Covering letter for the clarification. Any “clarification” arouses increased interest among inspectors. The logic here is simple - since there is an error in reporting, there may be other violations. You can find them during a desk check of the updated declaration. Or during an unscheduled on-site audit, the formal grounds for which are provided by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

Inspectors often refuse to accept repeated declarations without a letter. Of course, this is illegal, but we recommend not arguing with officials in this case.

Irina Sidorova, financial consultant at the Nalogovik law firm:

— The Tax Code of the Russian Federation is devoted to the updated declaration and the rules for its submission to the tax office.

Fortunately, legal norms do not require companies to accompany the indicators of the updated declaration with additional written explanations.

But, in my opinion, the demands of tax inspectors to attach a cover letter to the “clarification” make common sense.

A written explanation of all corrections made to a previously filed declaration will protect the organization from tax authorities’ suspicion of dishonesty. And accordingly, it will save the company from additional questions during a desk audit.

Which capital tax inspectorates require a cover letter?

Covering letter for the clarification. We called the capital's inspectorates and found out whether it is necessary to attach a covering letter with explanations to the repeated declaration.

In Moscow Federal Tax Service No. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 25, 26, 27, 32, 34, 35, 36, 37, 43 believe that a cover letter must be attached to the “clarification”. They recommended writing it to the head of the inspection, indicating your details - company name, INN/KPP, contact phone number. If the documents will be delivered by a courier, a power of attorney must be issued for him.

The Federal Tax Service No. 7, 9, 15, 16 emphasized that only the general director has the right to sign the letter. The signature of the chief accountant will not be enough.

In the Federal Tax Service No. 8, 35, if an additional amount of taxes is transferred, they asked to make a list of attachments: copies of payment orders for the transfer of taxes and penalties. As well as calculation of the amount of arrears and penalties.

Only in inspections No. 10, 23, 24 and 30 we were told that a covering letter was desirable, but an updated declaration would be accepted without it.

How to write an explanation for a “clarification”

Covering letter for the clarification. There is no approved form for a cover letter, so you can compose it in any form (see sample below). The main thing is that it contains the information necessary for tax authorities to work with declarations.

So, let's list what should be indicated in the cover letter.

The tax for which the organization submits the “clarification”

As well as the reporting or tax period for which the organization makes adjustments.

Reasons why a company submits an updated declaration

In principle, we can limit ourselves to general formulations - arithmetic or technical errors were made. But we still recommend specifying the reason. For example, like this: “The amount of VAT was overestimated, since the company did not deduct the tax accrued from the advance received at the time of shipment.”

Or: “Income under a contract for the sale of engineering products is not included in revenue.” Focus on the situation: the more serious the error, the more details are needed. It is worth mentioning here that the error was discovered by the organization itself, and not by inspectors.

Corrected declaration lines

That is, you need to indicate which indicators have been changed - give their previous and new values. This will make it easier for inspectors to process data. It is advisable to write down each line separately, and not limit yourself only to the total amount of tax and debt that is additionally paid. Or the amount by which the tax is reduced. By the way, if an overpayment has occurred, then simultaneously with the updated declaration, you can submit an application for a tax credit or refund and refer to it in the same covering letter.

Payment details

with which they transferred the missing amount and penalties. This is necessary if there is arrears. Better yet, attach copies of these payments to the letter. Then the question of a possible fine will immediately disappear (clause 4 of Article 81 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Signature of the head of the company and seal

In addition to the general director, the chief accountant can also sign.

After submitting a VAT return to the Federal Tax Service, they may find shortcomings in it. Only those errors that directly affect the amount of tax paid for the tax period are subject to correction.

Submission of an amendment and a covering letter is required only if the tax base and amount were reduced as a result of an error, i.e. there was an underpayment (first paragraph of the first paragraph of Article 81).

If the tax amount is overestimated, the decision to clarify it remains with the company.

If the company independently discovers errors in the submitted declaration, the same it is necessary to draw up an updated declaration and attach a covering letter to it, without waiting for a request from the Federal Tax Service.

The cover letter provides clarification to the tax authorities about the reasons for re-filing the tax return. It must also include basic information about the changes made.

Read about the purpose of drawing up a cover letter for an updated and other types of declaration, and from there you will learn why and how a cover letter is drawn up to the Federal Tax Service.

Consequences in case of refusal

You can compose a cover letter in any form, indicating all of the above points. The main thing is to reflect in detail the reason for resubmitting.

In most cases, the tax office orders an audit of the company after an incorrectly completed return. It can be avoided if you succinctly and structuredly describe why an error was made in the declaration.

For example, “The amount of VAT was overestimated, since the company did not deduct the tax for the advance received at the time of shipment of the goods.”

Besides You should especially pay attention to the final amount of taxes to convince the tax inspector that there is no need for an audit.

Filling example

Covering letter for the updated VAT tax return for the __ quarter of 20__.

In accordance with paragraph __ Art. 81 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation LLC "____" submits an updated tax return for VAT for _____.

In the originally submitted declaration, the amount of VAT payable was underestimated by ___ rubles. due to non-inclusion in the tax base of proceeds from the sale of goods under invoice No. __ dated ____. The unaccounted invoice is reflected in the additional sheet to the sales book.

Amount of unaccounted revenue__ rub., including VAT - ____ rub.

The following corrections were made to the VAT return for __:_.

The correct amount of VAT payable based on the results of _____ was _____ rubles.

"___" ___ 20___ additional VAT in the amount of ___ rubles was paid. and a penalty in the amount of ___ rub. using the following details: ____. Payment order No. ___ dated ___ is attached.

In the upper right corner you need to indicate to whom and from whom it is sent, the details of the parties. The signature of the chief accountant and general director is placed below.

They are not mandatory elements when sending reports to the tax authorities, but their presence helps to avoid a number of problems and questions. Read about how to compose it correctly, as well as whether it is necessary to provide such an application and how to do it on our website.

Submission deadlines

It is necessary to respond to a request to clarify the declaration from the tax office within business days, otherwise penalties will be charged, and an audit may also be scheduled. For electronic document management, the period increases to 6 days from the date of receipt of the request.

It is worth noting that the clarifying declaration and cover letter add red tape to the accounting work, however, the correct submission of these documents can save the company from additional checks and corresponding fines.

A corrective VAT return is submitted based on the request of the tax authorities or in the event of independent discovery of errors made in the initially submitted report.

Are there errors for which “clarification” is not needed?

Yes, filing a corrective return must be considered on a case-by-case basis.

An updated VAT return must be filed in 2018 if an error or inaccuracy led to an underestimation of the amount of tax payable (clause 1 of Article 81 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

There is no need for a corrective return if tax has been additionally assessed or reduced as a result of a tax audit. Tax authorities independently reflect the results of audits in accruals on the taxpayer’s personal account; the latter will only have to reflect the discrepancy in the accounting accounts - if we are talking about a company.

An updated VAT tax return is not needed if typos in the data are insignificant for the declaration as a whole, such as, for example, an erroneous buyer’s TIN or an incorrect invoice date. Such information does not directly affect the tax amount.

The issue of filing corrective reporting remains entirely at the discretion of the taxpayer if errors identified in the originally filed return led to an overpayment of VAT. But it should be remembered that, having received such a correction, which involves the return of a certain amount of tax paid from the budget, the Federal Tax Service will not limit itself to an ordinary desk audit. The declarant must be prepared for the fact that he will at least be additionally asked for all documents from suppliers confirming his right to the deduction. In some cases, it may even go as far as an on-site inspection.

Filling out an updated VAT return

An important nuance: the corrective declaration is filled out in the form that was valid during the period for which the corresponding changes are made (clause 5 of Article 81 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

The corrected amounts are displayed in full in the adjustment declaration; it is not enough to indicate only the difference between the erroneous and correct information. In general, filling out the report is carried out according to the same rules as when submitting the primary declaration, and the values ​​​​are indicated without errors. The main distinguishing feature of the primary declaration from the updated one is the mark on the title page “Adjustment number”. The primary declaration is marked with code “0”, and the updated one “1” (or “2”, “3”, in case of repeated changes within one tax period).

Clarifying VAT declaration: example of filling out the title page

Another nuance of the updated declaration: in sections 8 to 12 you must indicate the code of relevance of the information. There is a similar line in Appendix I to sections 8 and 9. The relevance code in the “clarification” has two parameters “0” and “1”:

“0” – if the data was not provided in the previous version of the declaration or if replacement is required;

“1” – if the previously provided information remains relevant and does not require changes.

The relevance sign allows you to avoid duplicating a large amount of data. If the relevance indicator is “1”, information from the previous declaration will be automatically saved. Otherwise, updated data will be downloaded for those sections indicated by the clarifying VAT return.

Let us remind you that the updated declaration, just like the original one, is submitted to the Federal Tax Service in electronic format (letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated March 20, 2015 No. ГД-4-3/4440@). Submission of VAT reporting in paper form is currently not provided for by law.

Explanatory letter to the corrective declaration

In addition to the adjusted declaration form, it is worth attaching a covering letter. Formally, the law does not require this, but practice shows the need for this step.

The form of the explanatory letter has not been officially approved, therefore submission in any form is allowed. The letter must include:

• Information about the taxpayer;
• The period for which the recalculation occurred;
• The reason why the corrective VAT return was filed;
• Declaration lines that have been changed;
• New values ​​of changed indicators;
• Details of payment documents confirming the transfer of the missing amount;
• Manager's signature.

Deadlines for submitting clarifications

There are no deadlines for submission. It is recommended to submit corrections to the Federal Tax Service immediately upon finding an error. Ideally, the submission of an updated VAT return occurs within the standard deadline for submitting returns - no later than the 25th day of the month following the tax period (quarter). Submitted to the inspectorate so promptly, the declaration will be considered by the tax service as correctly filed.

If the filing period has passed but there is time before the tax is actually paid, it is important not only to file an adjustment, but also to pay the correct amount of tax on time. In this case, the taxpayer will avoid both fines and late fees.

When the clarification goes beyond the deadline for tax payments or relates to previous tax periods, liability arises under Article 122 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation in the form of a fine for late payment of tax. It can be avoided if an updated VAT return is filed before the tax inspector discovers the error (clause 4 of Article 81 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). It is also recommended to pay off the arrears arising as a result of tax recalculation before filing the adjustment. As in the situations described above, the taxpayer in this case will only be charged a penalty for the difference between the erroneous and correct VAT amount.

The VAT reporting has been submitted, it seems that you can relax... However, not all accountants can breathe a sigh of relief - some of them will have to make changes to the reporting. This is usually a consequence of the fact that errors were identified in the submitted declaration, or documents from the counterparty relating to previous periods were received late.

In this article we will look at cases when it most often becomes necessary to resort to filing an amended VAT return, as well as how to do this and avoid possible sanctions.

Based on Article 81 of the Tax Code of Russia, an organization is obliged to submit an updated declaration only if errors and unrecorded data identified after filing reports to understate the tax amount.

If the primary declaration contains unreliable or incomplete information that does not lead to an underestimation of the tax amount, then the taxpayer is not required to submit an “adjustment”, although he has the right to do so.

What threatens a company or entrepreneur who has filed an updated declaration? The mere fact of its submission does not entail sanctions - it all depends on whether unreliable primary data caused an understatement of tax. If this is the case, then the arrears and penalties should be paid before submitting the “clarification”. In this case, according to paragraph 4 of Article 81 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the taxpayer will be released from liability for incomplete payment of tax.

If the arrears are not paid before the tax service finds out about it, a fine may be imposed on the organization in accordance with Article 122 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

Although the legislation does not require any explanatory documents to be attached to the updated declaration, there will still be It’s a good idea to write a cover letter. Moreover, when conducting a desk inspection, inspectors will still ask for clarification. The letter should indicate which tax declaration and for what period changes are being made, what erroneous (incomplete or unsubmitted) information is, in which sections and lines of the declaration they are located, as well as provide primary and updated indicators. If errors affected the tax base, a new calculation and tax amount should be provided. In case of payment of arrears and penalties, you should indicate the payment details and, together with the declaration and cover letter, send a scanned copy of it to the tax office.

Specific situations

Now let’s look at common situations in which it is impossible to avoid submitting an updated declaration to the tax service, and also when you can do without it.

Incorrect reporting period

What to do if there is an error in the code of the period for which the declaration was drawn up? The answer is clear - you need to notify the tax service about this error, and as quickly as possible. Otherwise, you can get penalties, and they can be imposed both on the organization (Article 119 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation) and on the official (15.5 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation).

Is it necessary to submit a “clarification” in this case? This option is possible, although you may encounter misunderstanding on the part of the Federal Tax Service. They may simply not accept the document, since no primary declaration was filed during the specified period. Or consider the updated declaration as filed for the first time in violation of the deadline, and then the organization may be fined under Article 119 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

It's better to do this:

Declare in writing to the tax office that a return filed with an incorrect period code should be considered submitted for such and such a period (indicating its correct code).

Most often, the Federal Tax Service accepts such explanations and believes that the organization has reported without violations. But if penalties still follow, the organization has a chance to challenge it - in judicial practice there are examples when arbitrators decided such cases in favor of the taxpayer (Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the North Caucasus District dated July 30, 2009 in case No. A32-22251/2008- 12/190).

Late documents received

Often in practice there are situations when documents relating to a previous period are received from a counterparty. For example, an invoice for a December transaction can be received as early as January of the following year. In such cases, there is no need to submit a “clarification”, because you can include a “late” invoice in the purchase book in the current period. This rule was introduced at the beginning of 2015 by paragraph 1.1 of Article 172 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Based on it, you can claim VAT deduction for any period within three years from the date of receipt of goods, work or services.

However, this procedure applies only to deductions provided for in paragraph 2 of Article 171 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Other deductions of VAT (for example, paid as a tax agent, on prepayment, etc.) must be declared in the period in which the purchased goods were accepted for accounting, provided they were used to carry out activities subject to VAT.

There was an overstatement of VAT deduction

A situation in which an updated VAT return should definitely be submitted is: when, due to an error, the tax deduction was inflated. Indeed, as a result, the amount of tax is underestimated, and this, as was said at the beginning of the article, imposes on the organization the obligation to provide “clarification”. Sometimes this happens due to the fault of the accountant - for example, he registered the same invoice twice or made a technical error when entering information into the accounting system. But this can also be a consequence of erroneous actions by the supplier’s accounting department. Let's say the initial invoice received in the reporting quarter was subsequently corrected and dated to the next period.

Regardless of whose fault it is that the deduction is overstated, an amended return will have to be filed. But before that you need to correct errors in the purchase book - make an additional sheet and enter the correct information into it. Information that is subject to deletion must be written down with the sign “ minus».

Errors in the purchase book that do not affect the deduction amount

Sometimes in primary documents of past periods you can find technical errors that do not affect the amount of VAT. For example, erroneous indication of TIN, address, name of the counterparty.

By virtue of the aforementioned Article 81 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, their presence does not oblige the taxpayer to submit an updated declaration.

Receive a corrected invoice

It happens that an accountant discovers errors in the received invoice and asks the supplier to correct them. The latter draws up an adjustment invoice and sends it to the buyer. However, there may be a time gap between these events, and the organization will receive the corrected document in the next quarter.

According to the Federal Tax Service, such an invoice should be registered in the period in which its correct version was received. The deduction previously claimed for it will have to be cancelled, VAT recalculated, its amount and penalties paid, and then an updated declaration must be submitted.

It is worth noting that this position of the tax service does not find unequivocal support among the arbitrators- they make their decisions both in favor of the Federal Tax Service and in favor of taxpayers.

It should also be remembered that not all erroneous data on invoices can lead to a denial of deduction. Paragraph 2 of Article 169 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation directly states that if errors do not interfere with identifying the parties to the transaction, the name and cost of the goods, the rate and amount of VAT, then there are no grounds for refusing a deduction on such an invoice. Therefore, before contacting the supplier for an adjustment document, you should make sure that it is necessary.

Amendments to Sections 8 and 9

Adjustments of data in the book of purchases or sales for the previous period that affect the amount of tax are carried out in the sections of the updated declaration 8 And 9 .

For many accountants, this point remains unclear: whether it is necessary to include the entire section in the “clarification” or whether it is enough to reflect only its corrected part.

There are no official clarifications on this matter yet, but at seminars representatives of the Federal Tax Service talk about the correctness of both methods. The main thing is to choose the right “ sign of relevance» document, which is indicated by line 001 both the section itself, as well as its appendices.

Sign of relevance- a parameter that reflects the correctness of the section data contained in the primary declaration:

• If they were correct and do not require changes, then the code “ 1 ».
• If a section contained incorrect or incomplete data, its relevance is marked with the code “ 0 ", and the correct information is indicated in its fields.

Thus, according to the explanations of the tax authorities, reflect the changes in the sections 8 And 9 An updated declaration can be done in two ways:

1. The first method is that the contents of the section are entered into the declaration in full - not only corrected, but also correct data. Moreover, in the column “ sign of relevance" for the section is placed " 0 ", and Appendix 1 (additional sheet of the corresponding book) is not filled out. This means that the entire specified section of the primary declaration should be considered incorrect, and the data from a similar section of the updated declaration should be used instead.
2. The second way is to register only the corrected partition data 8 and/or 9 through Appendix 1. In this case, indicate the relevance of the application “ 0 ", and the relevance of the section itself is indicated by the code " 1 " Such an entry will mean that all other information in the corresponding section of the primary declaration, with the exception of those submitted as part of the “clarification,” is correct. We recommend using this particular method, since it complies with Russian Government Decree No. 1137, according to which changes must be made through additional sheets.

We have looked at some common errors that occur in VAT Returns. As can be seen from the article, it is not always necessary for a taxpayer to submit an updated return, although in some cases this will still have to be done.

What is an updated VAT return? The answer to this question can be short - this is a report that reflects adjustments to already submitted reports. These can be either mistakes made by accountants or corrections due to the fault of careless employees.

If an error was discovered in the declaration submitted for the first time, an adjustment must be made. It can go either to increase or decrease taxes. The previous period has already been closed, and it is necessary to reflect the accuracy of the information, which is why they create that same updated declaration. That is, it is created for the following reasons:

• Accountant technical errors.
• Negligence of employees when submitting the initial declaration.
• Adjustments resulting from poor quality product or work.

Detailed information about the adjustment can be seen in the video from the School of Accountants:

How to submit an amended return

If an error has been identified that directly affects the amount of taxes, it is necessary to create an adjustment VAT return . It does not display the correct data that has already been submitted. The new document reflects only tax discrepancies.

If the error indicates an understatement of tax at a time when the payer submitted and paid the increased rate, then the declarant retains the right to decide whether he will generate a new document with an adjustment or leave it as is.

Having submitted an updated VAT return, you need to be prepared that the tax office may conduct a desk audit. Sometimes the authority may call you to the inspection, or the inspector himself will come and check all the documents. If, as a result of an audit, tax authorities identify discrepancies in the data, this threatens with large fines depending on the economic activity of the payer.

Declarations under the new legislation since 2015 are submitted only electronically. Paper media is a thing of the past.

To submit a declaration you must:

• Purchase an EDS key from certification centers.
• Install the necessary software on your computer.
• Install Crypto-Pro.
• Install Crypto-Arm.

Generate an updated declaration. Archive it using Crypto-Arm. Sign with an electronic signature key. And send it to the tax office. Wait for an email response about acceptance of the declaration. If there are no errors, the unified tax portal program will send this type of letter:

A covering letter should be attached to the updated declaration, where you need to explain the reason for the change in the amounts in the declaration. Example letter:

When is the VAT update submitted?

A declaration with updated data is submitted on the basis of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. The form and procedure for adjusting VAT are provided for by tax codes. If an error is detected in any period, you can draw up a declaration and send it to the tax authorities. This is especially important if an error was discovered that resulted in a reduction in the tax rate and, accordingly, less tax payment.

The deadline for filing an adjustment VAT return is not regulated. It is recommended to submit a report immediately after finding an error.

Any inspector, during a desk audit, will identify these errors and impose such a fine that you will no longer want to hide the information.

In general, the following can be highlighted: an updated declaration is submitted in any. Then when an error is detected. Regardless of .

Filling out an updated declaration

The procedure for filling out the clarification is also prescribed by law in the Tax Code, and the filling form has been approved. Let's look at an example:

Sections “8”, “9”, “10”, “ ”, “12” and the annexes of the declaration have a special field “sign of relevance”, which can be filled in with the value “1”.

• 8, 9 – data about the generated invoice is filled in.
• 10, – fill out.
• 12 – for persons who are not VAT payers, but provide invoices to clients.

Actions	Section 8	appendix to section 8	Section 9
The declaration did not include the sale of goods	1		1
Incorrectly calculated VAT payable	1		1
Change of VAT deduction	1	0	1
Changes to VAT deductions and refunds	1	0	1

What errors do not affect the tax amount?

If any erroneous data is discovered that does not affect the amount of tax payable, the declarant may not generate an updated VAT return. There is a tax provision that contains errors that do not affect the amount of tax, but you still need to submit clarification for which.