspectorate in the Volga Federal District: - The place of sale of services is determined in accordance with Article 148 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. However, in principle, the taxpayer in certain cases can influence whether a service provided to a foreign counterparty (foreign counterparty) will be subject to VAT. For example, if a foreign organization provides consulting services to a Russian one, then in accordance with Article 148 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, Russia is recognized as the place of sale and the cost of the service is subject to VAT. However, taxpayers often define the subject of the agreement in such a way that it is not possible to unambiguously interpret the services provided in accordance with it as consulting. Consequently, the place of sale of services under such an agreement will be the place of activity of the contractor and these amounts will not be subject to VAT.

Two more similar cases were considered by the federal arbitration courts of the Moscow (resolution dated 03.11.06 No. KA-A40/10727-06) and Ural (resolution dated 02.13.06 No. F09-195/06-S2) districts. In both cases, Russian taxpayers used the services of foreign counterparties. As the tax authorities considered, these were legal services, the place of sale of which is recognized as the buyer’s place of business (that is, in this case, Russia). Therefore, Russian companies were obliged to perform the function of a tax agent, withhold and transfer VAT to the budget.

The Ural company failed to challenge the position of the tax authorities: the contract clearly stated the essence of the services provided by the foreign counterparty (legal). But the Moscow organization proved that the services provided to it by a foreign counterparty were neither informational nor legal. Consequently, the place of their implementation is the place of activity of the service provider.

The cases considered prove that, in general, a well-drafted contract helps to defend one’s position in court. In two very similar cases, Russian companies managed to prove not only that the place of provision of the services of the foreign agent is not Russia, but also that the place of provision of the services of the Russian agent is not Russia either.

If it is no longer possible to specify the essence of the services provided in the contract, then it is necessary to draw up documents confirming the services provided with special care: cost calculation, acceptance certificate, report to the customer, where to decipher in detail the subject of the services provided, the specifics of their application, sources of information and what it was the actions that were performed to provide services. All this will help in a controversial situation to defend a position favorable to the company.

in detail SERVICES FOR SPORTS PLAYERS

A special case of a sports club exporting a football player abroad. The fact is that in practice, an athlete must be registered with a club in order to gain the right to participate in sporting events, and the club has the right to compensation when the athlete moves to another club. For example, when a professional football player moves from one club to another, a transfer contract is concluded between these football clubs on the conditions for the football player’s transfer (Clause 1, Article 6 of the Regulations of the Russian Football Union on the status and transfers of football players). On the one hand, since we are talking about the assignment of exclusive rights to an athlete’s contract, the place of provision of the service should be determined at the buyer’s place of business and transfer amounts should not be subject to VAT. On the other hand, neither civil nor tax legislation of Russia knows such a thing as the right of ownership of the labor activity of a particular citizen. According to Chapters 5 and 13 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the object of property rights can only be property or the exclusive right to the results of intellectual activity. Therefore, it is often stated in the contract that compensation payments are made for early termination of an employment contract or for the education and training of an athlete. In this case, the place of implementation of the transfer contract (service) to a foreign club is the territory of the Russian Federation, which entails the accrual of VAT in the generally established manner. This point of view was expressed to the PNP expert by employees of the Federal Tax Service of Russia. In addition, this point of view may find support in court (resolution of the Federal Arbitration Court of the Ural District dated August 23, 2006 No. Ф09-7230/06-С2). However, there is a chance to prove that when an athlete transfers from club to club, there are no contractual relations aimed at training the player by one sports club for another sports club. In this connection, there is no reason to believe that receiving remuneration for a player’s transfer to a foreign sports club corresponds to the concept of operations for the sale of goods, work or services (Clause 1 of Article 39 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Therefore, remuneration should not be included in the VAT tax base. Thus, the Federal Arbitration Court of the Volga District, in its resolution dated 06/09/06 No. A65-33687/2005-CA1-19, indicated that amounts received as compensation for the transfer of a player from one club to another cannot be recognized as income from sales. Since Article 146 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation does not contain sales operations, which may include the transfer of a player from one club to another. The Ministry of Finance also gave indirect confirmation of this position (letter dated March 22, 2006 No. 03-03-04/1/272). The financial department considers compensation for a player’s transfer to be non-operating income, therefore, such compensation cannot be subject to VAT.

Buyer's place of business

There are a number of services for which the place of activity is determined by the location of the buyer. Such services and works include:

• consulting services;
• legal services;
• Advertising activity.

When determining the place of sale within the framework of such services, it is necessary to apply a single criterion - recognition of the territory of the Russian Federation as the place of activity of the buyer.

Other criteria: citizenship of the buyer, provision of services on the territory of other states are not subject to accounting.

Territory that is not recognized as a place of implementation of works (services)

Some territories cannot be recognized as a place of sale of goods, services and works. Thus, land plots that have been transferred to Russia for temporary use are not recognized as a place of sale. Such areas, as a rule, are the property of foreign states, which contradicts the provisions of Article 148 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation on the Russian location of the organization.

Despite the fact that Russian companies are located on the site, this does not change its affiliation with another state. The plot is not subject to VAT.

Movable property, as well as aircraft and inland navigation vessels associated with the property of the taxpayer company and located on the territory of another state are not recognized as sold on Russian territory.

Conditions for a territory that is not recognized as a place of implementation of works (services)

The place of sale is the territory of the Russian Federation, provided that the taxpayer company or individual is located in Russia.

An organization providing the use of aircraft and sea vessels under a charter agreement with a crew cannot recognize the territory of the Russian Federation as the place of sale if the vessels are used for the extraction of aquatic and biological resources or scientific research work on foreign territory.

A separate controversial issue remains the recognition of the place of sale when performing work and services performed on the continental shelf, exclusive economic zone, and at the sites of production and exploration of hydrocarbon materials.

These territories can be recognized as sales only when the following work is performed:

• work carried out on the border of the continental shelf or economic zone, on the border of the Russian part of the bottom of the Caspian Sea, for the study and exploration of water depths, the extraction of hydrocarbons, and the creation of artificial islands;
• work on creating wells;
• work on the transportation and processing of hydrocarbons at points on the continental shelf or in exclusive economic zones.

If an organization carries out several of the above-mentioned works, then the place of implementation will be determined by the place of the main type of work, and not by the place of implementation of auxiliary activities.

Remote employees

The Labor Code provides for the possibility of hiring employees to work remotely; the features of such work are described in Chapter 49.1 of the Labor Code. It’s not enough to just write about remote work in an employment contract; keep in mind that such work has certain requirements:

• The employer does not control the workplace either directly or indirectly. Those. it cannot be an office rented for an employee by a company or even a temporary place in a department (for example, if an accountant at home prepares reports, transfers payments, responds to requests, but comes to the office to enter primary information into the program, then this is no longer remote work) .
• The exchange of data and documents takes place electronically, including using EDI, except in certain cases (sick leave certificates must be sent in the original, as well as certificates necessary to receive other benefits, the work book is also sent in the original if the employee did not write an application for ETC).
• The employee sets his own work and rest schedule for himself, unless otherwise specified in the contract.

By the way! Thanks to the introduction of electronic work books, it has become easier to hire staff remotely, and it is easier for the employee to control its official registration - information can be requested from the personal account on the State Services.

Some organizations have begun to transfer their employees to self-employment or offer to register individual entrepreneurs to provide services to a former employer. What does this promise to the organization:

• Self-employed people cannot provide services to a current or former employer (if they quit less than two years ago, paragraph 8, article 6 of Federal Law No. 422-FZ of November 27, 2018). Concluded contracts can be reclassified as ordinary labor contracts, which means that you will have to pay additional fees, pay penalties and fines, and submit updated reports. An individual will be charged personal income tax, and possibly fined for illegal business activities.
• Individual entrepreneurs pay contributions, submit reports and are liable for obligations with all their property - not every employer informs the future entrepreneur about this, they did not warn the employee - expect claims. Such transactions will most likely receive attention from any inspectors: tax, Pension Fund, Social Insurance Fund. Again, retraining into an employment contract is possible.

The best way out, if the provision of services is episodic in nature, is to conclude a civil contract for each case, if it is a temporary project (for example, drawing up estimates and stage-by-stage delivery documentation for a construction project) - urgent labor, if there is a regular demand for services - hire an employee for permanent job or part-time job (depending on the availability of another job).

It’s definitely not worth forcing you to register as an individual entrepreneur or as a self-employed person. If an employee decides that he really wants to organize his own business, honestly tell the pros and cons, offer help with tax calculations and reporting (at least to offset payment for future services), pay attention to compliance with the restrictions on the PIT (professional income tax).

Note! Revenue for the year according to NAP should not exceed 2.4 million rubles. Self-employed people do not pay mandatory insurance contributions (like individual entrepreneurs), therefore the period of such activity (if there is no other place of work) will not be included in the pension period.

Types of work (services) for the purposes of geological study, exploration and production of hydrocarbons

If works and services are sold for the purpose of geological exploration or extraction of useful raw materials from those subsoil areas that are located in the economic exclusive zone or on the continental shelf, regardless of whether they are located there in whole or in part, then the procedure for determining the place of sale for tax calculation purposes for added value is determined within the framework of Article 148 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

These provisions are strictly regulated as they affect the relations of several states. Major disagreements within the framework of this article are caused by the need to pay VAT when carrying out work in the territory of other states and special zones.

If the taxpayer carries out various types of work, then VAT is charged on both auxiliary production and main activities.

In this case, NSD rates may vary. Deductions are calculated in this case separately (for example, work is determined at a rate of 18%, and part of the ancillary services is determined at a rate of 10%).

Features of taxation and expense accounting

From the customer's point of view, it is important to confirm expenses for tax purposes. A little about this has already been said above – in the topic of self-employment. To work with other performers - individual entrepreneurs or organizations providing services remotely, you will need to organize the correct exchange of information and documents:

• Conclude an agreement in which you determine the frequency and method of transferring documents - through the EDI system (agree on the operator), by mail (simple, registered, valuable letter or parcel post, express), by courier (by any services or with the help of regular employees), through authorized persons.
• If necessary, sign an agreement with the operator for the exchange of electronic documents, with mail, courier service, etc. These costs can be accepted as expenses.
• If in order to provide a service, the customer must provide access to the accounting system, provide data or documents, then set up remote access (especially pay attention to the user’s rights) or agree on how exactly the documents will be sent. For example, it is unlikely that anyone will want to forward the primary document in the original; you will have to take photos or scans.

Note! The agreement can indicate that the parties first exchange scans or faxes of documents, and the originals are sent later, while the copies are valid until they are received. However, for tax accounting purposes, you can accept either originals or electronic documents (with digital signature).

Working with employees

If you organize the work of a remote employee, then in addition to all of the above, you need to agree on who will provide the equipment (telephone, computer, etc.) and how the employee’s expenses for communications, office supplies, etc. will be compensated. Compensations can be included in expenses only if confirmed.

You can provide an employee with a corporate SIM card, and connect the Internet at the company’s expense (the employee will have his own line + one provided by the employer), subject to the condition of using it exclusively for work purposes.

Accounting with the contractor

If your company itself provides services remotely, then costs such as:

• Website creation.
• Payment for payment system services.

You can read about how to keep track of the costs of creating a website in the article in the accounting section. Depending on the exclusivity of the rights to the resource, the site is accounted for as an intangible asset or as other expenses.

Accounting for receipts through payment systems is carried out using account 55. Typical transactions will look like this:

• D 62 K 90.1 – revenue from services provided is taken into account.
• D 90.3 K 68 – VAT is reflected on the transaction (if the performer is a VAT payer).
• D 55 K 62 – when money is received into the electronic wallet account of an organization or individual entrepreneur (minus commission) from individuals or legal entities.
• D 91.2 K 76 – reflects the system commission under the contract.
• D 76 K 62 – commission is withheld from funds transferred by the buyer.
• D 51 K 55 – funds are transferred from an electronic account to a bank account.

If funds are received through a payment agent, the operations will be similar, but the use of cash registers is different. When receiving payments to electronic accounts or wallets, the contractor must punch a paper check or an electronic one and transfer/send it to the buyer. It is possible to connect special services to generate checks automatically; they are sent to the customer’s email or mobile phone. When making payments through a paying agent, the agent punches the check.

In the general system, commission costs are accounted for as other or non-operating expenses (as specified in the accounting policy). Expenses are recognized using the accrual method (as a rule, this is the method used for OSNO) in the period to which they relate. For example, if the system charges a commission once a day, then we reflect it daily, if for a month, on the last day of the month, etc.

Important! On the simplified tax system, we take into account the commission as part of other expenses on the date of deduction (transfer).

The Contractor may use UTII and the patent system when providing remote services, provided that it meets other requirements. At the same time, the region where services are provided does not matter for the individual entrepreneur who owns the patent, as the Ministry of Finance and the Federal Tax Service have repeatedly explained, i.e. An individual entrepreneur registered, for example, in Moscow, can provide services throughout Russia.

Documents confirming the place of work

There are a number of documents that confirm the place of implementation of works and services:

• contracts and equivalent agreements with both Russian and foreign companies;
• documents on the performance of work - acceptance certificates, inspection reports, etc.

Thus, determining the place of sale of services and works is a rather complex regulated process. The provisions of Article 148 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation allow taxpayers to reliably calculate value added tax and other types of taxes on work and services performed in special zones.

Author of the article

Self-employed remotely

The number of regions where NAP has been introduced has increased since the beginning of 2021 and is likely to expand further. The law has been amended since April 1, 2021, and now regions that are not yet participating in the experiment can decide to introduce this regime, although not earlier than July 1 (the regional law must be adopted no later than a month before or another, later, date of introduction of the NAP).

There will be more opportunities to use the services of self-employed citizens, including remote ones. As such, there are no specific lists of types of services, as with a patent or UTII, but there are restrictions. In terms of services, they relate to:

• Mediation (commission, assignment, agency agreements).
• Deliveries with acceptance of payments for delivered goods.

An exception is delivery providers who use cash register systems for sellers of goods (clause 5 and clause 6 of Article 4 of Law 422-FZ).

The most in demand are accounting, consulting (in various fields), and legal services. To confirm expenses, you must receive a check from the contractor (generated in the “My Tax” application) with the following details:

1. Date and time.
2. Full name of the performer.
3. TIN of the contractor and the customer.
4. Note on the application of the NAP.
5. Name of services.
6. Sum.
7. QR code.
8. TIN and the name of the authorized credit institution (mainly large banks) or the operator of the electronic platform (taxi services, delivery, logistics, etc.), if they participate in the calculations (in this case, the check is punched by the operator, not the self-employed, calculation results can be found in the appendix).
9. A unique check number in the tax system.

A receipt is the main document confirming expenses. The NPD payer is not obliged to enter into an agreement and issue certificates (after all, the name of the service will be on the check), but at the same time they provide more grounds for the customer to accept expenses.

The contract specifies the terms of payments, frequency, and other key points. The act deciphers the service in detail.

Example: the check indicates “accounting services for April”, and the act lists the specific volume of documents processed, reports compiled, etc. If the contractor makes a mistake that leads to fines, it will be possible to prove that this erroneous document was prepared by a specific contractor and recover damages from him (and this is where the contract comes in handy).