Basis and legal basis

The taxation system in the form of Unified Agricultural Tax - the unified agricultural tax - is one of five special tax regimes. It is intended for use in agriculture, as the name suggests.

Like all other special regimes, the Unified Agricultural Tax replaces the payment of income tax and VAT, and the Unified Agricultural Tax also replaces the payment of corporate property tax.

The unified agricultural tax was introduced by Chapter 26.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Reporting forms, as usual, are established by the financial department. Also, clarifications from the Ministry of Finance and the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation can be included in the legal framework for the Unified Agricultural Tax - these clarifications are not of a regulatory nature, but help to understand various aspects of the application of the tax.

The procedure for transition to Unified Agricultural Tax

The transition to a single agricultural tax is voluntary. You must decide on your desire to apply the unified agricultural tax before December 31 of the year preceding the year from which the unified agricultural tax will be applied. It is during this period - before December 31 - that you need to submit a corresponding notification to the tax authority at your location (place of residence). It indicates the share of income from the sale of agricultural products produced by the taxpayer.

A newly created organization or a newly registered individual entrepreneur has the right to notify about the transition to paying the Unified Agricultural Tax no later than 30 calendar days from the date of registration with the tax authority indicated in its certificate.

Please pay attention!

Special conditions for notification of the transition to the unified agricultural tax are established by Article 346.3 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation for organizations that are included in the unified state register of legal entities on the basis of Article 19 of the Federal Law of November 30, 1994 N 52-FZ.

Organizations and entrepreneurs that have not submitted a notification of the transition to paying the unified agricultural tax within the established time frame are not recognized as payers of the unified agricultural tax and, accordingly, will not be able to apply this taxation regime in the new year.

Taxpayers who have switched to paying a single agricultural tax do not have the right to switch to other tax regimes before the end of the tax period.

If, at the end of the tax period, the taxpayer ceases to comply with the above mandatory conditions, then he is considered to have lost the right to apply the unified agricultural tax from the beginning of the year in which this violation was committed or detected.

If the taxpayer has lost the right to use the unified agricultural tax, he is obliged to inform the tax authority about the transition to a different taxation regime within 15 days after the expiration of the reporting (tax) period.

Taxpayers have the right to switch from the Unified Agricultural Tax to another taxation regime from the beginning of the new calendar year. To do this, you need to notify the tax authority at the location of the organization (or place of residence of the individual entrepreneur) again no later than January 15.

Taxpayers who have switched to a different tax regime have the right to switch again to paying the Unified Agricultural Tax no earlier than one year after losing the right to use it.

Taxpayers

Taxpayers of the Unified Agricultural Tax- these are organizations and individual entrepreneurs who are agricultural producers and have switched to paying a single agricultural tax in the manner established by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

Agricultural producers can be:

1. Organizations and individual entrepreneurs:
   • producing agricultural products;
   • those carrying out its primary and subsequent (industrial) processing (including on leased fixed assets);
   • selling these products.

   All the above conditions must be met simultaneously. If a company does not produce agricultural products, but only purchases them, processes them and sells them, then they will not be able to become a payer of the Unified Agricultural Tax.

   A prerequisite for the transition to the Unified Agricultural Tax is that based on the results of work for the calendar year preceding the year in which the application for the transition to paying the Unified Agricultural Tax is submitted, the share of income from the sale of agricultural products must be at least 70% of the total income of the taxpayer.

2. Agricultural consumer cooperatives - if, based on the results of their work for the previous calendar year, the share of their income from the sale of agricultural products of their own production by members of these cooperatives, as well as from work (services) for members of these cooperatives, is at least 70% of the total income.
3. City- and village-forming Russian fishery organizations, the number of employees in which, taking into account family members living with them, is at least half the population of the corresponding locality. For them, the following conditions are mandatory (for the transition to the Unified Agricultural Tax):
   • in the total income from the sale of goods (work, services) for the previous year, the share of their income from the sale of their catches and (or) fish and other products produced from them on their own is at least 70%;
   • they carry out fishing on fishing fleet vessels owned by them, or use them on the basis of charter agreements (bareboat charter and time charter).
4. Fishery organizations and individual entrepreneurs.

Mandatory conditions for the transition to the Unified Agricultural Tax:

• the average number of employees for each of the two calendar years preceding the filing of the notification does not exceed 300 people;
• in the total income from the sale of goods (works, services), the share of income from the sale of their catches of aquatic biological resources and (or) fish and other products from aquatic biological resources produced on their own for the previous year is at least 70%.

The full list of agricultural producers who have the right to switch to paying the Unified Agricultural Tax is specified in Article 346.2 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

The following persons are not entitled to switch to paying the unified agricultural tax:

• organizations and individual entrepreneurs engaged in the production of excisable goods;
• organizations engaged in organizing and conducting gambling;
• state-owned, budgetary and autonomous institutions.

Agricultural products for the purpose of taxation of the Unified Agricultural Tax include:

• agricultural and forestry crop products;
• livestock products, incl. obtained as a result of growing and growing fish, as well as other aquatic biological resources.

The closed list of agricultural products was approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of July 25, 2006 N 458.

Tax exemption

Organizations that have switched to paying the Unified Agricultural Tax are exempt from the obligation to pay:

• corporate income tax;
• corporate property tax;

Individual entrepreneurs who have switched to paying the Unified Agricultural Tax are exempt from the obligation to pay:

• personal income tax (in relation to income received from business activities);
• property tax for individuals (in relation to property used for business activities);
• value added tax (with the exception of VAT payable when importing goods into the territory of the Russian Federation and other territories under its jurisdiction).

Other taxes and fees are paid in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation on taxes and fees.

Please pay attention!

Organizations and individual entrepreneurs who are payers of the unified agricultural tax are not exempt from performing the duties of tax agents.

Object of taxation and tax base

The object of taxation under the Unified Agricultural Tax is income reduced by expenses. The procedure for determining income and expenses is established by Article 346.5 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

The tax base is the monetary expression of income reduced by the amount of expenses.

The date of receipt of income is the day of receipt of funds into bank accounts and (cash), receipt of other property (work, services), property rights, as well as repayment of debt in another way (cash method).

Expenses are recognized as expenses after they are actually paid.

Income and expenses in foreign currency are converted into rubles at the exchange rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation established accordingly on the date of receipt of income (date of expenses). Income received in kind is taken into account based on the contract price, taking into account market prices determined by the rules of Art. 105.3 NK.

The tax base can be reduced for a tax period by the amount of the loss received based on the results of previous tax periods. Taxpayers have the right to carry forward losses to future tax periods within 10 years following the tax period in which the loss was incurred.

Organizations are required to keep records of their performance indicators necessary for calculating the tax base and the amount of unified agricultural tax, based on accounting data.

Individual entrepreneurs may not keep accounting records, but they are required to keep records of income and expenses for the purposes of calculating the tax base for the unified agricultural tax in the book of income and expenses of individual entrepreneurs using the unified agricultural tax. The form and procedure for filling out this book were approved by Order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated December 11, 2006 N 169n.

Please note!

Taxable period

The tax period is a calendar year.

The reporting period is half a year.

Tax rates

The tax rate for the Unified Agricultural Tax is set by the Tax Code at 6% and is generally unchanged.

However, since 2015, the possibility of lowering the unified agricultural tax rate has been introduced for Crimea and Sevastopol. For the period 2015-2016. These regional authorities could reduce the rate to 0%. For the period 2017-2021. reduction is possible only up to 4%.

In 2016, both Sevastopol and the Republic of Crimea established a tax rate under the Unified Agricultural Tax of 0.5%.

In 2017, according to the laws of the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, the unified agricultural tax rate was increased to a minimum of 4%.

Please pay attention!

According to paragraph 2 of Art. 346.8 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the rate for the Unified Agricultural Tax, established by the laws of Crimea and Sevastopol for 2017, will not increase until 2021, that is, during this entire period it will be equal to 4%.

The procedure for calculating and paying the unified agricultural tax. Reporting

When applying the Unified Agricultural Tax, the tax is calculated as a percentage of the tax base corresponding to the tax rate. The taxpayer must calculate the tax himself according to the rules established by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

Based on the results of the reporting period, it is necessary to calculate the amount of the advance payment based on the tax rate and the actual income received, reduced by the amount of expenses calculated on an accrual basis from the beginning of the tax period until the end of the six months. The advance must be paid no later than 25 calendar days from the end of the reporting period.

At the end of the tax period, taxpayers submit tax returns and pay the Unified Agricultural Tax to the tax authorities:

• organizations - at their location;
• individual entrepreneurs - at their place of residence.

You must submit your tax return and pay taxes for the previous year no later than March 31 of the year.

The tax return form was approved by order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated July 28, 2014 N ММВ-7-3/ Can be submitted both in paper and electronic form.

Upon termination of activity as an agricultural producer, an organization or individual entrepreneur must pay tax and submit a declaration under the Unified Agricultural Tax no later than the 25th day of the month following the one in which, according to the notification, the activity was terminated.

Please pay attention!

Taxpayers whose average number of employees for the previous calendar year exceeds 100 people, as well as newly created organizations whose number of employees exceeds the specified limit, submit tax returns and calculations only in electronic form. The same rule applies to the largest taxpayers.

More information about submitting electronic reporting can be found.

A complete list of federal electronic document management operators operating in a certain region can be found on the official website of the Office of the Federal Tax Service of Russia for the constituent entity of the Russian Federation.

Unified Agricultural Sciences: what's new in 2017?

From January 1, 2017, taxpayers using the Unified Agricultural Tax can include in expenses the costs of conducting an independent assessment of the qualifications of employees. The corresponding changes were made by Federal Law dated July 3, 2016 N 251-FZ in paragraphs. 26 clause 2 art. 346.5 Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

In 2017, by the Laws of the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, the Unified Agricultural Tax rate was increased to the minimum possible 4% and, in accordance with clause 2 of Art. 346.8 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the rate for the Unified Agricultural Tax will no longer increase until 2021, that is, during this entire period it will be equal to 4%.

Please note!

When paying arrears on all taxes, from October 1, 2017, the rules for calculating penalties will change. If there is a long delay, large amounts of penalties will have to be paid - this applies to arrears that arose after October 1, 2017. Changes have been made to the rules for calculating penalties, which are established for organizations in clause 4 of Art. 75 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

If, starting from the specified date, the payment is overdue for more than 30 days, the penalty will have to be calculated as follows:

• based on 1/300 of the refinancing rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, valid in the period from the 1st to the 30th calendar days (inclusive) of such delay;
• based on 1/150 of the refinancing rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, relevant for the period starting from the 31st calendar day of delay.

If the delay is 30 calendar days or less, the legal entity will pay a penalty based on 1/300 of the refinancing rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.

The changes are provided for by Federal Law No. 130-FZ dated May 1, 2016.

When paying arrears before October 1, 2017, the number of days of delay does not matter; the rate in any case will be 1/300 of the Central Bank refinancing rate. Let us remind you that since 2016 the refinancing rate has been equal to the key rate.

They also touched on the topic of using the general mode. In fact, there is another special regime - the single agricultural tax (or abbreviated as Unified Agricultural Tax).

It, as the name implies, can be used by a rather narrow circle of taxpayers, but it is still worth talking about. Firstly, among the readers there are those who are involved in agriculture. Secondly, the information may be useful to those who are just planning to start a business in this area. Moreover, in our country recently the topic of agriculture and import substitution has been developing quite actively - everyone who at least occasionally watches TV and reads the news has probably heard about this.

So, Unified Agricultural Tax is a special taxation regime for agricultural producers.

What are its features? Let's figure it out in order.

General conditions of use

In fact, after reading this article, you yourself will understand that the Unified Agricultural Tax is very similar to a simplified version with an “income-expenses” base. And it is true. Among the general conditions for using the Unified Agricultural Tax, we note:

• The tax can be used by both legal entities and individual entrepreneurs. The main thing is that they must meet certain criteria - I’ll tell you about them later;
• The regime is voluntary – if you meet the criteria, you can switch to it, or you can stay on another mode. Here you decide for yourself what is better.
• Legal entities paying the Unified Agricultural Tax are exempt from :
  • Income tax;
  • Property tax.
• Individual entrepreneurs who pay Unified Agricultural Tax do not pay :
  • personal income tax;
  • Tax on property that is directly involved in the business.

• All rules for the application of the Unified Agricultural Tax also apply to one specific type of business organization - peasant (farm) enterprises .

Please note that the main innovation of 2019 is that now entrepreneurs located on the Unified Agricultural Tax will be required to pay VAT in the general manner (see 335-FZ of November 27, 2017, paragraph 12, article 9). It will have to be accrued upon the sale of agricultural products, and input VAT can be refunded. Entrepreneurs will be required to issue invoices, keep books of purchases and sales, and submit VAT returns quarterly.

However, the above law also provides for exemption from the obligation to pay VAT. It can be used by notifying the tax office with a corresponding application. It turns out that an entrepreneur can voluntarily choose what will be beneficial for him - to pay only the Unified Agricultural Tax or the Unified Agricultural Tax plus VAT, which, for example, will be relevant for large agricultural producers with large amounts of input VAT.

The right to release can be exercised if:

• the transition to the Unified Agricultural Tax and exemption from VAT by application occur in the same calendar year;
• income from business activities, excluding VAT, did not exceed 100 million rubles, this is for 2018, for 2019 the limit will be 90 million rubles.

If one of the conditions is met, VAT can be avoided in 2019 by notifying the tax office in advance.

What is also important is that entrepreneurs selling excisable goods during the last three months before the legislative amendments enter into force cannot take advantage of the right to be exempt from VAT.

Another nuance is that an entrepreneur who has received the right to exemption from VAT cannot subsequently refuse it (Article 145 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, paragraph 2, paragraph 4). The only exception will be the fact of loss of this right. This can happen either due to exceeding the annual revenue threshold (90 million in 2019), or due to the sale of excisable goods. If this happens, the entrepreneur loses the right to VAT exemption; the tax amount will need to be restored and transferred to the budget. Moreover, in the future the entrepreneur will no longer be able to take advantage of the repeated right to VAT exemption. This is stated in Art. 145 Tax Code of the Russian Federation, paragraph. 2 p. 5.

Who can become a payer of the Unified Agricultural Tax

As I already said, both a legal entity and an individual entrepreneur can switch to the Unified Agricultural Tax. But for this you need to meet certain criteria. Which one exactly?

Only an agricultural producer can be a taxpayer under this special regime. Who is it?

According to the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, agricultural producers are recognized :

• legal entities and individual entrepreneurs engaged in the production of agricultural products, their processing (this means both primary and subsequent (that is, industrial) processing) and the sale of these products. It is important here that income from this activity is equal to at least 70% of the taxpayer’s total income.
• agricultural consumer cooperatives (gardening, market gardening, livestock farming, as well as those processing agricultural products, selling them or working in the field of agricultural supply). At the same time, the criterion for the share of income of 70% also remains here!
• fisheries, fishery organizations and individual entrepreneurs, if:
  • the average number of employees for the tax period is no more than 300 people;
  • if the share of “core” income (sales of catch and market products) is at least the same 70% of total income;
  • if they are engaged in fishing on vessels that are owned by them or used under a charter agreement.

What is considered agricultural products? This concept includes:

• crop products (not only agriculture, but also forestry);
• livestock products (including growing / growing fish and other biological water resources);
• catch of aquatic biological resources, fish and other products from them.

Summarize. To apply the Unified Agricultural Tax, you must meet the following criteria:

1. Engage in production/processing/sale of agricultural products.
2. The share of income from this activity must be equal to at least 70% of all income.
3. For fisheries, there are additional restrictions in the form of the number of employees (up to 300 people) and the availability of their own and rented vessels.

Unified agricultural tax does not have the right to apply:

• Those who produce excisable goods;
• Those who work in the gambling business;
• State and budgetary institutions.

Transition to Unified Agricultural Tax and leaving the special regime

You can switch to Unified Agricultural Tax:

• From the beginning of the year, by submitting the appropriate notification;
• From the date of tax registration - for newly registered legal entities or individual entrepreneurs.

The notice is issued by . Those who have decided to switch to the Unified Agricultural Tax from the new year must notify the tax office before December 31 of the current year. In this case, the form must indicate the share of income from the sale of agricultural products in all income for the current year. Newly registered legal entity. individuals or individual entrepreneurs are given 30 days from the date of registration to submit a notification.

If you did not submit notification No. 26.1-1 within the established time frame, then you cannot pay tax under the Unified Agricultural Tax. By the way, if you did switch to the unified agricultural tax, then you cannot return to a different taxation regime before the end of the year.

Returning to another mode occurs in three cases:

1. You voluntarily refuse the Unified Agricultural Tax. This is done only from next year; time is given to submit a notification until January 15 of the new year;
2. You no longer meet any of the required criteria. In this situation, you notify the tax office within a month about the loss of the right to use the unified agricultural tax;
3. You stop the activity for which the special regime of the Unified Agricultural Tax was used. The tax office is notified of this within 15 days from the date of termination of such activity.

Main parameters of the Unified Agricultural Tax

Like any tax, the Unified Agricultural Tax is characterized by standard parameters: it has its own base, rate, calculation rules and declaration form. Let's look at the main points:

An object: income minus expenses.

The procedure for determining and recognizing income/expenses: is prescribed in Art. 346.5 Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Expenses are presented, as in the simplified version, in the form of a specific list. In addition, they also need to be confirmed initially, and no one has canceled the economic feasibility.

The tax base: the amount of income minus the amount of expenses in monetary terms. Amounts of income/expenses in foreign currency are converted into rubles at the rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation in effect on the day the income was received or the expense was made. Income in kind is taken into account in amounts corresponding to their market value. Amounts of income/expenses are considered a cumulative total at the beginning of the year. It is allowed to deduct losses from previous years from the tax base (transfer is possible within 10 years after the period to which the loss relates).

The tax period is a year, the reporting period is half a year.

Bid: standard rate is 6%. For the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, it can be reduced in 2017-2021 - to 4%.

Calculation order:

Tax = (income - expenses) * 6% (or another rate, if used)

Based on the results of the six months, an advance payment is calculated and paid within 25 calendar days after the end of the period.

Pros and cons of Unified Agricultural Tax

Advantages of the Unified Agricultural Tax:

• Voluntary transition to and departure from the regime;
• The opportunity to reduce your tax burden - in fact, it is the simplified tax system - Income minus expenses, only the maximum standard rate is much lower - only 6%;
• Minimum reporting - the declaration is submitted only once a year, individual entrepreneurs are additionally maintained only by KUDIR;
• Optimal timing of tax payment: advance payment is made at the end of the six months, final payment – ​​at the end of the year. This is very convenient for those who work in agriculture, because this industry is often characterized by pronounced seasonality in income generation, which is associated with the seasonality of production.

Disadvantages of the Unified Agricultural Tax:

• The need to comply with several criteria, especially the criterion for a revenue share of 70%;
• A clear limitation of expense items - they must comply with the list from the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

Conclusion

Whether or not to choose this special mode is up to each agricultural producer to decide for himself. Since the regime is voluntary, you can remain, for example, on the simplified tax system. But here it is important to consider this. For the simplified tax system - Income minus expenses, the standard rate is 15% (regions can reduce it); for the unified agricultural tax, it is initially 6%. This is the first “For” in favor of the Unified Agricultural Tax. And the second “Pro” of the Unified Agricultural Tax is the reporting period in the form of half a year. On the simplified tax system, advance payments are made after each quarter. Agree that for some entrepreneurs, these conditions can be very attractive.

Activities for the production of agricultural products in Russia today are subject to two main forms of tax assessment: general and special. A special form of taxation - also known as the single agricultural tax (operates exclusively within this industry. In this article we will analyze the main features of its use: who can use the Unified Agricultural Tax? How is this form qualitatively different from the general method of paying tax levies? How does the agricultural tax compare with other modes?

What are the advantages of switching to Unified Agricultural Tax in 2019?

The Unified Agricultural Tax (USAT) is a popular form of taxation in 2019, which was developed and implemented in the sector of activity of organizations and private enterprises producing agricultural products and belonging to the field of plant and livestock farming, agriculture and forestry. At the same time, only those companies whose total income from the above sectors of activity is at least 70% have the opportunity to switch to the Unified Agricultural Tax.

The main advantages of the agricultural tax, which replaces the main taxes with a single payment, are as follows:

according to Art. 346 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, individual entrepreneurs do not have to pay personal income tax, as well as property tax for individuals;

legal entities do not pay on company property;

and legal entities, and do not need to pay (with the exception of export);

the unified agricultural tax presupposes a simplified accounting system;

You can switch to the unified agricultural tax absolutely voluntarily, just like, if necessary, change the form of taxation.

Who is the payer of agricultural tax?

Companies and private entrepreneurs that receive 70% of income from activities in the following industries have the right to use the form of the unified agricultural tax (Article 346 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation):

production of agricultural products in the field of plant and animal husbandry;

services of commodity producing companies in the field of plant and livestock farming: services related to auxiliary activities: sowing agricultural crops, caring for horticultural objects, harvesting, organizing farm work, etc.

breeding and catching fish and other aquatic biological resources.

Important! Enterprises that process agricultural goods, as well as supply them, cannot be single tax payers.

At the same time, according to Art. 346 of the Russian Federation, payers of the Unified Agricultural Tax may also lose the right to apply this form of taxation if they do not meet the criteria of an agricultural producer during the calendar year. According to legislative regulations, they can again be transferred to the general taxation system.

Who is exempt from tax

Based on the Unified Agricultural Tax, legal entities and individual entrepreneurs are exempt from paying income tax, property tax, and personal income tax. At the same time, the Unified Agricultural Tax provides for the timely payment of the single tax, as well as other fees, in accordance with legislative norms. Both individual entrepreneurs and organizations on the Unified Agricultural Tax are obliged to perform the functions of tax agents.

Other benefits that are possible under the general taxation system are not provided for in the Unified Agricultural Tax.

Tax rates and payment deadlines

The single agricultural tax is calculated using the following formula:

Unified agricultural tax = tax base * 6%, where the “tax base” should be understood as the amount of income from activities taking into account all expenses incurred, expressed in monetary terms;

6% – fixed tax rate.

It is also important to note that entrepreneurs can also reduce the tax base if their expenses are higher than their income. The tax base can be reduced by an amount equal to the amount of losses, but not more than 30%.

When do you need to pay agricultural tax?

The deadlines for payment of the unified agricultural tax are determined based on the established boundaries of the tax and reporting period. The tax period in this system is considered to be a calendar year, while the reporting period is a half-year, that is, there will be two agricultural entrepreneurs in a calendar year.

According to the law, both legal entities and private entrepreneurs must pay an advance no later than 25 days after the expiration of the reporting period. In the calendar, this period is limited to July 1st to July 25th.

The fee for collecting income for the whole year is calculated and paid based on the end of the tax period, that is, next year. The deadline for paying the Unified Agricultural Tax in 2019 will be April 2.

Late filing of reports may result in penalties ranging from 5% to 30% of the amount of the unpaid fee, according to the declaration. The fine is calculated for each month from the date of delay in filing the declaration.

According to Art. 122 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, late paid tax entails financial sanctions in the amount of 20% to 40% of the debt amount.

How the Unified Agricultural Tax is combined with other tax regimes

What forms of taxation can be combined with unified agricultural tax?

Private entrepreneurs have the right to combine the unified agricultural tax with the patent taxation system (PTS) as well as with the taxation of imputed income (). For legal entities, combination is possible exclusively with the latter type of regime.

It is impossible to combine the Unified Agricultural Tax with any other tax regimes. The general taxation system can only be completely eliminated.

It is also important to remember that the use of two permissible tax regimes at an enterprise and organization obliges them to maintain tax records separately for each of them.

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And for those who still have questions or those who want to get advice from a professional, we can offer free tax advice from 1C specialists:

Supporting agricultural producers is one of the priorities of domestic economic policy in many countries of the world. Russia is no exception. The Unified Agricultural Tax, that is, the single agricultural tax, is one of the elements of such a policy. Agricultural producers and fishing industries have the right to apply this preferential treatment.

A significant sector of the processing industry, which can directly (due to the volume and prices of purchases) stimulate the efficiency of agricultural producers, does not have the right to apply the unified agricultural tax. And agricultural producers themselves are subject to a strict restriction - at least 70% of their total income must come from the sale of agricultural products produced by them. In such a situation, many entrepreneurs working in agriculture choose a similar preferential regime - one that does not impose such restrictions.

Since 2017, organizations and individual entrepreneurs that provide services to agricultural producers have been added to the list of those who have the right to apply the unified agricultural tax, and the services must be provided specifically in the field of crop and livestock production. This could be preparing fields, harvesting crops, grazing livestock, etc. A complete list of such services is contained in Federal Law No. 216 dated June 23, 2016.

If you find the simplified system beneficial and convenient for yourself, then You can prepare an application for transition to the simplified tax system in our service absolutely free:

What are the benefits of using unified agricultural tax?

If we talk about the severity of the tax burden, then the unified agricultural tax wins in relation to both. Let's compare the tax base and tax rate of systems whose object of taxation is received income (we remind you that for UTII neither income nor expenses are taken into account):

As we can see, although the tax rate on the Unified Agricultural Tax and on is the same, but the tax base for the simplified tax system Income is greater, since it does not take into account expenses incurred, which means that the tax payable will be higher.

The Unified Agricultural Tax in terms of tax burden can only be compared with (subject to the minimum possible rate of 5%, which is not applied in all regions). Well, compare the Unified Agricultural Tax with It’s not even worth it - the tax rate of the latter, with a similar tax base, is more than three times higher, and this does not take into account the need to pay VAT.

Thus, the conclusion can be drawn unambiguously: the Unified Agricultural Tax is a very beneficial regime for the taxpayer if it meets the requirements established by law.

Who can be a payer of the Unified Agricultural Tax?

A full description of taxpayers entitled to the Unified Agricultural Tax is given in Art. 346.2. Tax Code of the Russian Federation. They can only be:

1. Organizations and individual entrepreneurs, as well as agricultural consumer cooperatives, which produce, process and sell agricultural products. This condition must be considered comprehensively, that is, all these requirements must be taken into account. It’s just that processors and sellers of agricultural products do not have the right to the Unified Agricultural Tax.
2. City-forming and village-forming Russian fishery organizations, provided that the number of workers in them, taking into account family members living with them, is at least 50% of the population of this locality. This also includes fishing cooperatives (collective farms). In this case, fishing should be carried out on vessels of the fishing fleet, owned by right of ownership, or on the basis of charter agreements.
3. Organizations and individual entrepreneurs that provide services to agricultural producers in the field of crop and livestock production.

Restrictions for Unified Agricultural Tax

Additional restrictions for using this mode look like this:

1. Manufacturers of excisable goods (alcohol, tobacco, etc.), as well as those involved in the gambling business, cannot work for the Unified Agricultural Tax.
2. In order to be able to switch (for already operating business entities) or retain the right to unified agricultural tax, the taxpayer must fulfill the condition that the share of income from the sale of agricultural products or fishing catch is at least 70% of his total income.
3. If the average annual number of fishery organizations and individual entrepreneurs using the Unified Agricultural Tax does not exceed 300 people. There is no such requirement for agricultural organizations.
4. There are no restrictions on the amount of income received, provided that the requirement for a share of income of at least 70% is met.

Elements of the Unified Agricultural Tax system

The Unified Agricultural Tax can be called a taxation system that is easy to understand. What do you need to know about this system?

1. The tax period, that is, the period of time at the end of which the amount of tax payable is calculated, is a calendar year.
2. The reporting period based on the results of which the advance tax payment must be calculated and paid is six months. The declaration at the end of the reporting period is not submitted, but by July 25 an advance payment must be made based on the income received in the first half of the year.
3. The object of taxation for the Unified Agricultural Tax is income reduced by the amount of expenses, and the tax base is the monetary value of such income. The rules for recognizing income and expenses for calculating agricultural tax are very similar to those that apply when calculating the tax base when calculating the simplified tax system Income minus expenses.
4. The tax rate is 6%, and has no regional specifics, and local authorities cannot limit the operation of the Unified Agricultural Tax on their territory.

What taxes does the Unified Agricultural Tax replace?

Just like in other special regimes, agricultural tax replaces the payment of the following taxes:

1. Newly registered individual entrepreneurs and legal entities must submit a notification within 30 days after registration to switch to the Unified Agricultural Tax.
2. Already operating business entities can submit a notification no later than December 31 of the current year in order to switch to paying agricultural tax from the beginning of the new year. At the same time, they must indicate in the notification data on the share of income from the sale of agricultural products or fishing catch. This share must be at least 70% of total income.

Loss of the right or refusal to apply the unified agricultural tax

If at the end of the year it turns out that the requirements for the application of this regime have been violated (for example, the share of income from the sale of agricultural products or fishing catch is at least 70% of the total income), then the Unified Agricultural Tax payer must report this. In this case, the tax for the tax will be recalculated the past year, based on the requirements, and the arrears will have to be paid in January of the new year.

You can also refuse to apply this preferential regime on a voluntary basis, they inform you about this. This can only be done at the end of the tax period, that is, the calendar year, in the period from January 1 to January 15.

Finally, the fact that the Unified Agricultural Tax payer has ceased the activities of the agricultural producer must be reported within 15 days from the date of termination of such activities.

Reporting, accounting and payment of tax on unified agricultural tax

Agricultural tax payers submit one completed form per year no later than March 31 of the year following the reporting year. If the activity is terminated before the end of the tax period, then the declaration must be submitted no later than the 25th day of the month following the month of termination of the activity.

Individual entrepreneurs on the Unified Agricultural Tax maintain a special Book of Income and Expenses designed for this regime; organizations - only accounting registers.

If you did not manage to pay taxes or contributions on time, then in addition to the tax itself, you will also have to pay a penalty in the form of a penalty, which can be calculated using our calculator.