One of the most popular taxation regimes, especially among individual entrepreneurs, is the simplified system (USN or simplified system). Her main feature is that instead of income tax, VAT, property tax, a single tax replacing them is paid. At the same time, the tax burden is less than for OSNO, and accounting for individual entrepreneurs and LLCs is much simpler, so you can do it yourself.

Organizations and entrepreneurs who want to apply a simplified tax system can choose two options for calculating taxes:

• The simplest one is the one with a rate of 6%.
• More complex, but in some cases it is more profitable to use it - this is Simplified tax system “income minus expenses”, the rate varies depending on the availability of benefits - from 5 to 15%, but most often it is still 15%.

Conditions for applying the simplified tax system

The use of simplifications has some limitations, so first of all you need to understand whether your business falls under them (Tax Code of the Russian Federation, Art. 346.12, clause 3).

Number:

• This type of taxation can only be applied by small businesses with no more than 100 employees.

For what type of activity and which organizations and individual entrepreneurs cannot use this type taxation:

• Insurers, banks, micro financial institutions, pawnshops, investment funds, non-state pension funds, securities market participants working on a professional basis.
• If an individual entrepreneur or LLC is engaged in sales or mining, the exception is the common ones, for example, sand, crushed stone, peat.
• LLCs and individual entrepreneurs that produce excisable goods (gasoline, alcohol, tobacco products, etc.).
• Lawyers who have a law office, notaries who are engaged in private practice, etc.
• Business entities using .
• Organizations that participate in production sharing agreements.
• If the share of participation in the organization of other organizations is more than 25%, with the exception of non-profit organizations; educational and budgetary institutions; also organizations whose authorized capital consists of 100% of contributions made public organizations disabled people.
• In case of exceeding 100 million rubles. residual value of fixed assets.
• Simplification cannot be used by foreign organizations.
• Budgetary and government institutions.
• If an organization or individual entrepreneur has submitted an application for the simplified tax system required for the transition to this tax system not within the deadlines established by law.
• Organizations that have branches.

On January 1, 2016, amendments came into force, according to which, if the described conditions are met, organizations have the right to apply the simplified tax system if they have their own representative offices, for branches everything remains unchanged.

By income:

• If the company’s annual income exceeds a certain turnover, in 2014 it was 60 million rubles, in 2015 the bar was increased to 68.82 million rubles, in 2016 the limit is 79.74 million rubles. Therefore, the same condition is that if a company, based on the results of 9 months of its work, has not exceeded the income level of 45 million rubles, then it can switch to a simplified tax system starting next year by submitting an application in Form 26.2-1.

Important! From January 1, 2017, the threshold for switching to the simplified tax system is increasing. At the end of 2016, income should not exceed 59 million 805 thousand rubles.

The procedure for switching to the simplified tax system

The transition to a simplified system by submitting an application can be carried out within the following time frames:

1. When organizing a company, along with documents for registration.
2. Within 30 days after registration.
3. Until December 31 of the year preceding the application of the simplified tax system.
4. So as not to wait whole year, you can close and immediately open the IP by submitting the necessary notification.

What to choose: “Income” or “income minus expenses” simplified tax system?

In order to choose the type of taxation, you need to understand what is behind it. We will briefly describe each of them; you can read more in detail on our website in other articles.

STS “income” – 6%

The procedure for calculating the simplified benefit in this case is very simple; to calculate it, you need to take all the income received and multiply it by the rate, which is 6%.

Example

Suppose you received an income of 1 million rubles, then the income will be calculated according to the following scheme:

Tax = Income * 6%,

In our case, 1,000,000 * 6% = 60,000 rubles.

Please note that expenses under the simplified tax system “income” are not taken into account in any way. Therefore, it should be used if expenses are very difficult to confirm or their share is very small. The 6% system is used mainly by individual entrepreneurs who work without employees or have a small staff; due to simple accounting, you can do without accountants and not use accounting outsourcing.

STS “Income minus expenses” – 5-15%

This tax calculation system is more complex, and most likely it will be very difficult to manage alone without a qualified accountant. However, correct application of this system can save taxes and it is worth using it if the LLC or individual entrepreneur can confirm the expenses.

Attention! It is believed that this simplified taxation system is more profitable than 6% if it accounts for at least 50% of income.

The tax rate is usually 15%, but it can be reduced in regions to 5% and in the case of certain types of activities. You should check with your tax office for details of the preferential rate.
Example

Let's also take an annual income of 1 million rubles, and let's take expenses in the amount of 650 thousand rubles, and calculate taxes at a rate of 15%.

Tax = (Income - expenses) * rate (5-15%)

In our case: (1,000,000 – 650,000) * 15%= 52,500

As you can see in this case, the tax amount will be less, but keeping records is much more difficult. However, not all expenses simplified tax system income minus expenses can be taken into account when calculating tax; you can read more about this taxation by clicking on the link.

Minimum tax and loss

Another nuance that this system has is the minimum tax. It is paid if the estimated tax is less than this amount or even zero, its rate is 1% of the income, excluding expenses incurred (Tax Code of the Russian Federation, Article 346.18). So, if we take the example we described, the minimum tax will be 10,000 rubles. (1 million rubles * 1%), even if you counted, for example, 8,000 rubles for payment. or 0 rub.

Even if your expenses equaled your income, which would essentially result in a zero tax basis, you would still need to pay that 1%. When calculating “by income” there is no minimum tax. If, based on the results of the last tax period, the taxpayer incurred a loss, then this amount can be included in expenses in subsequent years, and the amount of tax can be reduced accordingly.

Reducing the simplified tax system by the amount of insurance premiums

One of the positive aspects of the simplification is that the amount of tax can be reduced by the amount of transferred insurance contributions to the Pension Fund. However, there are some peculiarities, both when choosing a tax calculation system and in the presence of employees.

Simplified taxation system - individual entrepreneurs under the “Income” system without employees

As you know, an entrepreneur can work without hired employees, while he only pays a payment to the Pension Fund for himself, which is established by the government for each year. So in 2016 its value is 23,153.33 (PFR and MHIF). This payment allows you to reduce the amount of tax by its entire amount (by 100%). Thus, an individual entrepreneur may not even pay this tax at all.

Example

Ivanov V.V. over the past year he earned 220,000 rubles, and Petrov A.A. earned 500,000 rubles, both paid the above payment for themselves in full, as a result, taxes for them are calculated as follows:

For Ivanov: Tax = 220,000 * 6% = 13,200, since the amount of payment to the Pension Fund for oneself is greater than the received value, so the final tax value will be zero.

For Petrov: Tax = 500,000 * 6% = 30,000, subtract the payment for ourselves, we find that the amount of tax payable will be 30,000 - 23,153.33 = 6,846.67.

Simplified taxation system – individual entrepreneurs and LLCs under the “Income” system with employees

This situation can arise both for an organization that simply cannot work without employees, and for individual entrepreneurs. In this case, taxes can be reduced by the amount of payments for employees, but not more than 50%. In this case, it is paid in full, but is not taken into account when reducing.

Example 1

Petrov earned 700,000 rubles, and payments to the Pension Fund for employees amounted to 18,000 rubles. In this case we get:

Tax = 700,000 * 6% = 42,000, since the amount of payments to the Pension Fund for employees does not exceed 50% of the amount received, the simplified tax system can be completely reduced by it. The tax payable in this case will be 24,000 (42,000 – 18,000).

Example 2

Let’s assume that Ivanov (or Ivanov and K LLC) earned 700,000, while he paid 60,000 rubles to the Pension Fund for the employees.

Tax = 700,000 * 6% = 42,000 rubles, and it can reduce taxes by no more than 50%, in our case this is 21,000. Since 60,000 (payment to the Pension Fund) is more than 21,000, taxes can be reduced no more , than by 21 thousand, that is, no more than 50%. As a result, the Tax payable will be 21,000 rubles (42,000 – 21,000).

Simplified tax system “income minus expenses”

In this case, the presence or absence of employees does not matter. In this case, it is not the tax itself that is reduced, but, as in the examples discussed above, but the tax base. Those. The amount of payments to the Pension Fund is included in the amount of expenses and the tax will be calculated from the difference at the applicable rate.

Example

So, if Petrov received an income of 500,000 rubles, and expenses amounted to - rent 20,000 rubles, salary 60,000, payments to the Pension Fund for employees amounted to 18,000, for himself.

Tax payable = (500,000 – 20,000 – 60,000 – 18,000- 23,153.33) * 15% = 378,846.76 * 15% = 56,827.

As you can see, the calculation principle is somewhat different.

Payment of 1% to the Pension Fund for income over 300,000 rubles

Please note that if individual entrepreneur received income during the reporting period of more than 300 thousand rubles, then an additional 1% of the excess amount is paid to the pension fund (PFR). For example, if an income of 400,000 rubles is received, then you will additionally need to pay (400,000 – 300,000) * 1% = 1,000 rubles.

Important! In a letter dated December 7, 2015 under number No. 03-11-09/71357, the Ministry of Finance explained that this payment will be equated to a mandatory fixed payment, so the simplified tax system can also be reduced by this amount. Do not confuse this amount with the minimum tax!

Reporting and tax payment

This type of taxation implies the following reporting:

1. Declaration according to the simplified tax system provides once a year, the deadline for submission is until April 30 of the year following the previous one.
2. Entrepreneurs should maintain, abbreviated name - KUDiR. Since 2013, its certification by the Federal Tax Service is no longer required. But it must be laced, stitched and numbered in any case, however, if provided zero reporting, in some regions it is not required.

If an entrepreneur ceases his activities under the simplified tax system, then he must submit a declaration under the simplified tax system no later than the 25th day of the month following the one in which it ceased.

Paying taxes

Although reporting is provided once a year, you still have to keep records constantly, because payments under the simplified tax system are divided into 4 parts - 3 of them are advance and mandatory, as is the 4th final payment for the year. At the same time, if you do not pay advance payments or pay correctly, then you may be assessed fines and penalties.

The deadlines for paying advances and taxes are as follows:

• For the first quarter, payment must be made by April 25.
• For the second quarter, payment is due July 25.
• Payment for the third quarter is due October 25th.
• The annual and final payment is made no later than April 30 of the year following the reporting year. Those. for example, April 30, 2017 would be the deadline to pay taxes for 2016.

Responsibility for detected violations

1. If you are late or simply did not submit your declaration on time simplified tax system fine will be 5-30% based on the amount of tax that was required to be paid. In this case, the minimum fine is 1000 rubles.
2. If you did not pay taxes, then penalties will be 20-40% based on the amounts that you did not pay.
3. If payments are delayed, penalties will be charged as well as if they are calculated incorrectly.

USN, OSNO, UTII... how many different abbreviations a newly minted entrepreneur will recognize. In fact, these are just designations of tax regimes, one of which a small business entity must choose for its entrepreneurial activity. It is necessary to take care of the issue of choice even before starting to register a company: study the taxation systems, their advantages and disadvantages, as well as the restrictions that the Tax Code of the Russian Federation imposes on the use of one or another regime. The state gives the majority of individual entrepreneurs and LLCs the opportunity to work according to a simplified tax accounting scheme (STS) - let’s try to figure out what it is.

The essence of the simplified tax system and its advantages

The simplified tax system is a special taxation regime in which an entrepreneur pays single tax, combining several taxes at once. USN, or “simplified”, is considered optimal tax system for private entrepreneurs:

• it does not require accounting or hiring a professional accountant;
• has maximum simple procedure preparation and submission of reports;
• The simplified tax system exempts from payment and provides benefits for a number of tax payments;
• It is possible to choose from several options for calculating the tax base.

The tax rate under the simplified system ranges from 5 to 15%, depending on the object of taxation (whether only income or both income and expenses are taken into account in the tax base), the category of the taxpayer and his territorial affiliation with a particular subject of the Russian Federation. All legal entities that are on the simplified tax system, according to the Tax Code, do not pay VAT, income tax and property tax of the organization; An individual entrepreneur as an individual is also exempt from income and property taxes (on property involved in the business).

All other tax and extra-budgetary payments for the “simplified” remain, as well as the obligation to maintain in the prescribed manner cash transactions, provide reports to state statistics bodies and perform the functions of a tax agent in relation to their employees - individuals.

Who can work with “simplified”?

Not all small businesses can choose a simplified tax accounting system as their preferred tax accounting system. The possibility of applying this regime is legally limited by the maximum quantitative indicators of the company, namely: the number of employees, the amount of income and the cost of the organization’s fixed assets. Those companies that:

• have more than 100 employees on average;
• have fixed assets (excluding intangible assets) with a residual value of over 100 million rubles;
• during the tax period they received income of 60 million rubles or more. If an organization only plans to submit a notice of transition to the “simplified system” (and this is done, as a rule, before December 31), then its income for 9 months current year should not exceed 45 million rubles.

Certain activities also make it impossible application of the simplified tax system. This applies to:

• credit institutions, insurance companies and microfinance organizations;
• investment funds, stock exchanges and intermediaries;
• pawnshops;
• representatives of the gambling industry;
• producers of excisable goods;
• lawyers and notaries;
• organizations, 25% authorized capital which belongs to legal entities;
• budgetary enterprises;
• foreign companies;
• Unified Agricultural Tax payers;
• legal entities with representative offices and branches.

How to switch to a special tax regime?

Even those individual entrepreneurs and companies that fully comply with the requirements giving the right to benefit from simplified taxation do not become payers of the simplified tax system “by default.” The entrepreneur must express his desire in writing and within a strictly defined time frame.

1. A newly created LLC (or individual entrepreneur) notifies tax authorities about the choice of the simplified tax system no later than 30 days from the date of state registration.
2. Already existing organizations can switch to “simplified” from another tax regime from next year, if the tax office is notified about this by the end of this year.
3. “Imputed” payers who have ceased to engage in activities falling under UTII can choose the simplified tax system without waiting for the end of the tax year and begin to apply it from the beginning of the current month.
4. An organization that has lost the right to the simplified tax system must stop using it from the beginning of the current quarter and, at the end of the current reporting period, notify the Federal Tax Service within 15 days. In this case, you can return to the “simplified” system no earlier than in a year.
5. Any organization can refuse the special tax regime from the beginning of next year by submitting a notification before January 15 to the territorial tax authority. As for changing the object of taxation within the simplified scheme, the deadline for notification of a change from one version of the simplified tax system to another is until December 31.

Notification of a change in tax regime is filled out according to Form No. 26.2-1 in 2 copies and is usually submitted by newly opened organizations along with a registration package of documents. In this application, in addition to the name of the individual entrepreneur (LLC), the date of transition and types of activities, the object of taxation must also be indicated: “income” or “income minus expenses.” Choosing this moment, as a rule, causes difficulties for beginning entrepreneurs, and experienced companies often arrive at the optimal form of calculating the tax base only by trial and error.

Objects of taxation under the simplified tax system

Which version of the simplified tax system to choose: “income” or “income minus expenses”? There is no single algorithm or formula for calculating the profitability of a particular scheme. It is usually recommended to predict the expected expenses: if they are high enough (for example, in production), it is advisable to minus them when calculating the tax base, otherwise it is better to choose the simplified tax system “6% of income”. Let's take a closer look at the types of simplified modes.

1. The object of taxation “income” involves payment of 6% of the organization’s total income. This type of simplified tax system is beneficial for individual entrepreneurs who do not have employees. For him, the tax amount is reduced by the amount of off-budget payments (in 2014 this was 17,328.48 rubles to the Pension Fund and 3,399.05 rubles to the health insurance fund). Having earned less than 355,000 rubles in a year, an individual entrepreneur is thus exempt from paying tax. An organization that pays pension, social and medical contributions for its employees is not completely exempt from tax, but can reduce its amount by half. This also includes expenses for sick leave, maternity leave, and insurance against work injuries.
2. The object “income reduced by the amount of expenses” is taxed at a rate of 5 to 15% (this depends on regional laws). In order for the tax authorities to allow the deduction of expenses from taxable income, they must correspond to the types listed in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, be economically justified and documented.

Article 346.16 defines the list of such expenses:

• acquisition, lease, creation, maintenance of fixed assets;
• intangible assets (patents, software, technologies, etc.);
• utilities, solid waste removal;
• servicing of credits and loans;
• customs duties;
• official vehicle fleet, use of personal vehicles for official purposes;
• business trips;
• notary, accounting, legal services;
• office and household goods;
• connection;
• branding and advertising;
• off-budget payments;
• development of production, purchase of goods;
• maintenance of cash register equipment;
• training;
• commissions, legal expenses.

The listed expenses are approved by the tax inspector if they are correctly accounted for on a cash basis and are economically feasible. All expenses must be documented (invoices, advance reports, waybills, etc. source documents in order).

Costs attributed by the entrepreneur to expenses taken into account for tax purposes reduce the tax base by this amount. As a result, 15% of the remaining income goes to the budget.

Reporting to the simplified tax system

What is simplified accounting and reporting under the simplified tax system?

KUDiR

The main accounting document under the simplified tax system is a book of income and expenses. At the same time, the “6%” scheme involves accounting only for income (sections 1 and 4 of the book), with the second taxation option, all income and expenses are entered in sections 1 – 3 and the reference part of the accounting form approved by Order 135n of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated December 22, 2012.

Tax return

Reporting under the simplified tax system is submitted within the established deadlines for each tax period. At the end of the reporting period, the declaration must be submitted by March 31 or April 30 (for legal entities and individual entrepreneurs, respectively) in person, by post or via Internet channels.

The declaration form used for the simplified tax system was approved by the financial department on September 22, 2009, number 58 no.

With the “income” tax scheme, preparing a declaration involves filling out several lines:

• rate – 6%;
• amount of income;
• calculated tax amount;
• tax deduction.

Filling out a document in the “income minus expenses” mode is a little more complicated: in addition to the above items, expenses, the amount of loss are entered into the declaration and the tax base is calculated using the formula “amount of income - expenses - loss”. If the tax base has a positive value, the tax amount is calculated based on the rate (5–15%). If the organization operates at zero or at a loss (the tax base is in the negative range), the payer is not exempt from paying tax. In such cases, a minimum tax of 1% of annual income applies. The loss of the current period can be carried forward to the next year several times (up to 10 years is acceptable).

Other reports

Besides simplified taxation system declarations The organization provides reports once a quarter:

• Pension Fund - within 1.5 months from the end of the reporting period (until the 15th);
• FSS - during the first 2 weeks of the new reporting period (until the 15th).

Once a year, data on the company’s employees is required to be transferred to the Federal Tax Service (by April 1), as well as information on the average number of employees (by January 20) to the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation and the Social Insurance Fund (except for individual entrepreneurs working for themselves as one person).

Paying taxes

Payment of the single tax is made once every three months, in advance payments for each reporting quarter (after 3, 6, 9 and 12 months). The first 3 payments are made before the 25th day of the month following the reporting month, and payment for the 4th quarter - before March 31 (LLC) and April 30 (IP).

The simplified taxation system (STS) is intended for small firms and individual entrepreneurs. The procedure for switching to the simplified tax system and the rules for working in this tax regime are established by Chapter 26.2 of the Tax Code. If a company receives low income, then “simplified taxation” is a legal way of tax optimization. After all, a single tax replaces the main payments to the budget: VAT, income tax, personal income tax and property tax, subject to certain restrictions. But, before switching to the “simplified” version, consider how beneficial it is for you not to pay VAT. After all, VAT exemption is not always an advantage. An article prepared by berator experts will tell you who can use the simplified tax system and whether it is worth switching to this special regime.

Prohibited list for “simplified people”

Switching to a simplified system is easy. However, not everyone can do this. Article 346.12 of the Tax Code lists those whom the law prohibits from working for the simplified tax system.

Thus, they do not have the right to become “simplified”:

• companies that have branches (from January 1, 2016, the presence of representative offices does not prevent the use of the simplified tax system). If an organization that is not a branch and has not indicated this division as a branch in its constituent documents, then it has the right to apply the simplified tax system, subject to compliance with the norms of Chapter 26.2 of the Tax Code;
• banks;
• insurers;
• non-state pension funds;
• investment funds;
• professional participants in the securities market;
• pawnshops;
• producers of excisable goods;
• developers of mineral deposits (except for common ones);
• companies involved in gambling business;
• notaries engaged in private practice;
• lawyers who have established law offices and other forms of legal entities;
• participants in production sharing agreements;
• persons who have switched to paying the Unified Agricultural Tax;
• firms with a share of participation of other companies in them of more than 25%. Organizations that are not subject to this restriction are listed in subparagraph 14 of paragraph 3 of Article 346.12 of the Tax Code. This rule also does not apply to companies with a stake in them of the Russian Federation, constituent entities of the Russian Federation and municipalities, since these entities do not fall under the definition of “organization” for the purposes of applying tax legislation (letter of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated June 2, 2014 No. 03-11- 06/2/26211).

The limitation on the share of participation of other organizations in the authorized capital of the company must be observed:

• firstly, on the date of commencement of work on the simplified tax system. Otherwise, the company will not acquire the right to use the simplified system;
• secondly, during the use of the simplified tax system. An organization that violates this requirement during this period loses the right to apply this special regime.

In a letter dated December 25, 2015 No. 03-11-06/2/76441, the Russian Ministry of Finance clarified that if the share of participation of the founding company has become no more than 25%, then such an organization can switch to the simplified tax system from January 1 of the next year. In other words, for the application of the simplified tax system from January 1, the changes made to constituent documents companies, according to which the share of other organizations is reduced to a value not exceeding 25%, must be entered into the Unified State Register of Legal Entities by January 1 of the same year.

In addition, the following are not entitled to apply the simplified tax system:

• organizations and entrepreneurs with average number more than 100 employees;
• organizations that, according to data accounting, exceeds 150 million rubles;
• state and budgetary institutions;
• all foreign companies in Russia;
• organizations and entrepreneurs who did not submit within the established deadlines
• microfinance organizations;
• private employment agencies that provide labor to workers (from January 1, 2016).

Let us note that if a recruitment agency on the simplified tax system provides recruitment services and does not enter into employment contracts with applicants, it has the right to continue to use the “simplified system”. The fact is that if an employee is sent to work for the receiving party under a personnel supply agreement, then labor Relations between him and the private employment agency do not stop. At the same time, labor relations do not arise between this employee and the receiving party (Article 341.2 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

And vice versa. If a private agency provides recruitment services to organizations without entering into employment contracts with employees, then these employees formalize labor relations with these organizations.

This means that if a personnel recruitment agency does not enter into employment contracts with persons sent to work in the customer’s organization, it does not carry out activities to provide labor for workers and, accordingly, has the right to apply the simplified tax system (letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated March 11, 2016 No. 03-11 -06/13564).

Others who want to start working for the simplified tax system must meet certain criteria:

• income level (of the organization);
• number of employees (organizations and entrepreneurs);
• residual value of fixed assets (organization).

Please keep in mind that the list of entities that are not entitled to apply the simplified tax system is closed. For example, it does not mention individual entrepreneurs - tax non-residents of the Russian Federation. Consequently, such individual entrepreneurs have the right to apply the simplified system on a general basis (letters of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated July 1, 2013 No. 03-11-11/24963 and dated January 28, 2013 No. 03-11-11/35).

Is it worth switching to the simplified tax system?

If a company receives low income, then “simplified taxation” is a legal way of tax optimization. After all, a single tax replaces four main payments to the budget (Article 346.11 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation):

• income tax (except for income in the form of dividends and interest on state and municipal securities);
• Personal income tax on the income of an entrepreneur (with the exception of income received in the form of material benefits from savings on interest, dividends, as well as gifts and prizes worth more than 4,000 rubles);
• property tax. True, since 2015, organizations using the simplified tax system must pay property tax in relation to real estate, the tax base for which is determined as their cadastral value (clause 2 of article 346.11 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation);
• VAT, except when you are a tax agent, a member of a partnership conducting general business (Article 174.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation), import goods or issue an invoice to the buyer with the allocated amount of VAT.

All other taxes, fees and non-tax payments are required to be transferred to general procedure. In particular, these are:

• insurance premiums in off-budget funds;
• “injury” contributions;
• land tax;
• transport tax;
• state duty;
• corporate property tax (for real estate, the tax base for which is determined based on their cadastral value);
• customs duties and fees.

In a number of cases, “simplified people” act as tax agents, that is, they pay taxes for others. It's about about payments such as:

• Personal income tax on payments to employees and other citizens;
• VAT on payment of income to non-resident companies;
• income tax when paying income to non-resident companies.

In our opinion, before switching to the “simplified” system, you need to weigh how profitable it is for your company not to pay VAT. It's not always an advantage. For example, firms that pay VAT are interested in deducting the input tax from the budget. But by purchasing goods (works, services) from a “simplified” person, they are deprived of this opportunity. After all, the “simplers” issue invoices “without VAT” to customers. Therefore, such companies are unlikely to be among your potential buyers.

It is most profitable to use a simplified system for those who trade in retail. For their clients this problem is not relevant. The same goes for those who, also working in a simplified job, were forced to switch to imputation or enjoy VAT exemption.

Advantages and disadvantages of “simplified”

After getting acquainted with the “simplified tax”, we can conclude: this tax regime has its pros and cons.

The advantages of “simplified” include:

• savings on taxes and insurance premiums for certain types of activities;
• filling out and submitting to the inspectorate only the annual single tax return;
• saving accountant time. Tax accounting under the simplified tax system is carried out in a simplified manner: firms and entrepreneurs reflect their activity indicators in only one tax register - the book of income and expenses (Article 346.24 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Among the disadvantages of “simplified” we note the following:

• the risk of losing the right to work under the simplified tax system. In this case, the company will have to pay additional “general regime” taxes;
• the risk of losing customers who pay VAT. Since the “simplified” people do not pay VAT and do not issue invoices with it, buyers have nothing to deduct;
• ban on the creation of branches. The fact is that until January 1, 2016, organizations with representative offices did not have the right to apply the simplified tax system. From January 1, 2016, this restriction was lifted and the presence of representative offices no longer prevents the use of this special regime.

Which is more profitable: simplified taxation system or OSN

So, before switching to the “simplified” system, draw up a business plan taking into account the provisions of Chapter 26.2 of the Tax Code and taking into account paying taxes as usual. Having received the results and compared them, you can conclude how much more “interesting” the simplified tax system is for your business than the general regime.

Before writing an application to switch to the “simplified” system, the accountant at Aktiv LLC calculated what would be more profitable for the company: paying regular taxes or a single tax.

Aktiva's revenue for 9 months of the current year amounted to RUB 3,540,000. (including VAT - 540,000 rubles). The purchase price of goods is RUB 3,009,000. (including VAT - 459,000 rubles). The wage fund for the same period is equal to 214,500 rubles.

To simplify the example, other firm expenses are not considered.

First, Aktiva's accountant calculated the amount of ordinary taxes.

During this period, the company must pay to the budget:

Contributions to extra-budgetary funds - 64,350 rubles;

Property tax – 117,500 rubles;

Contributions to compulsory insurance from accidents at work and occupational diseases - 660 rubles;

VAT – 81,000 rub. (540,000 – 459,000).

The company's profit for 9 months of the current year amounted to: (3,540,000 – 540,000) – (3,009,000 – 459,000) – 214,500 – 64,350 – 117,500 – 660 = 52,990 rubles.

Let's calculate the income tax - 10,598 rubles. (RUB 52,990 × 20%).

In total, the company will pay to the budget:

64,350 + 117,500 + 660 + 81,000 + 10,598 = 274,108 rubles.

Then the accountant of Aktiv LLC calculated the amount of the single tax in two ways:

C income received;

From the difference between income and expenses.

First way

The amount of single tax calculated from the income received was 212,400 rubles. (RUB 3,540,000 × 6%).

This amount can be reduced by the amount of contributions to compulsory social insurance, but not more than 50%. Thus, insurance premiums can be taken into account within the limits of 106,200 rubles. (RUB 212,400 × 50%).

In addition to insurance premiums, the company will have to pay contributions for compulsory insurance against industrial accidents and occupational diseases - 660 rubles.

The total amount of insurance premiums, including contributions for injuries, does not exceed the limit of 106,200 rubles:

(RUB 64,350 + RUB 660)

Therefore, the company has the right to reduce the single tax by the entire amount of insurance premiums:

212,400 – 64,350 – 660 = 147,390 rubles.

Total total amount taxes:

147,390 + 64,350 + 660 = 212,400 rub.

The calculation showed that it is more profitable for Aktiv to pay a single tax on all income received than ordinary taxes. However, the amount of payments under “simplified” still seemed significant to the accountant. Then he calculated the single tax using the second method.

Second way

The amount of the single tax, calculated on income minus expenses, will be:

(3,540,000 – 3,009,000 – 214,500 – 64,350 – 660) × 15% = 37,724 rubles.

In total the company will pay:

37,724 + 64,350 + 660 = 102,734 rubles.

As we can see, in this case it is profitable for the company to switch to the “simplified tax system” and pay a single tax on income minus expenses. In this case, “Active” will save 171,374 rubles on taxes:

274,108 – 102,734 = 171,374 rubles.

The simplified taxation system (USN, simplified taxation system, simplified taxation system) is one of six taxation regimes that can be used on the territory of the Russian Federation. The simplified tax system refers to the so-called special tax regimes, which provide for a reduced tax rate and a simplified procedure for maintaining tax and accounting records.

What is the simplified tax system

The simplified tax system is a special taxation regime voluntarily applied in Russia, as legal entities, and individual entrepreneurs. A feature of this taxation system (hereinafter referred to as n/o) is simplified tax and accounting, as well as the replacement of the main taxes of the traditional n/o system with one - a single one.

pros

• Possibility of taking into account paid insurance premiums when calculating payments under the simplified tax system.

At the same time, on the simplified tax system, when calculating the advance payment, you can take into account contributions paid in earlier quarters, since advance payments and tax are considered a cumulative total from the beginning of the year. On UTII, you can take into account insurance premiums paid only in the quarter for which the tax is calculated, but on the patent system, non-payments are not taken into account at all when calculating the cost of a patent.

• Application throughout the Russian Federation, in relation to practically all types of activities;

Just like the general regime, the simplified tax regime is applied to all types of activities of the taxpayer, and not to individual ones, such as imputation or patent. Also, the use of the simplified tax system is not limited territorially, unlike UTII, which is prohibited for use in a number of regions (for example, in Moscow) and PSN, which is also not established in all regions and not for all types of activities.

• Payment of an advance or tax is carried out based on the availability of a taxable base (income or the difference between income and expenses);

The tax is paid on actual profit and, accordingly, if there is no income at all, then there is no need to pay tax, unlike UTII, where tax is paid on imputed income or a patent, which is also acquired on the basis of imputed, not actual, income.

• Possibility of applying tax holidays for first-time registered individual entrepreneurs for certain types of activities;

Simplified entrepreneurs, as well as individual entrepreneurs with a patent, can apply tax holidays in the first two years after registration in relation to certain types of activities. For entrepreneurs under the imputation and traditional regime, such benefits for taxpayers are not provided.

• Submission of reports once a year;

Unlike the general and imputed regime, where reporting is submitted once a quarter or month (VAT, income tax UTII), a simplified declaration must be submitted once a year. But, on a patent, reporting is not submitted at all.

• The rate for an N/O facility can be significantly (down to zero) reduced by regional authorities;

Regional authorities can reduce the rate on the “income” object from 6% to 1%, and the rate on the “income minus expenses” object from 15% to 5%. On imputation, the rate can also be reduced, but only to 7.5%.

• The amount of tax is not indexed by coefficients, and therefore its size depends only on the income and expenses of the taxpayer.

On UTII and PSN, deflator coefficients for calculating tax change annually, and therefore their size changes every year, although not significantly.

Minuses

Simplification has significantly fewer disadvantages than other modes, but they still exist:

• Employee and income limits

Simplified mode, like any special mode, loses common system in the employee limit and the income limit allowing the application this mode.

Simplified taxation system (STS) in 2019

Average rating 5 (100%), rated 1

Today, the simplified regime is one of the most popular among individual entrepreneurs. And this is understandable: a low tax burden, exemption from a number of tax payments, simple tax accounting and focus on small businesses - these advantages of simplified taxation for individual entrepreneurs are of considerable importance when choosing a taxation system. Let's take a closer look at the advantages of the simplified tax system, how an entrepreneur can switch to a simplified regime and choose a tax object, and give examples of calculating a single tax.

Features and Benefits

Simplified – effective remedy savings that reduce the tax burden, and this is of particular importance for those who have just started their business.

Entrepreneurs using the simplified tax system pay a single tax, which allows them not to pay the following individual entrepreneur taxes on the simplified tax system (clause 3 of article 346.11 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation):

• Personal income tax on income received from “simplified” activities. Tax will have to be paid on dividends, as well as on mortgage income (at a rate of 9%), on winnings, income on bank deposits and other income taxed at a rate of 35%, specified in paragraph 2 of Art. 224 Tax Code of the Russian Federation),
• Tax on property of individuals used to conduct business. Here, too, there is an exception that has been in effect since 2015: if the tax is paid from the cadastral value of objects included in the list approved by the laws of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, then it is also paid by simplifiers (clause 7 of Article 378.2 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation),
• VAT, except for the import of goods through the customs of the Russian Federation and in the cases listed in Article 174.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. You will also have to pay VAT if the individual entrepreneur issues an invoice to the buyer, highlighting the tax amount in it.

What other taxes an individual entrepreneur pays under the simplified tax system depends on his activities. If an individual entrepreneur has cars or other vehicles, a transport tax is paid, the owners of land used in business - land tax, when using water resources - water tax, etc.

For himself, the individual entrepreneur transfers to Pension Fund RF and FFOMS fixed amounts of contributions in the amount, according to Art. 14 of the law of July 24, 2009 No. 212-FZ. When hiring workers, an individual entrepreneur will pay insurance premiums for them, as well as transfer personal income tax as a tax agent.

In addition to tax optimization, the simplified taxation system for individual entrepreneurs allows the entrepreneur to choose a tax object with a more favorable rate for him. The object of taxation under the simplified tax system can be:

• income – 6% is paid to the budget,
• the difference between income and expenses - 15% is allocated to the budget.

Regional authorities have the right to reduce these rates for certain categories of payers to 1% for “income” and up to 5% for “income less expenses.” For newly created individual entrepreneurs, regions can introduce “tax holidays”, that is, apply a tax rate of 0% from the date of registration for two years. Such holidays may apply to simplified workers working in the social and scientific fields, as well as in the field of production and consumer services.

Entrepreneurs do not have to keep books, but keep tax accounting compulsory for them. Simplified taxation of individual entrepreneurs requires filling out only one register - the book of income and expenses (KUDiR). The form and procedure for filling out the book were approved by order of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated October 22, 2012 No. 135n. It can be kept on paper or electronically by printing and binding all pages at the end of the year. There is no requirement to register KUDiR with the Federal Tax Service. The entrepreneur must have an accounting book even if the activity indicators are zero, because for its absence the individual entrepreneur can be fined by the tax authorities.

You can combine a simplified taxation system for individual entrepreneurs with UTII or a patent system. This is convenient for those who carry out more than one type of activity, then for each of them you can choose the most profitable mode. In this case, tax accounting must be kept separately for income and expenses received from “simplified” activities and from activities under a different tax regime.

Based on the results of each quarter, advance payments must be calculated. When the calendar year ends, the single tax should be calculated. Payment deadlines:

• advances – until the 25th day of the month following the quarter,
• single tax of the simplified tax system for the year - until April 30 of the next year.

Regarding the “simplified” tax, individual entrepreneurs’ reporting on the simplified tax system only needs to be submitted once a year. This is a declaration under the simplified tax system, which is submitted at the same time as tax payment - no later than April 30.

How to switch IP to simplified?

Not every individual entrepreneur can become a simplifier. According to paragraph 2 of Art. 346.12 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the simplified tax system for individual entrepreneurs in 2016 has a number of restrictions and is not available for the following categories:

• producers of excisable goods,
• Individual entrepreneurs engaged in the extraction and trade of certain minerals,
• private notaries and lawyers,
• payers of the unified agricultural tax (USAT),
• Individual entrepreneurs who have on average more than 100 employees per year.

For individual entrepreneurs, as for organizations, the residual value of fixed assets and the amount of “transitional” income for the previous period are not limited.

To do this, you need to take into account not only the magnitude tax rates, but also how profitable the “simplified” business will be in the near future. The tax rate on “income” is more than twice as low as the tax rate on “income minus expenses,” but this does not mean that the amount of tax under the “income” simplification will always be less. Let's look at this with a simple example.

The income of a simplified individual entrepreneur for the year is 100,000 rubles. Expenses for the same period – 60,000 rubles.

The use of the “USN 6 percent” for individual entrepreneurs will result in a tax amount of 6,000 rubles:

100,000 x 6% = 6,000

But even using the simplified tax system “income minus expenses”, he will have to pay the same amount to the budget:

(100,000 – 60,000) x 15% = 6,000

Obviously, the difference between income and expenses should be chosen as a tax object only when the share of expenses accounts for more than 60% of the amount of income. In our example, let’s increase expenses to 70,000 rubles, and the tax will significantly decrease:

(100,000 – 70,000) x 15% = 4,500

Let us remind you that at the regional level the rates of the single “simplified” tax may be different, so check their meaning with your tax office.

Please note that individual entrepreneurs are participants joint activities or trust management of property, are deprived of the right to choose a tax object, and only “income minus expenses” are used under the simplified tax system.

An important point: you can change the selected tax object only from January 1 of the next year (clause 2 of Article 346.14 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). This cannot be done during the year.

If, when switching to the simplified tax system from another mode, the object in the notification was indicated incorrectly by the entrepreneur, then this error can be corrected. To do this, another (clarified) notification is submitted before the simplified tax system for individual entrepreneurs begins to apply, that is, before December 31 of the same year in which the initial notification was submitted. Newly created individual entrepreneurs working on the simplified tax system from the date of registration can change the object only from the beginning of the next year (letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated June 2, 2016 No. SD-3-3/2511).

How to calculate tax for individual entrepreneurs using the simplified tax system?

Entrepreneurs must calculate the amount of the single tax on the simplified tax system independently. The tax base is calculated according to the Book of Income and Expenses - KUDiR; its maintenance is mandatory for everyone, regardless of the tax object used. Income and expenses are entered into the accounting book in accordance with chronology and must be supported by relevant documents. “Simplified” income is determined in accordance with Art. 346.15 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, expenses must correspond to the list of expenses in Art. 346.16 Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

Calculation of 6% tax for individual entrepreneurs using a simplified procedure for 2016

When calculating the single tax on “income”, the simplifier’s expenses do not affect the tax base. But to reduce the amount of tax or advance payments, you can take into account insurance contributions to funds paid in the reporting period. Entrepreneurs without employees accept deductions fixed contributions“for themselves” completely, and employers can reduce tax through insurance premiums only by 50%.

Please note that fixed contributions for individual entrepreneurs in 2016: to the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation 19,356.48 rubles and to the Federal Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund 3,796.85 rubles. If the income exceeds 300,000 rubles, an additional 1% is deducted from the excess amount to the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation, but not more than 135,495.36 rubles. The total maximum amount of fixed contributions to the Pension Fund for the year is 154,851.84 rubles.

In addition, the following expenses can be deducted from the amount of the single tax at the “simplified 6 percent” for individual entrepreneurs in 2016:

• sick leave paid to the employee for the first 3 days of illness,
• contributions under personal insurance contracts in favor of employees,
• trade tax - in terms of tax on trading activities.

The trading tax can be offset in full, and the remaining payments, taking into account insurance contributions to the funds, should not reduce the single tax by more than half.

Please note: insurance premiums reduce the single tax only for the period in which they were transferred to the funds. For example, when calculating the advance payment for the 3rd quarter, contributions paid in previous quarters cannot be taken into account. Therefore, it is more profitable for individual entrepreneurs to pay fixed contributions “for themselves” not in one payment, but quarterly in installments.

How to calculate tax: income on an accrual basis, according to KUDiR, is multiplied by 6%, and must be subtracted from the amount received tax deductions and advance payments previously transferred to the budget. If the result is a negative amount, then no tax is paid.

Example 1

In 2016, the individual entrepreneur received 1,000,000 rubles in income. During the year, he paid tax advances: for the 1st quarter - 4,000 rubles, for the 2nd quarter - 6,000 rubles, for the 3rd quarter - 7,500 rubles. In the 4th quarter of 2016, the individual entrepreneur transferred insurance premiums for himself to the funds - 30,153.33 rubles. The individual entrepreneur has no employees. Let's calculate the tax:

• 1,000,000 x 6% = 60,000 – the amount of single tax for the year.
• 4000 + 6000 + 7500 + 30,153.33 = 47,653.33 – amount to be deducted.
• 60,000 – 47,653.33 = 12,346.67 – tax payable for the year.

At the end of the year, the individual entrepreneur will transfer 12,347 rubles to the budget.

Advance payments are calculated in the same way as the annual tax amount, with advance payments from previous quarters being deducted.

Example 2

An individual entrepreneur without employees earned 100,000 rubles in the 1st quarter, 90,000 rubles in the 2nd quarter, and 95,000 rubles in the 3rd quarter. Every quarter he paid 5,000 rubles in insurance premiums for himself to the funds, a total of 15,000 rubles for 3 quarters. For the 1st quarter, a tax advance was transferred in the amount of 1000 rubles, for the 2nd quarter - 400 rubles. For the 3rd quarter, the calculation of advance tax will be as follows:

• (100,000 + 90,000 + 95,000) x 6% = 17,100 – tax for 9 months.
• (5000 + 5000 + 5000) + (1000 + 400) = 16,400 – the amount of deductions and advances paid for 9 months.
• 17,100 – 16,400 = 700 – advance payment amount.

For the 3rd quarter you need to pay an advance tax payment - 700 rubles.

Example 3

The income of an individual entrepreneur on a simplified basis for the year is 2,000,000 rubles. During the year, the individual entrepreneur transferred 70,000 rubles in insurance premiums for his employees to the funds. Tax advances are listed in the amount of 40,000 rubles.

• (2,000,000 x 6%) = 120,000 – tax amount excluding deductions.
• 70,000 rubles in contributions to funds were paid for employees, but they cannot be fully deducted, since this is more than 50% of the tax amount:
• 120,000 x 50% = 60,000 – the maximum amount of insurance premiums by which the tax can be reduced.
• 120,000 – 60,000 – 40,000 = 20,000 – the amount of tax payable minus insurance premiums and previous advance payments.

Calculation of 15% tax on a simplified taxation system for individual entrepreneurs 2016

Costs that are used as deductions under the “income” simplification are fully taken into account under the simplified tax system “income minus expenses” as expenses.

Example 1

For the year, the individual entrepreneur received 1,000,000 rubles in income, expenses - 700,000 rubles. Advance payments for three quarters totaled 36,000 rubles. Let's calculate the tax for the year:

• (1,000,000 – 700,000) x 15% = 45,000 – the amount of single tax for the year.
• 45,000 – 36,000 = 9,000 – the amount of single tax that the individual entrepreneur will pay to the budget.

Unlike the “income” simplified tax system, with the simplified tax system “income minus expenses” the tax must be paid even if a zero or negative result is obtained. In this case, a minimum tax is transferred to the budget, equal to 1% of the amount of “simplified” income of individual entrepreneurs for the year (Article 346.18 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

You will also have to pay the “minimum wage” if the calculated tax amount is less than 1% of income. The difference between the single and minimum tax can be included in next year’s expenses (clause 6 of Article 346.18 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Example 2

Individual entrepreneur’s income for the year is 1,000,000 rubles, expenses are 970,000 rubles. Let's calculate the tax:

• (1,000,000 – 970,000) x 15% = 4500 – the amount of the single tax.
• 1,000,000 x 1% = 10,000 – minimum tax.

When comparing, we see that the amount of the minimum tax is greater than the single tax. You must pay into the budget the larger of the two amounts, that is, the “minimum” amount of 10,000 rubles.

For advance payments, you can reduce the minimum tax, and not just the single one.

Example 3

For the year, the individual entrepreneur received 300,000 rubles in income and incurred 320,000 rubles in expenses. In the 1st quarter it was listed advance payment for tax 3,000 rubles, in the 2nd and 3rd quarters a loss was received, and advances were not accrued. How much will you have to pay to the budget in this case?

(300,000 – 320,000) = - 20,000 – a loss was received at the end of the year, which means that a single tax is not charged.

300,000 x 1% = 3000 – minimum tax charged for the year.

3000 – 3000 = 0 – the advance payment is credited towards the minimum tax.

As a result, there is no need to transfer anything to the budget.

KBK for payment of the simplified tax system in 2016 for individual entrepreneurs

The payment order or receipt for the payment of a single tax must indicate the budget classification code (BCC). Such codes are assigned to all types of taxes and other payments received by the budget. BCCs consist of twenty digits. If the code is indicated with errors, the payment will not be received as intended, and this may lead to fines from tax authorities.

To avoid such problems, you need to correctly fill out the payment document when paying taxes as an individual entrepreneur. The simplified legislation of 2016 provides for different BCCs depending on the object of taxation:

KBK for individual entrepreneurs simplified tax system “income”

KBK for individual entrepreneurs simplified tax system “income minus expenses”