What taxes do firms pay in Russia?

Organizations that carry out commercial activities in the Russian Federation must pay taxes. The spectrum of those, which is provided for by Russian legislation, is the broadest. Firms working in the Russian Federation can operate in various tax regimes and be subject to transfer of fees at different rates. What is the specificity of the payments that Russian entrepreneurs are required to transfer to the state?

Definition of tax

Before considering what taxes pay firms in Russia, we will consider the essence of the corresponding term. What are the most popular theoretical concepts concerning this problem?

As many Russian experts believe, it is legitimate to understand the compulsory contribution to the state budget or the establishment of a budgetary system, paid by a citizen, organization or other entity, as required by the specific provision of the law. The tax consists of the following main components:

• Object of taxation (such may be some asset or income);
• Tax base (an indicator reflecting the value of the object of taxation);
• Rate (percentage of the base, which forms the actual amount of deductions to the budget).

Definition of firm

Our next task, preceding the consideration of what taxes firms pay in Russia, is the definition of the essence of another term that constitutes the subject of our study. "Firm" is most often understood as a legal entity - an organization registered in the established manner by the state. It can be noted that in Russia this concept can also be associated with the activities of an individual entrepreneur, who in turn is an individual. A special status is also available for branches of foreign companies that are not registered in the Russian Federation.

In general, a "firm" is still a legal entity. But if the IP employs a staff and deploys a decent-sized production or opens a large office, then, as a rule, it positions itself as a firm. Sometimes it is registered in state structures as a legal entity.

It can be noted that the concept of "firm" as the scale of business grows, it can be used less and less - instead of it terms such as "corporation", "concern" are used. Thus, the "firm" is a relatively small organization, but it has a stable, and at the same time, as a rule, a growing business model. In some cases - an entrepreneur who organized the release of goods with the involvement of hired employees, or opened an office and hired professionals.

Now, after examining some of the key nuances of terminology, we will study what taxes firms pay in Russia.

The main taxes for legal entities in Russia

The main payment obligations of legal entities to the budget of the Russian Federation can be called:

• Payment of income tax or replacing it - USN, UTII, SPE;
• Transfer of personal income tax for employees;
• Introduction of VAT payments into the budget;
• Payment of excises and duties.

Let us study the specifics of the corresponding charges in more detail.

Income tax and its analogues

Corporate income tax is paid if they work under the general taxation system, or OCH. The rate of the relevant fee is 20%. This tax is levied on the difference between the revenue and expenses of the organization, which are directly related to the implementation of commercial activities.

Do not pay, respectively, the tax on profits of firms that operate under alternative taxation systems - USN, UTII, SPE. The specificity of the simplified tax system is in the ability to transfer significantly smaller amounts to the budget. So, a firm that uses this tax system must pay the state 6% of its revenue or 15% of its profits. However, not all firms can work on USN. Legislatively established limits on revenue and other criteria, on the fact of exceeding which the company already has to pay sales tax. Firms working under UTII pay the state fixed contributions, determined on the basis of the provisions of federal and regional regulations. The amount of revenue does not matter. To work on UTII, the company must conduct the type of activity that is suitable for this taxation system. The list of such activities is approved by law. PSN, or patent taxation system, is a fairly new phenomenon for the Russian tax system . It can be called fairly close to the UTII, because the company's taxes for the SPE are also fixed. Their size is set in legislative acts at the level of the regions of the Russian Federation. It should be noted that only IP can work within the SPE.

Personal Income Tax

In general, the owner of a firm does not pay personal income tax for himself, since he is not a hired employee. The relevant fee is paid for those people who are hired by an entrepreneur. The personal income tax rate is 13%, and this tax is deducted, thus, from the salary of the company's employees. The legislation of the Russian Federation provides for a number of deductions for personal income tax. If they are applied, the company may not need to transfer the corresponding amounts to the company.

VAT

Another tax typical for commercial organizations is VAT. It refers to the indirect. This means that from a legal point of view, its payer is a firm, but in fact the costs for its transfer to the budget are borne by its buyer or client. The fact is that VAT is usually included in the selling price of goods or services.

The VAT rate depends on the specific product that the organization delivers to the market, and can be 10% or 18%. The legislation of the Russian Federation also provides for the application of a zero VAT rate for certain types of commercial activities.

Excises

Considering what taxes firms pay in Russia, it is also worth mentioning about excises. Commitments for making appropriate payments to the budget are owned by firms that produce and sell certain categories of goods. As a rule, those that are highly profitable - oil, jewelry, some varieties of machinery. Payers of excises can be firms that both produce goods related to excisable, and importing them. The object of taxation in the case of excises is the selling price of a given product. Rates for the type of taxes in question can vary greatly depending on the type of goods. It can be noted that excises also apply to indirect charges. In fact, for the same reason as the VAT - de jure, their payer is a firm, de facto - a buyer or a customer, since excises are usually included in the structure of the selling price of the goods.

Taxes and reporting

Payment of taxes is not the only obligation of a commercial organization to the state related to the transfer of statutory payments to the budget. The fact is that Russian firms must also submit to the competent state bodies reporting on each of the relevant obligations. As a rule, this implies sending a declaration to the administrative structure. The frequency of the formation of such documents is predetermined by the specifics of the tax. For example, in the case of VAT, a declaration must be submitted by the firm to the FTS quarterly. If the company works on the simplified tax system, then the relevant source should be passed to the tax authorities only once a year.

It can be noted that firms registered as legal entities must also provide the state with accounting records. This is formed, in turn, based on information in the accounting, and it reflects financial transactions. Some information from the tax reporting can correlate with the information fixed in the accounting documentation.

Responsibility for non-payment of taxes

So, we examined the main taxes paid by the firm in the Russian Federation. It will also be useful to study such an aspect as the responsibility for non-payment of budget fees provided for by Russian law.

If the firm does not pay taxes, then in accordance with applicable law, those bodies that administer a particular fee, for example, the Federal Tax Service, have the right to initiate a procedure for collecting arrears from the organization. Usually, it is preceded, of course, by attempts of the Federal Tax Service to interact with the debtor in other ways, for example, by sending notifications that it is desirable to pay off such arrears. If the company ignores such appeals from tax authorities, then the collection procedure is initiated. Repayment of debts on taxes of the Federal Tax Service can be carried out in different ways. So, the legislation of the Russian Federation allows the Federal Tax Service to write off financial assets from settlement accounts of organizations, as well as to pay off debts due to the sale of the company's property. In some cases, the actions of the Federal Tax Service can be challenged in court.

To find out debts on taxes of firm can in advance - through a site of tax service or by means of personal reference in the Federal Tax Service. The arrears are fixed by the Federal Tax Service after the expiry of the tax period. If the firm has delayed the payment of the statutory payments to the budget, fines and penalties are charged for the amount of the debt.

How to reduce taxes?

How to legally reduce taxes? Firms in the Russian Federation, as we noted above, can work under a variety of taxation regimes. In most cases, you can pick the one that will optimally match the specifics of the company's commercial activities in terms of obligations to the budget.

It is clear that it is very problematic for start-up entrepreneurs to remit 20% of the proceeds as part of the profit tax. But they have the opportunity to work on the USN and pay less to the budget. However, as soon as their turnover becomes sufficiently large, the state expects from such firms a greater amount of taxes and therefore orders them to switch to a general taxation system. Regarding VAT, firms can use deductions for this tax and significantly reduce the overall payload.