Dangerous and safe VAT optimization schemes. Tax optimization: acceptable ways to optimize VAT How VAT schemes work now

03.03.2024 Psychology

What are the ways to optimize VAT in 2019? Which schemes are legal and which are not. What methods and schemes are there, and how to apply them for different organizations.

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Tax legislation requires entrepreneurs to pay a large number of taxes. Therefore, many are looking for ways to slightly reduce their size or get a deferment.

Not all of them are legal, so tax authorities always check the activities of companies with particular care. However, there are methods that allow you to optimize taxes without violating the law.

What you need to know

It is known that every modern businessman is required to pay a huge amount of taxes. And their optimization allows entrepreneurs to save significantly.

In 2019, many changes were made to the Tax Code. This also applies to paying taxes such as VAT. For example, it allows taxpayers to make payments not on the 20th, but on the 25th.

If VAT exemption applies, entrepreneurs can take advantage of the deferment. Another innovation for 2019 is provision in electronic form.

This innovation is regulated by the Tax Code (, 174). In addition, if the declaration is submitted in paper form, it will not be considered submitted.

This also applies to tax agents, and not just taxpayers themselves. To ensure that optimization does not violate the law, you should know:

To achieve a significant result from optimization, it is necessary to make it comprehensive. Otherwise, the effect of the company paying attention to only one transaction will be minimal.

The main thing is to have an experienced specialist who was able to do everything without violating Russian legislation. If you need to create an intermediary company for optimization, then you must:

  • separate room;
  • materials and funds in a bank account;
  • personnel working in the new company;
  • all activities must be documented.

A rate of 10% is used for the sale of certain types of printed publications, children's goods, imported medicines and livestock.

It is also taken into account for domestic air transport. VAT of 18% applies to all other cases. Rates of 10/110% and 18/118% are paid if an advance payment has been made for the goods.

Legal regulation

Everything related to taxation is regulated by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, and the letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated March 26, 2012 No. 03-07-05/08.

Value added tax optimization methods

There are several such methods. But most often taxpayers use the following methods:

Options This is the name for contracts in which the person who bought the option can at any time refuse the rights to it. The sale of options is not subject to value added tax ()
Some companies sell their property to pay off their debt. But it is subject to VAT. Therefore, this deal is replaced with another. For this purpose, another company is created, and the funds invested in it are considered authorized capital. VAT is not paid on them
Deposit In this case, the company formalizes the advance as a deposit, for which it is drawn up. It is not taxed
Transport Cost Management This optimization method allows an entrepreneur to reduce VAT by 10%. For this purpose, the goods can be delivered by the seller’s transport or
Loan The buyer pays for the goods using a loan. Then he receives it from the seller. Next, a netting agreement is drawn up. But tax authorities often consider such a scheme as illegal.

What is the purpose of the event

All methods of optimizing value added tax allow taxpayers not only to reduce the amount of payments, but also to receive a deferment. To do this, just use the appropriate method.

VAT optimization schemes

The most popular legal schemes that entrepreneurs use to reduce VAT are registration, registration of a deposit, replacement of a purchase and sale agreement and management of transport costs.

But it is important to know that when borrowing, you must ensure that the cost of the goods and the loan amount do not coincide. As well as the deadlines for sending cargo and signing documents.

Video: tax optimization

Otherwise, the tax authorities may decide that this scheme was invented on purpose and is illegal. In the case where the advance is formalized as a deposit, the tax is paid only after the specified services are provided.

This method is often used in the construction industry. In addition to these schemes, there are several more:

Receipt of goods The company has the right to withhold for some time the transfer of funds from the “Capital investments in non-current assets” account to the “Fixed Assets” account. Then VAT can be deducted
Disadvantages in If there are any shortcomings in the document from the supplier, VAT may not be deducted. Naturally, until the supplier eliminates the errors in the invoice
Deadlines for receiving an invoice The amount of VAT deductible is accepted upon receipt of this document. Therefore, receipt of an invoice can be arranged at a later date.
It should be issued if the cost of services or goods will not change. A document is drawn up in any form in which the bill of exchange details must be indicated. Funds will be transferred through it as payment for goods or services. This money is not subject to taxation ()
Clarifications in the declaration There are situations when large amounts of funds are expected to be received at the end of the reporting month, and the input VAT will increase the following month. This means that these receipts may not be taken into account in the declaration. In the declaration for the next month, it is necessary to recalculate the VAT and late fees. This method is convenient when a company submits monthly declarations, as it allows it not to withdraw funds from the company’s turnover. Paying a small penalty prevents the tax authorities from regarding this scheme as fraudulent.

In addition, a company may have its own individual VAT optimization schemes. The fact is that some well-known schemes can greatly harm a company. Therefore, entrepreneurs have to create their own unique methods.

Using the example of an organization

How to optimize VAT in 2019 in a company? You can consider one of the optimization schemes using an example.

Let’s say that the Ogonyok company needs to sell goods worth 20 thousand rubles. At the same time, the company uses the general taxation system, which means VAT will be 18%.

The seller also requires the buyer to make an advance payment in the amount of 4,720 rubles. VAT is also taken into account. If the transaction goes through on the grounds, then the company will have to pay VAT in the amount of 720 thousand rubles.

And the entire amount of VAT will be 3 thousand 600 rubles. If you use an option scheme, both parties can set a certain price for the product.

For example, 18 thousand rubles. They conclude a contract under which the seller transfers a so-called premium of 4 thousand rubles.

This money is not subject to VAT. The tax will have to be paid in the amount of:

3 thousand 240 rubles (18 thousand rubles * 18%)

The savings for the selling company will be 720 thousand rubles.

Features by type of activity of the enterprise

There are many ways to optimize VAT, but it all depends on the company’s activities. Trading companies can reduce tax by switching to a simplified tax system or creating (legally) secondary companies.

For wholesale trade

It should be taken into account that optimization is possible in 2 cases:

  • if there are buyers who do not need VAT deductions;
  • if buyers pay tax but resell goods to those who do not pay.

In the first case, the payers are individuals or companies using, as well as the simplified tax system. Insurance companies, government agencies and banks do not need it.

In the second case, the buyer may be a large store that pays VAT, but its customers do not. All you need to do is create a new company through the simplified tax system and use it to sell goods without VAT.

In production

Tax optimization of VAT in production includes several schemes. For example, you can use an enterprise that is a VAT exemption.

This is possible if the company's authorized capital consists of funds contributed by a public organization of disabled people.

Another way to optimize tax payment is to divide the load between several enterprises. One of them will be the main one, and the second should perform an auxiliary function.

The result of such a scheme will be that one company will produce products, the price of which already includes VAT. And in the second company - those goods that are sold without the allocation of taxes.

In auxiliary production, products can be produced independently, or with the help of the main company. In any case, thanks to the scheme, material costs of the main production will increase, and other costs will decrease.

The second enterprise will have everything the other way around. Based on this, the tax amount for the VAT payer is reduced due to its increase for the non-payer.

To achieve maximum savings, it is necessary to increase the amount of material costs at the main enterprise, and at the second - the volume of production.

Leading lawyer of the tax law department
Dorofeev S.B.

Tax optimization: illegal, semi-legal and legal methods

Optimization of taxation in general, and value added tax in particular, is a vast topic that is simply impossible to fully cover within the framework of one work. Currently, even a separate type of specialists in the tax field is beginning to emerge, specializing exclusively in searching and identifying for taxpayers various ways to reduce VAT, as well as other taxes.

Traditionally, in this matter, methods of minimizing the tax burden are classified into illegal, semi-legal and legal (legal).

In most cases, an illegal way to optimize taxation (the so-called “black optimization”) is a banal non-payment of taxes, disguised by certain circumstances. In the case of a VAT reduction, such non-payment is perhaps more common than with any other tax due to its indirect nature and the complexity of calculation.

It should be noted that over the years of the existence of a market economy, Russian entrepreneurs have come up with many specific ways not to pay taxes and, in particular, to reduce VAT in a black way, however, their essence in most cases is the same - this is the use of tax deductions by one organization (in many cases leading to tax refund from the budget) and non-payment of output VAT by another, interconnected organization from which goods, works, services are purchased (often fictitiously). In general, this scheme represents one link of the so-called. “carousel” VAT refund schemes, when each subsequent buyer of a product reimburses the VAT charged by the seller, and each subsequent seller does not pay this VAT to the budget.

Concealing objects of taxation, for example, unaccounted sales of products or unaccounted receipt of other benefits subject to taxation, also applies to these methods of optimizing VAT.

Semi-legal methods include formal compliance with the norms of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, but using them without a business purpose, solely for the purpose of reducing VAT and other taxes. Examples of such methods of optimizing taxation are the artificial division of large businesses into smaller ones in order to apply special tax regimes (except for cases of legal means of exercising the right to freedom of economic activity and the use of these regimes), transferring employees to an organization on the simplified tax system in order to minimize the unified tax (currently time, however, is no longer relevant), fictitious hiring of disabled people for the purpose of using benefits, prepayment with a loan in order not to pay value added tax on the advance, payment of a penalty that is not included in the VAT tax base, but is economically the price of the goods, etc. etc., thousands of them.

A distinctive feature of these schemes, as already noted, is the obligatory element of fictitiousness or artificiality of certain circumstances that allow the taxpayer to achieve a reduction in VAT payable and, in general, the tax burden. That is, obtaining a tax benefit in such situations is the sole business goal of the taxpayer.

Naturally, receiving such a benefit is considered unlawful according to the clarifications of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation (Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated October 12, 2006 No. 53 “On the assessment by arbitration courts of the validity of the taxpayer receiving a tax benefit”).

However, it is in these schemes that the degree of discretion and subjective assessment of legally significant circumstances (primarily the business purpose) is greatest on the part of tax authorities and courts, which, at their own internal discretion (within certain limits, of course) can establish the presence or absence of the specified purpose from the taxpayer. In fact, these powers were granted to them by the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation in the said Resolution.

Given these circumstances, taxpayers are trying to create the appearance of business purposes in their actions, passing off a reduction in the tax burden as a by-product. It is during the development of such schemes that the “creative” potential of the “specialists” indicated at the beginning of this article, who come up with these goals and “create” documentation for their implementation, can be revealed to the greatest extent.

The development and implementation of such methods for optimizing VAT and other taxes is, of course, actively discussed in practical implementation in taxation, however, it is worth taking into account the tax and criminal law consequences of such optimization established by law, in particular the experience of the management of the well-known company YUKOS.

We should also not forget about the legal opportunities to reduce VAT and other taxes.

It should be noted here that usually such opportunities are associated with a certain choice provided by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation to the taxpayer in the specific situation of his actual economic activity. Having calculated the taxation options, the taxpayer can simply make the most beneficial choice specifically for him, while, given the reality of the transactions, the presence of a business purpose in such cases does not play as important a role as with semi-legal methods.

A legal way to optimize VAT and other taxes is, for example, to choose for business activities operations that are not subject to VAT under Art. 149 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, or export transactions that allow systematic reimbursement of VAT from the budget, the choice of one or another taxation regime when creating a company, making investments through an offshore founder or lender, allowing to minimize income tax in connection with the application of double taxation agreements, the choice of more profitable method of calculating depreciation (including the use of accelerated depreciation), development and application of an effective method of separate accounting for VAT (separate accounting of incoming VAT).

Such methods of tax optimization are the most resistant to claims from tax authorities and are, in fact, not optimization, but competent tax planning of business activities, allowing to achieve the necessary tax savings with acceptable tax risks.

Speaking about ways to optimize VAT, as well as other taxes in general, one cannot fail to mention such a favorite method among Russian entrepreneurs as the formation of profit centers in interdependent entities with a reduced tax burden. Perhaps we can say that this method of minimizing taxes is the most common in the Russian business environment due to the potential for significant savings and, at the same time, not being priced too much.

Typically, this method is implemented through various types of intermediary agreements (although there are others) with interdependent persons and price manipulation in transactions with them. So, for example, an enterprise can sell its products through an agent on the simplified tax system, whose remuneration economically accounts for almost the entire profit of the enterprise. In this case, VAT on agency fees is not paid at all, and income tax is paid at a reduced rate of 5 to 15%.

Or, for example, an enterprise using the simplified tax system (or even better, an offshore company) can provide certain services to the main company, thus withdrawing its profits and taxing it at a lower rate.

At the same time, one can even say that such actions of the taxpayer are legal, but with one caveat, which is nevertheless of great importance. The tax consequences of such activities should not differ from the consequences that would have occurred if the parties to the transaction were not interdependent. That is, the state does not prohibit the seizure of profit in this way and taking it anywhere, even abroad, but it requires taxes to be paid in Russia.

Needless to say, none of the companies involved in such tax optimization pay extra taxes in Russia voluntarily. Meanwhile, a separate head of the Mechel company for his passion for this method of optimization (with the help of an offshore agent) was publicly reprimanded by senior government officials on this issue, indicating the possibility of conducting a targeted audit to eliminate possible problems.

General trend in regulating tax optimization, including VAT optimization

Finally, we note that from the trends in the development of tax law in the Russian Federation, we can conclude that the state has decided to pay close attention to this particular method of tax optimization (including in terms of VAT optimization) and to combat it most actively. In this regard, on January 1, 2012, Section V.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation on control over pricing in transactions between related parties came into force, for the most part introducing completely new institutions and concepts into the tax system of the Russian Federation (for example, controlled transactions), and also new forms of control (special types of price checks in controlled transactions).

In this context, it can be noted that in modern conditions, optimization of taxation as an element of freedom of economic activity requires a balanced approach to solving the task - primarily in terms of minimizing the risk of occurrence and negative development of tax disputes for taxpayers when recovering VAT and implementing other measures to achieve tax compliance. savings.

One of the main payments in the Russian tax system is value added tax (VAT). The calculation procedure and methods for optimizing VAT are problems that many businessmen, accountants and tax specialists have to solve. And here it is extremely important not to overdo it, otherwise you may be suspected of seeking an unjustified tax benefit. And this is a direct path to penalties.

Tax benefit is not an end in itself

Every transaction, like every business decision, must have a specific business purpose. But reducing the tax burden in itself cannot be the goal of the operation. Just recently, a new article 54.1 was included in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Among other things, it determines the conditions for reducing the tax base, and one of them is the presence of the main purpose of the transaction not related to tax reduction. This is the general approach to the issue of tax optimization. It is important to understand it in order to competently motivate your actions in the event of disputes with the tax service.

For example, a business is split up to apply special tax regimes. Instead of one large store, a businessman opens several small ones nearby, each of which falls under UTII. Often even in the same shopping center. Thus, he gets rid of paying VAT and other basic taxes. The Federal Tax Service may think that the owner started all this to obtain tax benefits, because such a division of the company does not provide any other advantages. It’s another matter if small retail outlets are located, say, in different parts of the city or even in different localities. Then this can be motivated, at a minimum, by the fact that the businessman wants to cover new sales territories and different categories of buyers.

Such questions will not arise if you know how to reduce VAT exclusively using white-collar methods.

Deduction of "input" tax

VAT is an indirect tax, that is, it is ultimately paid at the expense of the end buyer. A company that is a VAT payer has the right to deduct the amount of tax that suppliers charged it for purchased assets, for example, for materials. There are several conditions for applying the deduction:

    the sale of goods that will be produced using these materials must be subject to VAT;

    the supplier must issue an invoice to the company, where VAT is included in the cost of materials;

    materials must be accepted for accounting, but no more than three years ago.

This is the simplest mechanism for reducing the amount of VAT, which is successfully used by many companies. But it is important to ensure that the above conditions are met.

Exemption from VAT

Not every taxpayer knows, but Article 145 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation provides for a completely legal way to be exempt from VAT. This benefit applies to those companies that, over the last 3 calendar months in a row, have earned no more than 2 million rubles in sales revenue. The relaxation does not apply to importers and sellers of excisable goods. To apply this benefit, it is enough to submit the appropriate notification and documents confirming the right to it to the tax authority.

However, there is one thing: the company's counterparties will not be able to process a VAT tax deduction. That is, for those buyers who themselves pay this tax, working with the company will not be so profitable. As a result, they will either refuse to cooperate or demand a discount. Here, in each case, you will have to calculate in advance whether it is more profitable to work without VAT at a discount or still pay tax.

The second disadvantage is related to the amount of revenue - its maximum threshold is limited by law. If you cross it, the right to apply tax exemption will be lost.

Application of reduced and zero tax rates

For those who are thinking about how to reduce VAT, it will be useful to familiarize yourself with Article 164 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. It lists goods and services that are taxed not at the standard rate of 18%, but at a preferential rate. For example, at a rate of 0% VAT is levied on the sale of goods for export and international transport. A 10% rate is applied to the sale of most food products, including meat, dairy products, flour, bakery products, cereals, and vegetables. In addition, the same rate applies to the sale of children's goods, medicines and medical devices. As you can see, the choice of discounted goods is quite large.

Working in simplified form

Another option for working without VAT is to use the simplified taxation system (STS). When switching to it, the need to charge and pay VAT will disappear completely. You can notify the Federal Tax Service about the application of the simplified tax system from the beginning of the next year by submitting a corresponding application in advance.

At the same time, there is a risk of losing some buyers who will not want to work with a VAT evader due to the impossibility of processing a tax deduction. But as practice shows, such counterparties can be interested in a good discount. As a result, it is still more profitable than paying VAT and income tax.

The downside is this: in order to switch to the simplified tax system, the company must meet certain criteria. For example, it should employ no more than 100 people, and the amount of revenue for three quarters of the current year should not exceed 112 million rubles. There are a number of other restrictions - all of them are listed in paragraph 3 of Article 346.12 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. As we see, such optimization of VAT is also not a panacea.

When the company is too big

If a company “does not fit” into the simplified tax system, there are much fewer legal levers left. Alternatively, you can additionally register a new company that will use the “simplified” procedure. And work with those counterparties who are not VAT payers themselves through it. Or the company is divided into several small parts so that each of them complies with the requirements of the simplified tax system. All business is distributed between these new organizations.

However, one should not forget about the need to have a business purpose and carefully consider the motive for such a division.

Work under agency contracts

There are also schemes based on agency relationships, and here is one of them. The company and the intermediary it created on the simplified tax system enter into a commission agreement. The principal (intermediary) purchases goods from the supplier and transfers them to the main company (commission agent) for commission. For this, the principal pays the commission agent a small remuneration. Tax optimization is as follows: since the intermediary uses the simplified tax system, he does not pay VAT on purchased goods. The main organization in this case will have to pay tax only on the amount of its remuneration, and it is small.

In practice, many companies operate under agency agreements quite successfully. And yet, it is risky to definitely recommend such methods, since the tax service is very suspicious of transactions of interdependent companies.

How to reduce VAT payable: scheme with reorganization

The methods that we described above are practiced with varying degrees of success in the current activities of organizations. But it happens that you need to save on VAT one-time, for example, when transferring expensive property. In most cases, such a transaction will be considered a sale, even if the property is transferred free of charge. And once there is a sale, VAT should be charged.

A common method of avoiding this is reorganization in the form of a spinoff. From company A, which is on the main tax system, company B is separated - it will apply the simplified tax system. By law, Company B is the successor to Company A during reorganization. If, at the same time, company A transfers any property to company B, this will not be considered a sale. Accordingly, there will be no tax base. VAT optimization in its purest form! But there is also a fly in the ointment - the reorganization process itself is quite labor-intensive and long.

Creation of a partnership

A simple partnership is a form of cooperation between organizations that have temporarily united to achieve a specific goal. There is no need to register with the Federal Tax Service - the partners simply enter into an agreement on joint activities. At the same time, they invest property, money, knowledge, reputation - whoever has what - into the common cause. How to evaluate contributions is also decided by the comrades themselves.

Let's give an example of how to reduce VAT without breaking the law. Company A and company B created a simple partnership and made contributions: company A - property, and company B - money. By default, it is considered that the contributions are equal and are the common property of the partners. After a certain time, the participants realized that they had achieved their goal and decided to stop collaborating. The time has come to withdraw your deposits - this is where the exchange takes place. Company A takes the money, and Company B takes the property. The transfer took place, but no taxable object arose - such a transaction is not considered a sale by law and is not subject to VAT.

In theory, this is an ideal scheme to reduce VAT. How this works in practice is entirely up to the implementation. First, you need to have a well-thought-out purpose for creating the partnership. Secondly, you should not close it too quickly - this will give the participants away. Thirdly, it is worth preparing for the fact that you may have to fight off the claims of the tax authorities in court. In arbitration practice, there are cases decided in favor of the partnership participants, so with a competent approach, the chances of success are high.

Prepayment masking schemes

Advance payment towards future delivery is subject to VAT in the same way as payment for property or goods. But it’s a completely different matter if the seller receives the same amount from the buyer in a different capacity. This is the basis for VAT optimization with the help of bills, loans, and deposits. The essence of all schemes is approximately the same with minor nuances. First, the buyer transfers an advance payment to the seller, which is disguised, for example, as a loan of funds, and the seller transfers the property to the buyer. After this, the parties have mutual demands: the seller receives the right to demand payment for the property from the buyer, and the buyer from the seller to repay the loan. The parties settle by offsetting counterclaims, and no VAT subject matter arises.

Let's not hide: these schemes are well known to the tax authorities. And therefore, the success of the event will depend on whether the inspectors can prove that the transaction for the transfer of a loan, bill, or deposit was a sham.

Penalty as part of the cost

Another common scheme is based on the application of penalties. The contract includes a condition that if certain provisions are violated, the buyer pays a penalty to the seller. This could be, for example, the deadline for transferring funds. In this case, the price of the transaction object is set deliberately lower than the real one. The buyer, of course, “violates” the terms of the contract and pays a penalty. As a result, the seller receives the full value of the property, which is the sum of the amount specified in the contract and the amount of the penalty. Penalties are not subject to VAT, and this allows the seller to save part of the tax. The risks are the same as those of previous schemes - they are not news to the Federal Tax Service.

In conclusion, I would like to say that there are at least a hundred ways to avoid paying VAT. And many of them are at least gray, or even black. So when deciding how to reduce VAT, you should not agree to any schemes proposed by tax optimization specialists. After all, you will have to bear responsibility for this!

Most of the goods and services sold by companies become taxable items. And although it is almost impossible to exempt the offered product or service from taxation, optimizing VAT can help reduce its size.

There are several schemes for reducing VAT. When choosing a method, you should pay attention not only to the benefits, but also to the possible negative consequences.

Method 1 - transferring part of the cost into interest on a commercial loan

Article 823 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation contains information about the possibility of transferring contracts related to finance or products to someone else’s property in the form of a loan or advance payment using prepayment or installment payment for products or work provided. It turns out that under the contract the seller reduces the cost and at the same time provides a deferment of its payment. In this case, the seller takes a percentage amount equal to the discount provided.

In this case, it is possible to save part of the proceeds from the sale of goods from VAT. But it is worth noting that the tax service does not look kindly on such an operation and in this case requires that the interest received on a commercial loan be subject to tax. Proving that they are right, the tax authorities refer to the same article 823 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, which states that interest received on a commercial type of loan is directly related to payment for products.

In addition, they also suggest that you read Ch. The Tax Code of the Russian Federation, which directly states that only interest on a commodity loan is subject to accrual, and this permission is valid only for parts that do not exceed the Central Bank refinancing rate. Despite such tax arguments, judicial and arbitration practice has a different point of view. Clause 14 talks about accrued interest for the temporary use of other people's financial resources.

There is information there that accrued interest (provided that there are no special notes on their payment in the contract) paid before the day on which payment for the goods was made is considered payment for the loan provided. That is, interest does not increase the cost of the purchased goods, but is only considered a payment for the temporary possession of funds. Therefore they are not subject to VAT.

Method 2 – using an intermediary commission agreement

Trade organizations often have to work with suppliers who use the simplified tax system or other special regime without VAT. In this situation, there is no need for trade organizations to submit VAT amounts, because the goods offered by sellers are not subject to taxation.

In this case, you can use a commission agreement with an affiliated company, which is. This organization will pay VAT only on the amount of its commission.

It is easy to benefit from this method. The amount of VAT to be paid is exactly the same as the difference obtained between the VAT that would have been charged by the intermediary at the time of shipment of the goods to the buyer, and the tax calculated after the payment procedure to the supplier of the goods, who is obliged to pay the tax.

Thus, all buyers who purchase goods from counterparties - sellers on the simplified taxation system and UTII, as well as those who have tax exemptions, pay value added tax in a significantly smaller amount than when working with partners directly.

Method 3 – deferment of payment with the help of a VAT evader

For example, a seller operating under simplified taxation provides a potential buyer with VAT invoices. At the moment, the law does not prohibit issuing a VAT invoice. It can be issued either by a “simplified” seller or by any other VAT non-payer. According to the issued invoice with VAT, its payment is made to the budget after the expiration of the provided long deferment. The counterparty-buyer also does not stand aside; he receives an amount identical to the tax amount from the budget.

As a result, several companies benefit. One of the companies receives the tax amount from the budget, while the second uses a long deferment to pay the tax. Tax authorities are not indifferent to this situation. They believe that if the product supplier does not belong to the VAT group, then they should not issue invoices. To obtain a deferment of VAT payment, a certain procedure for transferring ownership of the goods must be established in the sales contract drawn up.

Is it really possible to significantly reduce VAT and how to do it? Watch this video:

There are ways to reduce the tax amount. And although each of them has a certain catch that the tax organization does not like, in most cases these methods are legal and do not expose companies to dubious transactions.

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February 20, 2018 This article was removed from the website of the journal “Practical Tax Planning”

How to take into account less VAT in the value of an asset

February 16, 2018 Companies have both VAT-taxable and non-taxable transactions. In the first case, the company has the right to claim input VAT for deduction. In the second, take into account the input tax in the cost of the product (work, service). But there are costs that apply simultaneously to all operations, and cannot be directly divided between activities. For such expenses it is necessary to divide the input VAT using the calculation method. Find out how to increase the amount of VAT deductible and reduce it in expenses and what to do if the markup differs by type of activity.

What language should be included in the contract to prevent the seller from demanding VAT on top of the price?

December 28, 2017 The seller can change the price of the transaction by including VAT on top of the price, even when the transaction has already been completed. Look at what language in the contract will help avoid this.


How to save on taxes with the help of an individual entrepreneur. Overview of circuits

February 20, 2018 This article was removed from the website of the journal “Practical Tax Planning”

Property Tax Scheme - with sale back of movable asset

On May 25, 2016, the Company sold production equipment to an associate and bought it back within a short period of time. Comptrollers accused the company of not paying property taxes. The tax avoidance scheme was aimed at removing movable assets from property tax. The company went to court. How the dispute ended, read in the article (resolution of the Volga-Vyatka District Autonomous District Court dated 03/09/16 No. F01-262/2016).

Optimization of the tax burden – without errors

May 17, 2016 Tax planning errors are fraught with serious additional charges, and sometimes even bankruptcy of the company. Therefore, it is important to do everything possible to exclude them.


It’s realistic to fire with severance pay and then hire

March 12, 2018 Dismissal by agreement of the parties relieves the employee of personal income tax on severance pay amounts, and the company takes these payments into account in tax expenses and does not pay insurance premiums. This scheme is usually used to profitably transfer the company's income to the owner-director. However, this tax-free method of paying income attracts the attention of tax authorities. The court suggested how to avoid claims from inspectors.

January 17, 2018 The Tax Code lists only the elements of taxation. There are no conditions for the tax burden or the share of deductions. However, in practice, after taxpayers have settled with the budget, inspectors may ask the question: “Why is it so little?” Find out what metrics really matter and how to lower tax inspectors' expectations.

How inspectors turn tax claims into criminal ones

December 14, 2017 To adjust the amount of tax evasion to a criminal offense, inspectors resort to many tricks and interpretations. As a result, the threshold amounts may change beyond recognition. How to avoid negative consequences, read the article.

The company took into account in other expenses the cost of work on adapting the program. What did the court decide?

December 12, 2017 Tax inspectors accepted the adaptation of the program as a new intangible object and assessed additional taxes and penalties to the company in the total amount of 23.7 million rubles. The organization decided to challenge the tax authorities’ decision. Read the article to see whose side the court took.