Storage periods for primary documents, including in electronic form. Memo on the rules for storing and destroying accounting documents

E.V. Whiteman Expert of the magazine "Russian Tax Courier", with the participation of specialists from the Federal Tax Service of Russia
Journal "Russian Tax Courier", No. 6 for 2009

Everything business transactions conducted by any organization must be formalized by supporting documents. They are primary accounting documents and serve as the basis for maintaining accounting... This is stated in clause 1 of article 9 of the Federal Law dated November 21, 1996 No. 129-FZ (hereinafter - Law No. 129-FZ). In addition, these same documents are used to calculate and pay taxes and fees. Often, the archive of documents for the entire period of the company's activity is so voluminous that there is nowhere to place new documents. So, you need to figure out how long you need to store certain documents. It may be time to destroy some of them.

Accounting documents

General storage periods for primary accounting documents, accounting registers and accounting statements established in Article 17 of Law No. 129-FZ. It says that the organization must keep the named documents for at least five years. To determine the storage periods for specific types of documents, it is necessary to be guided by the List of typical management documents generated in the activities of organizations, indicating the storage periods, approved by Rosarkhiv on October 6, 2000 (hereinafter - the List). Information on the most common types of documents is presented in the table below.

Please note: the deadlines set in the List must be counted not from the date of drawing up the document, but from January 1 of the next year. This is recorded in clause 2.9 of the Instructions for the Application of the List, approved by Rosarchiv on October 6, 2000 (hereinafter referred to as the Instructions). For example, the calculation of the retention period for cases completed by office work in 2008 starts from January 1, 2009.

Moreover, the organization, taking into account the specifics of the activity, has the right to increase the duration of storage of documents in comparison with the period established in the List (clause 2.11 of the Instructions). Such a decision is formalized by the order of the head of the company or fixed in its accounting policy.

Tax returns and documents for calculating taxes

The periods during which the organization is obliged to maintain tax reporting are established in paragraph 170 of the List. So, annual tax returns must be stored for at least ten years, quarterly - at least five years, monthly - at least one year. If missing annual reporting(for example, for VAT), quarterly and monthly tax returns must be kept for at least ten years. In the absence of quarterly reports, monthly reports should be kept for at least five years.

The storage periods for documents on the basis of which the organization calculates taxes and fees are not clearly specified anywhere. Only in subparagraph 8 of paragraph 1 of Article 23 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation it is indicated that taxpayers are obliged to ensure the safety of documents necessary for calculating and paying taxes for four years. These documents, in particular, include data from accounting and tax accounting, as well as other documents confirming receipt of income, implementation of expenses, payment and withholding of taxes.

A similar requirement is established in subparagraph 5 of paragraph 3 of Article 24 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation for tax agents. For four years, they must ensure the safety of the documents necessary for the calculation, withholding and transfer of taxes.

From what date is this four-year period considered? The Ministry of Finance of Russia believes that the specified period begins after the reporting (tax) period in which the document was last used to draw up tax reporting, calculation and payment of tax, confirmation of income received and expenses incurred (letter dated 18.10.2005 No. 03-03-04 / 2/83).

note

For joint stock companies - special rules

The terms during which joint-stock companies must keep their documents are established in the Regulations on the procedure and terms for storing documents of joint-stock companies, approved by the resolution of the Federal Commission for the Securities Market of Russia dated July 16, 2003 No. 03-33 / ps. So, they are obliged to keep the annual financial statements constantly, that is, during the entire period of the organization's work. Permanent storage documents also include:

• documents on the establishment, reorganization of the company;
• the charter of the company, amendments and additions made to it;
• certificate of state registration society;
• release decisions valuable papers, prospectuses of issue of securities;
• protocols general meetings shareholders;
• minutes of meetings of the board of directors (supervisory board);
• lists of affiliated persons of the company;
• regulations on branches and representative offices of the company;
• minutes of meetings of the board (directorate) of the company, decisions of the director (general director, president) of the company;
• voting ballots;
• conclusions of the audit commission (auditor) of the company, etc.

Let's say a joint stock company is being liquidated. If he has an agreement with the institution of Rosarkhiv, documents of permanent storage period and personnel are transferred to the state archive.

If there is no contractual relationship with the archive, the state archive is obliged to accept for storage only documents on the personnel of the company's employees. The place of storage of the remaining documents is determined by the chairman of the liquidation commission or the bankruptcy commissioner.

If a joint-stock company ceases to operate as a result of the reorganization, the originals of its documents can be transferred only to one of the newly created companies (as a rule, the company with the highest net asset value)

The tax base and the amount of tax are determined at the end of the tax period (clause 1 of article 55 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). For most taxes, this period is the calendar year. The exception is VAT, the tax period for which is a quarter. Thus, the storage period for documents required for calculating and paying taxes must be counted from the day following the end of the tax period.

Example 1

LLC "Hyacinth" was registered in April 2004. The organization applies common system taxation.

The four-year period during which LLC "Hyacinth" must keep documents related to the calculations of income tax, UST, property tax of organizations for 2004 is the period from January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2008. Accordingly, the organization will be obliged to keep the documents used to calculate these taxes for 2005 until December 31, 2009.

The working chart of accounts of accounting, other documents of accounting policy, as well as computer processing programs should be stored for at least five years after the year in which they were last used to prepare financial statements (clause 2 of article 17 of Law No. 129-FZ)

Until 2008, the VAT tax period was set as a calendar month, and for selected categories taxpayers - as a quarter (Article 163 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation)

Taxpayers are obliged to submit to the tax authorities and their officials the documents necessary for the calculation and payment of taxes (subparagraph 6 of clause 1 of article 23 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation)

Tax agents are required to submit to the tax authority at the place of their registration the documents necessary to control the accuracy of the calculation, withholding and transfer of taxes (subparagraph 4 of paragraph 3 of article 24 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation)

The loss revealed at the end of 2001 (before the entry into force of Chapter 25 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation) can be carried forward to the future in an amount not exceeding the amount of the loss accrued as of July 1, 2001 (clause 4 of article 10 of the Federal Law of 06.08 .2001 No. 110-FZ)

At the same time, within the framework of the visiting tax audit a period not exceeding three calendar years preceding the year in which the decision to conduct the audit was made (clause 4 of article 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation) can be checked. For example, a tax audit scheduled for December 31, 2008 could cover 2005-2007 and last for a maximum of six months in 2009. This means that during the entire time of the audit, the organization is obliged to keep the documents related to tax calculations for the audited period. But she is already obliged to do this in accordance with Law No. 129-FZ. After all, the basis for calculating taxes, as a rule, is the same primary accounting documents, which are used to reflect transactions in accounting. The minimum storage period for such documents is five years (clause 1 of article 17 of Law No. 129-FZ). It turns out that according to the legislation on accounting during the current year, the organization is obliged to keep documents related to the calculation of taxes and for those periods that the tax authorities can no longer check.

The storage period for purchase books and sales books is specially stipulated. It is established in clauses 15 and 27 of the Rules for maintaining journals of received and issued invoices, purchase books and sales books for value added tax calculations, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated 02.12.2000 No. 914. Its minimum duration is five full years from dates of the last entry in the specified documents.

We also note that according to clause 150 of the List, issued and received invoices must be kept by the organization for at least five years. However, if during a tax or other audit there are disagreements with the auditors, then the invoices must be kept until a final decision is made on the results of this audit.

Although invoices must be retained for a minimum of five years, the entity is not required to submit upon request tax authority invoices that have already expired for four years. For example, having received in 2009 the request tax office on the submission of an invoice for the year 2004, the taxpayer ( tax agent) may not execute it.

Example 2

Let's use the condition of example 1. Suppose, until 2008, the tax period for VAT for LLC "Hyacinth" was a calendar month.

The organization must keep the purchase books and sales books for April 2004 until April 30, 2009 (provided that the last entries in them were made in April 2004).

The five-year storage period for issued and received invoices is calculated from January 1 of the year following the year of their compilation - from January 1, 2005. That is, invoices dated April 2004 must be kept by Hyacinth LLC until December 31, 2009.

Since in 2004-2007 the VAT tax period for the company was a calendar month, the four-year storage period for other documents required for calculating VAT is determined for each month. The mandatory minimum storage period for documents used by the organization for calculating VAT for April 2004 is from May 1, 2004 to April 30, 2008.

The four-year storage period for documents related to the calculation of VAT for the 1st quarter of 2008 starts from April 1, 2008 and ends on March 31, 2012. The company will be obliged to keep the purchase and sales books for the I quarter of 2008 until March 31, 2013 (if the last entries in them were made in March 2008), and invoices for this period - until December 31, 2013.

So, primary accounting documents must be kept for at least five years. However, in some situations, supporting documents should be retained for much longer.

Situation 1. The organization is postponing losses to the future

In accordance with Article 283 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, a company that is a payer of income tax has the right to reduce the tax base of the current tax period by the amount of the loss it incurred in previous tax periods. The loss can be carried forward for ten years following the tax period in which it was received (clause 2 of article 283 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

During the entire period of the transfer of losses, the organization must keep documents confirming the amount of the loss incurred. This is stated in paragraph 4 of Article 283 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. In a letter dated 03.04.2007 No. 03-03-06 / 1/206, the Ministry of Finance of Russia explained that writing off losses is possible only upon submission primary documents confirming the obtained financial result.

Similar requirements are established for payers of the unified agricultural tax and organizations applying a simplified taxation system. When carrying forward losses, they are also required to keep documents confirming the amount of the loss incurred and the amount by which the tax base was reduced for each tax period. This is stated in paragraph 5 of Article 346.6 and paragraph 7 of Article 346.18 Tax Code respectively.

Example 3

LLC Azalia is a payer of income tax. According to the results of 2003, a loss was received in the tax accounting of the organization. Its amount was carried over to the future during 2006-2008 in parts.

According to requirements tax legislation The organization was obliged to keep the primary accounting documents necessary for calculating the income tax for 2003 for four years - until December 31, 2007. Since the tax bases of 2006-2008 were reduced by the amount of the loss in 2003, the company continues to keep these documents. She must keep them for another four years after the end of 2008 (the last year, the tax base for which was reduced by the amount of the loss of previous years) - until December 31, 2012.

Situation 2. Past losses have been identified or bad debts have been written off

Losses of past tax periods identified by the taxpayer in the current reporting or tax period are equated to extraordinary expenses on the basis of subparagraph 1 of paragraph 2 of Article 265 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. In other words, such losses reduce the tax base for income tax for the period in which they were identified.

In addition, the amount of bad debts is also equated to non-operating expenses, and if the organization forms a reserve for doubtful debts, the amount of bad debts not covered by the reserve funds (subparagraph 2 of paragraph 2 of article 265 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

By general rule, established in paragraph 1 of Article 252 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, when calculating income tax, only those expenses that are documented can be recognized. This means that in order to take into account the losses of previous years identified in the current year for tax purposes, or to write off bad debts, the organization must have the appropriate supporting documents. Moreover, she is obliged to keep these documents for at least four years after the end of the year, the tax base for which was reduced by the amount of the specified loss or written off bad debt.

Situation 3. The organization owns fixed assets

Let's say the company owns a fixed asset that was purchased more than ten years ago. It would seem that the storage period for documents on its acquisition and commissioning has already expired.

However, such documents must be kept for the entire period. useful use object. Indeed, during this period, the organization calculates depreciation in tax and accounting. To admit depreciation deductions, during the entire depreciation period, it must have documents confirming the acquisition of the object and its commissioning.

In addition, the company pays property tax on the residual value of fixed assets. Consequently, in order to justify the calculations for this tax, she also needs the named documents.

Suppose an organization decides to sell a depreciable property. According to subparagraph 1 of paragraph 1 of Article 268 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, it has the right to reduce the income received from the sale by the residual value of this property. But residual value the object, again, must be confirmed by the relevant documents.

Thus, even if the organization that owns the depreciable property does not plan to sell it, it is advisable to keep the documents on the acquisition of this property, its commissioning, and the calculation of the depreciation amounts throughout the entire life of the company.

In the event of the sale of other property (with the exception of securities, products of its own production, purchased goods), the organization reduces the income received by the purchase price or creation of this property (subparagraph 2 of paragraph 1 of article 268 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Naturally, provided that she can document the indicated price. In the absence of such documents, the company is not entitled to reduce the tax base for income tax by the amount of expenses for the acquisition of property, since these expenses do not meet the requirements of paragraph 1 of Article 252 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. In this case, the storage periods for these documents do not matter. A similar position is given in the letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated September 15, 2005 No. 03-03-02 / 84.

Storage of documents

Expenses are recognized as justified and documented costs of the taxpayer, and in the cases provided for in Article 265 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, losses incurred by him (clause 1 of Article 252 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation)

For tax purposes, the residual value of depreciable property is determined according to the rules set out in paragraph 1 of Article 257 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation

The list of documents of a joint-stock company that it must keep at the location of the executive body is established in paragraph 1 of Article 89 of the Federal Law of 26.12. 95 No. 208-FZ

The conditions under which an EDS in an electronic document is equivalent to a handwritten signature in a paper document are stipulated in Article 4 of the Federal Law of 10.01.2002 No. 1-FZ "On Electronic Digital Signature"

Organizations whose documents are not subject to acceptance into state or municipal archives destroy documents with expired retention periods without agreement with archival authorities (clause 3.9 of the Instructions)

The head of the organization is responsible for organizing the storage of accounting documents, accounting registers and financial statements (clause 3 of article 17 of Law No. 129-FZ)

Each organization determines the place of storage of documents independently. As a rule, most of the documents are posted at the company's office. With significant volumes of documentation, it is advisable to allocate a special place for the archive or even rent separate room where to transport the processed documents that are no longer used in the current work.

Another option is to transfer the documents to a specialized archival company for safekeeping. However, if the organization is a joint stock company, then it needs to take into account the following feature. Clause 2 of Article 89 of Federal Law No. 208-FZ of December 26, 1995 states that a joint-stock company must keep a number of documents at the location of its executive body. Such documents, in particular, include financial statements, accounting documents, documents confirming the rights of the company to the property on its balance sheet.

Naturally, over time, the volume of archives of any organization increases, new premises are required to accommodate them. Maybe it is more convenient to store documents not in paper, but in in electronic format?

This possibility is directly provided for in relation to primary accounting documents and accounting registers (clause 7 of article 9 and clause 1 of article 10 of Law No. 129-FZ). In addition, article 314 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation states that tax accounting registers are kept on paper, in electronic form or in any machine media. At the same time, they must be protected from unauthorized corrections.

In a letter dated 24.07.2008 No. 03-02-07 / 1-314, the Ministry of Finance of Russia explained that storage of primary documents, accounting and tax accounting documents is allowed in electronic form, unless otherwise provided by regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation and provided that electronic documents certified with an electronic digital signature (EDS).

The basic rules for the operation of archives of organizations were approved by the decision of the board of Rosarkhiv dated 06.02.2002 (hereinafter referred to as the Basic Rules). Clause 2.3.1 of the Basic Rules stipulates that it is necessary to carry out an examination of the value of documents annually, that is, to determine the terms of their storage and select documents for long-term storage and destruction.

Destruction and disposal of documents

The documents, the storage period of which has expired, the organization has the right to destroy on its own (tear it by hand or with a shredder, throw it away, burn it) or transfer it for disposal to a specialized company dealing with the processing of secondary raw materials. The list of documents to be destroyed or recycled is approved by the head of the organization. It can be issued in the form of an order or order of the head, or in the form of an act developed by the company independently. An example of such an act is given below.

Drawing. Sample act on the selection of documents for destruction

In addition, the organization can use a sample act on the allocation for destruction of documents that are not subject to storage. Its form is approved in Appendix No. 4 to the Basic Rules.

When compiling a list of documents to be destroyed, it is not necessary to indicate the details of each document. This follows from the provisions of paragraph 2.4.5 of the Basic Rules. It states that similar cases (documents) are entered into the act under a general heading, indicating the number of cases assigned to this group (for example, advance reports for 2000).

The transfer of documents for recycling is drawn up on an invoice, which indicates the date of transfer, the number of documents to be transferred (the number of folders, boxes, etc.) and the weight of the waste paper. Loading and removal for disposal are carried out under the control of an employee responsible for the safety of documents in the organization (clause 2.4.7 of the Basic Rules).

If the company destroys documents on its own, it draws up this fact in a separate document on the destruction of documents. Since there is no unified form, it is also drawn up in an arbitrary form. Note that the destruction of documents after the expiration of the storage period is a right, not an obligation of the organization (see the letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated October 18, 2005 No. 03-03-04 / 2/83). In other words, the company can continue to store documents even after the expiration of their mandatory retention periods.

Responsibility for loss of documents

Tax... A taxpayer's lack of primary documents, invoices or accounting registers is regarded as a gross violation of the rules for accounting for income and expenses and taxable items. For such a violation, Article 120 of the Tax Code provides for liability in the form of a fine in the amount of:

RUB 5,000 - if there are no documents for one tax period;

RUB 15,000 - in the absence of documents for more than one tax period;

10% of the amount unpaid tax, but not less than 15,000 rubles, - if the tax base was underestimated due to lack of documents.

In addition, if the taxpayer (payer of the fee, tax agent) does not submit documents or other information at the request of the tax inspectorate, a fine of 50 rubles will be collected from him. for each non-submitted document (clause 1 of article 126 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Administrative... Violation of the rules for storing, collecting, accounting or using archival documents entails a warning or the imposition of an administrative fine on officials in the amount of 300 to 500 rubles. This is stated in article 13.20 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. For violation of the order and terms of storage of accounting documents, officials may be imposed administrative penalty in the amount of 2,000 to 3,000 rubles. (Article 15.11 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation).

Criminal... Theft, destruction, damage or concealment of official documents, committed out of selfish or other personal interest, is punishable by a fine of up to 200,000 rubles. or in the amount of wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to 18 months, or correctional labor for up to two years, or arrest for up to four months, or imprisonment for up to one year (Clause 1 of Art. 325 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation)

The storage periods for documents are established in the List of standard administrative archival documents generated in the course of the activities of state bodies, local authorities and organizations, with an indication of the storage periods, approved by order of the Ministry of Culture of Russia dated August 25, 2010 N 558, and its effect applies to organizations of any form of ownership.

There are different retention periods for accounting, tax, personnel and other documents. If you do not have the documents requested by the Federal Tax Service Inspectorate, the inspectors will charge additional taxes with penalties and issue a fine.

Attention! You can download a table of storage periods for documents in 2019 for free at the link:

It is convenient to work with documents in. It is suitable for organizations and individual entrepreneurs. The program will automatically generate and print all the necessary primary items. It also includes unloading transactions in 1C, automatic generation of any reports and much more.

Storage periods for documents

Storage periods for accounting and tax documents, the procedure for their destruction and responsibility for violation of storage and destruction are enshrined in law. The main rules are spelled out in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the order of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation dated 25.08.2010 No. 558 and two federal laws. These are laws of 10/22/2004 No. 125-FZ "On archives in Russian Federation"And dated 06.12.2011 No. 402-FZ" On accounting ". It is better not to break them. This link provides a list of the most important documents that any company should have >>>.

table. Storage terms for documents in 2019

* To store copies of the employee's documents, it is better to have the written consent of this employee to process his personal data. This will help avoid disputes with supervisors and a fine.

What to do if the storage period for documents has expired?

Expired documents must be destroyed. To destroy documents, draw up an act in which you write down the name and number of cases with documents that it is time to destroy. This act must be signed by a special commission, the composition of which general director will approve in his order.

Penalty for lack of documents

For the absence of primary materials, invoices and tax registers, employees of the Federal Tax Service Inspectorate can fine an LLC in the amount of 10,000 to 30,000 rubles(Article 120 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

In addition, without documents confirming business transactions, inspectors will remove the cost of profit (or single tax) and VAT deductions. Or they will calculate the amount of tax payable by the calculation method (subparagraph 1 of clause 7 of article 31 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

As practice shows, in almost any modern domestic enterprise, the largest amount of documentation is generated by the accounting department. understandable: it is in this department that they work with money, and each such operation needs to be officially recorded on paper. In addition, the term of storage of primary documents in the organization is legally established, which means that it will not be possible to get rid of the “papers” just like that, you will have to keep them for at least several years and only then destroy them. By the way, the process of getting rid of waste paper is also not easy, it has a number of specific features. More on all this.

Documents, documents ...

If you cite statistics on the amount of documentation produced, it turns out that in almost all modern domestic enterprises accounting is the source of 80-90% of paper documents. You need to store them for a reason. The restrictions determine not only what is the correct minimum storage period for primary accounting documents (usually varying from five years to a decade), but also what conditions these objects should be in. At the same time, it should be remembered that there is a division into documentation for temporary storage and permanent.

However, as practice shows, not in every company managers are interested in understanding the intricacies of the established storage periods for primary documents. To relieve yourself of a headache, you can use the services of specialized archive companies. In such a company, they know exactly what type of documents for how long to store, in what conditions, under what rules. In addition, such an organization has the technical capacity to destroy the documents entrusted to storage when the deadline expires. It's really convenient, but it costs money. If you want to save money, then you will have to allocate a special room for the archive and delve into what is the storage period for primary accounting documents in the organization according to the law.

I want - I don't want

The problem, by the way, does not arise out of nowhere. Current laws establish the storage periods for primary accounting documents, and within any enterprise they must be respected. It follows from the legislation that for any applicable entity responsible for the preservation of documentation. This means that the form of activity does not play a role - whether it is a private entrepreneur conducting business alone, or a large concern, you still have to attend to the storage of financial statements and other documentation. It is important to study the legislation on the subject deadlines storage of electronic primary documents, paper, so that in the event of a conflict with a contractor or during an inspection by a controlling authority, you do not find yourself in an uncomfortable position. In addition, non-observance of the time intervals established by law can provoke a considerable fine during the inspection. The current legislation contains standards governing the minimum storage period for primary accounting documents. It is important that the business is safe, and that the conduct of business in our country is distinguished by the rule of law and compliance with the established rules.

The 125th tells about the storage period for electronic primary documents, paper ones. the federal law adopted in October 2004. As the name suggests, it is dedicated to archives and the correct conduct of business. It is in this official document that the features of storing official papers produced by the accounting department are considered. Here you can find both the features that allow you to distinguish between temporary and permanent storage documentation, and the terms typical for a particular type of paper.

Who does it apply to?

Obligations to comply with the minimum storage periods for primary documents are assigned to:

• instances of local self-government;
• government agencies;
• entrepreneurs;
• enterprises;
• persons engaged in entrepreneurial activity.

The law will have to be observed in relation to archival documentation, including personnel. The entire time period specified in the law must be kept in a safe place. In addition to federal laws, especially the storage periods of primary documents and accounting registers are addressed in a number regulatory documents, acting both on the territory of the country as a whole, and in each individual region. However, the most important document is the above-mentioned 125th law, which provides a complete list of documentation regulating the duration of storage of accounting papers.

Law number 129

In 1996, a federal law was issued on the specifics of accounting. It indicates that the accounting department can form its documentation on paper, as well as using various machine tools. At the same time, the firm must independently make copies of the documentation on paper so that all participants in the operations have access to data about them. If the supervisory authority requests access to the documentation, the representatives of the company are obliged to provide such. The employees of the prosecutor's office and representatives of the court have the right to do so.

Creation, storage in compliance with the storage time of primary accounting documents, provision on request must comply with the forms established in regulatory enactments. Documents must be sent to the requester in paper form. If the capabilities of the machines used in the work allow it, if all participants agree, the reporting can be sent in electronic form. This is also allowed applicable laws our country.

We store according to the rules

The 129th federal law contains a mention of the obligatory observance of the storage periods for primary accounting documents. In particular, Article 17 mentions that any legal entity must necessarily keep such documentation, including registers and reports. The duration of the time interval is established by the rules governing archiving at the state level. The duration of this period cannot be less than 5 years.

A special storage period for primary documents is established for the documentation regulating the accounting policy and some other categories (programs used on machines that process information, a working chart of accounts). Of course, the duration here is also five years (in some cases this period can be set longer), but the period begins to count from the moment when the enterprise resorted to this document for the last time. The head of a legal entity is the person who, according to the law, is responsible for storing all the required documentation in compliance with the time intervals. This means that any educated and responsible boss must know the storage period of primary documents in the accounting department if he wants to keep the situation in the company under his control.

As practice shows, many organizations regularly conduct an inventory of official documentation, and local regulations establish the persons responsible for storing documents with whom the inspection authorities actually interact when monitoring compliance with the rules for maintaining archives.

Creation and storage: everything according to the rules

Based current legislation, accountants can form both primary documentation and summary not only on paper, but also in electronic form; at the same time, the obligation to create paper copies is imposed on the legal entity, and upon a request from the interested person, the checking body, the company is obliged to send paper documents to the address as soon as possible. Compilation and storage should be carried out in the form established by the current regulatory enactments.

The list of documentation that considers typical management papers that are formed in the course of the work of any enterprise tells about the storage period of primary documents in the accounting department, the order of this process. Those were established in 2010 in a document approved by the Ministry of Finance and Rosarkhiv. In addition, it is necessary to take into account the requirements of the Tax Code, which regulates that every citizen of our country is responsible for the four-year preservation of accounting records. This applies to securities related to accounting for the expense, income component, as well as confirming the payment of taxes.

We approach business wisely

Correct organization of the process with observance of the storage time of primary accounting documents presupposes a professional approach, the involvement of personnel responsible for the accounting of documentation, the processing of archival information about the organization of the workflow itself. Currently, there are practically no places for specialized training in archiving, so finding a truly high-quality specialist is often difficult. On the other hand, progressive legislation requires that the terms of storage of primary accounting documents be observed, otherwise one may face categorically unpleasant fines. The best option for a fairly voluminous document flow is to create a department responsible for archiving on the staff of the company, and ensure regular training of the personnel responsible for documentation with internal resources. This will allow you to keep under control the innovations established in the laws and comply with all requirements.

An alternative option, which also allows you to take into account the storage period of primary documents and comply with it in your work activities, is cooperation with an intermediary who undertakes to preserve the client's papers. However, choosing an archival firm for yourself is also not an easy task. It is necessary to carefully analyze all available options in order to give preference to a reliable company and not worry that it may close down and the building burn down.

Features of storing some types of documentation

As follows from the current legislation, it is necessary to transfer the primary documentation to the archive, as well as registers, reporting and balance sheet documents. All these categories of official documentation, until they are sent to the archive, must be contained in accounting rooms, while a legal entity must provide all conditions for the safety of papers: cabinets must be closed, fire and other safety must be observed. Inside the enterprise, a person responsible for the safety of the documentation is appointed by a special document.

If they are used at the enterprise, according to the law, these documents must be kept in a safe or a special cabinet, a room that closes and guarantees the safety of the documentation. The primary documentation of the current time period, processed manually, should be collected, taking into account the chronology, in registers, which are then sent to the archive for permanent storage.

What else should you pay attention to?

When storing bank statements, cash orders and advance payment reports, it is necessary to preserve all documentation taking into account the chronology and bind for joint systematized storage. Certain specific categories of documents (shift reports, work orders) can be stored without binding, but filed in folders so that nothing is lost or used for dishonest purposes.

The preservation of documentation, as well as its timely sending to the archive is primarily the area of ​​responsibility of the chief accountant, although, if necessary, local regulations may contain delegation of authority to another person. Issuance of primary documentation, reporting, balance sheet documents is possible only in certain cases, subject to an official order of the chief accountant. In general structural units do not have access to accounting documents. The seizure of documentation is possible only upon a specialized request from the investigating authorities, the court or other authorities that have the appropriate powers under the law. In this case, it is necessary to provide an official resolution drawn up in compliance with the law. When withdrawing, it is necessary to draw up a protocol, one of the copies of which is handed over to the representative of the organization against signature.

The storage period for primary documents is shown in the table below.

Features of document flow

The term "workflow" is applied to a complex of factors associated with the movement of documentation from the moment of the creation of paper to its transfer to archiving. The development of a schedule is the area of ​​responsibility of the chief accountant, although in some enterprises it is delegated to a document flow specialist. However, as practice shows, the most correct is the inclusion of such a schedule in the accounting policy of the organization, which is then approved by a specially issued order signed by the chief official of the company.

With the help of a schedule, you can harmonize and simplify the planning task in the enterprise. The document flow schedule of primary documentation is a list of performers, time intervals within which the papers should be sent to the accounting department, as well as the time frames for which accountants process them. Must be described reporting periods, including balance sheets. Often accounting policy contains the regulation of the storage periods for primary documents, and this period is either equal to that established by law, or assigned a longer period, if required by the specifics of the company's activities. When reporting for the year is submitted, the documentation is prepared in accordance with the established procedure and transferred to archival storage. At the same time, it is taken into account that in the future it may become necessary to extract useful data from the volume transferred for storage. For this, the division of cases into folders is accepted, while the grouping is explained by the content. Be sure to assign a relevant title to each folder.

Case storage features

All documentation generated in the course of the enterprise's activity, as mentioned above, is divided into temporary storage and permanent. When transferring papers to the archive, it is necessary to hand over each of these categories separately, without mixing official papers in the same folders. In this case, copies must be kept separately from the originals. Also, in separate folders you will have to sort the documentation showing reporting, plans by year and by quarter, by month. One case should contain one piece of documentation.

To group one case, you can use documents generated for one period (quarter, year, month). The exception is the so-called transient categories - for example, personal affairs, the closure of which is not timed to coincide with the calendar year. If the case contains documentation generated over several months, it is necessary to separate each month from the others with a special sheet, recording on it what period the block following it documents is. In this case, it is allowed to group up to 250 sheets in one case. The folder can be 4 cm thick or less.

What else should you pay attention to?

As can be seen from the rules for maintaining the archive, if the documentation has attachments, those (regardless of when they were compiled) must be attached to the documentation that they accompany. In general, the consistency for the archive of accounting documents is very important, therefore it must be strictly observed. As a rule, statements are first posted, then explanatory notes, after which the balance sheet, supplemented by the attached documents.

When organizing the storage of personal accounts of company employees, it is necessary to allocate a separate case for this, in which the documentation is laid out by year with strict observance of chronology. Annual correspondence is formed into folders indicating the calendar year and is also systematized according to dates. Each request must be followed by a response to it.

Some features

The storage periods prescribed in the Tax Code may differ from those standards that are specified in the laws governing the activities of the accounting department. When observing such a discrepancy, it is recommended, first of all, to observe the time interval that is longer - this will allow, if necessary, referring to the documentation to use it, even if, according to one of the current rules, the deadline has already expired. In addition, the inspection bodies will have nothing to complain about. It is also necessary to remember about a special list published in 2000 indicating the duration of storage of certain specific groups of documentation. This list is regularly updated and supplemented, therefore Chief Accountant companies and the department responsible for document management must keep up to date information.

If the storage terms have been violated, responsibility for this rests with the head of the company, despite the fact that the issue of safety is primarily within the area of ​​responsibility of the chief accountant. If the order, the duration of storage is violated, the company is assigned a fine. For an official, the punishment usually varies in the range of two to three thousand rubles. But if the primary documentation is not kept at all, they can be punished for this by paying a fine of five thousand rubles or more.

How much to keep primary documents, tax reports, invoice, accounting database? How to store and destroy documents. Rosarkhiv. Responsibility for the storage of documents. LIST OF STANDARD MANAGEMENT DOCUMENTS FORMED IN THE ACTIVITIES OF ORGANIZATIONS, WITH INDICATION OF STORAGE TIMES Federal Archival Service of Russia Rules for storing documents in the accounting department.

The question arises, how many years to keep accounting documents.

According to one document - 5 years.

On the other hand, the so-called "depth" of the tax audit is 3 years.

At the same time, part 1 of the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ states that primary accounting documents, accounting registers, financial statements, as well as audit reports about it must be kept for the period established by the rules of archiving. But at least five years... The storage periods for standard archival documents are determined in the list approved by order of the Ministry of Culture of Russia dated August 25, 2010 No. 558.

In order not to be punished for violating the rules established by the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ, keep tax returns, calculations, registers and other documents for at least five years. Longer - only those for which a longer period is established by law.

Copies of used forms packed in sealed bags strict accountability(stubs) confirming the amount of cash received Money, store for at least five years. After this period ends and at least one month has passed since the date of the last inventory, copies of the used forms can be destroyed on the basis of an act of writing them off. Such rules are established in clause 19 of the Regulations approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of May 6, 2008 No. 359.

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Storage periods for HR documentation

The periods during which documents on personnel are stored are specified in article 22.1 of the Law of October 22, 2004 No. 125-FZ and the list approved by order of the Ministry of Culture of Russia dated August 25, 2010 No. 558. The beginning of the storage period for documents is January 1 of the year. , following the year in which they were drawn up (paragraph 4 of clause 1.4 of the list approved by order of the Ministry of Culture of Russia dated August 25, 2010 No. 558).

Orders for hiring, transferring, dismissing and other orders for personnel generally need to be kept for at least 75 years if they were created before 2003. If these documents were created after 2003, then they must be kept for at least 50 years.

Employment contracts, personal cards and personal files of employees must also be kept for 75 years if they were created before 2003, or for 50 years if they were created after 2003. Any documents on personnel that were formed during the period of civil service, which is not a civil service, must be kept for 75 years, regardless of the date of their creation.

The period during which you need to keep documents confirming that the employee received education at the expense of the organization is due to the requirements of tax legislation. The fact is that paragraph 3 of Article 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation establishes that in order to write off these costs to reduce taxable profit, the organization must keep all documents confirming the training (agreement with educational institution, order of the head on the direction of the employee for training, act on the provision of services, diploma, certificate, certificate, etc.). Their storage period is limited by the term of the training agreement and one year of the employee's work, but not less than four years.

In the list approved by order of the Ministry of Culture of Russia dated August 25, 2010 No. 558, in addition to documents on personnel, other documents are also named. They are grouped into sections depending on their scope.

Keep working rules even after replacing them with new ones. The shelf life is one year. A one-year storage period is set for vacation schedules as well.

Keep time sheets for five years. And under difficult, harmful and dangerous working conditions - 75 years.

The beginning of the storage period for documents

count January 1 of the year following the one in which they were drawn up (taken into account) (paragraph 4, paragraph 1.4 of the list approved by order of the Ministry of Culture of Russia dated August 25, 2010 No. 558). For example, if the document was drawn up in 2017, then the retention period begins to be calculated from January 1, 2018. There are two exceptions to this rule.

1. Registers required for VAT deduction. In particular, the book of purchases and the book of sales, as well as the journals of accounting of issued and received invoices. The beginning of their storage period is determined from the date of the last entry in them. This follows from clause 13 of section II of Appendix 3, clause 24 of Section II of Appendix 4, clause 22 of Section II of Appendix 5 to the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of December 26, 2011 No. 1137.
2. Documents that confirm the initial value of the depreciable property. The shelf life for them is considered from the moment when depreciation has ceased to be charged (letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated April 26, 2011 No. 03-03-06 / 1/270).

So, the four-year period begins after the reporting (tax) period in which the document was last used for compiling tax reports, calculating and paying taxes.

For example, for documents confirming the initial cost of fixed assets, the retention period will begin after the cost of the fixed asset is no longer accounted for in "profitable" expenses through the depreciation mechanism. Those. when the fixed asset will be completely depreciated, liquidated or sold (Letter of the Ministry of Finance dated 12.02.2016 No. 03-03-06 / 1/7604).

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In case of loss of documents, the taxpayer is obliged to restore them for the previous four years

If the company has lost the primary source as a result of flooding, then it must restore the documents. Including for the past four years, and not only for 2011. This was recalled by the specialists of the Ministry of Finance of Russia in a letter dated 11.08.11 No. 03-02-07 / 1-288.

In which they refer to the provisions of paragraph 5. In which it is said that during a tax audit, inspectors are not entitled to demand from the company documents that have already been submitted to the inspectorate (during a cameral or on-site inspection). The exception is those papers that were previously presented in the form of originals, but were returned by the tax authorities, and then the company lost them due to force majeure circumstances.

Another reason for the restoration of documents - the storage period for documents required for calculating taxes is four years. This is stated in subparagraph 8 of paragraph 1 of Article 23 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

How to recover a lost document

Formally, the procedure is as follows:

1. Issue an order appointing a commission to investigate the reasons for the missing tax return.
2. Investigate the missing document. Receive written explanations from the employees responsible for its safety - memoranda.
3. Draw up a report based on the results of the investigation. In it, indicate the reasons for the loss of the document, the measures that need to be taken to restore.
4. Restore the document based on primary documents and tax registers.
5. Sign it with the employee authorized to do so today. Even if at the time when the document was originally drawn up, another employee had to sign it.
6. Make the declaration "Duplicate" on the declaration. In practice, colleagues rarely follow this procedure. According to the accounting data, they fill out the declaration again if it has not been saved in the accounting program.

How many years should the primary file be kept, which confirms the loss in the income tax return

The Tax Code says: documents that confirm the loss must be kept for the entire period until the loss reduces the income tax base. This is 10 years maximum. Plus another four years after the loss is cleared.

But what applies to claims filing? Only declarations of past years or the entire primary organization?

The Ministry of Finance of Russia insists: it is necessary to keep all primary documents (letter dated 23.04.2009 No. 03-03-06 / 1/276).

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STORAGE TIMES OF DIFFERENT DOCUMENTS(table)

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Organization and rules of storage of accounting and other documents

To store accounting documents, you need to equip special rooms, safes or cabinets (clause 6.2 of the Regulations approved by the letter of the USSR Ministry of Finance dated July 29, 1983 No. 105). The requirements for the arrangement of such storage facilities are given in the Rules approved by order of the Ministry of Culture of Russia dated March 31, 2015 No. 526.

Forms of strict accountability are stored in safes, metal cabinets or in special rooms to ensure their safety (clause 16 of the Regulation approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of May 6, 2008 No. 359). Cash orders, advance reports, bank statements with related documents are collected in chronological order and weave.

Documents labeled "commercial secrets" are kept in safes.

The rest of the documents can be stored in special rooms or lockers under the responsibility of persons authorized by the chief accountant.

Note: Clauses 6.2–6.4 of the Regulations approved by the letter of the USSR Ministry of Finance dated July 29, 1983 No. 105, and clauses 3.2 and 3.6 of the Regulations approved by the Decree of the Federal Commission for the Securities Market of Russia dated July 16, 2003 No. 03-33 / ps.

The organization has the right to store accounting documents in electronic form.

According to the legislation on accounting, primary and consolidated accounting documents can be drawn up on paper or in electronic form (part 5 of article 9 of the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ). Tax registers can also be kept on paper, in electronic form and (or) on any machine media (). Finally, tax returns (calculations) can, and in some cases need to be submitted electronically (Article 80 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

And since the primary source, accounting and tax accounting documents, as well as tax declarations (calculations) can be compiled in electronic form, then they can be stored in the same format. It is not necessary to print. The only condition is that such documents must be certified in accordance with all the rules with an electronic signature.

Note: Letters of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated August 22, 2012 No. 03-02-07 / 1-202 and dated July 24, 2008 No. 03-02-07 / 1-314.

At the request of the controlling departments, including the tax inspectorate, copies of electronic documents will have to be printed and certified with your own hand before being submitted for verification (clause 1 of article 252, clause 1 of article 93 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). This conclusion is based on the provisions of part 6 of article 9 of the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ, articles 313 and 314 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

To organize the storage of documents in electronic form, apply the Regulations approved by the letter of the USSR Ministry of Finance dated July 29, 1983 No. 105 (in the part that does not contradict the legislation), and the Rules approved by order of the Ministry of Culture of Russia dated March 31, 2015 No. 526. Do this until approved federal standard accounting, which establishes the requirements for documents and workflow in accounting. This is stated in the information of the Ministry of Finance of Russia No. PZ-13/2015.

Transfer of text electronic documents for storage in the archive of the organization should be in PDF / A format. At least once every five years, check the condition of the electronic document carriers and whether the documents themselves can be reproduced. These are the requirements of clauses 2.31 and 2.32 of the Rules approved by order of the Ministry of Culture of Russia dated March 31, 2015 No. 526.

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Destruction of documents

When the storage period for documents expires, they should be destroyed (clause 2.3 of the Rules approved by order of the Ministry of Culture of Russia dated March 31, 2015 No. 526). Documenting the destruction of documents is beneficial to the organization itself. After all, acts of destruction may be needed during inspections or court cases, if the organization is required to submit any documents. The order of destruction is spelled out in clauses 4.6-4.13 of the Rules approved by order of the Ministry of Culture of Russia dated March 31, 2015 No. 526.

An expert commission selects documents for destruction. The expert commission may include employees of the organization (secretary, accountant, clerk, etc.).

Destruction of the selected documents must be executed in an act in the form (.xls 35Kb) from Appendix 21 to the Rules approved by order of the Ministry of Culture of Russia dated March 31, 2015 No. 526. In the act, write the details of all documents. Homogeneous documents can be listed under a general heading. Note the deadlines for homogeneous documents. For example, "Advance reports for 2009, the deadline is 01/20/2009–12/01/2009."

The organization can destroy documents in the following ways

• transfer for processing (disposal). Fill out the invoice for the transfer of documents for processing (disposal), indicating in it the date of transfer, the weight and number of papers;
• destroy documents yourself - burn them, shred them with a shredder, throw them away, etc.

The chosen method of destruction must be indicated in the act.

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Fines and Liability for violation of the rules and terms of storage of documents

If there are no accounting documents, for example, if they are lost, this is a gross violation of the rules for accounting for income and expenses. The organization faces a fine of 10,000 rubles. according to the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. The same punishment will be if you do not follow the order and period of storage of documents.

If the lack of documents has led to an underestimation of the tax base, the taxpayer faces a fine of 20 percent of the unpaid tax, but not less than 40,000 rubles.

The following penalties can be applied to an official:

• a fine from 5,000 to 10,000 rubles. - for the first violation;
• from 10,000 to 20,000 rubles. or disqualification for a period of one to two years - for a repeated violation.

Such sanctions are provided for gross violation of accounting requirements, including financial statements, the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offenses.

The safety of documents is not ignored in the criminal legislation. On the basis of paragraph 1 of Article 325 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, abduction, destruction, damage or concealment of official documents out of personal interest can be punished with imprisonment for up to one year. But, of course, law enforcement agencies will have to prove such an interest.

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