In early July, it became known that Russian exchanges will be entitled to transfer data on settlements with sellers to tax authorities within the framework of a special regime for small businesses, AutoUSN. RB.RU spoke to lawyers and an expert in the field of e-commerce and found out how the innovation will work.
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According to the draft law “On Amendments to Parts One and Two of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation on Taxes and Fees”, trading platforms will have the right, within the framework of the simplified automatic tax system, to transfer information on transactions with sellers to the Federal Tax Service. Today, only 11 banks have such powers.
According to experts, the connection to AutoSTS will simplify the relations with the Federal Tax Service for sellers. But although the measure is voluntary, it is unlikely to contribute to the “whitening” of the market. Lawyers also point out the risk that under the new regime the tax office will collect information not only about sellers, but also about buyers.
As Natalya Kudinova, a lawyer and accountant and founder of the Accounting Office company, explained to RB.RU, the “Automated Simplified Tax System” is a modified simplified tax system (simplified tax system) with two tax options: on all income (8%) and income minus expenses (20% rate).
The fees at AutoSTS are slightly higher, but there is no need to file a tax return, keep a book of income and expenses, pay insurance premiums for yourself (for sole proprietors) and for employees, the expert explains.
“The income and expenses of companies are determined based on data from cash registers, banks and information that taxpayers themselves provided in their personal accounts. Based on this information, the tax authorities automatically calculate the tax due. AutoSTS benefits, first of all, entrepreneurs and companies that have hired employees with high salaries,” says Natalya Kudinova.
The Federal Tax Service said the amendments are aimed at removing the restriction on the use of the automatic simplified tax system by major taxpayers, including those who trade on the markets.
According to Kudinova, the use of this system will allow entrepreneurs who are poorly versed in the nuances of tax accounting to avoid problems with fines and other risks.
Today, many sellers are confused about reporting mechanisms. Connecting to AutoSTS will make relationships with tax authorities more predictable.
In the basic version, sellers make sales on marketplaces based on an agreement with a commissioner. In this case, the company (principal) instructs the marketplace to make transactions on its behalf in exchange for a fee.
To confirm the sale, the marketplace submits to the seller a report containing information on the execution of the commission agreement and the costs incurred in this regard. The marketplace then transfers the sales proceeds to the company. Most often, it is transferred immediately, taking into account the deduction of the commission and the cost of other marketplace services.
In this case, AutoSTS does not work, says Irina Egorova, head of corporate and tax practice at Intercession.
“Banks don’t see the turnover, they don’t see the amount that taxpayers earned, but they see the total amount that was received in their account, without taking into account the fees and commissions that the exchanges charge themselves.” — says the lawyer.
According to the Federal Tax Service, the new measure is necessary to combat unscrupulous sellers who are breaking up the business.
Maxim Popov, a market expert and co-founder of the OneScreen sales monitoring and analytics service and the Paragraph Collection brand, explains that in order to avoid VAT and other regimes, sellers open several sole proprietorships, create different legal entities, each of which pays taxes only according to the simplified tax system.
“That is, the tax for him becomes 6% + 1% instead of the 40% or more obtained with VAT,” says the expert.
Irina Egorova, on the other hand, does not share the theory that the measure will help in the fight against such sellers. She points out that in the current version of the bill, joining the regime will be voluntary for both markets and sellers. According to the lawyer, it is unlikely that unscrupulous sellers will join the system, which aims to “launder” their business.
However, Natalya Kudinova stresses that it is highly likely that once the mechanism is launched and tested, it will become mandatory.
“It is quite possible that in the future, after testing the exchange within the framework of the automatic simplified tax system, the exchanges will receive the status of tax agents of their sellers, even under other tax regimes,” the expert admits.
Another problem that innovation can solve is the purchase of goods, for example, in China for cash, says Maxim Popov. The proposed scheme will help to “whiten” the market so that sellers can buy goods legally and provide reports.
The draft law states that the exchanges will transmit two types of data: “on the offsets of counterclaims made against taxpayers” and “on the amounts of agency fees received from taxpayers.” It is further explained that the specific composition of the required information will be compiled by the Federal Tax Service.
According to Kudinova, the information from the markets will complement the information that the tax authority receives from banks. The current version of the bill provides that the Federal Tax Service will develop and publish the information for transfer.
According to Kudinova, the Federal Tax Service may also request data on the date of receipt of income by the seller, as there are disagreements on this issue.
At the same time, Irina Egorova wonders whether information will be transferred under the new regime, including about buyers. We are talking about how much money citizens spend in the markets and whether this corresponds to their real income.
The fight against unscrupulous sellers on marketplaces is also beneficial for the marketplaces themselves, says Natalia Kudinova. Irina Egorova, on the other hand, believes that electronic platforms will have administrative costs: they will have to pay for the work of additional staff who will handle the process of information transfer.
However, the lawyer suggests that the markets will retain the amount of the tax owed for payment to the budget. This way, the sites will be able to accumulate funds and use them.
“These amounts will be retained at the time when they are due to be transferred to the taxpayer and will be paid to the budget much later,” the expert concluded.
Author:
Natalia Gormaleva
Source: RB
I am a professional journalist and content creator with extensive experience writing for news websites. I currently work as an author at Gadget Onus, where I specialize in covering hot news topics. My written pieces have been published on some of the biggest media outlets around the world, including The Guardian and BBC News.
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