What to do if you forgot to submit a document for sale?
Often, in the process of documenting transactions, some inconsistencies may occur, documents may not be drawn up or drawn up incorrectly, in such situations it is necessary to take additional actions in order to resolve this situation. Otherwise, tax deductions will not be received, since the main basis for this is a correctly drawn up document.
The transaction must be carried out in accordance with legal regulations . What to do if you forgot to post a document from the supplier in a timely manner?
If a discrepancy or absence of an invoice is identified, it is necessary to immediately draw up this document in accordance with the rules and provide it to the buyer within 5 days from the date of its preparation.
The invoice must indicate the exact date of the transaction; in addition, a certificate of completion of work is drawn up, which, together with the invoice, is sent to the customer’s address. This act is also drawn up on the date of the actual transaction. Read more about whether an invoice and a work completion certificate are interchangeable here, and find out more about the rules for issuing a power of attorney for signing invoices and work completion certificates in this material.
What date is indicated?
There are 2 options for specifying the date in the adjustment invoice . First: the same date is indicated as the date of drawing up the documents on the changes made.
This option is the most convenient, as it greatly simplifies the work with papers, and with such registration there will be no problems with obtaining tax deductions. Second option: indicate any date within the 5-day period allotted for issuing an invoice.
With this method, the dates of the invoice and the source documents do not coincide, which is much less convenient, although acceptable. True, in this case, as well as in the case of a completely incorrect indication of the date, which in no way corresponds to the deadlines for making changes to the initial account, problems may arise when preparing the document with the tax office.
Moreover, if such invoices are issued at the border of the tax period, the inspectorate may not count them at all, as a result of which the company may be fined for their absence and lose the right to deductions. That is why it is better to indicate the date of preparation of documents on the changes made .
If it is not registered
Sometimes unplanned situations may occur that need to be corrected. So, if, nevertheless, the invoice arrived on time, but they forgot to register it in accordance with the rules, then this fact cannot be ignored.
If an unregistered invoice is found, it should still be entered into the sales book or purchase book for the period to which it relates. The question also arises in terms of the fact that the next reporting period has arrived and what to do now? How to post a document for the previous period? You can register an invoice even in the upcoming reporting period .
There are no fines or other sanctions for this from the tax authorities. As for the seller in this matter, nothing will happen to him, neither good nor bad, from the fact that he did not exhibit or register this document on time.
As for the buyer, he may be denied VAT deduction. If the document is drawn up correctly and the actual date of the transaction is indicated, the chances that everything will go as expected are quite high.
Read more about the features of registering and storing invoices at an enterprise here.
Accounting info
When preparing invoices by sellers, you can find various options for dating them, which are discussed below.The invoice is dated by the date of actual shipment of goods, performance of work, provision of services.
According to Article 169 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, an invoice is a document that serves as the basis for accepting the presented amounts of tax for deduction or reimbursement from the buyer in the prescribed manner. Invoices drawn up and issued in violation of the procedure established by paragraphs 5 and 6 of this article cannot be the basis for accepting tax amounts presented to the buyer by the seller for deduction or reimbursement.
Based on Article 171 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the taxpayer has the right to reduce the total amount of tax calculated in accordance with Article 166 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation by the tax deductions established by this article. Tax amounts presented to the taxpayer upon acquisition of goods (work, services) on the territory of the Russian Federation in relation to goods (work, services) purchased to carry out transactions recognized as objects of taxation are subject to deductions.
Such tax deductions are made on the basis of invoices issued by sellers when the taxpayer purchases goods (works, services). Subject to deductions, unless otherwise established by Article 172 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, are only tax amounts presented to the taxpayer after the specified goods (works, services) have been registered, taking into account the features provided for in this article and in the presence of relevant primary documents.
Thus, the taxpayer has the right to tax deductions subject to three conditions:
· goods, works, services must be accepted for accounting;
· the specified goods (works, services) are used in activities subject to VAT;
· We have an invoice for purchased goods, works, and services.
If all the above conditions are met, VAT can be deducted during the tax period.
If the invoice date coincides with the shipment date, then this option is the most preferable for both the seller and the buyer, since both primary documents (invoices, certificates of work performed) and invoices have the same number, which does not cause disagreements when reconciliation between counterparties, and there are also no claims from the tax authorities. This is ideal. However, in practice this ideal state of affairs is often not observed.
When maintaining a purchase book, in column 2 you should indicate “the date and number of the supplier’s invoice.” Clause 8 of the Maintenance Rules requires that invoices received from sellers be registered in the purchase ledger in chronological order as purchased goods (work performed, services rendered) are registered. Moreover, neither the date of issuance of the invoice by the seller, nor, especially, the date of its receipt by the buyer, based on the text of paragraph 8 of the Rules, are involved in determining the order of registration of invoices in the purchase book. Although for the buyer these dates are the basis for making an entry in the purchase book.
Often, with a significant document flow of an enterprise, situations often arise when an invoice arrives at the enterprise far beyond the deadline established by law for its preparation to the buyer. The culprit for the delay may also be the supplier, who did not consider it necessary to bring the issued invoice to the buyer, especially for periodic services, sometimes this can also happen due to the fault of the post office, and what is most offensive is that the delay of such invoices necessary for the accountant to deduct is carried out by themselves company employees who forget to deliver documents to the accounting department on time. The result is that the required chronological order of recording invoices as they are accepted cannot be maintained.
The invoice is dated later than the date of service
In accordance with paragraph 3 of Article 168 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, invoices are issued no later than five days from the date of shipment of goods, provision of services or performance of work. The term “issuance” means the preparation of an invoice by the supplier, and the date of the invoice should not exceed five days from the date of shipment of the goods or provision of the service. For example, the shipment of goods occurred on May 25, 2006, therefore, the invoice must be dated no later than May 30, 2006. With regard to services, paragraph 3 of Article 168 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation says the following: “when selling services, invoices are issued no later than five days, counting from the date of provision.” Thus, if a property lease agreement is concluded with monthly rental payments, then the date of service provision will be the last day of each month. The lessor, following the norms of tax legislation, has the right to issue an invoice on the fifth day of the next month. Let us note that this procedure for preparing invoices is disadvantageous for the tenant, since he will be able to submit VAT for deduction not in the month of service provision, but only in the next month, when the mandatory condition for submitting VAT for deduction regarding the presence of an invoice is met. To avoid such undesirable consequences for the tenant, it can be recommended that when concluding contracts, indicate what date the landlord should date the invoice and within what time frame it should be issued to the tenant.
It must be taken into account that if the seller nevertheless insists on such an option for drawing up invoices, then it is not possible to change his point of view, only rely on his consciousness, since he acts in accordance with the law. But what to do with invoices that can be drawn up on a date later than 5 days from the date of completion of work or provision of services?
The invoice was drawn up later than 5 days from the date of completion of work or provision of services
In this case, as in the previous version, the right to deduction will arise in the month of presentation of the invoice. And if the supplier is located in another city, there is a high probability that the invoice will arrive significantly late. The taxpayer will be able to submit VAT on such an invoice for deduction when it arrives at the organization. To confirm the date of receipt, you must register the invoice by stamping incoming correspondence in accordance with the rules of document flow. There are cases when tax authorities tried to challenge such a procedure for deducting VAT, but the courts do not support them in this (resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Moscow District dated June 7, 2004 in case No. KA-A41/4545-04). The position of the tax authorities was that since the disputed invoice was dated in February, the organization had no right to claim it for deduction in March, despite the fact that the organization actually paid a large amount of tax to the budget. But the court rejected this position, citing the fact that in the absence of an invoice, “even if the taxpayer complies with other conditions (payment of VAT, capitalization) with which the law associates this right, there are no grounds for claiming VAT amounts for deduction.”
It should be noted that such cases are quite rare. If such disagreements arise, taxpayers may be advised to provide the inspectors with explanations from the financial department. For example, letter No. 03-03-11/107 of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated June 23, 2004 provides the following explanations: “the right to deduct the paid amounts of value added tax arises for the taxpayer if the three above conditions coincide. In connection with the above, for paid information services, invoices for which were received late, the deduction of value added tax is made in the tax period in which the invoice data were actually received.”
Thus, when registering invoices in the purchase book according to the date of their actual receipt by the accounting department from the supplier, it is advisable for each fact of discrepancy between this date and the date of provision of services, shipment of goods, performance of work for more than five “permitted by law” days, to have a supporting document , for example, an envelope with a stamp indicating the date of receipt at the organization's post office. In the event that it is impossible to prove that an invoice arrived at the enterprise on a later date through no fault of the buyer, then be guided by the principle of caution, recognizing what happened as a distortion that arose in the previous tax period, and accept the requirements established by Article 54 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation for making corrections in accounting and filing updated tax returns.
The invoice was issued earlier than the date of service
This situation may occur when the buyer has made an advance payment and asks the seller to draw up documents. If the seller meets the buyer halfway, then he provides a disservice to his client, since in this case one of the necessary conditions for the deduction is not met - the service has not yet been provided, therefore, VAT cannot be claimed for deduction in the current tax period, and only after registration. During an audit, tax authorities may notice such a discrepancy, which will cause additional penalties and sanctions.
The most interesting thing is that the buyer cannot force the seller to issue an invoice properly, and even more so cannot force him to take all measures to timely deliver the invoice to the buyer. Receiving an invoice is a headache for the buyer. These conclusions can be drawn from the current legislation.
Paragraph 3 of Article 169 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation obliges the seller to draw up an invoice and keep logs of received and issued invoices when performing transactions recognized as an object of taxation. Moreover, as can be seen from the text, the invoice is drawn up in one copy. The Rules of Maintenance, which are approved by Government Decree, require two copies to be made. Although subparagraph 8 of paragraph 1 of Article 6 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation states that those normative acts that change the content of the concepts defined therein or use them in a meaning different from the meaning established therein do not comply with it.
Thus, in accordance with the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the seller can draw up an invoice and take it into account in his journal; for some reason, the Tax Code does not prescribe it, nor does it set deadlines for this. Moreover, the Tax Code does not oblige the seller to keep the invoice. Subclause 8 of clause 1 of Article 23 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation obliges to preserve for four years documents necessary for the calculation and payment of taxes, but the invoice does not apply to those of the seller, since according to the definition of an invoice, which is given in paragraph 1 of Article 169 of the Tax Code Russian Federation, an invoice is a document that serves as the basis for deducting VAT from the buyer. Therefore, it is he who must store such documents to confirm deductions in the event of a tax audit. For the absence of invoices on which VAT was claimed for deduction, the tax authorities can only fine the buyer under Article 120 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation for a gross violation of accounting rules.
Consequently, the seller bears no responsibility for failure to present the invoice to the buyer on time. In order to avoid difficulties in obtaining invoices in practice, the contract should include a clause on the mandatory preparation of the invoice within the period specified in the contract and sanctions for late submission by the seller, thereby making it possible to discipline the seller.
Comments:
- In contact with
Download SocComments v1.3
| Next > |
How to conduct it if it arrives late?
Entrepreneurs who are VAT payers have the right to deduct this tax from the value of acquired property used in business. To implement this deduction, you will need correctly executed invoices from suppliers or contractors.
Any use of materials is permitted only with a hyperlink . If the invoice arrived later, then it must be registered in the reporting period in which the transaction took place.
The main feature that inspectors may not like is the violation of the numbering of documents in the purchase or sales book. But it is worth noting right away that this will not entail any undesirable consequences.
Can the document be accepted next quarter? Options for the development of events if the invoice arrives late :
- It can be accepted retroactively, but in this case the numbering of documents is violated. The buyer has a greater chance of receiving a VAT deduction.
- A document can be registered with the current date, but the deadlines for issuing such invoices are violated. Although there are no sanctions for such violations.
If the document arrived late, then you should try to contact the tax service in order to receive a tax deduction, but no one can give you a 100 percent guarantee that you will receive it.
Who performs the operation?
The procedure for registering the cancellation of an invoice depends on the date of issue of the revised version, and is reflected in both the supplier's sales book and the customer's purchase book. The procedure and actions for filling out accounting books and additional sheets are specified in the rules for maintaining them, approved by Decree No. 1137 of the Government of the Russian Federation of December 12, 2011 “On the forms and rules for filling out documents for VAT calculations.”
For the quarter in which the invoice was canceled, an updated tax return is submitted, in accordance with paragraph 1 of Article 81 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and paragraphs 5-6 of the Rules for filling out additional tax returns. sheets of books of purchases and sales, in all cases when the amount of VAT changes.
Important! If the amount of tax paid after clarification is higher than in the initially prepared declaration, then, in order to avoid a fine for tax evasion, an additional penalty is paid when submitting the revised declaration.
You can find out about the rules for filling out an invoice here.
What will happen if there is no paper?
In accordance with Article 168 of the Tax Code, paragraph 3, an invoice must be drawn up within five days from the date of the purchase and sale transaction. If the listing does not occur, then it turns out that the seller is violating the law, although as for sanctions for this violation, they are not provided.
The best option is to detect the discrepancy in the same reporting period. If the absence of a document is discovered later, problems will arise with VAT deductions . The seller will suffer much less here.
For more details about why an invoice is needed for both sellers and buyers, read this material.
What is said in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation about the deduction of VAT on an advance invoice
Based on paragraphs.
1st and 12th Art. 171 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the buyer has the right to deduct VAT calculated when paying an advance on account of future deliveries. As a general rule, the right to claim VAT for deduction is available within three years from the moment such an opportunity arises (clause 2 of Article 173 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). However, specifically in terms of deductions for advances, this rule is not applicable, and transfer of the deduction to later periods (quarters) is not allowed (letter of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated 04/09/2015 No. 03-07-11/20290).
Find out more about the general procedure for deducting VAT on advances.
What to expect when applying “retroactively”?
If you forgot about the invoice and remembered it in the next quarter, then it is advisable to post the document “backdated” so as not to violate the invoicing procedure. The legislation does not provide for a procedure for dealing with such violations, so management must determine it in the accounting policies of the enterprise. If the document is not received on time, the buyer risks more than the seller.
For backdating registration, the seller only faces a violation of tax laws, for which there are no sanctions. The buyer will have to fight for his right to receive tax deductions, right up to court proceedings.
There are more materials about invoices on our website:
- What is a power of attorney to sign and how to issue it?
- Features of filling out and submitting an invoice for KS-2 and KS-3 and sample documents.
- Who issues the document?
- What is the difference between an invoice and an invoice?
- What is an invoice and an invoice, what is the difference between these documents, and how to fill them out?
- Is it possible to accept a zero invoice?
- What is an invoice and a universal transfer document?
- In what cases and when are invoices and delivery notes issued?
- Is there a stamp on the document?
