Conditions for VAT refund from the budget. Postings for VAT reimbursement from the budget

If you are engaged in the sale or import of goods, you pay into the budget. But when interacting with suppliers of goods and services, you also pay VAT to them.

If the amount of sales tax is greater, you will have to pay extra to the budget, and if it is less, you are entitled to a VAT refund from the budget. How can I get it and what steps should I take to get it?

Let's understand the issue.

Law and order

The rules for reimbursement of value added tax are determined by Article 176 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. The refund itself is possible if, at the end of the tax period, the deductions turned out to be more than the amount of tax that was calculated for transactions recognized as taxable. The difference is subject to reimbursement, and the reimbursement can be either in the form of a refund or in the form of a credit against future tax payments.

The amount is credited within three months following the tax period. The Federal Tax Service does this on its own, and the funds can be used to pay penalties, fees, tax sanctions, and arrears. And if during this time the refund amount is not credited, then the taxpayer can submit an application for payment of this amount. Within fourteen days, the Federal Tax Service must make a decision on the payment of the amount and send its decision to the Federal Treasury, which will return the funds to the taxpayer’s account within two weeks from the date of receipt of the decision from the territorial Federal Tax Service.

It should be noted that the tax authority may decide to refund in full, to refuse a refund or to partially refund the amount that was claimed for refund, as well as to refuse to refund partially the amount that was claimed for refund.

What needs to be done to return VAT?

In words, everything sounds quite simple, but in fact, the VAT refund procedure is quite complicated, and the actions of unscrupulous taxpayers in this area are even more alarming to the Federal Tax Service, which is in no hurry to return funds to the account. How can we solve the problem? Step by step!

• Declaration. First, you need to submit a VAT return to the tax service, which will confirm that the amount of deductions exceeds the amount of VAT accrued for the disputed period and the difference is subject to offset or return to the account.
• Examination. After the tax office receives the declaration, it must conduct a desk audit and confirm or refute the validity of the amount that is expected to be refunded. Based on the results of the inspection, an act is drawn up, which indicates the identified violations (if any) or a decision is made to return the funds (by law, this must happen within seven days). The tax authority must notify the taxpayer of the results of the audit and the decision made in writing within ten days from the date of its adoption.
• Appeal. If the act indicates violations, the taxpayer can protest the act by stating his objections. The tax service is obliged to accept them, but may not take them into account when considering the issue. And if, nevertheless, a decision is made to refuse a refund, then the taxpayer has the right to appeal the decision to a higher authority. If there is no result, you can appeal the decision in court.
• Court. Such cases are considered by the Arbitration Court, but for the decision to come into force, the organization must win in the courts of first and appellate instances. As for the Federal Tax Service, it has the right to file a cassation appeal or appeal the decision to the supervisory authority. If the final court decision is made in favor of the taxpayer, he has the right to receive a VAT refund from the budget under a writ of execution, as well as demand that the tax office pay legal costs (lawyer costs and state fees). In addition, the organization has the right to collect interest for the delay in the return of funds (this is also possible if the deadlines for the return of the VAT amount are violated, then, starting from the twelfth day after the end of the desk audit, in the event of a positive decision on the refund, interest is charged on the refund amount at the refinancing rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation ).

How to increase your chances of getting a VAT refund?

Everyone understands that tax officials are in no hurry to return funds received in the form of taxes and fees. So if you really overpaid taxes to the budget and want to get your money back, you should make sure that all the necessary documents confirming the overpayment are in order. This is especially true for operations for the sale of goods, works and services, which are provided for in paragraph 1 of Article 164 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. It is very important to provide the Federal Tax Service with a complete set of necessary documents and a separate declaration for these operations.

Declaratory procedure

For large taxpayers who have paid at least 10 billion rubles in taxes over three years, and those who submit a VAT bank guarantee along with the declaration, there is a declarative procedure for VAT refund from the budget. This means that such taxpayers can return the overpaid funds before the end of the desk audit by submitting to the tax authority, no later than five days after the declaration, an application for the application of the declarative procedure for VAT refund. In this statement, the taxpayer undertakes to return to the budget the excess amounts of tax that will be paid to him under the declaration, as well as a refund of funds and interest (if they are paid) in the event of a refusal (full or partial) of a VAT refund .

With this reimbursement procedure, the taxpayer receives the amount of VAT reimbursement declared in the declaration, and the audit is carried out within the time limits established by law with the drawing up of an act. After this, based on the results of the audit, a decision is made, which is communicated to the taxpayer, and the final payment is made.

If the tax office decides to refund an amount less than that stated in the taxpayer’s return, then a refund request is sent to him, which he must satisfy within five days from the date of receipt. If this does not happen or the amount is not returned in full, a bank guarantee comes into play, which serves as the basis for the tax authority’s demands for payment of funds.

Crime and Punishment

Those who submit a return for VAT refund should understand that when conducting a desk audit, the Federal Tax Service has the right to request from the taxpayer any documents that can confirm the legality of tax deductions. Of course, all documents must be directly related to the subject of the audit, but quite often tax authorities check almost all documents, and not just invoices that confirm the payment of tax. It is quite difficult to prove the illegality of their actions, and the situation may result in additional tax audits, which will concern not only value added tax, but the entire activity of the organization.

Such strict measures on the part of the tax authorities are explained by frequent cases of fraud. Therefore, if there is even the slightest opportunity to refuse a VAT refund, the tax authority will take advantage of it. So litigation on this issue is common for many organizations.

Today there are also various companies that offer to provide assistance in returning taxes from the budget even in the most hopeless situations. As a rule, these are scammers who will not create anything but unnecessary problems for the organization. And the “safe return schemes” that they offer to business managers can lead to the initiation of a criminal case for fraud on a large and especially large scale (if the compensation is over 250,000 and 1,000,000 rubles, respectively). And these are economic crimes, which, as a rule, are regarded by the courts as serious, and real sentences are provided for them (unlike tax crimes) - for fraud on an especially large scale, for example, the term of imprisonment can be up to ten years.

A criminal case for attempted fraud by the head of an organization can also be initiated by the tax authority after checking the documents confirming the taxpayer’s claims for a VAT refund and making a decision to refuse the refund. Therefore, all claims to the tax authorities must be justified. A declaration and application for tax refund should only be submitted if you actually have the right to do so by law, and have not created such a situation through fraudulent schemes.

One of the main taxes is VAT, the amount of which is 40% of total tax revenues to the federal budget. As you can see, this tax is of particular importance for the state.

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Therefore, there is a need to consider in more detail the issue related to the procedure for VAT refunds to taxpayers.

General information

VAT refund to the taxpayer in the latest version of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation implies the right to apply tax withholding when filling out.

In this case, the mentioned tax deduction is part of the amount by which the tax paid is allowed to be reduced.

To apply the right to a VAT refund, the payer must correctly calculate the amount of tax withholding, the amount of which will be displayed in the declaration.

The deduction is the amount of VAT that passes through the documents of suppliers of goods and services.

There may also be a refund of VAT paid by the enterprise itself, in particular, when performing the function of a tax agent.

However, in order to refund the VAT amount, the taxpayer must justify its legality ().

Concept

VAT refund is actually the most complex procedure for returning taxes from the state budget.

This type of return can be interpreted as a type of government subsidy that contributes to the development of domestic business, including a good incentive to increase the export supply of products.

Legal basis

VAT reimbursement occurs in accordance with the rules established by Chapter 21 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. At the same time, you should not confuse VAT refund and refund of overpaid tax amount, because they have different refund procedures.

In the first case, the taxpayer requires the return of funds that were paid by suppliers, whereas, in the case of reimbursement of advances paid, the return of his own money occurs.

If the taxpayer wishes, funds can also be received by offset against future payments. The application procedure is a VAT refund before the actual completion of the audit.

The condition for applying the preferential regime is the payment of taxes in the amount of 10 billion rubles. for the last 3 years before submitting the declaration.

In this case, the amount is calculated from the following types of taxes:

• income tax;
• excise duty;
• MET.

The preferential regime also applies to enterprises that have a bank guarantee for reimbursement.

This is justified by the fact that if the taxpayer’s application for VAT refund is refused, then the return of budget money will be due to the guarantee.

However, the legislator has established a number of requirements for it, including:

1. Valid for at least 8 months. from the date of filing the declaration.
2. The amount must cover the amount of tax withholding to be refunded.

Desk inspection

This type of audit occurs after filing a tax return. The review period usually takes 3 months, after which the tax authorities have 7 days to make a final decision regarding the VAT refund.

If the verification takes place using the automatic reimbursement mode, then the verification period may be reduced. The desk audit should be carried out at the location of the Federal Tax Service.

The main purpose of the audit is to monitor compliance by VAT payers with current legislation.

The main stages of consideration include the following:

1. Checking the completeness of the documents provided, including the validity of applying the zero rate.
2. Visual check of the correctness of the declaration.
3. Checking the correctness of VAT refund calculations.
4. Control over the validity of the application of tax benefits and deductions.

Using control and supervisory functions, the tax authority carries out the following activities:

1. Compares the declaration indicators for the current period with indicators for previous reporting periods.
2. Compares the VAT return figures with the financial statements (,).
3. Evaluates the reliability of the declared amounts for reimbursement with data on the financial and economic activities of the enterprise.

The final stage

Based on the results of the desk audit, the tax authority will be obliged to make one of the decisions on the basis of which either the VAT will be refunded or its refund will be refused ().

When?

The following deadlines are established for the consideration of VAT refund applications:

In order to make a decision on a tax refund as usual, 7 days are allotted, and a 5-day period is set for transferring money to the taxpayer.

Calculation of deadlines begins from the moment the verification of documents is completed, for which a 3-month period is allotted ().

Based on the results of consideration of the application, the Federal Tax Service will send the applicant a response, which will indicate the amount to be returned or the refusal to reimburse it.

If no violations are found, the tax office sends a notification to the bank that provided the bank guarantee.

Based on this document, the financial institution is released from its obligations to reimburse funds.

If violations are detected, the Federal Tax Service draws up a report, after which it makes a decision on the possible prosecution of the enterprise.

In parallel with the decision made, a demand is sent for the return of funds previously reimbursed to the taxpayer.

If the tax authority violates the deadlines for returning the approved amount, then the taxpayer has the right to receive interest, which is accrued after the expiration of the 12-day period.

The amount of interest is equal to the refinancing rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation at the time of the violations ().

The accrued interest is transferred along with the principal amount of the return. The calculation occurs according to the following scheme.

Examples

Example. Agronom LLC purchased fuels and lubricants (fuels and lubricants) for its needs (for harvesting, for example).

That is, this product was purchased for activities subject to value added tax (for business activities).

Fuel and lubricants were purchased in the 1st quarter of 2019 for the amount of 1 million rubles, including VAT 18% of 152,542 rubles. (1,000,000 * 18 / 118).

Video: news. The VAT refund procedure has been clarified

That is, Agronom LLC has the right to declare the amount of VAT deductible in the amount of 152,542 rubles in the VAT return. – this amount reduces the calculated VAT.

In the same period (Q1 2019), Agronom LLC sold grain. In accordance with Art. 164 NK

In the Russian Federation, grain sales are subject to VAT at a rate of 10%. The grain was sold for the same amount of 1,000,000 rubles, including VAT 10% 90,909 rubles.

This amount must be reflected in sales and, therefore, it is calculated for payment to the budget.

But the amount calculated for payment to the budget is reduced according to VAT rules for tax deductions, which amounted to 152,542 rubles, since Agronom LLC purchased fuel and lubricants.

Calculated for payment from the sale of grain: 90,909 rubles. Deducted from the purchase of fuels and lubricants: 152,542 rubles.

Consequently, there are grounds for VAT refund:

90,909 rubles – 152,542 rubles = 61,633 rubles.

That is, Agronom LLC for the 1st quarter of 2019 has the right to reimburse itself from the budget for VAT in the amount of 61,633 rubles. Not bad, especially since you don’t need to pay anything into the budget.

In this case, the reason for the VAT refund was the difference in rates of 18 and 10% (bought at 18%, sold at 10%). The difference in amounts is subject to reimbursement from the budget.

Emerging nuances

The most common questions related to VAT refunds are:

1. What to do with the simplified tax system.
2. Problems and ways to solve them.
3. What does reimbursement at rate 0 mean?

What to do with the simplified tax system

Taxpayers who switch to a simplified taxation system are not VAT payers ().

However, when importing imported products, such persons are entitled to a refund of the tax paid. This right is given to importing firms whose business is connected with foreign suppliers.

In this case, the taxpayer must submit the following documents:

• , including the Russian version;
• a certificate from the bank confirming the transfer of money;
• customs declaration;
• copies of all documents;
• application to the Federal Tax Service;
• tax return.

Reimbursement for fixed assets

When purchasing equipment, its price includes all expenses incurred by the taxpayer, with the exception of refundable taxes.

In this case, the enterprise can reduce the total amount of tax by the amount of deductions provided by law ().

To use tax withholding, you must receive an invoice, pay for the goods and accept it on your balance.

An exception may be the acquisition by a taxpayer of property not for production activities; this also applies to compensation for the purchase of real estate ().

Problems and solutions

One of the main problems that arises in the way of calculating and refunding VAT to taxpayers is the fact that due to frequent financial fraud to refund VAT to exporters, there is a significant increase in the financial burden on the budget.

Among the most common offenses are:

1. Using false documents to refund VAT at a zero rate in order to confirm the dispatch of export products.
2. The use of fictitious financial documents that provide grounds for applying tax withholdings.
3. Registration of documents from non-existent enterprises, which were most often registered using lost or stolen documents.
4. Imitation of receipts of export proceeds to the current accounts of the enterprise, as well as settlements with product suppliers by transferring loan money within one financial institution within one business day.

Such transactions can lead to a wide variety of consequences for taxpayers and cause significant damage to the state financial system.

One of the schemes for interaction between interested parties, which is used for VAT reimbursement, is presented in the figure:

In addition, it is necessary to note a list of problems that are directly related to the verification of the applicant’s documents, including:

• a decision taken by the Federal Tax Service to refuse a VAT refund;
• the need to go to court;
• enforcement proceedings.

The problems that the state faces can only be solved in one way.

To do this, it is necessary to create conditions under which only that amount of VAT that has been or will be guaranteed to be paid to the budget will be reimbursed.

As for the problems that fall on the shoulders of taxpayers, in this case their solution depends on various factors, ranging from the correct execution of documentation and ending with going to court.

Reimbursement at rate 0

The zero VAT rate means that the amounts transferred by the exporter to suppliers relate to costs that can be reimbursed to the taxpayer.

The procedure for confirming the right to a VAT refund is defined in.

To apply the zero rate, the applicant must confirm:

• existence of contractual relations;
• receipt of money into the account under the export agreement;
• actual export of products outside of Russia.

To confirm the validity of applying the zero rate, the applicant may submit the following documents:

1. Register of customs declarations, which contain statements of actually exported products, with marks from the border customs authority.
2. A register of customs declarations, which contains information about the customs clearance of products, in accordance with the export regime, if there are marks from the customs authority.

Video: Is it possible to recover VAT?

How to avoid (refusal)

There are often cases when the Federal Tax Service refuses VAT refunds to exporters. In this regard, it is necessary to consider the most common causes of failures and options for solving problems that arise in order to understand how to eliminate defects when preparing documentation.

The supplier of the goods did not pay tax

The supplier is not at the place of registration

The legislation does not place the burden on the exporter to prove the location of the person who had the
products purchased.

If there is a railway waybill, there is no receipt for cargo acceptance

Such requirements are not consistent with the requirements of Article 165 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, since a copy serves as a shipping document.

The customs authority did not provide the Federal Tax Service with a response that the goods crossed the customs territory

In this case, the package of documents confirming the exporter’s right to apply the zero rate includes the customs declaration and customs declaration registers, as documents that confirm the fact of crossing the customs territory.

Receipt of foreign currency earnings from third parties

One of the options for solving this problem may be to submit to the tax authorities an additional agreement to the agreement, according to which it will be provided for payment for export transactions by third parties.

Presence of violations when issuing invoices

As judicial practice shows, if the invoice has all the necessary details in accordance with the requirements, then even if there are corrections, the courts often side with the exporter.

Additional sheets of the customs declaration do not contain the mark “The goods have been completely exported”

In this case, it comes to the rescue, where it says that the stamp “The goods have been completely exported” must be placed on the reverse side of the main sheet of the customs declaration.

There is no confirmation of payment by the supplier of the export goods

To solve this problem, you can attach to the documents that confirm payment of tax to suppliers, copies of those invoices that are indicated on the basis of the payment.

Unreasonableness of tax benefit

In accordance with the norms of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, taxpayers are subject to the presumption of good faith.

Therefore, even the existence of a violation by a taxpayer’s counterparty of its tax obligations cannot serve as evidence that the VAT payer unreasonably receives a tax benefit.

This legal position is set out in “On assessment by arbitration courts...”.

As can be seen from the examples given, often the reason for refusal of VAT refund is abuse of official powers on the part of the Federal Tax Service, including expanded interpretations of the norms of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

However, there are often cases of negligence by taxpayers themselves, for example, when preparing documentation that confirms the export of products outside the customs territory.

To reduce the risks associated with refusal of VAT refund, the taxpayer can maintain a “dossier” on the counterparty.

To do this, you can collect the following documents:

• a copy of the certificate of state registration and registration with the Federal Tax Service;
• extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities;
• a certificate from the Federal Tax Service on holding the counterparty liable for non-payment of taxes;
• copies of the constituent documents of the enterprise;
• documents confirming authority to sign contracts and financial documents ().

According to the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, several options for action are provided for when generating the amount of overpaid VAT: offset, refund, refund.

The essence of the budget VAT refund

The need for compensation may arise for an enterprise or entrepreneur engaged in a certain type of business or trading activity when making payments to the budget using payments based on value added.

The company makes a mandatory payment for added value on the volume of purchased products, and after sale makes a mandatory payment to the budget. If the value of the sales tax exceeds the purchase tax, the enterprise must make an additional payment, and if the opposite ratio is obtained, then receive a VAT refund from the budget for the difference between the funds paid for payments.

Common situations where grounds arise for the return transfer of funds to the payer, associated with imbalances between purchased and sold goods, result from:

1. reduction in sales volumes;
2. inability to conduct sales due to the expiration date of the product;
3. impossibility of sale due to:
   • unsalable condition of the product;
   • physical loss (damage, destruction, theft) of goods.

To determine the method and procedure for returning the excess amount transferred to the budget, a regulatory framework has been developed, but the main description of the regulations is indicated in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation (Articles 172, 173, 176).

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Who is entitled to compensation?

Any organization that is a payer of this type of mandatory payment can submit an application to tax authorities for a reverse transfer of funds from the budget if the amount paid when conducting business activities exceeds.

Sample explanation

Upon receipt of the application, the Federal Tax Service authorities can organize a tax (on-site) audit of the activity in full or only in part relating to specific transactions that led to the situation of the need to return the paid tax.

Attention! A mandatory requirement when considering a refund is that the company provides all documents confirming the amount of the claim.

The company must be confident in the accuracy of accounting and the correctness of the calculations made. There are frequent situations when, based on the results of audits, instead of returning funds, an enterprise is sent an order to pay the additional amount of tax.

Only companies that are payers of this tax can apply for a reverse VAT transfer.

Entrepreneurs (IP) and organizations using special taxation regimes (STS, UTII, Unified Agricultural Tax, PSN), when sending an invoice with an allocated value-added payment amount, are required to make payments to the budget, but are not entitled to receive a refund.

The procedure for receiving funds from the budget

If the amount of VAT exceeds the calculated tax amount based on the results of the reporting period (quarter), the difference can be paid to the enterprise (Article 173 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). The rules of compensation (Article 176 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation) apply to exporting organizations and companies selling goods on the domestic market.

The procedure is expressed in the form of a general procedure for the return of funds or in the form of a declarative procedure for transferring the excess payment.

General refund procedure

Under the general procedure, a number of actions are performed, starting with the enterprise submitting to the tax structure an application for the transfer of the tax claimed for reimbursement to the organization’s current account.

Advice! It is advisable to send the tax return at the same time, but this can be done later (up to 5 days).

The application does not have a form approved by law and is drawn up in any form with the obligatory indication of bank details and the obligation to return the excessively transferred amount of payment.

The document is submitted to the Federal Tax Service:

• in a written form;
• in electronic form with an electronic digital signature (EDS).

Next, the organization is subject to a desk audit by the Federal Tax Service (Article 88 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). If the share of deductions is high (from 89%), then the management of the enterprise may be invited to the commission to provide explanations on the situation (letter of the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation No. AS-4-2/12722, 07/17/2013).

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Required documents

During the inspection, the organization is required to submit documents confirming the validity and legality of the requirements for payment of funds (Article 172 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation), which include:

• invoices;
• documentary evidence of tax payment when importing goods into the Russian Federation and territories under the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation;
• confirmation of payment of the mandatory payment withheld by tax agents;
• accounting and financial reporting.

After verification (within 7 days), a decision is made on the amount of overpayment of VAT in the form of:

• full transfer to the company of the amount declared in the declaration;
• complete refusal to return the specified amount of payment;
• reimbursement in some part and refusal in some part of the payment amount declared in the declaration.

On the day after the decision is made, the tax department sends an order to the Treasury Department to refund the organization’s tax (to any of the open bank accounts).

If violations are detected within 10 days after the end of the inspection, a report is drawn up and sent to:

• management of the tax department (Articles 100, 101 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation);
• representative of the enterprise.

After receiving the document within 15 days, the organization can send objections and then participate in the consideration of the situation on the controversial issue.

Important! If the claims are satisfied, then a refund is made; if not, then a determination is made to refuse the refund. An enterprise can challenge it in a higher authority of the National Assembly or in court.

Declarative return procedure

In the case of an application procedure, funds can be received before the end of the audit conducted by the Federal Tax Service for some categories of taxpayers.

These include:

1. Large organizations that have paid taxes, including value added, in the amount of 10 billion rubles over the last 36 months.
2. Enterprises that have received a guarantee from banking organizations to pay for them the funds received in excess through the reimbursement procedure.
3. Enterprises registered in the territory of rapid socio-economic development, which have entered into a guarantee agreement with the management company for the payment of funds transferred in excess to the enterprise under the decision on compensation.

The taxpayer submits to the Tax Service an application for the amount of VAT along with the declaration or within 5 days after its submission, together with a bank guarantee or a surety from the management company.

The decision of the Federal Tax Service to carry out an offset against existing debts and fines, to provide compensation or to refuse it in case of detection of errors in tax assessment is made within 5 days after the application is received by the Tax Service.

The company is notified of the decision in writing.

On the day after a positive decision is made, an order is sent to the treasury department to transfer funds to the settlement (bank) account of the enterprise. The Treasury must complete the transfer within 5 days after receiving the order.

After completion of the audit, money must be credited to the taxpayer's bank account within up to 13 days under the general procedure for reimbursement and within up to 11 days under the application procedure.

In case of delay in payment, the organization may qualify to receive penalties (penalties), which are calculated at the key rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, after verification by the Federal Tax Service from the 12th day under the application procedure and from the 14th day under the general procedure.

Features of the return procedure

The return of funds from the budget has some features depending on the type of activity of the organization.

Refunds for construction and purchase of real estate

When conducting construction, tax reimbursement is not possible, since it can only be done after the object has been registered.

When purchasing real estate, the tax paid to the seller from the budget is compensated in the general manner if the purchasing organization is registered as a value-added payer.

• In this case, some requirements must be met:
• the purchase of real estate was made for the conduct of activities subject to VAT;
• the fact of payment for the acquired property took place;
• there is an original invoice presented by the seller of the property;

The acquisition was capitalized according to accounting.

VAT refund when exporting products outside the Russian Federation has its own characteristics, expressed in the fact that the company pays tax when purchasing products within the country (usually the tax is transferred from the difference between the VAT paid upon purchase and the VAT paid upon sale).

Payment for added value is not made in case of export of products outside the Russian Federation.

In this case, an overpayment of VAT to the budget occurs. Payment of excess funds follows the standard algorithm with a slight difference regarding the need for the enterprise to undergo a desk audit of all activities during the quarter in which the organization submitted the application.

• When importing, tax payer organizations that have:
• products imported into the country are subject to VAT;

the fact of payment of the value added payment is confirmed by documents (declarations of customs structures, primary documents).

The company pays VAT on imported products even if there is an exemption from its payment and in the case of using special tax regimes. But the amount of tax is not deductible, and products are taken into account at a cost that includes the amount of VAT.

Accounting entries for reimbursement

• Operations for reimbursement of VAT from the budget in accounting are carried out using the following entries: transfer of VAT for reimbursement from the budget ();
• Dt count.68 / Kt count.19 crediting the refund amount to the current account ().

Dt count.51/ Kt count.68

If the return is made in the form of offset against the amounts of other obligatory payments or future payment at added value, the entry is as follows:

Debit of tax, which is offset by the amount of compensation / Credit account 68 - crediting of the amount of tax repaid by offset

On the same topic

Procedure for considering an application for VAT refund

The regulations for VAT refunds are determined by Article 176 of the Tax Code.

1. Filing a VAT return

The standard procedure begins with filing a declaration at the end of the reporting period and preparing a package of documents confirming the fact of the overpayment. If the amount of taxes calculated for transactions that are subject to taxation exceeds the payments made, the difference is due for a refund or offset.

1. To qualify for a tax deduction, an organization must meet several conditions:
2. Pay for the purchased assets and use them to carry out activities subject to VAT.
3. Have correctly executed documents for the goods (invoices and others) and submit them for inspection upon request.

Export VAT is reimbursed in a special manner. In order to have the right to apply a zero tax rate, which applies to export transactions, an enterprise must provide documents confirming the sale of goods to a foreign partner and proving the fact of export of cargo outside the country:

• agreement for the supply of products to a foreign counterparty;
• an account statement reflecting a payment transaction from a foreign person;
• accompanying papers with customs marks on the movement of goods to the territory of another state.

The filing of a declaration itself is not a sufficient basis for the Federal Tax Service to initiate the VAT compensation procedure. Recently, a mandatory condition for consideration of the issue is a corresponding application.

2. Desk inspection

An audit is carried out by the tax authority to determine the validity of the VAT payer’s claims for reimbursement of part of the tax paid. For 3 months, employees of the Federal Tax Service have been studying the declaration and the documents attached to it:

• determine the completeness and correctness of filling out the submitted documentation;
• control the compliance of the indicators specified in the declaration with tax accounting data;
• check the legality of the application of preferential rates, tax deductions, the correctness of calculations of the base and amount of taxes.

During the audit, the tax inspector has the right to request from the taxpayer any documents and explanations that may “shed light” on, from his point of view, dubious transactions for which deductions are made. An employee of the Federal Tax Service may contact both the counterparties of the person being inspected and the servicing bank if some questions require clarification. Refusal to provide the required information or failure to submit it on time is considered an offense that entails penalties.

Based on the results of the inspection, a report is drawn up. The report indicates the existing violations, and if they are absent, a decision is made on return. The period allocated for making such a decision is 7 days, and the inspector is obliged to notify the taxpayer of the result of consideration of the issue within 10 days, in writing.

3. Taxpayer’s objections

The procedure for refunding VAT from the budget provides for filing an appeal with higher tax authorities (regional department of the Federal Tax Service) in case of disagreements with the inspectorate regarding the results of the audit, as well as applying to arbitration if the organization believes that the refusal to refund is unlawful. In the event of a court decision in favor of the taxpayer, the refund of the awarded funds is made according to a writ of execution, as a rule, with compensation for the delay in deduction and legal costs incurred.

4. VAT refund

VAT is reimbursed by crediting or transferring the required amount to the taxpayer’s bank account.

VAT refunds from the budget are made upon application from the organization using the specified details. The tax inspector who made the decision on the refund sends an order to the treasury to transfer the amount due within five days. If the established deadlines are violated, starting from the 12th day after the desk audit of the budget debt to taxpayers, interest is accrued at the Central Bank refinancing rate.

If an organization has debts to the budget, including penalties and fines, the tax office independently sends the refund amount to offset arrears. Also, at the request of the person being audited, the compensation may be taken into account when paying taxes for future periods.

For large players in the market, tax revenues from which exceed 10 billion rubles over the last 3 years, a declarative procedure for VAT refund is provided. The same opportunity applies to taxpayers who present a bank guarantee for VAT along with the declaration.

The application procedure means that the value added tax payer can file an application for a refund of the overpayment (within 5 days from the date of filing the declaration) and receive funds without waiting for the end of the audit. In this case, the organization undertakes to return the compensation back, in whole or in part, if, on the basis of the inspection report, the amount accrued for compensation is less than the requested one or a decision is made to refuse. Within 5 days, the taxpayer makes a return of the excess funds received upon request from the tax office. A bank guarantee is “insurance” for the Federal Tax Service that the amounts claimed will be paid in full.

Refusal and other difficulties of “fighting” the tax authorities

Refund of overpaid VAT is considered one of the most difficult problems in the relationship between taxpayer organizations and the Federal Tax Service. As a rule, tax authorities take every opportunity to refuse a deduction, so litigation on this issue is a common practice for many enterprises. The actions of inspectors are often not limited to the study of documentation directly related to the subject of the inspection, but also go beyond the scope of VAT transactions.

Many explain this by the “harmfulness” of the tax service, which does not want to give back funds already collected to the treasury, but the state’s close attention to taxpayers demanding refunds is justified by the large number of abuses in this area and impressive amounts of budget losses. Illegal VAT refunds are a whole “business” associated with the use of fraudulent schemes.

Business managers should remember that, unlike tax violations, fraud is a criminal offense that carries a real prison sentence of up to 10 years. If the amount of compensation required is more than a quarter of a million rubles, we are talking about large amounts, over 1 million rubles. – especially large amounts of damage to the state, and this is no longer a joke.

Based on the results of a desk audit, the tax inspectorate may even initiate a case of attempted fraud against the head of the organization if the documents provided and the nature of the transactions related to VAT arouse its suspicions.

All claims to the tax authorities must be justified, and compensation can be demanded only if the legality of the transactions performed is beyond doubt. That is why you should not contact companies that promise to help with VAT refund “with a 100% guarantee, legally”: in any case, the responsibility will fall on the taxpayer.

If the company really has the right to a refund, then refusal is not a reason to give up. The legislation provides an opportunity for an honest taxpayer to defend his interests in appeal and in court, and a decision in favor of the plaintiff in such cases is not uncommon.

VAT refund is a procedure for returning taxes from the state budget. The state does not give away its budget money, but those funds that the taxpayer previously excessively transferred in the form of taxes. VAT refunds always attract interest from regulatory authorities and often lead to counter tax audits.

If the amount of tax deductions exceeds the amount of accrued taxes, the difference is returned. The VAT refund period is determined by law.

Conditions for VAT refund

In most cases, tax officials do not create artificial obstacles to VAT refunds. Therefore, there should not be any special difficulties with its compensation. The main thing is that in the course of its activities the company:

• complied with the conditions provided by law;
• kept tax records correctly;
• provided all supporting documents in which there were no errors in the calculations.

Important! To receive a VAT refund, you must prepare a tax return and write a corresponding application to the Federal Tax Service, indicating the method of compensation - offset against future income or refund.

Reasons why VAT may be refunded

A VAT refund is possible if there is a disproportion between goods received from suppliers and goods subsequently sold to customers.

A decline in sales occurs when:

• expiration date;
• reduction in product quality;
• low purchasing power;
• theft;
• physical destruction of goods;
• other reasons.

VAT refund deadlines

Tax legislation provides for certain periods during which the Federal Tax Service must reimburse the money without fail. If VAT is returned according to the declarative principle, then the funds are transferred to the bank account within 11 days.

In other cases, refunds are made after a tax desk audit. When tax violations are not detected, upon completion of the audit, VAT must be transferred to the current account:

• when excess funds are transferred to the budget - 1 month after the date of receipt by the Federal Tax Service of the application for return;
• if the amount of accrued VAT is exceeded, in the case of filing an application for refund before the tax authorities make an appropriate decision - within 3 months and 12 working days after filing a declaration with the specified amount of tax to be refunded;
• when selling goods for export, in case of filing an application for a refund and a positive decision by the Federal Tax Service - within 1 month after the tax office receives this application.

How to refund VAT if the Federal Tax Service violated the VAT refund deadline

If tax inspectorate employees violated the deadline for refunding VAT from the budget, then the taxpayer has the right to collect interest depending on the amount due for refund, taking into account the period of delay and the refinancing rate established by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.

What is the VAT refund period?

Important! The law provides for a deadline during which the taxpayer will be able to refund VAT.

In case of overpayment of money to the budget in the process of selling goods for export, if the amount of accrued VAT is exceeded, the total period for filing claims is 3 years from the date of transfer of the excess amount to the budget. There is no point in applying for a VAT refund after this period, since the Federal Tax Service will not agree with the demand presented, and the courts will support it in this.

In order to properly understand the situation, seek help from qualified lawyers in this area! They will not only prepare all the necessary documents, but will also monitor the progress of VAT refunds should you have such a right.

ATTENTION! Due to recent changes in legislation, the information in this article may be out of date! Our lawyer will advise you free of charge - write in the form below.