Fly-by-night counterparties can cause damage both to the state in case of tax evasion, and to the taxpayer, who will have to prove the validity of the tax benefit received when returning VAT or when accounting for expenses for profit tax purposes as a result of interaction with such unscrupulous counterparties.
Inspections are guided by the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated October 12, 2006 No. 53 "", which established the main signs of bad faith taxpayer and rules for their determination.
Taxpayers, in order to prove the exercise of due diligence and caution when choosing a counterparty, can turn to Public criteria
self-assessment of risks for taxpayers, used by tax authorities in the process of selecting objects for conducting on-site tax audits (approved by order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated May 30, 2007 No. MM-3-06/333@ " "), as well as explanations from financial authorities regarding the in which case the taxpayer is considered to have fulfilled the obligation to verify the counterparty.
In order to protect yourself from risks when conducting economic activity and possible claims from tax authorities, there are many opportunities to verify the integrity of a potential business partner.
We have identified a number of actions that, in the opinion of tax authorities and courts, must be performed to confirm the exercise of due diligence and caution when choosing a counterparty.
You can find out whether a license was issued to a potential counterparty at websites of licensing authorities– for each type of activity the licensing authority will be different. For example, the Rospotrebnadzor website allows you to search through registers of licenses issued for activities related to the use of pathogens infectious diseases, and on activities in the field of use of ionizing radiation sources.
7. Get acquainted with the annual financial statements of the counterparty. In accordance with clause 89 of the Regulations on management accounting and financial statements in Russian Federation(approved by the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated July 29, 1998 No. 34n), the annual financial statements of the organization are open to interested users(banks, investors, creditors, buyers, suppliers, etc.) who can familiarize themselves with it and receive copies of it with reimbursement for the costs of copying, and the organization must provide an opportunity for interested users to familiarize themselves with the financial statements.
In addition, Rosstat is obliged to provide information on the annual financial statements of organizations free of charge (Regulations on the Federal Service state statistics, approved Government of the Russian Federation dated June 2, 2008 No. 42, Rosstat dated May 20, 2013 No. 183 “On approval of the Administrative Regulations for the provision by the Federal State Statistics Service of the public service “Providing interested users with accounting (financial) reporting data legal entities operating on the territory of the Russian Federation").
8. Study the register of unscrupulous suppliers. Of course, a potential counterparty is not necessarily a participant in the procurement system for state and municipal needs, but there is such a possibility. Therefore, we still recommend going through this optional stage of verification and searching for the appropriate register, updated by the FAS of Russia.
Advice We recommend developing local regulatory act on organizing and improving pre-contractual work with potential counterparties, which would indicate its goals, principles of activity and interaction between managers, supply and security services, lawyers and others officials taxpayers in contact with potential counterparties, and also listed documents that must be requested from counterparties and other persons. The courts also pay attention to the existence of such a local act (resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Moscow Region dated May 23, 2013 in case No. A40-98947/12-140-714). In addition, it makes sense to publish separate orders on checking a specific counterparty to subsequently confirm that one is right in the event of a conflict. |
9. Check the authority of the person signing the agreement. Courts often point to the need to verify credentials as a condition for recognizing a taxpayer as bona fide (FAS ZSO dated May 25, 2012 in case No. A75-788/2011, Eighth Arbitration Court of Appeal dated September 20, 2013 in case No. A46-5720/2013) . Moreover, if the taxpayer has received all the necessary documents and information, but has not verified the authority of the counterparty’s representative to sign the documents, this will be grounds for recognizing this taxpayer as dishonest (resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Moscow Region dated July 11, 2012 in case No. A40-103278/11 -140-436).
When considering a case, if a signatory refuses to sign on documents, a handwriting examination- but sometimes it can be done without it (FAS UO dated June 30, 2010 No. F09-4904/10-S2 in case No. A76-39186/2009-41-833). However, more often than not, courts emphasize that a simple visual comparison of signatures and the testimony of a taxpayer’s representative cannot be considered a sufficient basis for recognizing that documents were signed by unidentified persons (decision of the Third Arbitration Court of Appeal dated October 13, 2010 in case No. A33-4148/2010).
And of course, the courts establish the fact of bad faith of the taxpayer in the event that the authorized representative of the counterparty at the time of signing the documents died(Higher Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated December 6, 2010 No. VAS-16471/10) or his powers were terminated(FAS PO dated February 28, 2012 No. F06-998/12 in case No. A65-14837/2011). On the other hand, the latter case cannot, in the opinion of the courts, indicate the receipt of an unjustified tax benefit if, before concluding the controversial transaction, the taxpayer had a long-term economic relationship with the counterparty (FAS SKO dated April 25, 2013 No. F08-1895/13 in the case No. A53-12917/2012, resolution of the FAS ZSO dated October 27, 2011 No. F07-8946/11 in case No. A52-4227/2010).
Before signing documents, please pay attention to the following:
- Is the transaction being concluded for your counterparty large;
- hasn't it expired? term of office representative of the counterparty (as determined by the organization’s charter or power of attorney);
- Not limited whether charter powers of the director to conclude transactions the amount of which exceeds a certain value.
10. Make a request to the tax office at the place of registration of the counterparty. The courts emphasize that this is also regarded as a manifestation of the taxpayer’s prudence (FAS ZSO dated October 14, 2010 in case No. A27-26264/2009, FAS ZSO dated March 5, 2008 No. F04-1408/2008(1506-A45-34) in case No. A45-5924/07-31/153, Third Arbitration Court of Appeal dated October 11, 2013 in case No. A74-5445/2012, Eleventh Arbitration Court of Appeal dated September 5, 2012 in case No. A55-1742/2012 ).
Moreover, district arbitration courts confirm duty of the tax authorities provide the requested information within the range of information not recognized in accordance with tax secrecy. Thus, the FAS ZSO emphasized that the refusal of the inspectorate to provide information about the taxpayer’s counterparty affects the latter’s rights related to obtaining tax benefits, taking into account the taxpayer’s obligation to confirm due diligence and caution when choosing a counterparty (Resolution of the FAS ZSO dated December 14, 2007 No. F04- 67/2007(77-A67-32) in case No. A67-1687/2007).
Sometimes the courts even emphasize that the taxpayer had the opportunity to contact the relevant services to check the counterparty, but he did not do so (Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Moscow Region dated September 14, 2010 No. KA-A40/10728-10 in case No. A40-4632/10- 115-57).
True, occasionally the courts still come to the conclusion that the taxpayer could not contact the inspectorate at the place of registration of the counterparty, since only the tax authorities have such authority (FAS NWZ of July 31, 2013 in case No. A13-8751/2012).
But even if the tax office refuses to respond to the request, the the fact of his direction will indicate that the taxpayer wanted to protect himself when choosing a counterparty and can serve in the future as evidence of due diligence. In this case, it is important that the request is submitted personally to the tax office (a copy of the request with an acceptance mark must be left on hand) or by mail with a receipt receipt and an inventory of the contents (in this case, one copy of the inventory and the returned notification will remain).
As we see, the positions of the courts regarding the scope of actions that need to be performed to verify the integrity of the counterparty vary. True, sometimes the courts are a little disingenuous.
Thus, they indicate that the tax inspectorate did not prove the lack of due diligence of the taxpayer - on the contrary, when making controversial transactions, he was asked for notarized copies necessary documents. At the same time, the courts emphasize that in the field of tax relations there is presumption of good faith, and law enforcement agencies cannot interpret the concept of “bona fide taxpayers” as imposing additional obligations on taxpayers not provided for by law (Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Moscow Region dated January 31, 2011 No. KA-A40/17302-10 in case No. A40-30846/10-35 -187, resolution of the FAS MO dated December 16, 2010 No. KA-A40/15535-10-P in case No. A40-960/09-126-4, resolution of the FAS MO dated July 22, 2009 No. KA-A40/6386 -09 in case No. A40-67706/08-127-308).
This understanding of good faith was developed by the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation in October 16, 2003 No. 329-O, which taxpayers often refer to when justifying their position. In particular, the Court emphasized that the taxpayer cannot be held responsible for the actions of all organizations participating in the multi-stage process of paying and transferring taxes to the budget.
At the same time, courts often indicate the need to request relevant documents from the counterparty, emphasizing what these actions mean for the taxpayer nature of the duty(FAS PO dated July 14, 2010 in case No. A57-7689/2009, FAS ZSO dated July 20, 2010 in case No. A81-4676/2009).
Sometimes the attention of the courts may be drawn to other details - for example, the conclusion of an agreement for the “trial” supply of goods small batch to check the counterparty (resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Moscow District dated December 16, 2010 No. KA-A40/15535-10-P in case No. A40-960/09-126-4), the fact of registration of the counterparty in several days before the transaction is completed (FAS UO dated November 28, 2012 No. F09-11410/12 in case No. A60-7356/2012), etc. Tax authorities may also refer to the fact that the counterparty organization has "mass leaders and founders", and this fact should have alerted the taxpayer (FAS MO dated November 3, 2011 No. F05-11505/11 in case No. A41-23181/2010).
In conclusion, we note that the presence only one sign of dishonesty counterparty, as a rule, is not an obstacle to recognizing the tax benefit received by the taxpayer as unjustified. However, their combination often makes tax inspectors wary, and the courts make a decision not in favor of the taxpayer.
Information is updated daily.
All companies and individual entrepreneurs, both newly registered on the market and those that have been operating for a long time, prefer to do business with reliable counterparties. But the emergence of new partners, especially in large transactions, can cause certain risks. Therefore, you need to know how to check a counterparty on the tax website using the TIN or using other services. Check yourself and your counterparty using the services.
It is quite important not only to check the counterparty on the tax website using the TIN, but also to check yourself, because this will be very useful action for company owners.
On the other hand, you will be able to find out how your partners see you. After all, not only will you be checking your future partner, but you will also be checked for trustworthiness.
So, for example, you can additionally find out:
- Presence and absence of you tax debt. If there is one, then it is advisable to pay off your debts as quickly as possible, otherwise your current account may be blocked.
- To ensure control over the work of the accounting department in terms of the completeness and quality of the reporting provided to the tax authorities.
Why should you check the reliability of your counterparty before concluding a contract?
It is best to enter into long-term contracts with reliable clients, especially for large transactions. When concluding a new contract, it is advisable to check who you will be dealing with. And this needs to be done by both new and experienced companies.
But even in a permanent partner we cannot always be sure. Therefore, you can check the counterparty on the tax website using the TIN or on another service to prevent a serious mistake.
Here is just some information that checking the counterparty by TIN can provide:
- The manager is not trustworthy. This is the first call you may receive. Such a person can also be a fictitious person and be registered in several companies at once. So, for example, it’s worth thinking about if you are holding a tender and several companies with one director are applying for it at once.
- The company is in the process of liquidation, bankruptcy or reorganization. This can happen if the counterparty decides to withhold this information. By starting a business with such a company, you may not get your money, but end up in a queue of debtors.
- The partner company does not have a permit or license for the type of activity they carry out. It will also be extremely important to know this so as not to set yourself up.
- A ban on conducting a certain type of activity.
- The timing of activities is different than announced. Companies may advertise that they have been in business for longer than they actually have in order to appear more reputable. This is already the first signal that you shouldn’t deal with such people.
- The legal address of the company is massive. This is not a fundamental criterion, which does not mean that it is better not to do business with such a counterparty, but it is worth being wary and conducting a more detailed check.
- The company details do not match the data provided. This fact can arise either from the banal carelessness of the person who prepared the documents, but also as a result of deliberate deception. Incorrect details can result in problems for you, for example, when filing an alcohol return or a VAT return.
- The company does everything and has everything. This happens with fly-by-night companies and with companies that engage in financial fraud and deception.
Collecting information is only part of the story; the next step will be live communication in the partner’s office. In this case, you should pay attention to the company sign and how long it has been at this address. As a rule, fly-by-night companies simply do not have a sign. Even the presence of a website does not always mean that a partner is reliable.
Attention! In order to carry out a quick check, you can use the services of an online service - it is not free, but a big advantage will be the general collection of data and ready-made output. What you will do manually during the day - you can do in 5 minutes - check yourself and your counterparty.
What should be requested from the counterparty to verify it?
If you decide to check a counterparty, you should request the following documents from him:
- A copy of the company registration certificate (OGRN).
- A copy of the organization's tax registration certificate (TIN).
- A copy of the organization's charter. But in practice it is not always provided.
- A copy of the director's passport.
- Accounting statements for the previous year in order to assess financial reliability.
How to check a counterparty on the tax website using TIN - instructions
Step 1. Go to the tax office website and enter data for verification
In order to analyze the reliability and information provided about the client, you need to check yourself and the counterparty.
The first step is to enter the TIN details of the company you want to check or its OGRN. Then enter the captcha - the symbols from the picture in the appropriate field and click check. If you entered the data correctly, the system will display the result.
Step 2. Checking the organization
Attention! In some cases, you may be issued by several organizations that are registered under the same TIN or with the same name.
If you have issued several organizations with the same name, it’s not a big deal, it’s possible. Must select the right organization, in accordance with TIN, OGRN or address. If there are several organizations with the same TIN, then this is very strange and leads to certain thoughts.
Step 3. We receive an extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities and analyze it
The next step is to receive an extract and the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, in it you can see all the information about the company and compare it with the documents provided. In this example, we can see that the company is in bankruptcy. This can be seen from paragraph 41 of the extract, where the title of the title is “Competition Manager”.
Unfortunately, we cannot always see such information if we want to check the counterparty on the tax website using the TIN. For a deeper check and analysis of the information received, it is better to use the Internet service.
Attention! Download an example of a statement in PDF format, in which we have highlighted the items that are worth paying attention to.
Checking a company using the Unified Bankruptcy Register
Checking a company on the tax website may not reveal anything, so it is worth additionally finding information about it on the website of the Unified Register of Bankruptcy Companies. Our example reflects this very well. The Olymp company has been in bankruptcy for a long time, and this fact may not be visible when checking it on the tax website.
To find a company you need to do the following:
- Opens the official website listed in the link above.
- On the left we see “Search for debtors”. We need to click on the link below - “Advanced Debtor Search”.
- In the “Code” field, indicate the INN, OGRN or OKPO of the company you are checking.
- Click search and wait for the results.
As can be seen from this example that we found the organization in the database. And at the same time it is in the process of bankruptcy.
Important! This check should be carried out in parallel with the check on the Tax Ru website.
Useful links for checking a counterparty
Checking the counterparty on the tax website using the TIN is only half the battle; in addition, you will need the following services:
| № | Description of the service | Service link |
| 1 | You can open the Arbitration Cases file. If the client is “unclean,” then perhaps some legal proceedings are already underway against him. | http://kad.arbitr.ru |
| 2 | In addition to court cases, you can find in the database current enforcement proceedings against the audited counterparty. | http://fssprus.ru/iss/ip/ |
| 3 | You can also check whether the passport of the head of the company is valid. | http://services.fms.gov.ru/info-service.htm?sid=2000 |
| 4 | It is also advisable to check the legal address of a possible partner for widespread availability. | https://service.nalog.ru/addrfind.do |
| 5 | This service allows you to check whether the founders or directors of the company have other companies in which they are also founders and directors. | https://service.nalog.ru/mru.do |
| 6 | It will be important to know whether the counterparty has tax debts, because in this case his current account may simply be blocked by the tax authorities. In this case, your money will be used to pay taxes. | https://service.nalog.ru/zd.do |
Entrepreneurship is always a risk. Including the risk associated with a lack of information about partners (buyers, suppliers, contractors), especially about their financial condition and business reputation.
Even a deal that is well thought out in terms of ensuring the fulfillment of obligations, if concluded with a fraudster, can result in large material losses.
You can verify the reliability of your partner and partially protect yourself from unscrupulous performers and customers by using the online electronic service posted on the website nalog.ru, “Check yourself and your counterparty.”
Request it from your counterparty constituent documents, TIN, or main state registration number. The service “Business risks: check yourself and your counterparty” nalog.ru by TIN or OGRN will provide more accurate information about any legal entity, individual entrepreneur or peasant (farm) enterprise. The fact is that several companies with identical names and entrepreneurs with the same last name, first name and patronymic can be registered, even in the same region.
Follow the link. When creating each request, you need to enter the code from the image. Using the capabilities of the site, generate a current extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities or Individual Entrepreneurs (USRLE or Unified State Register of Entrepreneurs). From it you will find out when and where the company was registered, who its founders and managers are. Get information about species economic activity enterprises, existing licenses, if the activity is licensed.
To avoid losing profits or even being subject to criminal prosecution for participating in corruption schemes and money laundering, before concluding an agreement, collect and analyze information about your counterparty.
Using the information posted on the page "Check if your business is at risk?" Make sure your potential partner meets the criteria listed below.
- The organization is active and is not threatened with exclusion from the register of legal entities by decision of the tax inspectorate.
- The types of activities necessary to fulfill the contract are included in the OKVED list of the organization or entrepreneur; all necessary permits and licenses are available.
- The future partner is not in the process of liquidation or reorganization.
- The head of the company is not included in the register of disqualified persons, and disqualified persons are not members of the executive bodies of the organization.
- The leader or founder is not a “mass” leader or founder. Such information is especially important if it turns out that one of the controlled companies is in bankruptcy or is a defendant for a significant amount.
- The company is not registered at the address of mass registration of legal entities. Registration in itself, for example, at an address in a business center, is not yet an alarming factor. But this is worth paying attention to if there are other signs of a “fly-by-night company.”
- A legal entity is not included in the list of those that have tax arrears and have not submitted tax reports for more than a year. However, it is not yet possible to obtain such information regarding individual entrepreneurs.
Check yourself and your counterparty - “nalog.ru” official website
As of June 1, 2019, it will be possible to check yourself and your counterparty in even more detail. nalog.ru is the official website of the Federal Tax Service using the online service “Business risks: check yourself and your counterparty / Check if your business is at risk?” will provide the opportunity to access data that was previously considered private. You can find out the following information about a business partner:
- The amount of income and expenses for the year according to financial statements.
- Information about the number of employees.
- The special tax regime applied by the organization (simplified system (STS), unified tax on imputed income (UTII), etc.).
- Amounts of arrears on taxes, fees, insurance premiums, debts on penalties, fines.
- Amounts of taxes and fees paid for the year.
In turn, your counterparty will have at its disposal similar information about your company.
How to use this information?
Based on data for the previous year on income and expenses, the number of employees, taxes and fees paid, you can determine the scale of the organization’s activities and compare it with the volume of the contract being concluded. Is it realistic that a company that has received at most a couple of million rubles in revenue in a year, having only 1 person on its staff (most likely a director), is able to fulfill a construction contract worth 500 million?
Overdue debt to the tax office can lead to blocking of accounts in all banks. It can also be a signal that the partner is undisciplined and uncommitted, or that he has financial difficulties.
nalog.ru. Check the counterparty by TIN, and not fall for the bait of the “great combinators”
Government agencies constantly publish on their websites open information, at their disposal, thereby giving business partners the opportunity to study each other.
The services of the website of the Federal Tax Service nalog.ru - verification of the counterparty reveal the basic data about the counterparty described above.
The official website of the Federal Bailiff Service fssprus.ru allows you to obtain information about open enforcement proceedings using the “Data Bank of Enforcement Proceedings” service.
Using the “Card Index of Arbitration Cases” service, posted on the website of the Higher Arbitration Court RF arbitr.ru you can obtain information about the participation of a potential partner in legal proceedings.
Study your counterparties, use these and other available sources of information. Thus, you will protect yourself from cooperation with unscrupulous partners, reduce tax, financial risks, and the risk of loss of business reputation.
We have developed a convenient online service to check yourself and your counterparty on the tax service website. You can check the counterparty by TIN, power of attorney, registration certificate, financial statements and so on.
Why does a company need to check itself and its counterparty?
Tax authorities pay particular attention to how well a company has checked its counterparties before entering into transactions with them. If inspectors believe that the company did not exercise due diligence, they may remove expenses, VAT deductions, or even invalidate transactions. To avoid this, check yourself and your counterparty.
How can an accountant work under the new rules? Effective from 2017 record number amendments In the next issue of the Russian Tax Courier magazine we will publish a large table of changes with detailed advice experts on how to profitably apply innovations in practice. as a gift you will receive access to online services, legal framework and encyclopedias on all reporting forms with examples and ready-made samples. Hurry up to subscribe,
How to check yourself and your counterparty: follow the step-by-step instructions
Counterparty due diligence is a set of steps that helps you ensure that transactions with a potential or existing partner will not lead to adverse tax consequences. So, let's start checking step by step.
Step #1. Extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities.
First of all, you need to check the counterparty on the tax service website at nalog.ru. In the electronic services section, go to the “Business risks: check yourself and your counterparty” service. Here you can find information on state registration of legal entities, individual entrepreneurs, and peasant (farm) households.
The service allows you to exercise due diligence when choosing a counterparty (supplier, contractor), provides information on the state registration of legal entities, individual entrepreneurs, peasant (farmer) farms, and allows you to search for information in the register of disqualified persons.
What the service shows
The service contains information about mass registration addresses; information about persons in respect of whom the fact of impossibility of participation in the organization has been established in court, information about legal entities that are absent at their legal address.
The service generates the search result in a table. When a counterparty, for example, is liquidated, the column “Date of termination of activity” will be filled in the table. Then download the full statement. The service presents it as a PDF file. The extract shows why the inspectors excluded the company from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities. It is important.
After all, if the counterparty is reorganized, its debts will be transferred to the legal successor. This means there is no reason to recognize income and expenses. It’s a different matter if the counterparty himself decided to liquidate or was declared bankrupt. Then the company must take into account accounts payable in income, and have the right to include outstanding debts of counterparties in expenses.
To confirm the liquidation of a counterparty, order an electronic statement with enhanced qualified electronic signature. It's also free. An electronic statement with an enhanced signature is equivalent to a paper document with a tax stamp (letter of the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia dated 06/27/16 No. D28i-1629 and information letter of the Bank of Russia dated 01/20/16 No. IN-015-55/3).
You can search for a person of interest by legal entities and individual entrepreneurs.
How to check a legal entity?
Search for legal entities by OGRN/TIN or name of the legal entity.
How to check individual entrepreneur?
If you are looking for an individual entrepreneur, enter your OGRNIP/TIN or full name and region of residence.
Electronic extracts from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities are not reliable
Document: letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated 09/02/16 No. ED-3-14/4045@
Consequences: it has become more difficult to verify the counterparty
For companies that want to ensure the reliability of a counterparty, it is now risky to rely on an electronic extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities. So, even if the tax authorities made an entry in the register about the unreliability of information about the counterparty, this information is not yet in the electronic extract. The Federal Tax Service informed about this in a letter dated 09/02/16 No. ED-3-14/4045@.
Tax officials have the right to make an entry about the unreliability of information in the register if an audit shows that the information in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities does not correspond to reality (Clause 6, Article 11 of the Federal Law of 08.08.01 No. 129-FZ). But first, inspectors will ask the company to correct the data in the register. The organization will be given 30 days to do this. If the company does not submit new information about itself, inspectors will make a note in the register. And the director of the company will be fined under Part 4 of Article 14.25 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (decision of the magistrate of judicial district No. 1 of the Alekseevsky district and the city of Alekseevka, Belgorod region dated 08/06/14 No. 5-472/2014). In addition, subsequently, for three years, the director of such a company or participant will not be able to register a new organization.
For counterparties of organizations for which there is a record in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities about unreliable information, such a record carries increased tax risks. Inspectors may remove tax expenses or refuse VAT deductions. Therefore, if the company is facing a major transaction, request an extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities for the potential counterparty in paper form.
The Federal Tax Service claims that it will soon finalize its electronic services. Then a record of unreliable information will be indicated in the “additional information” column of the electronic statement.
Step #2. Checking the counterparty by TIN: valid TIN of legal entities
One of the most important stages of checking your partner is checking the counterparty using the TIN. In a separate thread on the tax website, check your partner’s TIN and make sure it is valid. For example, as reported on the official website of tax authorities nalog.ru, as of June 8, 2016, a total of 1,702,145 valid TINs of legal entities were registered in the database of the Federal Tax Service of Russia for the city of Moscow.
How to check the TIN?
Select your region on the tax service website. Next, enter the TIN into the empty field and click “Search.”
Step #3. Invalid certificates
In total, as of May 12, 2016, 3,599,823 invalid certificates were registered in the database of the Federal Tax Service of Russia for the city of Moscow
How to check the certificate?
Ideal wording for regulations on online verification of counterparties
Companies prefer to check their counterparties for risks through online services of tax authorities. It's fast and free. But now judges are increasingly deciding that one check through the Federal Tax Service website is not enough. In their opinion, it is necessary to use other publicly available information that can be found for free on the Internet (resolution of the Eleventh Arbitration Court of Appeal dated February 27, 2015 No. A72-5803/2014). Moreover, judges themselves now often give hints on where to get data for verification.
Step #4. Checking the counterparty by TIN: invalid TIN of individuals
In a separate service on the tax service website, anyone can check the counterparty by TIN. This verification of the counterparty by TIN is carried out using the database of invalid TINs. For example, as of June 8, 2016, a total of 3,797,733 invalid TINs of individuals were registered in the database of the Federal Tax Service of Russia for the city of Moscow.
How to check by TIN?
Select your region on the tax website, and then start checking using the information you have: TIN, inspection code or the period when the TIN was invalid.
Step #5. Checking the counterparty by TIN: invalid TIN of legal entities
Checking the counterparty by TIN also includes such a stage as checking whether the partner’s TIN is included in the database of invalid TINs. For example, according to information on the official website nalog.ru, as of June 8, 2016, a total of 1,111,000 invalid TINs of legal entities were registered in the database of the Federal Tax Service of Russia for the city of Moscow.
How to check by TIN?
Select your region on the tax website. Then enter the TIN, checkpoint or the period when the TIN was invalid. It is not necessary to enter all the data at the same time.
Step #6. Checking foreign counterparties
The Federal Tax Service website has a new electronic service through which a company can check a foreign counterparty. This is an additional opportunity to check the reliability of a business partner. Previously, companies could check online only Russian counterparties in the section “Business risks: check yourself and the counterparty.”
The service provides access to information from the state register of accredited branches and representative offices of foreign legal entities (Clause 11, Article 21 of Federal Law No. 160-FZ dated 07/09/99). The company will be able to find out the full name of the branch or representative office and its address, as well as the date when the state accreditation record number was assigned or the date of its termination.
To check a foreign counterparty, go to the tax authorities’ website nalog.ru and go to the “Electronic Services” section (on the right home page site). Select “Register of accredited branches and representative offices of foreign legal entities (RAFP)”. The service is free and the database is open access. To check, specify one of the search options:
— INN/KPP;
- Name;
— state accreditation record number (NRA).
It is safer and faster to search for a counterparty using the TIN. This is a mandatory detail; it is not necessary to provide a checkpoint. When only the name is known, you can refine the search and select the region in which the counterparty is located. Fill in the required fields with an asterisk in the search card, enter the numbers from the picture and click on search.
A list of branches and representative offices of foreign companies that fit the specified parameters will appear on the screen. To save to your computer detailed information about the company in PDF format, click on the icon on the right. The extract will also contain data on the types of activities of the foreign counterparty, the number of personnel, information about the manager, details of certificates, etc.
Check even those counterparties from whom accountables buy household goods
Who won the argument: inspection
Details of the judicial act: Resolution of the Arbitration Court of the North Caucasus District dated May 23, 2016 No. A53-5042/2015
Issue price: 269 thousand rubles
The organization gave employees money on account to pay for parking and purchase household supplies. Accountants prepared expense reports and attached cash receipts to them.
During the audit, tax officials discovered that the checks indicated non-existent TINs, and the sellers themselves were not registered in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities. The auditors considered the transactions fictitious and excluded the cost of household goods and parking from tax expenses. And employees were additionally charged personal income tax.
The court supported the inspectors. The company gave money to accountants for three years. But during this time, she never checked the suppliers, at least using the Russian Federal Tax Service database. The organization did not show due diligence when choosing contractors. Therefore, it bears all the risks that arise when working with an unscrupulous supplier (clause 10 of the resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated October 12, 2006 No. 53).
Judicial practice on similar disputes
Previously, the courts allowed the company to take into account expenses, even if the hotel receipt contains a fictitious TIN (resolutions of the Arbitration Court of the Ural District dated 08.28.15 No. F09-5678/15 and FAS North-Western District dated 11.15.12 No. A52-1635/2012). After all, the employer cannot check the hotel in advance, since he does not know where the business travelers will stay.
Step #7. Nine useful sites for online verification of a counterparty
We've rounded up nine more official sites here that you should check out:
Checking the power of attorney with the counterparty's representative
On the Internet you can check whether the power of attorney from the representative of the counterparty has been revoked. The website of the Federal Notary Chamber www.notariat.ru contains a database of revoked powers of attorney. It includes only those powers of attorney that have been certified by notaries. The database is also available at the link http://reestrdover.ru/. It is advisable to use it for a comprehensive check of the counterparty before concluding an agreement.
The database is not publicly available. It can only be used to check whether a specific power of attorney has been revoked. To do this, you need to know at least one of the following details of the power of attorney:
—date of certification by a notary;
- registry number.
This information is indicated on the search page. The result is displayed in the form of a table (see screenshot below). It additionally reflects:
— information about the notary who certified the power of attorney;
—date and time when information about the cancellation of the power of attorney was entered into the unified information system of the notary.
If the power of attorney is not revoked, at the end of the search a message appears: “A total of 0 records found. Refine your search terms."
The presence in the database of a power of attorney presented by a representative of the counterparty is an alarming sign. After all, this person does not have the authority to conclude a transaction or perform other actions on behalf of the counterparty. If the organization nevertheless concludes a deal with him, there is a high risk that it will subsequently be declared invalid (clause 1 of Article 166 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). For example, according to a claim by a company on whose behalf a representative acted.
Another possible scenario— tax authorities will consider this counterparty to be a one-day business. Especially if there are other signs of dishonesty. As a result, they will deny the organization the deduction of “input” VAT and accounting for expenses on transactions with this counterparty.
Checking the counterparty's financial statements
An unscrupulous counterparty may not only fail to pay for the supply, but also become a reason for additional taxes. You can assess the reliability of potential partners for large contracts by analyzing their financial statements for last year. Companies are required to submit it to the inspection and statistical department (subclause 5, clause 1, article 23 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and clause 1, article 18 of the Federal Law of December 24, 2011 No. 402-FZ “On Accounting”), especially since it is now in in free access.
How to obtain counterparty financial statements
Request from the counterparty.
Since accounting statements are not a commercial secret (Clause 11, Article 13 of Federal Law No. 402-FZ dated December 24, 2011), a refusal to provide them should raise red flags. The disadvantage of this option is that the counterparty may issue a falsified balance sheet in order to appear in a favorable light. After all, it is not difficult to falsify a note on the receipt of data by tax authorities on photocopies of the balance sheet.
Obtain from Rosstat on the Multistat portal.
The service address is www.multistat.ru → Online information resources of the Rosstat State Medical Center → Enterprises and organizations. But the information will be paid (at the time of signing the number - 398 rubles). In addition, reporting enters this database with a delay. At the time of writing, the Multistat website indicated that the system was updated on June 11 and contains reporting for 2005-2014.
Get it on the government services portal.
The portal address is beta.gosuslugi.ru → Popular services → All popular services → All services (by department) → Federal State Statistics Service > Receipt of annual accounting (financial) reporting data by interested users.
The portal operates on the same database as Multistat, so there are delays in the publication of data. But here reporting is provided free of charge and within a few minutes of request
First stage. Compare the dynamics of indicators over several years
Analysis of financial statements for two or three years in a row will reveal trends in the activities of a potential counterparty. There are many indicators. We have listed the most informative ones in the table below.
EXAMPLE.
LLC "Company" plans to enter into a large supply agreement with a new buyer - LLC "Counterparty". Analyzing the financial statements of the future partner, the company revealed a two-fold decrease in the return on sales ratio from 2014 to 2015. The management of LLC "Company" decided to conclude an agreement with the counterparty for a smaller amount.
Tax authorities’ references to the low profitability of counterparties most often do not find support in court. An example of this is the determination of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Ural District dated December 20, 2013 No. F09-13580/13. But there are decisions in favor of the inspectors (resolution of the Arbitration Court of the North Caucasus District dated December 14, 2015 No. F08-9113/2015). Therefore, it is safer to analyze the dynamics of coefficients at least for suppliers with whom the company plans to enter into large contracts.
The counterparty is similar to a one-day company. What argument of the tax authorities turns out to be the last straw in the dispute?
If a supplier has signs of being a one-day company, tax authorities consider transactions with him fictitious. As a result, the buyer suffers. Inspectors refuse to allow him to deduct VAT and account for expenses on these transactions. It's about about these typical signs of one-day life:
— there are no fixed assets or other property on the counterparty’s balance sheet, without which it is impossible to fulfill obligations under the transaction;
— there is one person on staff, usually CEO, he is also the chief accountant and sole founder;
— the supplier has no expenses for current activities — for payment utilities, rent, communication services, salary payments;
- the counterparty is registered at the mass registration address, there is no office or employees at it;
— the supplier does not submit reports to the inspection or submits them with zero or minimal turnover;
- he does not pay taxes and insurance contributions to funds or pays meager amounts.
Many courts reject the tax authorities’ arguments and cancel additional assessments if the buyer has proven the reality of the transaction. After all, even a respectable company may have such signs. For example, in order to provide consulting services, it is not necessary to have a staff of 200 people and production equipment worth 40 million rubles.
But if controllers find something else questionable in transactions, the courts agree with them. From fresh judicial practice we chose the arguments that turned out to be the last straw, which swayed the arbitrators in favor of the tax authorities. Let's see how to prevent the same mistakes and avoid additional charges in the article