Federal Tax Service accrued a record amount of taxes in 2022

2022 was a record year in terms of additional taxes and fees payable. Formally, the report of the Federal Tax Service also reflects an increase in the number of inspections by 25%, but it also included inspections

The number of on-site tax audits of legal entities, individual entrepreneurs and individuals completed in 2022 amounted to 10,191. Such data is contained in the report of the Federal Tax Service, which was studied by RBC. Nominally, the overall figure increased by 25% compared to the previous year, and among organizations - by 29%, to almost 9.4 thousand.

The number of tax audits indicated in the report was the highest since 2018, while it remains several times lower compared to 2015-2017. After the pre-pandemic 2019, the dynamics were blurred by a moratorium in effect until mid-2020 on making decisions on field tax audits.

The report, showing the increase in the number of completed inspections in 2022, also reflects inspections suspended due to a moratorium during the covid-19 pandemic , “so you can’t compare the figures for 2021 and 2022,” the FTS explained. In accordance with the moratorium, no decisions were made on new on-site inspections by the Federal Tax Service until June 30, 2020, however, after this period, this moratorium was not extended, the Federal Tax Service specified in March 2021.

In 2022, only 4.6 thousand field inspections were opened in RUSSIA, the Federal Tax Service clarified, and in 2021 - 7.6 thousand. “For comparison: in 2019, 8.8 thousand were opened. Thus, the downward trend the number of scheduled inspections is obvious, ”a representative of the department told RBC (statistical reports of the Federal Tax Service reflect only inspections completed in the reporting period). On average, an on-site tax audit of an organization lasts more than seven months, the Accounts Chamber reported in February 2023.

In terms of the amount of additional taxes, fees and insurance premiums assessed for payment, 2022 was a record year: according to the results of inspections, taxpayers must pay 685.7 billion rubles to the budget, of which 675 billion are accounted for by organizations. Total additional charges increased by 81% compared to 2021 (RUB 378.6 billion).

Read pioneerprodukt.by Why Russian companies have not switched to domestic software in a year Igor Rybakov — RBC Pro: “Now is not the time for investment strategies” Up to 10 years in prison: what else do state defense order contractors risk Golden Book.How Mormons amassed $100 billion in a secret investment fund

Experts interviewed by RBC explain the relatively small number of inspections with a record amount of additional charges by changing the approach of the Federal Tax Service to a risk-based one. Now it comes to on-site inspections less often, but if this happens, then on average more taxes are charged.

Thanks to the pre-audit analysis, only those companies that have schemes are included in the audit plan, confirms the representative of the Federal Tax Service. According to her, the most frequent schemes are related to VAT evasion and the deliberate involvement of one-day firms and “technical” companies in the document flow: “This work to control taxpayers is carried out automatically by the tax authorities using the VAT-2 ASK in real time.”

How checks are carried out

The report of the Federal Tax Service reflects two types of audits that are carried out by the tax authorities - cameral and field. The first ones are a verification of the correctness of tax declarations submitted to the tax authority and, as a rule, go unnoticed by the taxpayer and lead to relatively small amounts of additional charges (94.4 billion rubles in 2022).

Field tax audits are carried out at the location of the taxpayer, and there must be grounds for this - the decision to conduct an audit is made by the HEAD or deputy head of the tax inspectorate. During such an audit, tax authorities can check tax and accounting reports, interrogate employees, request documentation from contractors, etc.

A few years ago, the number of on-site inspections reflected in the reporting of the Federal Tax Service was many times greater than now. For example, in 2015, the tax authorities conducted more than 30,000 on-site inspections, of which organizations checked more than 26,000 times. Then the number of checks gradually decreased.

Despite a significant decrease in the number of inspections, the annual amount of additional payments to the budget from 2015 to 2019 fluctuated around the mark of 300 billion rubles. In the covid 2020, the amount of additional payments naturally decreased - to less than 200 billion rubles, but already in 2021 the amount increased to 378.6 billion rubles.

The average amount of additional tax assessments based on the results of on-site inspections, on the contrary, has been steadily growing in recent years. If in 2018, based on the results of 12.6 thousand inspections of organizations, the tax authorities on average totaled them an additional tax payment of 17.3 million rubles, then in the covid 2020 the amount increased to 24 million. tax payments amounted to a record 47 million rubles, and for any payments (including fines and penalties) - 72 million. 95% of on-site inspections end with the appointment of surcharges - this figure has been kept at about the same level over the past four years, follows from the data of the Federal Tax Service.

The representative of the department calls the priority of the tax authorities control and analytical work, "aimed at voluntary clarification of tax obligations and the refusal of taxpayers to use schemes, without the appointment of on-site audits." At the end of 2022, as a result of voluntary payment, an additional 189 billion rubles were received into the budget, she says.

The increase in additional charges in 2022 is explained not only by “a temporary increase in the number of completed field tax audits”, but also by “an increase in their overall efficiency, which was affected by large additional charges for a number of companies,” the Federal Tax Service said.

Less checks, more fees

The Federal Tax Service is focused primarily on the effectiveness of inspections, and not on their number, says Denis Savin, an adviser to the practice of tax consulting and tax disputes at BGP Litigation. By efficiency, he and other lawyers interviewed by RBC understand additional taxes to be paid, which will replenish the budget.

The decrease in the number of on-site tax audits is due to the transition of the Federal Tax Service to a risk-based approach, more active pre-audit analysis and control and incentive work, which should motivate taxpayers to voluntarily pay additional taxes before the appointment of audits, said Alexander Erasov, partner at the IEF LEGAL. “In recent years, on-site inspections have turned from routine control measures into extraordinary ones. Due to the change in the approach of the Federal Tax Service, the number of inspections has sharply decreased, while the amount of additional charges and the complexity of inspections for businesses have increased significantly,” he said.

Yury Schastlivy, head of the Tax Disputes practice at the law firm Lemchik, Krupsky and Partners, says that in 2022 one of the main tasks of the state was to ensure the revenue side of the budget. “State subsidies, preferential loans, extension of tax payment deadlines, relief for businesses on some checks during the pandemic and against the backdrop of the sanctions crisis - all this negatively affected the balance of the country's budget,” the lawyer explains.

In 2022, the Federal Tax Service, having considered the request of one of the regions for a new suspension of field tax audits, indicated that “the decision to cancel tax control measures is inappropriate, since it carries significant risks for the budget of the Russian Federation.”

Leaders in terms of additional charges

For a long time, the interregional inspection of the Federal Tax Service for the largest taxpayers No. 1, which administers multinational companies, has been the record holder among the tax authorities in terms of the total amount of additional charges based on the results of on-site audits, according to Nextons law firm. In 2021, the interregional inspectorate for the largest taxpayers No. 2 (oil and gas enterprises) intercepted the championship, and last year the interregional inspectorate No. 5 (extraction, except for oil and gas, metallurgy, chemical production) became the leader.

The fact that the title of the most “productive” inspectorate passes from one to another may indicate that the state is consistently putting things in order in various sectors, Schastlivy believes.

The inspections carried out in 2022 covered the period of the companies' activities in 2019-2021, and in these years there was a significant increase in the revenue of organizations in the mining of metal ores, the production of chemicals and chemical products, and metallurgical production, Savin draws attention.

The Federal Tax Service called the tax authorities' approach to inspections "universal and independent of industry specifics."