Changes for the year 2023

Unified tax account and unified tax payment

Starting 1 January 2023, organisations, individual entrepreneurs and individuals pay taxes by transferring a unified tax payment to their unified tax account.

The new order introduces uniform deadlines:

• for tax reporting – the 25th of the month
• for tax payment – the 28th of the month.

If these dates fall on a weekend or holiday, the deadline is moved to the first working day.

The amount of liability will be posted to the unified tax account directly by tax authorities on the basis of tax returns and calculations received from a taxpayer.

If the payment of taxes (eg social insurance contributions) is to take place before the submission of the relevant tax return or insurance contribution calculation, the taxpayer must submit to the relevant tax authority so-called 'notification', which shows the amount of liability accrued for each specific period (ie this amount may not be cumulative for several periods).

The submission deadline for notification is the 25th of the month following the month in which tax liability arose.

In the periods when the tax return (calculation) is submitted the notification is not required.

EXAMPLE 1
The social insurance contributions liabilities of OOO 'Komtek' (Komtek) for the 1st quarter of 2023 amounted to (in rubles):

• in January – 150,000
• in February – 200,000
• in March – 220,000.

With regard to the January liability of 150,000, it is necessary to submit a notification by 25 February, and to pay the contributions by 28 February.

With regard to the February liability of 200,000, it is necessary to submit a notification by 25 March, and to pay the contributions by 28 March.

By 25 April, Komtek must submit a calculation of social insurance contributions for the 1st quarter, which will show both the total amount of assessed contributions and amounts accrued for each month. No notification is submitted. The amount of 220,000 rubles for March must be paid by 28 April.

EXAMPLE 2
OOO 'Pulse' (Pulse) reports corporate profits tax on a quarterly basis, however advance tax payments have to be made on a monthly basis. In other words, we have a situation where the tax declaration is submitted once a quarter and the tax payments are made every month.

The company’s reporting and payment deadlines for January-April 2023 would be the following:
 

For individual entrepreneurs, special deadlines have been preserved in relation to their own social insurance contributions:

• fixed amount of social insurance contributions is paid by 31 December of the reporting year
• additional payment (1% of income exceeding 300,000 RR) is paid by 1 July of the year following the reporting year.

Other special terms and exceptions to the general reporting and payment rules are not examined.

If there is not enough money in the unified tax account, the different tax liabilities are settled in proportion to their amount, taking into account the order of settlements.

1. First to be settled are the liabilities relating to previous reporting periods.
2. Secondly, the current tax liabilities.
3. Any accrued interest, penalties and fines are to be settled last.

EXAMPLE 3
On 28 January 2023  OOO 'Exporter' (Exporter) made a payment of 340,000 RR to its unified tax account.

Before this payment, the unified tax account reflected the company’s debt, which consisted of (in rubles):

1. Last year’s tax liability – 140,000.
2. January debt with regard to social insurance contributions – 180,000.
3. January personal income tax liability – 60,000.
4. Late interest on last year's tax debt – 34,500.
5. Penalty for late submission of the calculation of social insurance contributions – 12,000.

The amount received in the unified tax account will be distributed as follows:

1. All last year tax liability in the amount of 140,000 RR will be settled.
2. The remaining 200,000 RR will be proportionally distributed between the debts on social insurance contributions (200,000 * 180,000/(180,000+60,000)=150,000) and personal income tax (200,000 * 60,000/240,000 = 50,000).
3. Penalties and fines will remain fully outstanding.

Insurance premiums

Since 1 January 2023, the Pension Fund and the Social Insurance Fund have been merged into one Pension and Social Insurance Fund of the Russian Federation. The abbreviated name of the Fund is the Social Fund of Russia. The Mandatory Health Insurance Fund retained its independence.

What has changed in the calculation of contributions?

1. The threshold amount for taxable base subject to maximum 30% rate is now the same for all funds and constitutes 1,917,000 rubles. The contribution rate of 15.1% applies to taxable base above the threshold amount mentioned.   
2. Insurance contributions are determined as a single amount and paid as part of a unified tax payment.
3. It is necessary to pay social insurance contributions by the 28th day of the month following the month in which they were accrued.
4. The general insurance contributions rates (30% and 15.1%) are now applicable to remuneration under civil law contracts for the performance of work (rendering of services) and under copyright and license agreements. Previously such contracts were subject to lower rates.
   
   Special rules related to tax base calculation under such contracts have not changed.
   
   
5. Social insurance contributions calculations are submitted on a quarterly basis by the 25th day of the month following the end of quarter (ie on 25 April, 25 July, 25 October and 25 January of the next year). In the remaining months notifications with the amount of contributions accrued has to be provided to tax authorities (refer to Example 1).

Changes in personal income tax

Date of income receipt
Among the changes in personal income tax, one of the most significant is the transition to the cash method of determining income from wages and similar payments.

EXAMPLE 4
In December 2023, the following items were accrued by Roma’s employer:

1. Salary advance for first half of December (paid in December).
2. The second part of December salary (paid in January).
3. Annual bonus (paid in January).
4. Compensation for unused vacation (paid in January).

Only the first item (advance salary) is taxed in 2023. Other items will be taxed in 2024 upon receipt as the cash method is now applicable to them.

Imputed interest loans

In the year 2023, imputed interest on loans is not calculated.

Rate 15%

In the year 2023, the 15% rate is still applied to income included into each separate tax base, but not to the cumulative income of a taxpayer.

EXAMPLE 5
In 2023 Andrey received the following taxable income (in rubles):

1. Salary and other taxable payments from his employer – 3,000,000.
2. Taxable interest on bank deposits – 2,500,000.
3. Taxable income from operations with securities – 1,500,000.

The incomes indicated in points 1 and 2 above relates to one 'main' income base and must be summed up. 5 million rubles will be taxed at the rate of 13%, the excess amount of 500,000 will be subject to 15%.

Securities income is allocated to a separate tax base and is taxed at the rate of 13%, since it does not exceed 5 million rubles.

Written by a member of the TX-RUS examining team