This article is relevant to those sitting TX-RUS in December 2023 and outlines the key changes in Russian tax law for the year 2023.
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:
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):
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:
Name of the payment and the period for which the payment is made |
Name of the document and the deadline for its submission |
Date of payment |
Annual payment for 2022 (difference between total tax and advance payments made) |
Tax declaration for 2022 is submitted by 25 March 2023. Notification is not submitted. |
By 28 March 2023 |
Advance payment for January 2023 |
Notification to be submitted by 25 February 2023 |
By 28 February 2023 |
Advance payment for February 2023 |
Notification to be submitted by 25 March 2023 |
By 28 March 2023 |
Advance payment for March 2023 |
Tax declaration for the 1st quarter is submitted no later than25 April 2023. Notification is not submitted. |
By 28 April 2023 |
For individual entrepreneurs, special deadlines have been preserved in relation to their own social insurance contributions:
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.
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):
The amount received in the unified tax account will be distributed as follows:
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.
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:
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.
In the year 2023, imputed interest on loans is not calculated.
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):
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