The procedure for paying bonuses under the Labor Code of the Russian Federation in 2021

On October 3, 2021, a law regarding the timing of salary payments came into force. He made important changes to the issue of bonus payments.

From that moment on, the new version of Art. 136 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, according to which wages must be paid no later than the 15th day of the next month. It turns out that wages, for example, for December 2021 must be paid no later than January 15, 2021.

If the bonus payment day falls on a weekend or holiday, then wages must be paid no later than the last working day before this weekend or holiday.

Details about the new salary payment deadlines in 2021 can be found on this page. In this publication, we will find out what the deadlines for paying bonuses are in 2021 under the new Wage Law.

Introduction to bonuses

In accordance with current legislation, bonuses are incentive payments that can be made to employees for the proper performance of job duties.

The issue of awarding bonuses is a voluntary decision of the head of the organization or individual entrepreneur. In some cases, bonuses are used to increase the interest of a qualified and/or conscientious employee, regardless of his current work success.

In Art. 135 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation discloses a general principle for calculating bonuses, providing for the employer’s right to create a bonus system, which is fixed in local acts of individual entrepreneurs or organizations.

In accordance with Art. 129 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, bonuses can be included in the salary. In this case, this issue should be reflected in the employment contract or local regulations of the organization.

Thus, the bonus is a full-fledged element of the remuneration system. It follows from this that, simultaneously with changes in the timing of salary payments, the timing of bonus payments will also change from 2021. Now bonuses must also be paid no later than 15 calendar days from the end of the period for accruing the corresponding bonus.

Results

The Labor Code of the Russian Federation defines a bonus as one of the types of incentive part of the salary. The decision to include a bonus in the salary should be enshrined in an internal regulatory document. The employer also develops its own rules for calculating bonuses. The grounds for payment of remuneration and the frequency of their accrual may vary. With regard to payment terms, bonuses have their own characteristics. Most employers are required to reflect the estimated liability for bonuses in their accounting records.

Sources: Labor Code of the Russian Federation

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Types of awards

This is a fairly extensive question: there are several bases for dividing premiums into types.

Depending on the frequency, it is customary to distinguish the following types of bonuses:

1. One-time. Paid in a lump sum upon the occurrence of an event. For example, after achieving certain work results.

2. Periodic. Paid monthly and quarterly.

3. Annual. Paid once a year.

Depending on the grounds for payment, bonuses are usually divided into two types:

1. Production. Payments are made for the employee’s conscientious performance of his or her job duties or for achieving certain labor results.

2. Non-productive. Not related to performance results. For example, an organization may pay non-production bonuses to parents with many children. They are not included in wages. Therefore, the provisions of the amended Art. 136 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation do not apply to them. Non-production bonuses can be paid within any period fixed by the employment contract or local regulations.

Now we propose to understand the changes in the timing of payment of bonuses of various types.

Monthly bonuses

In most cases, monthly bonuses are paid based on the results of the month worked. The issuance of a bonus order is usually preceded by an analysis of the employees’ labor efficiency over the past month. Based on the results of this analysis, management makes a decision on paying a bonus to a particular employee.

In accordance with the updated legislation, the time for employers to analyze and think about who to pay a bonus to will be limited. The new deadlines for payment of bonuses from October 2021 are no later than the 15th day of the month following the month worked.

It is already clear that this will create certain difficulties. Especially for those employers who, in the process of analyzing an employee’s work activity, process a large amount of information. Some organizations and individual entrepreneurs pay bonuses to employees after 1–2 months. This is often due to the need to collect various indicators that reflect labor efficiency. In accordance with the new legislation, this is prohibited.

Quarterly bonuses

This type of bonus is fully subject to the provisions of the updated Art. 136 Labor Code of the Russian Federation. This means that from October 3, 2016, quarterly bonuses must be paid no later than the 15th day of the month following the expired quarter.

Annual bonuses

The annual bonus may also be included in the salary. And often its size even exceeds monthly income. Therefore, this is perhaps the most anticipated bonus for employees.

In accordance with the amended Art. 136 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the annual bonus for 2020 must be paid before January 15, 2021.

Perhaps the issue of paying the annual bonus is the most difficult. After all, in just a few days, employers will need to evaluate the performance of their employees for the entire year, calculate and pay them bonuses.

Bonuses reflected along with salary: what to do

It is worth recognizing that the situation with the reflection of bonuses in 6-NDFL is quite confusing. Therefore, we do not exclude that some accountants could make a mistake and show the bonuses paid along with the salary. That is, do not separate bonuses into a separate block in section 2, but group bonuses together with salary and indicate the date of receipt of income - the last day of the month.

In such a situation, it makes sense to clarify the calculation of 6-NDFL, since an incorrect date for receiving income in the form of a premium entails an incorrect date for the tax payment line (line 120 in section 2). If tax officials find an inaccuracy in section 2, the tax agent will be fined 500 rubles for false information (Article 126.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). This fine can be avoided if you manage to detect the inaccuracy and submit an updated calculation before the inspectors find the error. Moreover, submitting clarification will help avoid confusion in accounting.

If you decide to clarify premiums in the calculation of 6-NDFL, then indicate in the corrective calculation the indicators from the original report, but already corrected.

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Responsibility for violation of deadlines

The new legislation significantly increases the degree of responsibility of employers for failure to pay wages on time. In particular, administrative fines for individual entrepreneurs, organizations and heads of organizations have increased. The amount of compensation for delayed wages has also doubled.

Due to the fact that bonuses are part of the salary, increased responsibility also applies to them. Moreover, administrative fines can be applied for each employee who receives a bonus late.

The procedure for depreciation

Deprivation of a bonus is a procedure consisting of several stages. Its implementation begins with the emergence of a reason. The circumstances that gave rise to deprivation of bonuses must be documented. In practice, they are drawn up in the form of an act or memorandum. These documents must describe in detail all aspects of the disciplinary offense.

The second stage of registration is to obtain a written explanation from the offender about what happened. The offender must provide an explanation no later than two working days. If the employee has not provided any explanations, this must be documented in a document.

The absence of an explanation is not an obstacle to punishing the violator.

The specified data must be submitted to the head of the organization for review. The boss has a month to make a decision. This period is calculated from the moment the violation is detected. The specified period does not include the time when the worker was sick or on vacation, as well as the time when the decision was agreed upon with the trade union body.

It is not allowed to take enforcement action against a worker after the expiration of six months from the date of the violation, and, based on the results of an audit of financial activities, later than twenty-four months. The choice of the type of punishment is the unconditional right of the boss.

The decision made to collect is reflected in the order. It details the sanctions applied to the violator and the reason for punishment. A person must be familiarized with the contents of such a document within three working days from the date of issuance of the order. Refusal to familiarize yourself is formalized in the form of an act. The specified procedure is provided for the application of disciplinary sanctions, to which deprivation of bonuses does not apply. Despite this, you should act in such a way as to have documentary evidence of the fact that a person has not fulfilled the conditions of the incentive.

Changes in local acts

In accordance with Art. 136 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the specific date for payment of wages can be established by one of the following documents:

• employment contract;
• collective agreement;
• internal labor regulations;
• bonus regulations.

It follows from this that from the moment the new law comes into force (October 3, 2016), any of these documents must reflect the date on which wages and bonuses are paid (which is part of the salary).

The Ministry of Labor, in its letter b/n dated September 21, 2016, assured that if the local act on bonuses indicates a specific date for payment of bonuses based on the results for a certain period (for example, based on the results of work for the year, the payment of bonuses is carried out on March 12 of the year following the reporting year) , then this will not constitute a violation of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

Thus, the best option would be to specify in the Regulations on bonuses specific terms for each type of bonus: monthly, quarterly, annual.

We establish bonus rules: in a single regulatory act or in an employment contract

So, the bonus rules must be defined:

• in a single internal regulatory act - when they are established for the entire team of workers (or most of its members);
• in an employment agreement with a specific employee - when it comes to individual bonus conditions or when the employer, which is a micro-enterprise, has decided not to create internal regulations governing labor law issues.

The regulatory act on bonuses must reflect:

• description of the types of bonuses applied;
• how often bonuses of each type will be accrued;
• the circle of employees to whom this or that type of bonus will apply;
• specific indicators, upon fulfillment of which, the right to accrue bonuses of a regular nature arises;
• structure of bonus indicators and their evaluation system;
• description of algorithms for calculating the amount of bonuses due to each specific employee, based on the assessment indicators performed by him;
• the procedure in which bonus indicators are reviewed in relation to each employee;
• grounds regarded as a reason for deprivation of bonuses;
• a procedure, the use of which will allow the employee to challenge the results of the assessment of his work for the bonus period.

Information of a similar nature will need to be provided in the employment agreement with a specific employee if the employer does not develop internal regulations or the bonus conditions for a specific employee are individual. The latter may be the case, for example, for senior managers.

To learn about when the payment of a bonus to a manager will be regarded as illegal, read the material “Unreasonable Accrual and Payment of Bonuses.”

Based on the regularity of payment, bonuses included in the salary system are divided into accrued and paid:

• Regularly for a specific period (per month, quarter or year). All the grounds for their accrual and calculation rules are contained in the internal regulations on bonuses. When such grounds occur, the payment of such a premium becomes mandatory, and no special decisions are required for its calculation.
• Irregular - associated with the achievements of individual employees that occur periodically. An employee’s right to such a bonus must be justified by a separate document, usually drawn up by his immediate supervisor.

Does the employer have the right to apply a disciplinary sanction to an employee in the form of deprivation of bonuses (deprivation of bonuses)? You will find the answer to this question in the HR Guide from ConsultantPlus. Trial full access to the system can be obtained for free.

Terms for accrual of bonuses

In the Regulations on Bonuses, it is necessary to include a section entitled “Terms for Accrual of Bonuses” and, similar to the deadlines for payment of bonuses, indicate specific dates when bonuses should be accrued. For example:

• the monthly bonus is accrued no later than the 5th day of the month following the last month worked;
• the quarterly bonus is accrued no later than the 10th day of the month following the last worked quarter;
• the annual bonus must be accrued no later than 10 days after the approval of the annual financial statements;
• Non-production bonuses can be accrued and paid at any time. The new bonus payment procedure does not apply to non-production bonuses. Let's clarify this point. The fact is, according to Article 129 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, wages are remuneration for work. As mentioned above, bonuses are included in wages. But non-production bonuses (for example, monthly bonuses for employees with children) are not related to the work achievements of these employees. Therefore, non-production bonuses are not part of the salary. That is why the provisions of new Article 136 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation do not apply to the payment of non-production bonuses. The main thing is to determine in the local act the period for payment of non-production bonuses.
• It is allowed to give bonuses even to former subordinates, if the employer has prescribed such a condition in its local documents.

For which an employee is paid a bonus individually: the formulation of the basis for the incentive

The formulation of the justification for a bonus to an employee paid irregularly will depend on the composition of the specific work achievements of that individual employee. For example, for a sales manager there may be an incentive with the wording “For early completion of the planned sales volume for the month.”

The performance of a particular employee is usually assessed by his immediate supervisor. Having identified the fact that the right to a bonus has arisen, he draws up a submission (memorandum) for its accrual addressed to the head of the employer. If the employer's manager has a positive resolution on this document, a separate order will be issued in relation to the employee to pay him a bonus.

Sources of payment of bonuses

There are several sources from which it is possible to allocate funds for bonuses to employees:

• accrual of bonuses from profits;
• attributing bonuses to other expenses;
• inclusion of bonuses in the standard costs of the organization's activities.

Bonuses can be included in labor costs if two conditions are met:

• the presence of a local act that clearly outlines the terms of remuneration in the form of bonuses;
• accrual of bonuses based on professional performance results.

How to pay personal income tax on bonuses in 2021

It is important for an accountant not only to correctly calculate and pay incentives, but also to correctly withhold taxes. The procedure for settlements with the budget depends on the type of incentive:

• annual and quarterly bonuses are subject to personal income tax in a special manner. It is necessary to calculate personal income tax on the premium for a quarter or a year on the date of its actual receipt (clause 3 of Article 226 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). This date is the day of payment of the premium (clause 1, clause 1, article 223 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, Letters of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 07/18/2019 N 03-04-06/53227, dated 05/30/2018 N 03-04-06/36761, dated 09/29 .2017 N 03-04-07/63400, Federal Tax Service of Russia dated November 30, 2017 N ГД-4-11/ [email protected] ) . Therefore, personal income tax must be calculated and withheld on the day of payment of the quarterly or annual bonus to the employee (clause 4 of Article 226 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation);
• conditions for non-production bonuses (encouragement of employees on grounds not related to the performance of labor functions, the achievement of production indicators and results). For example, this is a bonus for the anniversary of a subordinate or a payment in connection with a professional holiday. In this case, the date of actual receipt of non-production incentives - bonuses - is considered in accordance with paragraphs. 1 clause 1 art. 223 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, Letters of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated September 17, 2018 N BS-4-11/18094, Ministry of Finance of Russia dated April 4, 2017 N 03-04-07/19708, the day of its payment to the employee.

In addition to calculating and paying personal income tax on bonuses to employees, it is necessary to report to the Federal Tax Service on the payment of income tax on this type of income.

In the certificate on form 2-NDFL, reflect bonuses in the general manner of the income tax report, indicating specific income codes (letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated 08/07/2017 N SA-4-11 / [email protected] ):

• income code “2002” Used to reflect bonuses based on the results of work for a month, quarter, year, one-time bonuses for a particularly important task, bonuses in connection with the awarding of honorary titles, with state and departmental awards paid for production results;
• income code “2003” Used to reflect remuneration (bonuses) for anniversaries, holidays, bonuses in the form of additional material incentives and other bonuses not related to the performance of job duties.

The article has been edited in accordance with current legislation 01/18/2020

Introductory information

Starting from 2021, it is required to report to the Federal Tax Service on the amounts of personal income tax withheld from the income of individuals on a quarterly basis. For these purposes, form the calculation form 6-NDFL, approved by order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated October 14, 2015 No. MMV-7-11/450.

In the calculation of 6-NDFL, you should show all income for the payment of which an organization or individual entrepreneur is recognized as tax agents. These are salaries, remunerations under civil contracts and other income. In particular, bonuses paid must be reflected in 6-NDFL.

The paid bonuses when filling out should first be reflected in section 2 of 6-NDFL, and then summarize the indicators in section 1. Let us explain how to correctly fill out 6-NDFL when paying bonuses.

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Case studies

Note! Many premium options consider the date of income to be the final day of the month in which the corresponding order was born.

Let's consider the display order depending on the date of actual remuneration of employees.

Example 1:

The meat processing enterprise "KABANCHIK" decided to pay a bonus to employees for the third quarter in the amount of 1 million rubles.

The order was born on October 8, the actual payment was made on October 10.

Let's consider the procedure for filling out section 2 :

Example 2:

The same case, only the bonus was paid a month late - November 10.

The assignment of bonus payments increases the motivation of company employees. To prevent this wonderful method from becoming a reason for additional claims from tax inspectors, you should know whether the bonus is subject to personal income tax when it is not withheld from the salary, and also what are the methods for awarding bonuses to the director.

Solutions options

Unfortunately, there are no official explanations or recommendations from government bodies on what employers can do in this situation. We do not rule out that by the time the new law comes into force (by October 3), such clarifications will appear. But while they are not there, let’s try to independently evaluate several possible options for employers’ actions.

Transfer of bonuses

Let’s assume that the employer does not have time to pay the monthly bonus for October by November 16, 2021. In this case, theoretically, the bonus for October can be issued later - in December 2021, along with the salary for November. However, in the order not to pay the bonus, it should be called the November bonus. And then everyone will be happy: the employee will receive a well-deserved bonus, and the employer, at least formally, will not violate the requirements of the new Article 136 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation in terms of meeting deadlines.

With quarterly bonuses it is more difficult. You can postpone the payment of bonuses for the 3rd quarter of 2021, for example, to January 2021 (when the bonus will be paid for a year). Thus, the quarterly bonus for 9 months of 2016 can be “veiled” in the annual bonus. But then employees will receive their bonus for the quarter with a significant delay. Many people may not like this. Another option is to pay the bonus for 9 months not in October, but in November (along with salary). But then the bonus will need to be posted as a monthly bonus for October. As for the annual bonus for 2021, if you do not have time to pay it before January 15, then, theoretically, you can make the payment along with the payment of the monthly bonus for January (that is, in February 2017).

With such transfers, premiums will always have to be called premiums for other periods. This is, at a minimum, very inconvenient for accounting. Moreover, the legislation will be observed only formally. And it is possible that such an approach will be revealed during inspection by labor inspectorates.

Material aid

An employer has the right to provide an employee (or a member of his family) with financial assistance. If financial assistance is provided to employees in connection with some event (for example, in connection with the birth of children), then such payment is not part of earnings, since it is not related to work. Accordingly, financial assistance can be provided to employees without taking into account the deadlines determined by Article 136 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation (as amended, applicable from October 3, 2021).

However, constantly paying financial assistance instead of bonuses (for example, monthly) is quite strange and, moreover, dangerous. The fact is that if you constantly provide financial assistance with a certain frequency, then inspectors may regard such payments as part of your earnings. And, accordingly, bring the employer to the above responsibility. Moreover, financial assistance is a fixed payment. And bonuses can often be of different sizes.

Abandon the bonus system

In connection with the adoption of the commented law, employers can completely change the bonus system. More precisely, to completely abandon it. And pay employees only salaries, evaluate employees and increase salaries next year. A similar recommendation from Elena Kozhemyakina, managing partner of the BLS law firm, can be found on the BFMRU website.

“I am shocked by this law. 15 days after the end of the period, it is impossible to pay the premium, either quarterly or annually, because final payments must arrive and all measurements must be taken. Most companies motivate their people with quarterly and annual bonuses. I will only recommend one thing to my clients: to move away from the bonus system, that is, to pay only salaries, evaluate employees and increase salaries next year, although this will also be contrary to labor legislation, because we have labor legislation requirements - for equal work equal pay. Now employers are faced with the most difficult problem of how to remake the bonus system. Or the second way is to no longer comply with the law, but it is unacceptable. I think that everyone will suffer from this law, because people who now receive bonuses work for bonuses, and for many the bonus is an equal part of their salary. And the employer will not be able to guarantee the employee such a high salary, because the result is needed, no one knows their result after a year. We have a very large number of sales manager professions that are motivated by bonuses, but bonuses should close after the sales result and the calculation of the sales result. For example, in our company, payments to clients are deferred for 60-90 days, I don’t quite understand how we can pay the annual premium.”

How is the incentive amount calculated?

The specific amount of the one-time bonus is assigned based on the corresponding calculation. Its implementation is necessary because the payment is the employee’s income and is subject to taxation. The issuance of a one-time bonus is reflected in the reporting documentation of the company’s accounting department.

There are two main types of awards:

• fixed amount;
• an amount calculated as a percentage of the salary.

Important! The constant amount of the assigned bonus can be established on the basis of the provisions of one of the documents adopted by the company regulating payments to employees. Such bonuses are part of the company's system for accounting and issuing wages.

To calculate a premium assigned in a fixed amount of money, you must perform the following simple steps:

1. add the fixed amount of the bonus and the employee’s monthly salary (10,000 (bonus) + 15,000 (salary) = 25,000);
2. multiply the result obtained and the premium coefficient adopted for the given region (25000 * 0.15% (chelyabinsk region coefficient) = 3750);
3. calculate personal income tax. To do this, the result obtained in paragraph 2 must be multiplied by 13% (for persons registered in the Russian Federation) or by 30% (for non-residents) (3750*0.13=488);
4. subtract from the result obtained in paragraph 2 the tax calculated in paragraph 3 and the amount of the advance, if it was issued (3750-488 = 3260).

The result of the calculations will be the employee’s salary, taking into account the assigned bonus. (3260)

In the case of calculating a bonus set as a percentage of an employee’s salary, the first step is to calculate how much the percentage of the salary assigned by order will be and add it to his monthly salary. Further calculations are carried out similarly to calculations with a fixed premium amount.

We described in detail how the bonus is calculated and what its maximum size is in a separate article.