The government expands the criteria for tax monitoring

The White House approved a bill with targeted changes to tax regulation and administration for submission to the State Duma. The main innovation is the expansion of tax monitoring parameters by lowering the thresholds for companies to access it. The criterion for their annual turnover and assets is reduced from 1 billion rubles. up to 800 million rubles, the amount of taxes paid – from 100 million rubles. up to 80 million rubles. The Federal Tax Service expects that the changes will expand the use of monitoring by medium-sized businesses. Also among the amendments is a relaxation in the accounting for tax purposes of income collected by the courts against the backdrop of sanctions from foreign counterparties from “unfriendly” countries.

At a meeting on Friday, the government approved a bill on amendments to the Tax Code – it is aimed at implementing the “Main Directions of Tax Policy” for 2024–2026, which were presented in the fall along with the draft current budget.

Numerous edits are mostly spot-on. For example, regions are given the right to reduce the minimum period of ownership of real estate to receive personal income tax benefits, regardless of the grounds for its acquisition (currently this is only possible in relation to certain types of property or certain categories of citizens). Currently, the period of ownership that is exempt from personal income tax is three years if the property was received under a gift agreement, inheritance, from a personal fund and through privatization, and five years in other cases, including purchase and sale.

The most noticeable thing in the project is the novella about expanding the use of tax monitoring. Companies that have joined it voluntarily (with a number of exceptions) provide tax authorities with online access to accounting and tax records in exchange for exemption from on-site tax audits. If the tax service identifies problems with payments to budgets, monitoring participants can avoid fines by eliminating the violations.

Monitoring has been in effect since 2016 and was initially designed for large companies. Now, to participate in it, an organization must have at least 1 billion rubles. assets and turnover, as well as pay from 100 million rubles. taxes for the year. The amendments propose to reduce these thresholds: to 800 million rubles. in terms of turnover and assets and up to 80 million rubles in terms of taxes paid. According to the Federal Tax Service, in 2024, tax monitoring is carried out in relation to 568 companies from 20 industries (from this year – 128 new participants). 56 companies are medium-sized businesses. “Lowering the criteria will allow more companies to switch to this form of tax control, including medium-sized businesses,” the Federal Tax Service explains.

Other approved amendments to the Tax Code include the introduction of the ability to take into account, for the purposes of calculating income tax, income in the form of sanctions collected by the court after March 5, 2022 from foreign organizations from “unfriendly” countries (as well as from Russian ones – their joint defendants). These incomes will be taken into account not from the moment the court decision comes into force, but as the funds actually arrive. The norm will be in force until the end of 2026 as support for Russian business under sanctions.

The head of the group for the provision of services in the field of automation of tax business processes at Kept, Ilarion Lemetyuinen, explains that for income tax purposes, the recognition of income is currently not tied to the receipt of funds into the current account. However, adds Fedor Petrik, senior tax consultant at Tax Compliance, since the spring of 2022, business has been faced with restrictions that virtually exclude the possibility of collecting sanctions from such debtors. The changes being made “will make it possible to more fairly take into account the real income of Russian companies,” he says.

In terms of tax monitoring, lawyers agree that its approved expansion is relevant. Hilarion Lemetyuinen notes that a number of medium-sized companies “wants to join monitoring, but do not meet the sum criteria – the changes will allow them to take advantage of this opportunity.” Director of Tax Group B1 Ruslan Guryev adds that interest in tax monitoring is only growing, so lowering the amount criteria looks justified and in demand.

Evgenia Kryuchkova