How to pay for a business trip for a trade union member who is also a full-time employee of the organization? Details in the article

Question: An employee of the enterprise was sent on a non-production business trip - training through the trade union. It is reserved for him average earnings for the duration of the business trip, which is accrued at the expense of membership fees. Dt 76.42 K-T 70, which is provided for in the collective agreement. Question: Is it calculated on this type employee income contributions to funds: Pension Fund, Social Insurance Fund, Compulsory Medical Insurance, National Insurance Fund?

Answer: Yes, it is charged. Payment for time spent traveling on trade union business is not included in the list of payments exempt from insurance premiums. Therefore, it needs to be charged insurance premiums for compulsory pension (social, medical) insurance and contributions for injuries (Articles 421 and 422 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, paragraph 3 of Article 20.1 of the Law of July 24, 1998 No. 125-FZ).

Rationale

How to pay for a business trip for a full-time employee

How to pay for a business trip for a trade union member who is also a full-time employee of the organization

If such an employee is sent on a business trip, then remuneration depends on whether the business trip is related to his work activity or not.

According to general rules, a full-time employee is sent on a business trip to perform a work assignment. That is, work responsibilities. Such an employee needs to be reimbursed for expenses associated with the business trip and paid average earnings. Thus, if an employee - a member of a trade union on a business trip fulfills his job duties, pay him travel allowances and average earnings.

And if an employee travels on trade union committee business, then he will not fulfill his job duties. Such trips are not business trips. Accordingly, the organization should not pay either wages or average earnings during the trip on trade union business. It is also not necessary to reimburse travel, accommodation and daily allowance expenses.*

Payments in kind, that is, goods, works or services, should be considered as their cost, including VAT and excise taxes. This is stated in paragraph 7 of Article 421 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

What payments should be paid for insurance against accidents and occupational diseases?

Object of assessment

Contributions for insurance against accidents and occupational diseases are subject to payments and remunerations accrued to employees within the framework of labor relations or under civil contracts (if such an obligation is provided for in the contract). This procedure applies both to employees who are Russian citizens and to foreign employees and stateless persons. This follows from the provisions of paragraph 2 of Article 5, paragraph 1 of Article 20.1 of the Law of July 24, 1998 No. 125-FZ.

Payments and remunerations for which contributions for insurance against accidents and occupational diseases are calculated, in particular, include*:
- salary;
- allowances and additional payments (for example, for length of service, length of service, combination of professions, night work, etc.);
- bonuses and remunerations paid within the framework of labor relations or civil contracts;
- payment (full or partial) by the organization for its employee for goods (work, services);
- payments and rewards in the form of goods (works, services);
- compensation payments behind unused vacation(both related and not related to dismissal).

While a full-time employee is on a business trip, he retains his average earnings (Article 167 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). For more information on how to calculate this indicator, see What travel expenses must be paid for a full-time employee. Reflect the accrual of wages in the amount of the employee’s average earnings during a business trip using the following posting:

Debit 20 (08, 10, 25, 26, 28, 44, 91...) Credit 70

- a salary was accrued in the amount of average earnings during the business trip.

In addition to average earnings, the organization compensates the employee for travel expenses (daily allowance, living expenses, travel costs, etc.) (Article 168 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

For more information, see:

• How to determine the amount of daily allowance when sending an employee on a business trip ;

• How to reimburse travel expenses for rental housing ;

• How to reimburse travel expenses for travel by public transport (airplane, train, etc.) .

Travel expenses

The procedure for recording travel expenses in accounting depends on the purpose of the trip. The purpose of the business trip is determined by the assignment specified in the manager’s order. Taking into account the specifics of the task, reflect the amount of expenses indicated in the approved advance report by posting:

Debit 08 (10) Credit 71

- if the business trip was related to the acquisition of non-current assets or inventories;

Debit 20 (25, 26) Credit 71

- if the business trip was related to the main activities of the production organization;

Debit 44 Credit 71

- if the business trip was related to sales finished products or the main activity of a trade organization;

Debit 28 Credit 71

- if the business trip was related to the return and transportation of defective products;

Debit 91-2 Credit 71

- if the business trip was related to the receipt of other income (was non-productive in nature).

When travel expenses are paid by the organization rather than the employee (for example, cashless payment hotel services, travel tickets, etc.) make the following entries in accounting:

Debit 76 (60) Credit 51

- paid for hotel services, travel tickets, etc. for an employee sent on a business trip.

After approval advance report For an employee, write off travel expenses as follows:

Debit 26 (20, 25, 44...) Credit 76 (60)

- business trip expenses are written off.

If an organization purchases travel tickets for a business trip employee, they need to be taken into account in subaccount 50-3 “Cash documents” (Instructions for the chart of accounts):

Debit 50-3 Credit 76 (60)

- a travel ticket was purchased for an employee sent on a business trip;

Debit 71 Credit 50-3

- a travel ticket was issued to an employee sent on a business trip.

After approving the employee's advance report, write off the cost of the used travel ticket as expenses:

Debit 26 (20, 25, 44...) Credit 71

- the cost of a travel ticket used by an employee on a business trip is written off as expenses.

This procedure for reflecting travel expenses is based on the provisions of paragraphs 5 and 7 of PBU 10/99, as well as the Instructions for the chart of accounts (accounts 71, 50-3).

How to reflect VAT on purchased travel documents? It all depends on how the primary documents are drawn up. So, if VAT is highlighted in the travel document or it was received along with the invoice, account for the tax separately on account 19 “VAT on purchased valuables”. The travel document itself should be taken into account in account 50-3 “Cash documents” at the actual cost (Instructions for the chart of accounts).

If the VAT amount is not allocated, then it is also not allocated in accounting and is not taken into account separately (Instructions for the chart of accounts).

An example of how travel expenses are reflected in accounting

In the period from January 17 to 19, the head of the workshop of LLC “Production Company “Master”” V.K. Volkov was on a business trip to Chelyabinsk. The purpose of the trip is to study the technology of production of facing materials.

On January 20, the head of the organization approved the advance report presented by Volkov.

Attached to the advance report:

• hotel bill in the amount of 6490 rubles. (the invoice indicates that the cost of services includes VAT, but the tax amount is not highlighted);
• two train tickets costing 5,664 rubles. (on tickets, the amount of VAT 864 rubles is highlighted as a separate line).

While on a business trip, Volkov is entitled to a daily allowance of 300 rubles.

The organization's accountant made the following entries in the accounting:

Debit 25 Credit 71
- 300 rub. - daily allowances are reflected;

Debit 25 Credit 71
- 5500 rub. (6490 rubles - (6490 rubles × 18/118)) - the cost of Volkov’s hotel accommodation is included in expenses;

Debit 19 Credit 71
- 990 rub. - VAT allocated by calculation on the cost of hotel accommodation services;

Debit 91-2 Credit 19
- 990 rub. - the amount of VAT on travel expenses that is not supported by documents has been written off;

Debit 25 Credit 71
- 4800 rub. (5664 rubles - 864 rubles) - the cost of travel was expensed;

Debit 19 Credit 71
- 864 rub. - VAT is allocated from the fare;

- 864 rub. - accepted for deduction of VAT on travel expenses.

Purchasing an electronic ticket

Situation: how to reflect in accounting the purchase of an electronic ticket for an employee to travel by train on a business trip? The organization does not receive a ticket control coupon issued on a form strict reporting.

Record the purchase of an electronic ticket as a regular payment for services of a third party.

An electronic ticket is a document used to certify a passenger transportation contract, in which information about rail transportation is presented in electronic digital form and is contained in automated system management of passenger transportation on railway transport. This definition is contained in the order of the Ministry of Transport of Russia dated August 21, 2012 No. 322. Thus, an electronic ticket is not a paper document. Therefore, unlike tickets in paper form, take them into account at the organization’s box office as part of monetary documents impossible (Instructions for the chart of accounts).

Reflect the purchase of an electronic train ticket in your accounting as a regular payment for services of a third-party organization:

Debit 76 (60) Credit 51

- paid for an electronic railway ticket purchased for an employee sent on a business trip (based on a payment order).

After the employee presents travel documents , write off the cost of the electronic ticket as expenses (clauses 5, 7 of PBU 10/99).

In accounting, reflect it like this:

Debit 26 (20, 25, 44...) Credit 76 (60)

- the cost of the travel ticket is included in the expenses of the organization.

Business trip to conclude a contract for the next year

Situation: how to reflect in accounting travel expenses and the average earnings of an employee who performed the task of concluding contracts for the next year

If an employee is sent on a business trip to conclude a contract, these are the organization’s usual travel expenses (expenses for common types activities) (clauses 5, 7 PBU 10/99). The employee performs his duties as defined by the assignment. Expenses relate to the period in which the business trip took place. That is, the condition for writing off costs in accounting has been met (clause 18 of PBU 10/99). Therefore, the following entries are valid:

Debit 20 (44, 25, 26...) Credit 71 (76, 60)

- employee travel expenses are taken into account;

Debit 20 (44, 25, 26...) Credit 70

- a salary was accrued in the amount of the employee’s average earnings during the business trip.

But in a certain case, travel expenses associated with the conclusion of contracts for the next year can also be taken into account in account 97 “Future expenses”. Despite the fact that since 2011, account 97 is not used in all cases in which it was used previously, it can be used provided that the corresponding amounts are directly named as deferred expenses in the current PBU. Or amounts can be recorded in account 97 if they meet the following criteria:

• the organization incurred expenses, while the counterparty did not have counter-obligations to it (in otherwise recognized accounts receivable, not consumption);

• these expenses do not form the cost of inventories or indicator production cost and are not related to the sale of goods of the current period;

• expenses determine the receipt of income over several reporting periods and do not affect financial results current period.

Thus, if the purpose of a business trip is to conclude an agreement for the next year and this agreement provides that the sending organization will receive income in the future (for example, it sells products to a potential buyer), then travel expenses can be reflected as deferred expenses. You can start writing them off to cost from the moment the concluded contract comes into force evenly throughout its validity period. Thus, the condition regarding the correspondence of expenses incurred to income received is fully observed (clause 19 of PBU 10/99). This is reflected in accounting as follows:

Debit 97 Credit 71 (76, 60), 70

- the employee’s travel expenses and average earnings during the business trip are taken into account as deferred expenses;

Debit 20 (44, 25, 26...) Credit 97

- part of the costs was written off for current expenses (from the date of commencement of the contract).

VAT on travel expenses

Amounts of VAT on travel expenses must be allocated in the appropriate strict reporting forms (clause 18 of section II of Appendix 4 to Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of December 26, 2011 No. 1137). If travel expenses reduce taxable income, write off VAT using the following entries:

Debit 19 Credit 71 (76, 60)

- VAT on travel expenses is taken into account;

Debit 68 subaccount “VAT calculations” Credit 19

- accepted for deduction of VAT on travel expenses.

The amount of VAT on expenses that will not reduce taxable profit cannot be deducted (clause 7 of Article 171 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). It should be written off by wiring:

Debit 91-2 Credit 19

- VAT on non-production expenses is written off.

At tax audits Travel expenses are given special attention. There is always something to complain about - either the documents are “wrong” or the expenses themselves are “inappropriate”. Let's consider the most controversial situations

Informal documents

All expenses associated with a business trip must be documented. There are usually no problems with air and train tickets - they are usually issued on standard forms. But in a hotel, in confirmation of payment, employees are often given a cash receipt order, a receipt, or a document completely unknown to accounting science.

Let's figure out whether a hotel receipt is required to confirm living expenses. By general rule when paying in cash you need to use cash machine. However, hotels can issue strict reporting forms instead of checks - this follows from the law on cash register equipment. Currently, Order No. 121 of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated December 13, 1993 is in force, approving the form of a hotel account (Form No. 3-G). If a hotel issues such a form, then it has the right not to use the cash register.

But even if the hotel does not issue an invoice in Form No. 3-G or a cash register receipt, but issues, for example, a cash receipt order, the costs of renting housing can still be included in expenses. The fact is that tax code does not specify which documents must be used to support travel expenses. Therefore, the inspection must accept any document drawn up in accordance with accounting rules.

Example 1

During an on-site inspection of Petromontazh LLC, the inspection decided that some of the company’s travel expenses were incorrectly documented. The costs of hotel accommodation were confirmed by a receipt, which is not a strict reporting form. At the same time, there was no KKM receipt from the hotel either. Inspectors assessed additional income taxes and penalties on the company. Petromontazh refused to pay and filed a lawsuit arbitration court.

The court supported the company and canceled the requirements of the Tax Inspectorate. Primary document, confirming living expenses, contained all the details required by the law “On Accounting”: name, date of preparation, content of the transaction, signatures officials. Consequently, it can serve as confirmation of the costs of renting housing (resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the North-Western District dated February 16, 2004 in case No. A56-14779/03).

In fact, during a business trip, an employee can live not only in a hotel, but also in residential premises that are not part of the hotel complex. In this case, the cost of renting housing can be confirmed by a document drawn up in free form(resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the North-Western District dated June 4, 2003 in case No. A56-26589/02). It is only important that it indicates the cost of living, the date, the name of the organization and a signature.

But it’s still better if the costs of travel and renting premises are confirmed by strict reporting forms. The fact is that on the basis of the BSO, you can without question deduct VAT, which is included in the cost of hotel services.

Trip of a “non-employee”

It happens that a person is sent on a business trip who is not officially listed as an employee of the company. This may be the most different reasons: the employee may be on the staff of another, “friendly” company, or he may even receive an unofficial salary.

In this case, during the inspection, inspectors may consider that payments to this employee (daily allowance, travel and accommodation) are not compensation for a business trip, but his income. The company will be charged additional income tax and personal income tax.

At first glance, the inspectors are right. Labor Code defines a business trip as “a trip of an employee by order of the employer” (Article 166 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). And an employment contract must be concluded between the employee and the employer (Article 56 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). If there is no employment contract, then payment of daily allowances, travel and accommodation cannot be included in expenses as business trip expenses and are not subject to personal income tax exemption.

But we can think differently. The fact that an employee began to carry out the company’s assignments in itself indicates that he is fulfilling his job duties. And if the employee starts work, then the employment contract is automatically considered concluded (Article 67 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). Therefore, even if the company and the employee have not drawn up an employment contract on paper, the costs of such an employee’s business trip can be taken into account when calculating income tax and there is no need to pay personal income tax on them. The same opinion is shared by arbitration courts (see, for example, decisions of the FAS Moscow District dated December 5, 2003 No. KA-A40/9726-03, FAS Volga-Vyatka District dated July 29, 2003 in case No. A31-541/1 ).

Of course, in order to avoid claims during verification, fixed-term employment contracts can be drawn up during business trips. But even if this is not done, the costs of traveling on company assignments should still be considered travel expenses.

Business trip "in reverse"

Typically, an employee goes on a business trip from the city in which the company is located. Could the start of a business trip be some other locality?

Often inspectors believe that this is impossible. One such dispute was considered by the Federal Arbitration Court of the Northwestern District.

Example 2

The company, registered in St. Petersburg, hired Yuri Drugov, who lives in Moscow, as a consultant. According to the contract, his place of work was the city of Moscow, but he had to regularly report to the company and, if necessary, come to St. Petersburg in person. Such trips were arranged as business trips. But during the inspection, the inspection decided that trips to the company’s location cannot be considered business trips. Consequently, the company inflated its costs. The company did not agree with the controllers' decision and filed a claim in the arbitration court.

The dispute was resolved in favor of the company. A business trip is a trip to carry out an official assignment outside the employee’s place of permanent work. Since the trips of the Moscow consultant were of this nature, the company legally compensated the employee for them (resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the North-Western District of January 9, 2004 in case No. A56-14042/03).

Thus, expenses include the cost of travel for an employee from his place of work to the place where he must perform a business trip. The place of work is indicated in employment contract with the employee, and it may not coincide with the city in which the company is registered. And there are no restrictions at all regarding the destination of the business trip. Consequently, an employee can go on a business trip to both the central division of the company and one of its branches.

Trip without result

Not every business trip ends with the completion of the assigned task. For example, the planned signing of a contract may not take place. In general, a business trip may not end with some “material” result. But even in this case, travel expenses should be taken into account when calculating income tax, and you do not need to pay personal income tax on them. Sometimes inspectors try to challenge this, but to no avail.

Example 3

The tax inspectorate conducted an on-site inspection of Granma CJSC. Inspectors found that in 2001 the company sent employees to regions in which it had no counterparties. In addition, as a result of the business trips, no agreements, protocols of intent, etc. were signed. The inspectors decided that the business trips were non-productive in nature and assessed additional income tax to the company. Granma went to court and won the case. The judges indicated that the absence of specific results does not change the nature of the travel expenses. Since the business trip was correctly documented, the company reasonably included it in expenses (resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Moscow District dated September 17, 2003 in case No. KA-A40/6781-03).

Thus, regardless of the results, travel costs are reduced tax profit. It is only important that the purpose of the business trip be formulated (in an order or in a travel assignment) and that this purpose is related to the activities of the company.

On assignment - with insurance

As a rule, when purchasing a train or air ticket, they sell a policy health insurance. In fact, insurance in this case is voluntary, and when buying a ticket, from insurance policy you can refuse. However, the cashiers who sell tickets “forget” to remind you about this. Although the price of insurance is small, we will figure out whether it can be included in expenses and whether you will have to pay personal income tax.

The cost of the policy cannot be classified as travel expenses. Nevertheless voluntary insurance employees can be taken into account when taxing profits if we are talking about insurance “solely in the event of the death of the insured person or loss of the insured person’s ability to work in connection with the performance of his job duties” (clause 16 of article 255 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). The policy sold with the ticket provides coverage for just such an eventuality, so it can be included as an expense.

Since the policy provides life and health insurance for an employee, there is no need to withhold personal income tax from its cost (clause 3 of Article 213 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). There is also no need to accrue the unified social tax (subclause 7, clause 1, article 238 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

VIP room, food and entertainment

In addition to travel and accommodation, business trips may involve whole line other expenses. This is the employee’s use of the official and delegation lounge at the airport (the so-called VIP lounge), a minibar in a hotel, food in a restaurant, etc. Usually the employee is not paid for such expenses. And if the company does compensate them, they do so at the expense of net profit and withhold personal income tax. But in some cases there is no need to pay extra taxes. Let's consider such situations.

Regarding the VIP-hall, there is now an official position of the Moscow Department of the Ministry of Taxes and Taxes, based on the explanations of the Ministry of Taxes of Russia (letter of the Ministry of Taxes in Moscow dated August 7, 2003 No. 27-08a/43214). By compensating for these expenses, the company does not withhold personal income tax if the use of the VIP lounge is provided for in the company’s Business Travel Regulations. Approve this Regulation and you will not have to pay income tax on individuals. Official clarifications do not concern income tax, but, in our opinion, such costs can also be taken into account in tax accounting, since the VIP lounge is directly related to the trip.

In principle, the Business Travel Regulations can include expenses for meals in a restaurant, minibar and other additional services in a hotel room. In this case, by paying for them, the company will compensate the employee for “other expenses incurred with the permission or knowledge of the employer” (Article 168 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). In this situation, the company is not obliged to pay personal income tax. But during an inspection, inspectors are unlikely to agree with this, and such expenses cannot be taken into account in tax accounting (subclause 12, clause 1, article 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

If a business trip involves negotiations with partners, lunch at a restaurant can be spent as entertainment expenses. Within 4 percent of the wage fund, such expenses reduce taxable profit (clause 2 of Article 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Another situation is possible. Additional services may be mentioned on the hotel bill, but their cost is not separately stated. In this case, they must be taken into account in the cost of living. Following this principle, even expenses for excursions and entertainment, the cost of which cannot be separated from the cost of accommodation or travel, can be paid for travel allowances.

Example 4

Sports non-profit organization“Stinol” held training camps in Turkey in 2000. Athletes traveled to these training camps on vouchers, the price of which included excursions and an entertainment program. During the inspection, inspectors attributed the cost of vouchers to the income of athletes and assessed additional contributions to Stinol off-budget funds. The organization refused to pay, and in court it managed to win a dispute with the inspectorate. Since it was impossible to separate the cost of excursions from the price of vouchers, the judges decided that Stinol rightfully attributed the entire amount to travel expenses (resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Central District of November 20, 2003 in case No. A36-69/16-03).

V. Kalgin, PB expert

In order for an organization to be able to do so, it is necessary to:

Confirm expenses with documents;

Justify the economic feasibility and production nature of the business trip;

Link the business trip to the activities of the organization, which is aimed at generating income.

Please note that it is at these moments tax authorities pay attention during inspections.

Economic feasibility of business trip expenses. The economic feasibility of expenses can be confirmed by the following documents:

Service assignment;

A report on its implementation;

Business correspondence with partners;

A concluded agreement.

And if the business trip did not give a positive result and the agreement with business partner was not concluded? Can business trip expenses be considered economically justified in this case?

According to tax authorities, the absence of a result in the form of concluded agreements or other signed documents does not indicate the non-productive nature of travel expenses (Letter of the Federal Tax Service for Moscow dated August 11, 2009 N 16-15/082607.2). Consequently, even if the agreement is not signed, the organization can take into account business trip expenses when calculating income tax.

Arbitration courts share the same opinion (Resolutions of the Federal Antimonopoly Service UO dated 04/15/2008 N F09-2237/08-S2 and N F09-184/08-S3 dated 03/06/2008, FAS MO dated 09/18/2007, 09/25/2007 N KA-A40 /9510-07 and dated November 29, 2007 N KA-A40/12363-07, FAS North-West District dated September 25, 2007 N A56-52300/2006 and dated December 26, 2005 N A44-2051/2005-9).

The procedure for reflecting business trip expenses in tax accounting. If an organization uses the accrual method, then expenses are accepted for tax purposes in reporting period to which they belong. In this case, the time of actual payment Money or any other form of payment does not matter.

The date of incurring business trip expenses is the date of approval of the advance report (clause 5, clause 7, article 272 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). This means that business trip expenses will reduce the taxable income of the month in which the advance report is approved by the head of the organization.

All expenses in foreign currency indicated in the advance report must be converted into rubles on the date of its approval.

Daily allowance. While living outside the place of residence, the employee bears additional expenses. To compensate for them, the employer is obliged to pay the posted employee daily allowance.

When calculating income tax, an organization can include in expenses the entire amount of daily allowance paid to an employee, without any restrictions. He does not need to confirm the expenditure of daily allowances with specific checks, receipts or other expense documents. This is stated in the Letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated December 3, 2009 N 3-2-09/362.

The organization's expenses for the payment of daily allowances can be confirmed by calculation, for example accounting certificate. For this calculation, you can use an order for sending on a business trip and travel documents, on the basis of which the time of departure from the place of work of the posted worker and the time of his arrival at the specified place are established (Letter of the Federal Tax Service for Moscow dated 08.08.2008 N 28-11/074505) .

Travel expenses to and from the business trip. An organization can take into account travel expenses when sending an employee on a business trip, including a foreign one, when calculating income tax (clause 12, clause 1, article 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

When sent on a business trip by rail, employees have the right to purchase tickets for luxury carriages. In this case, the ticket price includes paid services (food, basic necessities and hygiene items, printed materials and personal safety services).

According to experts from the Ministry of Finance, since the cost of additional services determines the cost of travel railway, the cost of a train ticket can be fully taken into account when calculating income tax (Letter dated July 24, 2008 N 03-03-06/2/93).

Employees sent on business trips abroad can purchase air tickets at the business class fare. Since the provisions of the Tax Code do not contain restrictions on the amount of reimbursement of the cost of travel of an organization employee to the place of business trip and back, the organization can fully take into account the costs of purchasing this ticket when calculating income tax (Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated April 21, 2006 N 03-03-04/ 2/114).

In addition, organizations have the right to include in the expenses taken into account for tax purposes the costs of chartering an aircraft on which the employee traveled to the place of business trip and back, as well as the costs of paying for the services of a luxury lounge (official delegation hall), equipped additional funds communications. But only on condition that these expenses are documented and the employer can justify their economic feasibility (Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 06/07/2007 N 03-03-06/1/365).

Arbitration courts adhere to a similar position (Resolutions of the FAS MO dated January 26, 2009 N KA-A40/13294-08 and FAS UO dated February 17, 2009 N F09-462/09-S3).

If travel expenses are not documented. Travel expenses without supporting documents cannot be taken into account when calculating income tax. Therefore, it is advisable for an organization to take advantage of the advice given by specialists from the Ministry of Finance in Letter dated 02/05/2010 N 03-03-05/18: if a travel document issued on a strict reporting form is lost, it can be replaced by a duplicate, a copy of the ticket remaining at the disposal of the transport organization , or a certificate from the transport organization. The certificate must indicate the following details:

Last name, first name, patronymic of the individual who carried out the trip;

His route;

Ticket price;

Travel date.

E-ticket. To go on a business trip to a foreign country, an employee can purchase a railway or air ticket issued in a non-documentary form. In this case, a printout can be used as supporting documents electronic document(air ticket) for on paper and boarding pass (Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 09/08/2006 N 03-03-04/1/660).

To confirm the costs of paying for an electronic ticket, the employee must submit one of the following documents:

Cash register receipt;

Slip, check electronic terminals when carrying out operations using bank card, the holder of which is the employee. In this case, you will additionally need confirmation from the bank in which the employee has opened a card account about the transaction carried out to pay for the electronic air ticket;

Another document evidencing payment for transportation, drawn up on an approved strict reporting form (Letters of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 05.02.2010 N 03-03-05/18, dated 22.03.2010 N 03-03-06/1/168, dated 10.02. 2010 N 03-03-06/1/59, dated 02/05/2010 N 03-03-07/4, dated 01/18/2010 N 03-03-07/2).

Travel by taxi. An organization may include in its expenses the cost of taxi travel for employees (provided that the expenses are documented and economically justified):

To the airport when sent on a business trip outside the territory of the Russian Federation (Letters of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated May 22, 2007 N 03-03-06/2/82, Federal Tax Service for Moscow dated December 19, 2007 N 28-11/121388);

To the place of business trip and back (Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated May 12, 2008 N 03-03-06/2/47).

On business trips abroad, employees often use taxis to get around the city. Can such expenses be taken into account when calculating income tax?

According to experts from the Ministry of Finance, reducing the tax base by the amount of expenses for travel by taxi for a posted employee is possible only if they are documented and economically justified. The responsibility for checking the economic justification of expenses incurred by the taxpayer is assigned to the tax authorities (Letter dated July 31, 2009 N 03-03-06/1/505).

Therefore, it is advisable for the employer to provide for the possibility of paying for taxi services in the local regulations of the organization (for example, in the regulations on business trips).

Expenses for renting residential premises are fully taken into account when calculating income tax on the basis of documents from hotels (clause 12, clause 1, article 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). An employee can confirm living expenses with a hotel account, a cashier's check and checks issued for transactions using plastic cards(Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated February 16, 2009 N 03-03-05/23).

If living expenses are not confirmed by primary documents, then they are not taken into account when calculating income tax (Article 252 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). The organization compensates the employee for these costs from net profit. Experts from the Ministry of Finance came to this conclusion in Letter dated 04/28/2010 N 03-03-06/4/51.

The costs of processing and issuing visas are taken into account as part of travel expenses, but only if the business trip takes place. If, due to the prevailing circumstances, the employee did not go on a business trip, the costs of processing and issuing single, three-entry and annual visas, in the opinion of the Ministry of Finance, cannot be taken into account as expenses for profit tax purposes (Letter dated May 6, 2006 N 03-03-04 /2/134).

If foreign business trip did not take place. Let's assume that the foreign business trip did not take place and the employee of the organization returned the ticket to the box office. When refunding the cost of the ticket, part of the money transport company holds. According to officials, the withheld amounts of an organization can be included in non-operating expenses when calculating income tax as sanctions for violation of contractual obligations (Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated September 25, 2009 N 03-03-06/1/616).

Arbitration courts take a similar position. True, unlike officials, they believe that unrefunded amounts of the organization can be included in travel expenses on the basis of paragraphs. 12 clause 1 art. 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation (Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service NWO dated 07/09/2009 N A21-6746/2008).

Other expenses. An organization can use the services of specialized institutions, including travel companies, for booking and placing its employees in hotels on the basis of an agreement for the provision of a range of services (business trips, events). An organization can take into account the costs of paying for the services of specialized institutions when calculating income tax on the basis of an invoice and a certificate of completion of work, which deciphers the cost of each service. This is stated in the Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated May 12, 2008 N 03-03-06/2/47.

Business trips and personal income tax

Documented travel expenses are not included in tax base when calculating personal income tax (clause 3 of article 217 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Reimbursement by the organization of such expenses is a compensation payment. The criterion for classifying payments as compensation is their intended purpose (Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the North-West District dated 01/09/2004 N A56-14042/03). That is, the employer can compensate the employee without personal income tax withholding those expenses that did not bring economic benefit to the latter.

An exception to this rule is per diem. Personal income tax is withheld only from daily allowance amounts that exceed the norms established by clause 3 of Art. 217 Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

According to this norm, amounts of no more than 700 rubles are non-taxable. for each day of a business trip within the territory of the Russian Federation and 2500 rubles. - for each day of a business trip abroad (Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 02/06/2009 N 03-03-06/1/41).

The actual amount of daily allowance paid to an employee when he is sent on a business trip may exceed the amount of daily allowance exempt from personal income tax (Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated October 29, 2009 N 03-04-06-01/274).

In this case, the amount of daily allowance that is paid in excess specified sizes, is subject to personal income tax (Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated April 15, 2009 N 03-04-06-01/97).

In addition, from the amount of compensation for living expenses on a business trip abroad, not supported by documents and exceeding 2,500 rubles. for each day of a business trip abroad, the employer must withhold personal income tax from the taxpayer (paragraph 10, paragraph 3, article 217 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

As a rule, when traveling outside the Russian Federation, daily allowances are issued to employees in foreign currency. For personal income tax calculations the amount of daily allowance in foreign currency must be converted into rubles at the exchange rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation on the date of payment (Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 01.02.2008 N 03-04-06-01/27).

The Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated October 6, 2009 N 03-04-06-01/256 states: when filling out a certificate of income of an individual in Form N 2- personal income tax amount daily allowance exceeding established dimensions, should be reflected in section. 3 according to income code 4800 “Other income” in accordance with the reference book “Income Codes” given in the Appendix to the Order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated October 13, 2006 N SAE-3-04/706@.

Example. Oryol Souvenir LLC has approved a regulation on business trips, according to which:

1) daily allowance for business trips within the territory:

Russia - 1000 rubles;

Germany - 55 euros;

Austria - 60 euros;

2) the amount of expenses for renting residential premises on the territory:

Russia - 1500 rubles;

Germany - 200 euros;

Austria - 130 euros.

An employee of the organization goes on a business trip on March 26, on March 27 he must cross the German border, on March 29 - the Austrian border, on March 30 - return to Russia, on March 31 - come to Oryol.

March 20, 2010 Ivanov A.A. received 1,500 euros and 9,200 rubles for a business trip to the European Union.

On April 3, 2010, the employee’s advance report was approved, the amount of expenses for which was 1,420 euros and 10,000 rubles.

On the same day, the employee handed over 80 euros to the cashier and received an overexpenditure on the ruble advance in the amount of 800 rubles.

The exchange rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation was:

The daily allowance for business trips within the territory is:

Russia - 1000 rubles;

Germany - 2190.96 rubles. (55 euros x 39.8357 rubles/euro);

Austria - 2390.14 rubles (60 euros x 39.8357 rubles/euro).

Thus, the organization pays daily allowances in excess of the norms not subject to personal income tax only for business trips within the territory of Russia. The amount of daily allowance within the norm is 2100 rubles. (700 rubles x 3 days), and the excess amount subject to personal income tax is 900 rubles. ((1000 - 700) rub. x 3 days). It must be included in the employee’s taxable income and indicated on the individual’s individual card (Form N 1-NDFL).

The following entry was made in the accounting records of Orlovsky Souvenir LLC:

Debit 70 Credit 68, subaccount “Personal Income Tax Payments” - 127 rubles. (900 rub. x 13%) - personal income tax is withheld from excess daily allowance.

Travel expenses. Quite often, business travelers use the airport’s VIP lounge services. The hall of officials and delegations is organized at checkpoints through State border of the Russian Federation within railway stations, sea and river ports, airports open for international traffic (clause 1 of the Regulations on the halls of officials and delegations, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of September 19, 1996 N 1116). Payment for use of the officials' lounge is made in cash directly in the VIP lounge.

According to specialists from the main financial department, payment for such services is not mandatory. This means that such payments do not apply to travel expenses. Therefore, when sending an employee on a business trip, the organization’s expenses for paying for the services of the hall of official delegations should be considered as income subject to personal income tax(Letters dated December 28, 2006 N 03-05-01-04/346, dated September 6, 2007 N 03-05-06-01/99).

The arbitration judges believe that payment for the services of the VIP room is a compensation payment to reimburse the employee’s expenses caused by the need to perform labor functions outside the place of permanent work. Consequently, these payments are not subject to personal income tax (Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service VSO dated 04.03.2008 N A33-12597/07-F02-598/08).

The same opinion is shared by the FAS MO (Resolution of May 25, 2009 N KA-A40/4142-09 in case N A40-28575/08-129-83), FAS PO (Resolution of April 24, 2007 in case N A55-4391/2006 -10).

Travel by taxi. Amounts paid by an organization for an employee's taxi travel to the airport or train station at places of departure, destination or transfers are among the compensation payments associated with the taxpayer's performance of labor duties and are not subject to personal income tax (Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 06/05/2006 N 03-05-01 -04/148).

Amounts of compensation to employees for the cost of travel by taxi from the hotel to the place of work due to absence public transport are not subject to personal income tax, but only if they are of a production nature, documented and determined by a collective agreement or other normative act(Letter of the Federal Tax Service for Moscow dated December 24, 2009 N 20-20/3/3535).

The amount of expenses of a posted employee for taxi travel to the destination and back is not subject to personal income tax (Letter of the Federal Tax Service for Moscow dated December 19, 2007 N 28-11/121388.1).

As for taxi trips around the city at the place of business trip, compensation for such expenses is included in the employee’s income and is subject to personal income tax (Letter of the Federal Tax Service for Moscow dated July 14, 2006 N 28-11/62271).

Living expenses. Sometimes an employee of an organization, when returning from a business trip, submits a hotel bill for reporting, in which the cost of breakfast is indicated as a separate line. The question arises: is it necessary to withhold personal income tax in the case when an organization compensates an employee for travel expenses, taking into account the cost of food in a hotel?

According to experts from the Ministry of Finance, payment for food, the cost of which is included in the cost of hotel accommodation, is not reimbursement for the cost of renting a living space. Therefore, the organization must withhold personal income tax from the cost of breakfasts (Letter dated October 14, 2009 N 03-04-06-01/263).

In addition, since the specified payment does not apply to the compensation provided for in paragraphs. 2 p. 1 art. 9 Federal Law N 212-FZ, the employer must charge insurance contributions to extra-budgetary funds from the cost of food.

If an organization compensates an employee for living or travel expenses without supporting documents, then it is obliged to withhold personal income tax from these amounts (Article 210 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

One day business trip. The organization can compensate employees sent on a one-day business trip for food expenses. The employer must withhold personal income tax from this amount (Letter of the Federal Tax Service for Moscow dated May 7, 2009 N 20-15/3/045313@).

Please note that if the business trip does not take place, the costs of paying for visa services are not taken into account when calculating income tax. At the same time, such expenses are not included in the employee’s taxable income (Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated May 6, 2006 N 03-03-04/2/134).

Insurance contributions to extra-budgetary funds

Since January 1, 2010, instead of the unified social tax, organizations pay insurance contributions to extra-budgetary funds on the basis of Federal Law N 212-FZ.

The object of taxation with insurance premiums is payments to employees under employment contracts (Clause 1, Article 7 of Federal Law No. 212-FZ).

In this case, insurance premiums are not subject to payments listed in Art. 9 of this Law. In particular, compensation payments provided for by current legislation related to the implementation of an individual labor duties (clause 2, clause 1, article 9 of Federal Law No. 212-FZ).

When paying for travel expenses, provided they are documented (Clause 2, Article 9 of Federal Law No. 212-FZ), the following are not subject to insurance contributions:

Daily allowance;

Travel expenses to and from your destination;

Airport service charges;

Commission fees;

Travel expenses to the airport or train station at places of departure, destination or transfers;

Baggage costs;

Expenses for renting residential premises;

Expenses for payment of communication services;

Fees for issuing (receiving) visas;

Costs of exchanging cash or a bank check for cash in foreign currency.

If the employee has not provided documents confirming payment of expenses for renting a living space, then the amounts of such expenses are exempt from insurance premiums within the limits established in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.

Contributions from industrial accidents and occupational diseases

Contributions for accidents at work and occupational diseases are calculated on the income of employees. An exception is the payments listed in the List of Payments, for which insurance contributions to the Social Insurance Fund are not calculated. Russian Federation, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated July 7, 1999 N 765 (hereinafter referred to as the List of Payments).

According to clause 10 of the List of Payments, contributions are not accrued on amounts paid in the form of reimbursement and compensation within the limits established by the legislation of the Russian Federation:

Daily allowance within the limits established by law;

Payment of housing rental costs;

Compensation for the cost of tickets;

Reimbursement of other expenses related to the employee’s performance of work duties.

As is known, from January 1, 2009, the daily allowance norm established by law is 100 rubles. (Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation dated 02/08/2002 N 93), canceled on the basis of Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated 29/12/2008 N 1043.

Therefore, charge insurance premiums for insurance against accidents at work and occupational diseases should only apply to daily allowance amounts that exceed the daily allowance amount established by the collective agreement or local regulations. This is stated in the Letter of the FSS of the Russian Federation dated March 18, 2009 N 02-18/07-2165.

If an organization pays daily allowances to posted employees in the amount established by a collective agreement or local regulations, insurance premiums for insurance against industrial accidents and occupational diseases should not be charged.

Value added tax

VAT deduction is possible only if goods, works or services were purchased on the territory of the Russian Federation (clause 2 of Article 171 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). If the point of departure or destination is located outside the territory of the Russian Federation, services for the transportation of passengers and baggage, issued on the basis of uniform international transportation documents, are subject to VAT at a rate of 0% (clause 4, clause 1, article 164 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Consequently, the cost of a railway or air ticket to the place of business trip in foreign countries and back VAT is not included.

If in travel documents purchased in the CIS countries the VAT amount is indicated as a separate line, it cannot be presented to tax deduction.

The fact is that, as a general rule, the place of sale of work (services) is the place of activity of the organization or individual entrepreneur who performs work (provides services). The cases listed in paragraphs. 1 - 4 p. 1 tbsp. 148 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, - an exception to of this rule. In these situations, the services are considered to be provided in Russia.

There are no exceptions for rail transport. Consequently, in such cases, the place of provision of the service is the territory of the state in which the carrier operates.

Therefore, if a railway or air ticket is purchased in another state, it turns out that the services were provided by the carrier outside the Russian Federation. This means that the “input” VAT allocated in travel documents cannot be claimed as a tax deduction.

A business trip is a trip by an employee to another area to carry out an official assignment outside the place of his permanent work by order of the employer. Business trips of employees whose permanent work takes place on the road or is of a traveling nature are not recognized as business trips.

Only a full-time employee of the company with whom an employment contract has been concluded can be sent on a business trip. A trip to another location by an employee with whom a civil contract has been concluded (for example, a contract or assignment) is not considered a business trip. If such an employee is reimbursed for expenses for a particular trip, then the amount of reimbursement is considered part of his remuneration under the contract.

The posted worker is paid:

– daily allowance;

– travel expenses to and from the business trip;

– other expenses (for example, payment for communication or postal services, visas and passports, consular and airport fees, etc.).

In accounting, travel expenses are fully included in expenses for ordinary activities. In tax accounting, such costs are included in other expenses. Daily allowances are taken into account in other expenses only within the established norms.

If daily allowances are issued within the norms, then their amount in tax accounting is included in other expenses. If daily allowances are issued in excess of the established norms, then the excess amount is not included in other expenses and does not reduce taxable profit.

One-day business trip: to pay or not? According to Article 166 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, a business trip is a trip by an employee by order of the head of a company to carry out one or another assignment outside his place of permanent work. The code does not contain any restrictions on the duration of a business trip. Therefore, in such a situation, you need to be guided by the instructions of the Ministry of Finance of the USSR, the State Committee for Labor of the USSR and the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions dated April 7, 1988 No. 62 “On official business trips within the USSR.”

This document states only maximum term business trips (40 days). There is no minimum period. Moreover, the instructions stipulate that the business trip may not exceed one day (clause 2).

A one-day business trip is issued in the usual manner. An employee goes on a business trip based on an order from the head of the company. The order is issued in form No. T-9 (if one employee is sent on a business trip) or T-9a (if several employees are sent on a business trip). These forms were approved by Decree of the State Statistics Committee of Russia dated January 5, 2004 No. 1.

If the duration of the business trip is one day, then the employee does not have to issue a travel certificate (clause 2 of the instructions of the USSR Ministry of Finance, the USSR State Committee for Labor and the All-Russian Central Council of Trade Unions dated April 7, 1988 No. 62). The fact that an employee of the company was sent on a business trip is noted in the logbook of employees leaving on business trips. The form of this journal is approved by the above instructions.

If an employee is given money to pay for certain expenses, then no later than three days after returning from a business trip, he must submit an advance report to the accounting department. The report is accompanied by all documents that confirm its expenses (for example, travel tickets, documents for baggage transportation, documents confirming the rental of residential premises, etc.).

The employee's expenses are reflected in accounting and tax accounting only after the advance report is approved by the head of the company.

For a one-day business trip, the company can pay the employee:

– travel expenses to the station at the places of departure, destination and transfers;

– one-time tickets for public transport;

– expenses for carrying luggage (for example, this or that equipment that an employee may need).

If an employee decides to stay at the place of business trip at the end of the working day, he may also be paid for the cost of renting housing. True, in this situation a business trip will not be considered a one-day trip.

As a general rule, if a company employee can return to his place of residence every day (including during a one-day business trip), then he is not paid per diem.

If the daily allowance was nevertheless issued to the employee, then their amount does not reduce the profit and is included in his total income. UST and mandatory contributions pension insurance The money issued is not taxed.

Let us remind you that this tax (compulsory pension insurance contribution) is not charged on any payments that are not taken into account when taxing profits. This is stated in Article 326 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

Whether an employee can return home or not is decided by the head of the company. In this case, the manager must take into account the distance, the nature of the work performed by

worker, the time needed for his rest.

This decision is reflected in the manager’s order, which indicates the duration of the employee’s business trip.

If the head of the company decides that the employee is not able to return home, then daily allowances are issued on a general basis (letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated March 29, 1999 No. 04-02-05/6).

In such a situation, daily allowances reduce taxable profit, are not included in the employee’s income, and are not subject to unified social tax and contributions to compulsory pension insurance. This rule applies provided that the daily allowance does not exceed the norms established by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of February 8, 2002 No. 93. If the daily allowance was issued in a larger amount, then the excess amount does not reduce the taxable profit of the company. However, it is still not subject to unified social tax and personal income tax. If an employee is paid a daily allowance, he must be issued a travel certificate.

If your business trip is canceled The business trip was planned in advance. On the eve of departure it was canceled as there was no longer a need for it. However, the funds have already been spent: tickets were purchased, visas were obtained, and amounts were issued for travel expenses.

It is clear that the accountable money will be returned. But what about other expenses?

You can usually get a refund for unused tickets. However, not the entire amount is returned. But you cannot get the visa fees back.

All these costs are non-productive. In accounting they are classified as non-operating expenses (PBU 10/99). To recognize costs in tax accounting, they must be economically justified. In this case, it is difficult to link the costs of a canceled business trip with profit.

The penalty that will be withheld when returning tickets can be justified as the cost of a fine for violating the contract of carriage. Such fines may reduce taxable profit (subclause 13, clause 1, article 265 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). But in this case, be prepared to defend your position in court.

As a rule, such expenses are insignificant and rare. Therefore, if you want to avoid disputes with tax authorities, it is better not to reduce taxable profit on them.

Example In December 2005, Passiv LLC planned a business trip for its employee Semenov to the Czech Republic. The purpose of the business trip is to conclude an agreement with a potential buyer. A visa was obtained in advance and air tickets were purchased.

The cost of air tickets was 7,500 rubles. Payment was made through a bank account. To account for travel expenses, Semenov was given 8,000 rubles from the company’s cash desk.

The Passiv accountant made the following entries:

DEBIT 76 CREDIT 51

– 7500 rub. – the cost of tickets has been paid;

DEBIT 50-3 CREDIT 76

– 7500 rub. – air tickets received;

DEBIT 71 CREDIT 50

– 8000 rub. – money was given to the employee.

On the day of departure, a fax was received from a potential client stating that he was canceling the deal. The business trip was cancelled. Semenov returned the money to the company’s cash desk:

DEBIT 50 CREDIT 71

– 8000 rub. – the unspent accountable amount was returned.

The plane tickets were returned. The agency returned their cost in the amount of 7,000 rubles. and withheld a penalty of 500 rubles.

The following entries were made in accounting:

DEBIT 76 CREDIT 50-3

– 7500 rub. – tickets returned;

DEBIT 51 CREDIT 76

– 7000 rub. – received the cost of tickets;

DEBIT 91-2 CREDIT 76

– 500 rub. – the amount of the penalty for returning the ticket is included in non-operating expenses.

In tax accounting, the withheld penalty (500 rubles) is not accepted for profit tax purposes.

Force majeure on a business trip The employee is on a business trip. However, he cannot return from it on time for objective reasons: bad weather, flood, quarantine. What should the company pay when the employee arrives?

The company must compensate the employee:

– daily allowance;

– expenses for renting residential premises.

These costs will reduce taxable profit (subclause 6, clause 2, article 265 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

In accounting they are reflected as extraordinary expenses (clause 13 of PBU 10/99). However, in practice, it is sometimes difficult to obtain documents confirming the fact of an emergency. So it's easier to do it this way.

An order must be issued to extend the business trip. In this case, you can write off the costs as normal travel expenses. The accountant will reflect all this with postings:

DEBIT 20 (26, 10, 08...) CREDIT 71

– business trip expenses are written off.

To avoid problems, you need to ask the partner company to which the employee is sent to put in travel certificate departure marks on the day when the employee will actually leave the business trip. That is, days of business travel will also include days of natural disaster.

If for some reason this cannot be done, you can justify the costs only with an extension order and tickets. However, in this case, disagreements may arise with the tax authorities during the audit. An additional argument in your favor can be the letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated December 6, 2002 No. 16-00-16/158. It says that to confirm a business trip, only one order is sufficient.

An employee on a business trip fell ill

The employee was sent on a business trip within Russia. At that moment he fell ill.

After the employee returns, the company must reimburse him for his daily allowance for the period of illness, expenses for renting living quarters and sick leave (Article 168 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, joint instruction of the USSR Ministry of Finance, the USSR State Committee for Labor and the All-Russian Central Council of Trade Unions dated April 7, 1988 No. 62 “On business trips within the USSR").

If an employee was treated in a hospital, then for these days he is not paid the cost of renting a living space. The company can reimburse daily allowances for illness during a business trip for a period not exceeding two months (clause 16 of the joint instruction of the USSR Ministry of Finance, the USSR State Committee for Labor and the All-Russian Central Council of Trade Unions dated April 7, 1988 No. 62).

Please note: sick leave can only be paid if the employee has a properly completed sick leave certificate.

If a company sends a part-time worker on a business trip, then such employee will take leave without pay at his main place of work. wages(at your own expense). If an employee falls ill during this period, he is not paid sick leave (clause 15 of the Resolution of the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Council of Trade Unions of November 12, 1984 No. 13-6).

It may happen that an employee wishes to receive his sick leave during a business trip (for example, if the illness is long-lasting). In this case, the company can send him this amount. Shipping costs reduce taxable profit (subclause 25, clause 1, article 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

As for renting housing and daily allowances, such expenses in tax accounting are included in expenses that reduce taxable profit (clause 12 of Article 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). However, when checking, tax authorities may refer to the fact that the costs are not economically justified. To avoid problems, we advise you to provide for these costs in a collective or employment agreement. Then, during inspections, it will be possible to refer to paragraph 25 of Article 255 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. It says that labor costs include expenses incurred in favor of employees and provided for in contracts.

Example

In 2005, Semenov, an employee of Passiv LLC, went on a business trip to Bryansk for the period from May 1 to May 15. On May 5, the employee fell ill and was able to begin fulfilling his duties. official duties 9th May. The fact of incapacity for work was confirmed by a sick leave certificate issued by the Bryansk clinic.

The treatment was carried out on an outpatient basis (that is, the employee was not in the hospital). By sick leave benefits were accrued in the amount of 1900 rubles.

The employee returned from a business trip on time - May 15. The cost of staying at the hotel was 500 rubles. per day.

The company paid daily allowances within the established norms - 100 rubles. per day.

The employment contract concluded with Semenov provides for reimbursement of expenses in the event of an employee’s illness while on a business trip.

The Passiv accountant made accounting entries:

DEBIT 71 CREDIT 50

– 9000 rub. – the amount for daily allowance and rental housing on the day of departure was issued for reporting;

DEBIT 20 CREDIT 71

– 9000 rub. ((500 rub. + 100 rub.) ґ 15 days) - included in daily allowance costs and rental housing costs;

DEBIT 69 CREDIT 70

– 1900 rub. – temporary disability benefits have been accrued;

DEBIT 70 CREDIT 68 subaccount “Personal Tax Payments”

– 247 rub. (RUB 1,900 = 13%) – personal income tax is withheld from temporary disability benefits;

DEBIT 70 CREDIT 50

– 1653 rub. (1900 – 247) – temporary disability benefits were paid to the employee.

In tax accounting the amount is 9000 rubles. will reduce the firm's taxable income.

What about employees sent on business trips abroad?

Previously, companies were guided by Decree of the USSR State Committee for Labor of December 25, 1974 No. 365. However, since January 17, 2003, this document has lost force. In practice, now all expenses for business trips abroad (daily allowance, expenses for renting accommodation) are reimbursed in the same manner as for business trips in Russia.

An employee who falls ill on a business trip abroad will be reimbursed for:

– daily allowance;

– expenses for renting residential premises;

– sick leave.

The company must reimburse the daily allowance in the manner established by the joint letter of the Ministry of Labor of Russia and the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated May 17, 1996 No. 1037-IH. So, if an employee was in several places during a business trip foreign countries, then when leaving one country for another, daily allowances are paid according to the standards of the country where the employee is entering.

Expenses for renting residential premises are reimbursed in the amount of actual costs, confirmed by documents.

As for sick leave, one point must be taken into account: they are paid only on the basis of a document on incapacity for work, drawn up in accordance with Order No. 5 of the Ministry of Health and Medical Industry of Russia dated January 13, 1995. Therefore, when the employee returns from a business trip abroad, he will need to replace the documents , confirming his illness (clause 1.10 of the joint order of the Ministry of Health and Medical Industry of Russia dated October 19, 1994 No. 206 and resolution of the Federal Social Insurance Fund of the Russian Federation dated October 19, 1994 No. 21). This will be done by the attending physician at the employee’s place of residence, and will be approved by the clinic administration.

Informal documents All expenses associated with a business trip must be documented. There are usually no problems with air and train tickets - they are usually issued on standard forms. But in a hotel, in confirmation of payment, employees are often given a cash receipt order, a receipt, or a document completely unknown to accounting science.

Let's figure out whether a hotel receipt is required to confirm living expenses.

As a general rule, when paying in cash, you need to use a cash register. However, hotels can issue strict reporting forms instead of checks - this follows from the law on cash register equipment. Currently, Order No. 121 of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated December 13, 1993 is in force, approving the form of a hotel account (Form No. 3-G). If a hotel issues such a form, then it has the right not to use the cash register.

But even if the hotel does not issue an invoice in Form No. 3-G or a cash register receipt, but issues, for example, a cash receipt order, the costs of renting housing can still be included in expenses. The fact is that the Tax Code of the Russian Federation does not specify which documents must be used to confirm travel expenses. Therefore, the inspection must accept any document drawn up in accordance with accounting rules.

Example

During an on-site inspection of Petromontazh LLC, the inspection decided that some of the company’s travel expenses were incorrectly documented. The costs of hotel accommodation were confirmed by a receipt, which is not a strict reporting form. At the same time, there was no KKM receipt from the hotel either. Inspectors assessed additional income taxes and penalties on the company. Petromontazh refused to pay and filed a claim in the arbitration court.

The court supported the company and canceled the requirements of the Tax Inspectorate. The primary document confirming living expenses contained all the details required by the Law “On Accounting”: name, date of preparation, content of the transaction, signatures of officials. Consequently, it can serve as confirmation of the costs of renting housing (Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the North-Western District dated February 16, 2004 No. A56-14779/03).

In fact, during a business trip, an employee can live not only in a hotel, but also in residential premises that are not part of the hotel complex. In this case, the cost of renting housing can be confirmed by a document drawn up in any form (Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the North-Western District dated June 4, 2003 No. A56-26589/02). It is only important that it indicates the cost of living, the date, the name of the organization and a signature. But it’s still better if the costs of travel and renting premises are confirmed by strict reporting forms. The fact is that on the basis of the BSO, you can without question deduct VAT, which is included in the cost of hotel services.

Trip of a “non-employee” It happens that a person is sent on a business trip who is not officially listed as an employee of the company. There may be a variety of reasons for this: the employee may be on the staff of another, “friendly” company, or he may even receive an unofficial salary.

In this case, during the inspection, inspectors may consider that payments to this employee (daily allowance, travel and accommodation) are not compensation for a business trip, but his income. The company will be charged additional income tax and personal income tax.

At first glance, the inspectors are right. The Labor Code of the Russian Federation defines a business trip as “a trip by an employee by order of the employer” (Article 166 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). And an employment contract must be concluded between the employee and the employer (Article 56 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). If there is no employment contract, then payment of daily allowances, travel and accommodation cannot be included in expenses as business trip expenses and are not subject to personal income tax exemption.

But we can think differently. The fact that an employee began to carry out the company’s assignments in itself indicates that he is fulfilling his job duties. And if the employee starts work, then the employment contract is automatically considered concluded (Article 67 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

Therefore, even if the company and the employee have not drawn up an employment contract on paper, the costs of such an employee’s business trip can be taken into account when calculating income tax and there is no need to pay personal income tax on them. The same opinion is shared by arbitration courts (see, for example, decisions of the FAS Moscow District dated December 5, 2003 No. KA-A40/9726-03, FAS Volga-Vyatka District dated July 29, 2003 No. A31-541/1).

Of course, in order to avoid claims during verification, fixed-term employment contracts can be drawn up during business trips. But, even if this is not done, the costs of traveling on company assignments should still be considered travel expenses.

Business trip "in reverse" Typically, an employee goes on a business trip from the city in which the company is located. Could the start of a business trip be some other locality?

Often inspectors believe that this is impossible. One such dispute was considered by the Federal Arbitration Court of the Northwestern District.

Example

The company, registered in St. Petersburg, hired Yuri Drugov, who lives in Moscow, as a consultant. According to the contract, his place of work was the city of Moscow, but he had to regularly report to the company and, if necessary, come to St. Petersburg in person. Such trips were formalized as business trips. But during the inspection, the inspection decided that trips to the company’s location cannot be considered business trips. Consequently, the company inflated its costs. The company did not agree with the controllers' decision and filed a claim in the arbitration court.

The dispute was resolved in favor of the company. A business trip is a trip to carry out an official assignment outside the employee’s place of permanent work. Since the trips of the Moscow consultant were of this nature, the company legally compensated the employee for them (Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the North-Western District dated January 9, 2004 No. A56-14042/03).

Thus, expenses include the cost of travel for an employee from his place of work to the place where he must perform a business trip. The place of work is indicated in the employment contract with the employee, and it may not coincide with the city in which the company is registered. And there are no restrictions at all regarding the destination of the business trip. Consequently, an employee can go on a business trip to both the central division of the company and one of its branches.

Trip without result Not every business trip ends with the completion of the assigned task. For example, the planned signing of a contract may not take place. In general, a business trip may not end with some “material” result. But even in this case, travel expenses should be taken into account when calculating income tax, and you do not need to pay personal income tax on them. Sometimes inspectors try to challenge this, but to no avail.

Example

The tax inspectorate conducted an on-site inspection of Granma CJSC. Inspectors found that in 2001 the company sent employees to regions in which it had no counterparties. In addition, as a result of the business trips, no agreements, protocols of intent, etc. were signed. The inspectors decided that the business trips were non-productive in nature and assessed additional income tax to the company. Granma went to court and won the case. The judges indicated that the absence of specific results does not change the nature of the travel expenses. Since the business trip was correctly documented, the company reasonably included it in expenses (Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Moscow District dated September 17, 2003 No. KA-A40/6781-03).

Thus, regardless of the outcome, travel expenses reduce tax profits. It is only important that the purpose of the business trip be formulated (in an order or in a travel assignment) and that this purpose is related to the activities of the company.

On assignment - with insurance As a rule, when purchasing a train or air ticket, a health insurance policy is sold as a bonus. In fact, insurance in this case is voluntary, and by purchasing a ticket, you can refuse the insurance policy. However, the cashiers who sell tickets “forget” to remind you about this. Although the price of insurance is small, we will figure out whether it can be included in expenses and whether you will have to pay personal income tax.

The cost of the policy cannot be classified as travel expenses. Nevertheless, voluntary insurance of employees can be taken into account when taxing profits if we are talking about insurance “solely in the event of the death of the insured person or loss of the insured person’s ability to work in connection with the performance of his work duties” (Clause 16 of Article 255 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). The policy sold with the ticket provides coverage for just such an eventuality, so it can be included as an expense.

Since the policy provides life and health insurance for an employee, there is no need to withhold personal income tax from its cost (clause 3 of Article 213 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). There is also no need to accrue the unified social tax (subclause 7, clause 1, article 238 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

VIP room, food and entertainment

In addition to travel and accommodation, a number of other expenses may be associated with business trips. This is the employee’s use of the official and delegation lounge at the airport (the so-called VIP lounge), a minibar in a hotel, food in a restaurant, etc. Usually the employee is not paid for such expenses. And if the company does compensate for them, they do so at the expense of net profit and withhold personal income tax. But in some cases there is no need to pay extra taxes. Let's consider such situations.

Regarding the VIP-hall, there is an official position of the Moscow Department of the Ministry of Taxes and Taxes, based on the explanations of the Ministry of Taxes of Russia (letter of the Ministry of Taxes in Moscow dated August 7, 2003 No. 27-08a/43214). By compensating for these expenses, the company does not withhold personal income tax if the use of the VIP lounge is provided for by the company’s business travel regulations. Approve this provision and you will not have to pay personal income tax. Official clarifications do not concern income tax, but, in our opinion, such costs can also be taken into account in tax accounting, since the VIP lounge is directly related to the trip.

In principle, the business travel regulations can include expenses for meals in a restaurant, a minibar and other additional services in a hotel room. In this case, by paying for them, the company will compensate the employee for “other expenses incurred with the permission or knowledge of the employer” (Article 168 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). In this situation, the company is not obliged to pay personal income tax. But during an inspection, inspectors are unlikely to agree with this, and such expenses cannot be taken into account in tax accounting (subclause 12, clause 1, article 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

If a business trip involves negotiations with partners, lunch at a restaurant can be spent as entertainment expenses. Within 4 percent of the wage fund, such expenses reduce taxable profit (clause 2 of Article 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Another situation is possible. Additional services may be mentioned on the hotel invoice, but their costs are not indicated separately. In this case, they must be taken into account in the cost of living. Following this principle, even expenses for excursions and entertainment, the cost of which cannot be separated from the cost of accommodation or travel, can be paid for travel allowances.

Example

The sports non-profit organization "Stinol" held training camps in Turkey. Athletes traveled to these training camps on vouchers, the price of which included excursions and an entertainment program. During the inspection, inspectors attributed the cost of vouchers to the athletes’ income and added additional contributions to Stinol to extra-budgetary funds.

The organization refused to pay, and in court it managed to win a dispute with the inspectorate. Since it was impossible to separate the cost of excursions from the price of vouchers, the judges decided that Stinol rightfully attributed the entire amount to travel expenses (Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Central District dated November 20, 2003 No. A36-69/16-03).