Cover letter to tax office. Complaint to the tax office
In what ways (channels) and in what form can citizens, including taxpayers, apply to the tax authorities?
The right to apply to the FTS
Citizens of the Russian Federation have the right to apply personally, as well as to send individual and collective appeals to state bodies, bodies local government and their officials, state and municipal institutions and other organizations entrusted with the implementation of public significant functions, and their officials (Article 33 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation; Part 1 of Article 2 of the Law of 02.05.2006 No. 59-FZ).
In addition, citizens have the right to address the President of the Russian Federation as the head of state and the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation. Such appeals are considered by the relevant Department within the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation, which is a state body that ensures the activities of the President of the Russian Federation (clause 1, clauses “a”, “b”, clause 4 of the Regulation, approved by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of February 17, 2010 N 201; Clause 1 of the Regulations, approved by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of 04/06/2004 No. 490).
How to file a clarification or complaint
Citizens, including taxpayers, have the right to apply to the tax authorities:
- in writing (postal service, facsimile) to the address tax authorities;
- in the form of an electronic document (without electronic signature) from the official website of the Federal tax service on the Internet (via the online service "Contact the Federal Tax Service of Russia" or the territorial tax authorities "Appeal to the Federal Tax Service (IFTS) of Russia");
- in the form of an electronic document (without an electronic signature) from the official website of the Federal Tax Service on the Internet (using the online service "Personal account of an individual taxpayer";
- in the form of an electronic document (with an enhanced qualified electronic signature) under the TMS;
- in the form of an electronic document through the federal state information system « Single portal state and municipal services (functions)” on the Internet www.gosuslugi.ru;
- verbally directly to the tax authority or by calling the information service of the tax authorities;
- in the manner established for the personal reception of citizens.
How will they be considered
Any appeal received by a state body, local self-government body or an official in accordance with their competence is subject to mandatory consideration. A written appeal is considered within 30 days from the date of its registration. However, in some cases, the period for considering an application can be extended by no more than 30 days with notification of the applicant (Part 1, Article 9, Article 12 of Law N 59-FZ).
The obligation to pay taxes is imposed on every citizen and business entity, and the Federal Tax Service is called upon to monitor compliance with legislative norms. But often disagreements arise between citizens and employees of this authority, one of the ways to resolve which is a complaint to the tax authorities. In addition, the duty of officials to consider appeals for the protection of rights and freedoms in matters within the competence of the service. For example, you can write statements if there is a fact of non-payment of taxes by one or another organization or any other violations of the Tax Code.
According to statistics, among those wishing to write a complaint to tax office online or in writing are far more organizations than individuals.
What would not be the reason (delay in the liquidation of the enterprise, unreasonable accrual of debts, illegal actions of officials, etc.), in order to successfully resolve the conflict, certain rules for writing and filing appeals should be followed.
Send an open letter
How to complain to the tax office if your communication with tax authorities has reached a dead end? You have not received the required clarification,you are being charged excess amounts Or did your appeal to the tax department go unanswered?It is always possible to contact the inspectorate or a higher tax authority via the Internet. Let's figure out how to file a complaint with the tax.
Tired of dealing with tax officials? Do it not in person, but on the Internet
You probably know that there is an official website of the tax service of the Russian Federation - www.nalog.ru, where you can find a lot useful information: explanations of legislative acts, information about your own debt, various reference data and much, much more. However, on the same site you can learn not only something new and incomprehensible to yourself, but also use the “Appeal to the tax authority” service. It is with his help that we will file our online complaint.
So let's start.
1. We go to the site nalog.ru, the system automatically navigates taking into account your city.
2. We choose services for individuals.
3. We go down and find the position we need: "Filing a complaint with the tax authorities."
Here you can not only file a complaint against the action / inaction of officials, but also appeal the decision, get information about further actions. It is here that you can send a message or complaint to the tax office.
4. We press the line highlighted in blue and we get the opportunity to choose from the proposed life situations:
5. Look and choose what suits you best in the current situation. If you need to complain about the work of the tax office, select the first item: "I want to file a complaint ...".
Here is information about the rights of taxpayers.
6. To perform actions online, you must enter your personal account on nalog.ru.
7. If you have not registered with personal account(and do not want to do this), you can go the other way - take advantage of the opportunity to freely apply to the tax authority, without registration. To do this, choose:
Do not forget to indicate that we treat individuals:
8. Fill in the information in the appeal:
In the upper field, you must select where you are going to apply (either to your inspection, or to a higher authority). And then you need to fill in your personal data. In order for the appeal to be considered on its merits, prepare scanned copies of documents confirming your position in advance. You can attach them using the following links:
9. Do not forget to also indicate how you would like to receive a response - by mail or to your email address. Now we check the correctness of the entered data and click:
Further, depending on the specified method of communication, you will receive a notification of the receipt of your application, its registration number, as well as the stages of its consideration - in the form of an SMS or an e-mail message.
G.N. Khimich, expert of the Russian Tax Courier magazine
The publication was prepared with the participation of specialists from the Consolidated Analytical Department of the Federal Tax Service of Russia
It is not uncommon for taxpayers to seek information or clarification from official sources, for example from financial or tax authorities. How to determine where to apply? How to make a request and what documents should be attached to it?
Where and with what question to apply
Article 21 of the Tax Code states that taxpayers have the right to apply with requests to both tax authorities and financial authorities. However, these bodies have different competences. Therefore, first of all, you need to determine exactly where to go.Tax authorities in accordance with paragraph 1 of Article 21 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation provide taxpayers with free information:
ABOUT applicable taxes and fees;
Legislation on taxes and fees and regulations adopted in accordance with it legal acts;
The procedure for calculating and paying taxes and fees;
Rights and obligations of taxpayers;
Powers of tax authorities and officials.
In addition, taxpayers have the right to receive forms from the tax authorities tax reporting and explanations on how to complete them.
From Ministry of Finance of Russia taxpayers may receive written explanations on the application of federal law about taxes and fees. For clarification of the regional tax legislation need to apply to the financial authorities of the subjects Russian Federation, and normative legal acts of local significance - to local governments. Taxpayers receive answers to their questions free of charge.
The question of how the information on the procedure for calculating taxes and fees provided by the tax authorities differs from the explanations on the application of tax legislation, for which you need to apply to the financial authorities, is asked by many taxpayers. In fact, in order to correctly calculate the tax, it is necessary to correctly apply the tax legislation.
Tax authorities provide information that is directly contained in the Tax Code and regulatory legal acts adopted in accordance with it. For example, how to correctly determine the tax base and calculate taxes (fees), tax and reporting periods, payment terms, benefits, etc.
EXAMPLE 1
I.I. Ivanov sent an appeal to the tax office with the question: does the taxpayer have the right to a social tax deduction in the amount of the cost of a comprehensive course of treatment for burns of 30% of the body surface?
The inspection informed I.I. Ivanov that the taxpayer has the right to apply the specified deduction subject to the requirements of Article 219 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, given that the specified course of treatment is included in the List of expensive types of treatment approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of March 19, 2001 No. 201. In addition, the inspection explained the procedure for granting a social tax deduction , including the requirements listed in Article 219 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.
However, quite often in practice there are non-standard situations and questions that are not answered in the Tax Code and accompanying documents. Subjects tax relations may encounter conflicts in legislative acts. Then, for clarifications, you should contact the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation or the relevant regional (local) authorities. Financial authorities clarify inaccuracies, ambiguities and thus eliminate gaps in the legislation on taxes and fees.
It should be noted that many taxpayers, according to the established tradition, address controversial issues on the application of tax legislation to the tax inspectorates. The motive is simple: taxpayers believe that it is more important to know the position of the body that actually conducts tax audits.
However, this opinion is erroneous. Tax inspections have no right to give clarifications on these issues. In such cases, they must forward the request to the Ministry of Finance of Russia, the financial authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation or local governments within 5 days. In this case, the taxpayer must be notified that his request has been redirected.
EXAMPLE 2
SUE "Vostok" appealed to the tax office with a request to clarify the following issues.
1. At what VAT rate is taxed on the implementation of works directly related to the transportation of goods that are placed under the customs regime of international customs transit?
2. Do they take into account when determining tax base for corporate income tax investments received during investment competitions, if they are not accounted for separately in the reporting?
3. What is the procedure for taxing the profit of organizations on the income of a state unitary enterprise from the sale of donated property, taking into account the fact that Article 43 of the Budget Code establishes that the funds received from such sale are credited to the relevant budgets in full?
Since the first two questions require clarification about tax rate and the procedure for determining the tax base, the tax inspectorate gave answers to the head of the State Unitary Enterprise Vostok. The third question concerns the clarification of conflicting provisions of the Tax and budget codes. Therefore, the inspection sent the question by mail to the Ministry of Finance of Russia, notifying the State Unitary Enterprise "Vostok" about this.
Taxpayers often express bewilderment at the fact that a higher organization forwards their appeal to a lower one. The main reason for such “inattention” to the problems of taxpayers is that the lower authorities have already been informed about the way to resolve this issue. And in this case, the answer to the taxpayer will be given by the tax authority at the place of its registration.
How to make a request correctly
The main rule when contacting the tax or financial authorities with a question is as follows. Objects, facts, legal relations, about which in question in the request must actually exist. An analysis of the provisions of articles 21, 32 and 34.2 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation shows that tax and financial authorities should not consider issues related to hypothetical situations that may arise in the future. These departments are obliged to inform and explain the relevant legislation specifically taxpayers. And since objects, facts or legal relations have not yet arisen, then the taxpayer in relation to them cannot be recognized as such.EXAMPLE 3
Individual entrepreneur A.A. Sidorov sent an appeal to the tax office at the place of his registration. In it, he announced that he intended to start activities on foreign exchange market"Internet Currency Exchange". In this regard, he asked for clarification on how this activity will be taxed and what taxes he will have to pay.
The Tax Inspectorate, having considered the appeal of A.A. Sidorova, sent him an answer with a refusal to clarify his question. The inspection substantiated this by the fact that A.A. Sidorov is not recognized as a taxpayer for the activities he intends to conduct.
Another tip for taxpayers. If the appeal contains a link to various documents (for example, court rulings or decisions of tax authorities), it is advisable to attach their originals or copies to the request. Merely indicating the content of these documents is not enough. To compile an exhaustive answer, tax and financial authorities need to familiarize themselves with the document itself. After all, it is possible that the taxpayer in his request may not accurately reflect the essence of the document.
EXAMPLE 4
The head of CJSC Yenisei sent an appeal to the Department of the Federal Tax Service of Russia for Moscow. The appeal stated that the tax inspectorate, as a result of the on-site tax audit made an unlawful decision in relation to CJSC Yenisei to bring to tax liability.
The head of CJSC Yenisei asked a higher authority to cancel this decision. At the same time, the challenged act of the tax inspectorate and the objections of the taxpayer were not attached to the request.
The Federal Tax Service of Russia for Moscow sent a response to CJSC Yenisei refusing to consider the complaint. The reason for the refusal was that the documents necessary to consider the complaint were not available.
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And the last. Taxpayers must apply to the tax authorities at the place of their registration. Appeal to the higher tax authorities is possible only if the taxpayer doubts the correctness of the answer or the answer is not received at all. Moreover, the request of the taxpayer and the response of the authorized person can be both oral and written. As for the request to the financial authorities, it must always be in writing.
Who can sign the request
A taxpayer may participate in relations regulated by tax legislation through a legal or authorized representative. This is stated in Article 26 of the Tax Code. The powers of legal representatives of taxpaying organizations, as follows from Article 27 of the Code, are confirmed by law or constituent documents. Usually the legal representative of the organization is its head.An authorized representative of the organization acts on the basis of a power of attorney issued in accordance with civil law. Therefore, a request to the financial or tax authorities must be signed by either the head or an authorized representative. The latter attaches to the request a power of attorney or a copy of it certified by the head of the organization.
If the request was signed not by the head, but, for example, Chief Accountant or a legal adviser and documents confirming his authority are not submitted, the tax authority will refuse to consider such an application. The reason for this is the lack of grounds for consideration. Only a legal or authorized representative of the organization has the right to receive information or explanations.
note: appeals of founders who are not legal or authorized representatives are also not considered.
Employees of audit, consulting and law firms may be authorized representatives of the taxpaying organization. Therefore, if they have a power of attorney, they can also make requests to the competent authorities, but on the condition that they will do this on behalf of their clients. Tax and financial authorities are not required to explain tax law to firms specializing in the provision of consulting services in connection with the problems of their clients. At the same time, such firms can apply to state bodies as taxpayers.
If the explanation is wrong
Suppose that the specialist who prepared the answer to the taxpayer's question made a mistake. This resulted in the taxpayer committing a tax offense. For example, did not pay (not fully paid) the tax. Or grossly violated the rules for accounting for income, expenses and objects of taxation. Is it possible to hold such a taxpayer liable?No you can not. Implementation of written explanations on the application of tax legislation, if they are given financial authorities(by other authorized state bodies) or their officials within their competence, is a circumstance that excludes the fault of the taxpayer. This is stated in subparagraph 3 of paragraph 1 of Article 111 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. If the clarification is beyond the authority of the relevant government agency, the fault of the taxpayer is not excluded.
EXAMPLE 5
As a result field check LLC "Berezka" officials of the tax inspectorate revealed a gross violation of the rules for accounting for income and expenses of the organization. In this regard, the taxpayer was handed a tax audit report, which indicated the confirmed fact of the offense.
Head of Berezka LLC N.N. Petrov pleaded not guilty, saying that he was guided by the explanations of the tax authority. However, the letter of the inspection, to which N.N. Petrov, contained an explanation on issues accounting. And since the issues of accounting and reporting fall within the competence of the Ministry of Finance of Russia (and not the Federal Tax Service of Russia), the officials of the inspectorate brought Beryozka LLC to tax liability for the offense committed.
Another situation is also possible. The erroneous answer was made public in the media, and another taxpayer took advantage of it. This also led to a tax offense.
Is it possible to apply measures of tax liability to the taxpayer in this case? No you can not. Since such a response was signed by an authorized official (and we are considering only this option), it is considered the official position of the state body. It does not matter whether the explanation is addressed directly to the taxpayer who sent the request, or to an indefinite circle of persons. This conclusion follows from paragraph 35 of the Decree of the Plenum of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation of February 28, 2001 No. 5 “On Some Issues of the Application of Part One of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation” and the letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia of September 21, 2004 No. 03-02-07 / 39.
The answer must be given within 30 calendar days from the date of receipt of the request. If necessary, the term for consideration of the application can be extended, but not more than 30 days. The applicant must be informed about this, as well as about the reasons for the extension. The response to the request is given in a simple, clear and understandable form, indicating the last name, first name, patronymic and telephone number of the performer.
It just so happens that our system of taxation in some places is too confusing and incomprehensible. Therefore, officials of various departments tirelessly write amendments to laws and explanatory letters. If you figure out the details yourself legislative framework If this does not work, then you need to contact the authors of laws, amendments or letters.
To avoid such an unpleasant situation as refusal to accept documents at the tax office or, even worse, being accused by them of tax evasion, we advise you to send a written request to the Ministry of Finance or the Federal Tax Service in order to clarify the intricacies of Russian legislation.
However, before sending such a letter, you should prepare:
- study existing information resources, such as tax code and stands placed in tax inspections, as well as the current Regulations of the Federal Tax Service (hereinafter referred to as the Regulations). There is a high probability that these sources will be enough to get an answer to your question. Besides, regulations contain information about the rights and obligations of each, the knowledge of which will allow the payer to smooth out a possible conflict situation and achieve his goal within the framework of existing powers;
- clearly formulate the content of your request, on which the addressee will depend; we recall that according to the Regulations, the tax authorities have the right only to inform, but if you want to get clarifications, then you need to write a request to the Ministry of Finance;
- decide on the form of the request - it will be written or oral. If it is decided to apply to the inspection with an oral request, it is recommended to make it short and to the point, having previously written down the essence of the appeal as a “cheat sheet”.
Word of mouth
The taxpayer can receive verbal advice at his tax office by contacting it in person or by calling the tax inspection's reference service. We remind you that taxpayer representatives must have a duly executed power of attorney, and for taxpayers applying in person, an identity document. If the tax inspector has no grounds for refusal, he must formulate a response at the time the taxpayer applies. Clause 27 of the Regulations defines a time period of 15 minutes (or 30 minutes if advance preparation is needed), with the exception of the period five working days before the deadline for submission tax returns, then the Rules provide 2 hours for preparing an oral answer.
The study of existing information resources, such as the Tax Code, information stands placed in tax inspections, as well as the current Regulations of the Federal Tax Service, can answer the question of the taxpayer.
If, in order to answer an oral appeal on questions arising from specific situation, a regulatory justification is required, or if the information provided by phone is not enough, the inspector, by virtue of paragraphs 33, 34 of the Regulations, is obliged to offer the taxpayer to send an appeal in writing.
Write letters
Taxpayers can submit a written appeal in person to the office of the tax authority, as well as send it by mail or electronically (clause 37 of the Regulations). The recommended sample form of a written request is given in Appendix 4 to the Regulations.
In this case, the written request must contain the following mandatory information (clause 40 of the Regulations):
- for individual: surname, name, patronymic, signature and postal address;
- for an organization: full name, TIN, postal address, last name, first name, patronymic and signature of the head or authorized representative of the organization that submitted the appeal, an image of the seal of the organization, if the appeal is submitted on paper, which is not a letterhead of the company.
If at least one of the specified details is missing in a written application submitted to the inspectorate by the taxpayer in person, and if there are grounds for refusing to provide free information, in accordance with paragraph 42 of the Regulations, the application is subject to return to the taxpayer.
Clause 39 of the Regulations has 30 days from the date of registration of the appeal to prepare a written response.
We recommend that all written requests be made in duplicate. If you decide to personally submit an appeal to the inspection, then on the second copy the official of the tax authority must mark the acceptance of the appeal and the documents attached to it, indicating his last name, initials and position, as well as the date of its receipt. Applications sent by mail are recommended to be issued by registered mail with a notification and a description of the attachment. The date of submission of the written request will be considered the day of sending. If you send a letter via communication channels, you must receive a message that the letter was sent from a specialized operator, and confirmation of receipt from the tax authority.
Juggling answers
Often, guided by subparagraph 3 of paragraph 1 of Article 111 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, organizations draw up requests to the tax authorities, driven by a desire to avoid liability, since one of the circumstances excluding the taxpayer's guilt in committing tax offense, is the implementation of written explanations of authorized departments. However, since the tax authorities have the right to give clarifications only regarding the procedure for filling out declarations, and the rest of the services relate to informing, the question arises: are the explanations of the tax authority that are not related to the procedure for filling out the declaration exempt from liability?
There are decisions in which the court refused to apply subparagraph 3 of paragraph 1 of Article 111 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, indicating that the taxpayer cannot be guided by explanations coming from the tax authorities if they are not related to the procedure for filling out tax returns.
Despite the fact that, according to paragraph 7 of Article 3 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, all irremovable doubts, contradictions and ambiguities of legislative acts on taxes and fees are interpreted in favor of the taxpayer, in reality it is extremely rare to use this provision, since letters from any department, including the Ministry of Finance, are only informational and explanatory in nature and are not legal acts, that is, these documents are not binding.
There are conflicting opinions on the explanatory work of the tax authorities, not related to filling out declarations, both among the courts and among officials of the Ministry of Finance.
In some judgments it is indicated that the responses of the tax authority to a specific request of the taxpayer, as well as reports from the inspectorate on the need to apply special treatment of taxation are explanations that exclude the taxpayer's guilt in committing a tax offense (Resolutions of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Far Eastern District of March 20, 2008 No. F03-A37 / 08-2 / 685 in case No. A37-1575 / 2007-15, FAS of the North Caucasus District of 28 July 2009 in case No. A53-5840/2008-C5-47).
At the same time, there are decisions in which the court refused to apply subparagraph 3 of paragraph 1 of Article 111 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, indicating that the taxpayer cannot be guided by explanations coming from the tax authorities if they are not related to the procedure for filling out tax returns (see, for example, , Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the North-Western District of September 1, 2008 in case No. A44-86 / 2008).
As for the clarifications of the Ministry of Finance, according to paragraph 8 of Article 75 of the Tax Code, penalties are not charged on the amount of arrears that a taxpayer has received as a result of his fulfillment of written explanations on the procedure for calculating, paying a tax (fee) or on other issues of applying the legislation, given or to him, or an indefinite circle of persons by a financial, tax or other authorized body of state power within its competence (the said circumstances are established if there is a corresponding document of this body, which, in meaning and content, relates to the tax (reporting) periods for which the arrears were formed, regardless of the date of publication of such document). However, these provisions do not apply if the written explanations are based on incomplete or inaccurate information provided by the taxpayer. At the same time, explanations must be given either directly to the taxpayer, or to an indefinite circle of persons.
It follows from the foregoing that it is extremely important to have a written explanation and, in terms of meaning, it should refer to the period when the arrears were formed. If the letter is addressed to a specific organization or entrepreneur, then the specified taxpayer must have the original letter with the outgoing number and date. In the case when the letter is addressed to an indefinite circle of persons, then, according to the explanations of the Ministry of Finance dated August 7, 2007 No. 03-02-07 / 2-138, it is necessary to have a letter published on the official website of the department or in the media. Explanations of officials published not in the form of a letter, without a date and number (interview, article, commentary, consultation) do not exempt from sanctions.