The tax office sent a request for documents. Request from the tax office to provide documents

Commercial enterprises quite often face the need to provide explanations on any issue to the tax office. To ensure that these explanations do not lead to further inspections by the supervisory authority, the response should be drawn up with extreme care, scrupulousness and not delayed in sending it.

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The most frequently asked questions from the tax office

Usually, the requirement to provide explanations comes some time after submitting all kinds of reports and declarations, so any, even the most minor, error or inaccuracy in the documents can become the reason for them. In many cases, clarification is required for the VAT indicated due to a discrepancy between information about taxable bases in income tax returns and, again, VAT, if there is a discrepancy in the data of counterparties. Questions may cause unreasonable losses when checking the accrual, filing an updated declaration or calculation, in which the corrected amount of tax payable is less than that originally sent, etc.

What form does the demand come in?

The tax office may send a request for clarification both in paper and electronic form. Moreover, in the case of an electronic message, the taxpayer is obliged to respond to it within five working days. If this document arrived in paper form, it also needs to be answered as soon as possible, regardless of whether it has the tax office’s stamp or not.

Procedure upon receipt of a request

After the taxpayer receives requests for clarification, he must compare the documents submitted to the tax office with the data in his hands.

First of all, when checking, the amounts indicated in it are analyzed (for their compliance with the amounts for all incoming and outgoing invoices). Next, dates, invoice numbers, and other details (TIN, KPP, addresses, etc.) are examined in the same way.

If you have any questions about simplified taxation system declarations or by income tax, you should analyze all the amounts of expenses and income that were taken for their calculation. All other types of documents that raise questions from the tax inspectorate are also checked using the same algorithm as above.

After the error is found, you need to submit updated tax reporting with corrected data - but this only applies to amounts. If the error does not relate to the financial part, then there is no need to submit a “clarification”; it is enough to provide the necessary explanations.

Attention: the law does not say that explanations must be given in writing, i.e. this means that they can also be provided orally. However, in order to avoid further disagreements, it is better to take care of drawing up a written response.

What to do when the tax demand is unfair

It happens that the tax inspectorate demands explanations unreasonably, i.e. no errors were made in the reporting. In such situations, you cannot ignore letters from the tax office either.

In order to avoid any sanctions (including sudden ones), it is necessary to promptly notify the supervisory service that, in accordance with the information of the enterprise, all the information provided is correct.

In any case, when drawing up a response, you must remember that for the tax office it is not so much the content of the letter that is important, but the fact of the response to the request itself.

How to file a response to a tax request for clarification

It can be completed either on paper, written by hand, or electronically, printed on a computer. At the same time, if the explanation is sent by regular mail, then it must be sent by registered mail with return receipt requested, then the risk that the letter will be lost will be minimized.

The use of an electronic format is possible only if the organization has an electronic digital signature.

Any additional documents may be attached to the explanation; their presence must be reflected in the content of the response.

Sample of a response to a tax request for clarification

As mentioned above, there is no unified response form for giving tax explanations, so you can compose it in any form. It is worth noting that the form of the response must be extremely correct and standard in terms of the rules for preparing such papers.

1. First, on the left or right (it doesn’t matter) you need to indicate the addressee, i.e. exactly the tax office where the response is sent. Here you need to enter its number, as well as the region and locality to which it belongs.
2. Next, the sender of the letter is indicated: the name of the company, its address (actual), as well as the telephone number (in case the tax inspector has any additional questions for clarification) is written.
3. Further in the answer you should refer to the request number (and the tax service always assigns numbers to such documents), and its date (note: not the date of receipt, but the date of preparation), and also briefly outline the essence of the question.
4. After this, you can proceed directly to giving explanations. They should be written in as much detail as possible, with all the necessary links to documents, laws, regulations, etc. The more carefully this part of the answer is prepared, the greater the chance that the tax office will be satisfied with it.

   In no case should you give unreliable or deliberately false information in your answer - they will be quickly detected and then immediate sanctions from the tax authorities will follow.

5. After the explanation is given, it is necessary to certify the letter with the signature of the chief accountant (if necessary), as well as the head of the company (required).

If a taxpayer ignores a request received from the Federal Tax Service, tax authorities may block his current account. We are publishing step-by-step instructions on how to correctly respond to electronic requests for documents sent by the Federal Tax Service through the reporting system. This article will describe the general rules for working with requirements. A separate material will be devoted to VAT requirements. Instructions were prepared by system experts for sending reports "".

How the direction of demands is regulated

The procedure for submitting claims is established by the following orders of the Federal Tax Service:

In accordance with clause 5.1 of Article of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, taxpayers who are required to submit tax returns in electronic form must ensure the possibility of receiving requirements in electronic form, and are also required to submit to the tax authority a receipt for the receipt of such documents in electronic form within six days from the date their sending by the tax authority.

What documents can the Federal Tax Service send through the reporting system?

In particular, the following may be transmitted electronically:

1. Documents used by the tax authority when exercising its powers. For example, decisions made during tax control; notifications about calling the taxpayer; decisions on refund of VAT and excise taxes;
2. Requirements for the provision of documents (information). For example, documents about the taxpayer, fee payer and tax agent;
3. Demands for payment of taxes, fees, penalties, fines.

Document flow procedure

1. The tax authority generates and sends the request electronically (for example, in PDF format).
2. The electronic document management (EDF) operator generates a “Submission Date Confirmation”, which records the date the request was sent in electronic form. This confirmation is sent to the Federal Tax Service and the taxpayer.
3. After receiving the request, the taxpayer submits an “Acceptance Receipt” or “Notice of Refusal” to the Federal Tax Service.

“Receipt of acceptance” is a document confirming the receipt of the request (but not necessarily agreement with it). The receipt must be submitted to the inspection no later than six working days from the date the inspection sends the request.

If a taxpayer who is obliged to ensure receipt of claims electronically does not send a receipt for receipt of the claim on time, the Federal Tax Service may block the current accounts of such a taxpayer (see “”).

A “Notice of Refusal” is generated in the following cases:

• the request was sent to this taxpayer in error (it was intended for another addressee);
• the requirement does not comply with the established format;
• the requirement does not contain (does not correspond to) the digital signature of the authorized tax authority official.

In the system for generating and sending reports “Kontur.Extern” these checks are performed. If the request is correct, the subscriber is prompted to send a receipt. If one of the above errors is detected, the system will prompt you to send a failure notification.

The taxpayer is obliged to familiarize himself with the requirement of the Federal Tax Service and comply with it within the time limits established in the received document. If you disagree with the requirement, the taxpayer should contact the inspectorate that issued it.

Requirements in the Kontur.Extern system

To view the requirements you must:

1. On the main page “Kontur.Extern” go to the “New” menu, select the “Requirements” section and click the “All requirements” link.

In order to timely track the receipt of requests from tax authorities, it is recommended to set up notifications by email or mobile phone about new incoming documents in Kontur.Extern.

2. Click on the name of the received document. The page that opens will contain the following data:

• “Requirements files” - within the framework of one document flow, the Federal Tax Service can send several types of documents. To view them, you need to click on the name of the requirement and save the proposed file. The file is saved in PDF format and can be opened using Adobe Reader.
• Link “Receipt of acceptance” or “Notice of refusal”.
• The “Save all documents and signatures” link, when clicked, saves the requirements, their signatures, as well as the “Requirement Description” - a file that is an xml structure and contains service information about the composition of the document flow.

"Kontur.Extern" checks the requirements sent to the Federal Tax Service for errors. If the checks are passed, the user is prompted to submit an acceptance receipt. The receipt confirms the receipt of the request, but does not express agreement with it. The receipt must be submitted to the inspection no later than six working days from the date the inspection sends the request.

If a request to submit documents is received, then after sending the receipt of acceptance, the “Upload and send documents” button becomes active.

It is proposed to send a refusal to the inspection in one of three cases.

1. The request was erroneously sent to the taxpayer.
2. The requirement does not comply with the approved format.
3. There is no electronic signature of the responsible person of the tax authority.

To submit a refusal, click on the “Notification of refusal” button.

After sending the receipt/notification of refusal, the document flow status changes to “Processed”. As soon as the document is received by the Federal Tax Service, the status will be changed to “Document flow completed.”

If the organization is not the direct addressee of the request (for example, when sending reports for organizations under service), then the request can be sent by email to a representative of the organization to which the request was intended. To do this, click on the “Forward request by email” button.

The receipt or refusal of the request can be sent to the tax office again by clicking on the “Resend” link.

The format of the main VAT requirements has now been formalized by the Federal Tax Service. In xml you will get the requirements:

According to control ratios;

For discrepancies with counterparties;

Information not included in the sales book.

The tax office also requests a formalized response to the requirements. The tax office may send other requirements, but their format has not yet been formalized.
Within 6 working days after sending the request by the tax service, you must send a receipt of its receipt. The request must be responded to no later than 5 business days after the receipt is sent. How to respond to new requirements:

Control ratios. The requirement will come if, during a desk audit, the Federal Tax Service discovered inaccuracies in the control ratios in the income tax return for VAT. Everything is simple here - in the answer you need to indicate the number of the control ratio and the text of the explanation in any form (up to 1000 characters)

Discrepancies with counterparties. The tax information system automatically matches invoice data from buyers and sellers. If a counterparty cannot be found or discrepancies are discovered in the data (for example, in VAT), the Federal Tax Service will request clarification on the discrepancies. It is necessary to clarify the data in the original invoices mentioned in the requirement:

The data is provided without errors. Confirm they are correct - in VLSI this can be done by clicking on the “no corrections required” button. Additionally, you can send scans of documents or their originals in xml ();

Error in the invoice details (date, number, tax identification number, checkpoint or others). Make an amendment in the response to the request (except for the VAT amount);

Error in tax amount. Submit an updated return.

Explanation of information not included in the sales book. The requirement will be received if the sales book does not contain invoices that the counterparty reflected in its purchase book.

If there is an invoice in the declaration, but its data differs from the buyer’s data. The invoice goes into a table that explains the discrepancies. In the table you need to indicate the number, date and TIN of the counterparty, additional information is optional;
- if the seller did not issue this invoice to the buyer. The invoice is included in the table with data on unconfirmed transactions. In the table you need to indicate the number and date of the invoice and the buyer’s tax identification number;
- the seller has an invoice, but he did not include it in the sales book. In this case, you should include the invoice in an additional sheet of the sales book and send an updated declaration.

Request for clarification on other grounds. This section is formed based on information from the requirement in pdf format or based on the user’s decision. Contains explanatory text in free form (up to 1000 characters).

When receiving a formalized request for an explanation of VAT, VLSI automatically creates a response form: you only need to provide the necessary information. Our team will always help if you have any questions.

The inspection has the right to request documents necessary for the inspection (clause 1, clause 1, article 31, clauses 6, 7, 9, article 88, paragraph 2, clause 12, article 89, clause 1, article 93 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation) . The taxpayer is obliged to submit these documents (clause 6, clause 1, article 23 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

The procedure for requesting documents by the tax authority

In order to request documents, the tax inspectors conducting the audit must hand over to you. The request must indicate which documents are required and on the basis of which article of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, within what time period and in what form they must be submitted.

During a desk audit of a tax return, additional documents may be requested only in the following situations:

• if in the declaration, documents confirming the right to benefits may be requested (clause 6 of Article 88 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation);
• a declaration on water tax has been submitted - documents that are the basis for calculating the tax may be requested (clause 9 of Article 88 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation);
• Errors are found or it is revealed that the information contained in the declaration contradicts the information from the documents you submitted, the information contained in the declaration does not correspond to the information from the documents available to the inspectorate - clarifications may be requested (clauses 3, 4 of Art. 88 Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Note. As a general rule, tax authorities do not have the right to have documents from you that you have previously submitted to the inspectorate when conducting a tax audit against you (clause 5 of Article 93 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
There are two exceptions to this rule. Thus, tax inspectors will be able to request documents from you again in the following cases:

• if you presented these documents only in the form of originals, which were then returned to you;
• The tax authority has lost the documents you submitted due to force majeure circumstances.

You are not required to submit documents to the tax office:

• after three months from the date of submission of the declaration (clause 2 of article 88 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation);
• not related to the declaration being verified (Resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated 04/08/2008 N 15333/07);
• if the law does not oblige you to prepare or have them (analytical reports, explanations of the causes of losses, etc.);
• if the request for the production of documents was improperly served, i.e. handed to a person who is not authorized to do so by a power of attorney (paragraph 2, paragraph 1, article 93 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation);
• if it is unclear from the requirement what documents need to be submitted.

The procedure for submitting documents at the request of the tax authority

Documents that must be submitted on paper in the form of copies or in electronic form through the taxpayer’s personal account (clause 2 of article 93 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation; clause 24 of the Procedure, approved by Order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated June 30, 2015 N MMV-7-17 /260@).

Copies of documents on paper can be delivered personally (to the inspector or to the office) or sent by registered mail.

Submission of documents on paper is made in the form of copies certified by the person being verified (clause 2 of Article 93 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Note. To confirm that all documents have been submitted to the tax authority in full and on time, prepare an acceptance certificate or a cover letter listing all the documents being submitted and their details.
If you send documents by mail, it is advisable to do this in a valuable letter with a list of the contents and a receipt. The inventory and notification will be proof that the inspection received the requested documents.

A document signed with an enhanced non-qualified electronic signature is recognized as an electronic document equivalent to a paper document signed with the taxpayer’s own signature (paragraph 1, paragraph 3, paragraph 2, article 11.2 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

To exchange documents with the tax office through your personal account, you need to send a notification to the inspectorate about using your personal account. After receiving the notification and before receiving notification from you about refusal to use your personal account, the inspection does not have the right to send you documents in other ways (paragraph 2, paragraph 4, paragraph 2, article 11.2 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Pay attention! The tax authority (officials) does not have the right to require notarization of submitted copies of documents, unless otherwise provided by the legislation of the Russian Federation.
If necessary, the tax authority has the right to familiarize itself with the originals of your documents, including those copies of which you submitted (paragraph 5, paragraph 2, article 93, paragraph 3, paragraph 12, article 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Due to the special specificity of a citizen as a subject of tax legal relations, as well as the existence of the rights of other persons living in residential premises with the inspected individual, inspectors cannot seize documents and items located in the residential premises of the inspected person, even if he has not provided the requested documents by the tax authority within the prescribed period. At the same time, regardless of the consent of the individual being inspected, they can seize documents and objects located in non-residential premises (Article 25 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation).

Deadline for submitting documents upon request of the tax authority

You must submit the documents required during the inspection (desk, field) within 10 working days (Article 6.1, paragraph 3 of Article 93 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Example. Calculation of the deadline for submitting documents
On May 29, 2015, you received a request to submit documents for a desk audit of your personal income tax return.
The last day of the deadline for submitting documents will be 06/15/2015 (from 05/30/2015 to 05/31/2015, from 06/06/2015 to 06/07/2015 and from 06/13/2015 to 06/14/2015 - weekends, June 12 - a holiday).

If you cannot meet the deadline, then no later than the next day from the date of receipt of the request, send a notification to the tax authority indicating (clause 3 of Article 93 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation):

1. reasons why you cannot submit documents within the time period specified in the request (for example, a large number of requested documents, the production of copies of which requires a lot of time);
2. the deadline within which you undertake to submit documents.

You will find out whether you have been granted a deferment from the decision of the tax authority, which must be made within two working days from the date of receipt of your notification (clause 3 of Article 93 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

In any case, begin preparing the requested documents immediately after receiving the request. After all, even if your deadline is not extended, the more requested documents you submit on time, the lower the fine will be that will be collected for each document not submitted on time (clause 4 of article 93, clause 1 of article 126 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Tax inspectors have the right to demand from you:

• documents related to your activities (clause 1 of article 93 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation);
• documents and information about the activities of your counterparty, in respect of whom the audit is being carried out (clause 1, article 93.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation);
• information and documents about a specific transaction in which you participated or about which you have information (clause 2 of Article 93.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation);
• explanations or corrected (clarified) declaration (clause 3 of Article 88 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

In general, the fine for failure to submit documents requested by the inspection is 200 rubles for each document not submitted on time (clause 4 of article 93, clause 1 of article 126 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

However, if we are talking about documents about the activities of the counterparty or related to a specific transaction, the fine is 10 thousand rubles, regardless of the number of unsubmitted documents (clause 6 of article 93.1, clause 2 of article 126 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

When can documents be requested?

In most cases, sending a corresponding request is lawful only in the case of a tax audit or additional tax control measures, which are themselves related to the audit (clause 1 of Article 93, clause 1 of Article 93.1, clause 6 of Article 101 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Outside the framework of any inspection, inspectors have the right to request only documents or information about a specific transaction (Clause 2 of Article 93.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation)

The format of the on-site audit allows tax officials to get acquainted with the original documents of the taxpayer, which they need to control the calculation and payment of taxes (clause 12 of Article 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). And, as a rule, inspectors use this right first. And if the information received is not enough, they will send a request to submit all or some documents in the form of certified copies. In this case, inspectors do not need any additional grounds other than the fact of conducting an on-site inspection, and the list of requested documents is limited only by the period and subject of the inspection.

During a desk audit, tax authorities, in addition to documents, have the right to demand explanations from the taxpayer, but for any demand, including documents, additional grounds are needed (clause 3, 7, article 88 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, letter of the Ministry of Finance dated October 13, 2015 No. 03- 02-07/1/58461). The forms of requirements for the submission of explanations and documents were approved by Order of the Federal Tax Service dated 05/08/2015 No. ММВ-7-2/189@ - Appendices No. 1 and 15 (see Table 1).

Table 1

The inspection that is conducting the inspection has the right to request from you the requirement to provide documents or information about the counterparty or a specific transaction only through the inspection with which you are registered. That is, she must send an order to your Federal Tax Service for the claim, and your inspectorate will issue you the demand itself, attaching a copy of the order (clause 3 of Article 93.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Deadline and method of fulfillment of the requirement

The deadlines within which you need to comply with the Federal Tax Service's requirement to submit documents, information or explanations are shown in Table 2.

Table 2

If you do not have enough time to complete your request, you can ask for an extension. To do this, no later than the next day from the date of receipt of the request, send a notification to the Federal Tax Service Inspectorate, in which you indicate (clause 3 of Article 93, clause 5 of Article 93.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation):

• reasons why you cannot provide the requested data on time;
• the deadline within which you undertake to submit documents.

The Federal Tax Service must make a decision regarding the deferment within two working days from the date of receipt of the notification (clause 3 of Article 93, clause 5 of Article 93.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Inspectors make this decision entirely at their own discretion. Therefore, you should start preparing the requested documents immediately after receiving the request.

You can send the collected documents to the Federal Tax Service in three ways:

• personally or through a representative;
• by registered mail;
• in electronic form via telecommunication channels or through the “Taxpayer’s Personal Account”.

Electronic and paper documents

Documents can be in one of two forms: paper or electronic.

Documents drawn up on paper are submitted to the Federal Tax Service in the form of certified copies (clause 2 of article 93 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). These could be:

• paper copies;
• electronic images.

Paper copies are photocopies with the inscription “Copy is correct”, certified by the signature of the head of the organization indicating his position and the date of certification. The seal in this case is optional, even if the organization has not refused to use it (letter of the Federal Tax Service dated 08/05/2015 No. BS-4-17/13706@). In this case, the sheets of documents must be numbered and stitched according to the rules that must be approved by the Federal Tax Service (clause 2 of Article 93 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, clause 1 of Article 2 of Law No. 130-FZ dated 05/01/2016). In the meantime, for these purposes, one can be guided by the previous explanations of the Ministry of Finance and the Federal Tax Service.

In particular, if your collection contains multi-page documents, you have two options:

• separately certify each page of the document;
• stitch and number the document and certify the entire file, but its volume should not exceed 150 sheets (letters from the Ministry of Finance dated 10.29.2015 No. 03-02-RZ/62336, dated 08.07.2014 No. 03-02-RZ/39142, Federal Tax Service dated 13.09. 2012 No. AS-4-2/15309@ (clause 21)).

Electronic images are scanned copies. Scanned copies that meet the format established by the Federal Tax Service can be sent to the Federal Tax Service via TKS (clause 2 of Article 93 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, clause 1 of Article 2 of Law No. 130-FZ). The Federal Tax Service must still approve such formats, but it is already permissible to submit some documents to the Federal Tax Service in the form of scanned copies (letter of the Federal Tax Service dated January 25, 2016 No. ED-4-15/887@, dated December 9, 2015 No. ED-4-2/21577 ). There are 11 of them in total:

The name of the file with the scanned copy must contain the code assigned to the document, the file itself must have the extension tif, pdf, jpg or pgn. In this case, you need to transfer to the inspection structured information containing not only the scanned document file itself, but also:

• file name;
• date and number of the scanned document;
• the amount of monetary value of the transaction and the amount of tax;
• details of the basis document;
• the role of the participants in the transaction and their identifiers (tables 4.9, 4.10, 4.13, 4.17, 4.18 Format).

Please note

The inspectorate does not have the right to request documents, copies of which you previously submitted to the Federal Tax Service Inspectorate for a desk or on-site inspection, unless, of course, the Federal Tax Service Inspectorate has lost them as a result of force majeure (flood, fire, etc.)) (clause 5 of Article 93 Tax Code of the Russian Federation, letter of the Federal Tax Service dated December 4, 2015 No. ED-16-2/304 (clause 2)).

Electronic documents may also sometimes require a copy. The fact is that you can send to the Federal Tax Service via TKS only those electronic documents that are compiled in established formats. But they are not installed for all documents. Among the selected (letter of the Federal Tax Service dated 02/09/2016 No. ED-4-2/1984@):

• invoice, including adjustment, UPD, journal of received and issued invoices, purchase book and sales book, including additional sheets to them;
• consignment note (TORG-12) and acceptance certificate for work (services);
• a document on the transfer of goods during trade operations and a document on the transfer of work results.

If the electronic documents that you need to send to the inspectorate are not compiled in the format approved by the Federal Tax Service, then they need to be printed and sent to the Federal Tax Service in paper form. Such “copies” are certified in the same manner as copies of paper documents with the addition of a mark indicating that the document has been signed with a qualified electronic signature (letter of the Federal Tax Service dated September 9, 2015 No. SA-4-7/15871).

In any case, documents submitted to the Federal Tax Service must be accompanied by an inventory:

• in two copies in free form, if you submit the documents in person;
• in duplicate according to Form 107, if you submit documents by mail;
• according to the format approved by order of the Federal Tax Service dated June 29, 2012 No. ММВ-7-6/465@, if you are sending documents via TKS.

Tax expertOksana Dobrova

Practical accounting