home » Terms » Reimbursement of travel expenses to the interview site. Recruitment expenses: typical and atypical situations (Volokhova A., Dedich T.) Paid income tax to the applicant

Reimbursement of travel expenses to the interview site. Recruitment expenses: typical and atypical situations (Volokhova A., Dedich T.) Paid income tax to the applicant

Boss personnel service intends to invite a job seeker from another area for an interview. It is important for an accountant to know who finances this trip, how to draw up documents, what taxes and fees the company and the applicant will pay. The answers to these and other questions are in the article.

Labor legislation does not oblige the employer to pay for the travel and accommodation of the applicant who came for an interview from another city. But also the prohibition to spend own funds for these purposes, in order to attract and locate a unique specialist, it does not contain.

The procedure for issuing an invitation to an interview of a potential employee is also not regulated by any regulations. This makes it possible to draw up documents in such a way as to minimize the tax burden.

Taxes and contributions

Specialists of the Ministry of Finance of Russia in Letters dated 06/30/2014 N 03-04-06/31359, dated 10/28/2010 N 03-03-06/1/669 and dated 08/19/2010 N 03-03-06/1/562 indicate that the expenses of the company for travel and accommodation of the applicant who arrived at the place of the interview:

- can be taken into account when calculating the tax base for income tax, if they are economically justified and documented (clause 1 of article 252 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation);

- are the income of an individual - job seeker, received in kind, taxable with personal income tax (clause 1, article 210 and clause 1, clause 2, article 211 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation);

- are not subject to insurance premiums, since they are not a payment within the framework of labor relations, therefore they do not belong to the object of taxation in accordance with Part 1 of Art. 7 federal law dated 24.07.2009 N 212-FZ and paragraph 1 of Art. 20.1 of the Federal Law of July 24, 1998 N 125-FZ.

How to document and justify expenses

Costs certified by documents that are drawn up in accordance with the law are considered documented. Russian Federation or in accordance with the customary business practices applicable in the foreign state in whose territory the corresponding expenses were made.

Justified costs are understood as economically justified costs, the assessment of which is expressed in monetary terms.

The company can independently develop and approve a package of documents for the safe processing of reimbursement of expenses associated with the arrival of candidates to the place of the interview.

Note. Update of the all-Russian database of vacancies "Work in Russia"

Information and analytical system "Work in Russia" - project Federal Service on labor and employment - will be modernized.

In addition to data on vacancies and applicants from different regions, the database will include information on working conditions, career prospects, social guarantees, living conditions, where and how you can undergo retraining. Access to the database is free.

Invitation for an interview

First, we suggest sending the selected candidate an invitation for an interview. unified form there is no such document. It can be made in any form.

In the text of the invitation, it is worth describing the vacancy, the proposed working conditions, remuneration, social package. You can also indicate that the resume of this specialist is very interested in the employer. Qualifications, work skills, work experience - all characteristics fully satisfy the employer. The degree of interest is such that the company is ready to bear the cost of traveling to the interview, as well as in case of conclusion employment contract the costs of moving, arranging the family of the employee and his other expenses, for example, for renting housing.

Note. Labor Mobility Support Program

The Ministry of Labor plans to identify areas of priority attraction labor resources. It is assumed that starting from January 1, 2015, subject to a number of conditions, employers from these regions will be able to participate in the labor mobility support program.

Participation in the program will allow the company to receive a cash certificate in the amount of 225,000 rubles.

If an employment contract is concluded for a period of at least three years, the employer will be able to spend this money on paying for the employee’s travel, his arrangement at a new place of residence, and training, provided that an additional 75,000 rubles. the company will use its own funds for these purposes.

To justify the choice, it would be useful to attach copies of resumes of other less interesting applicants to the copy of the letter that remains with the company.

This document will be reliable proof of the economic feasibility of the expenses for the applicant's travel to the interview.

Applicant's claim for reimbursement

The accountant will determine the specific amount of expenses according to the documents on payment of travel and accommodation of the applicant, which he will attach to the application for the payment of money.

The application is also made in any form. However, we recommend that you advise its author to indicate your TIN, SNILS, passport details, place of registration. It would also be good to make copies of these documents. Information may be needed by an accountant for the purposes of calculating and withholding personal income tax. You cannot force an applicant to write an advance report. Until he becomes an employee of the company, he is not its accountable person.

We will show by example how to draw up documents, calculate taxes, arrange postings.

Example. The HR manager of Resurs LLC analyzed several resumes of applicants for the position of "Sales Department Director" and chose the most suitable candidate - R.K. Faberge, who lives in St. Petersburg.

To confirm the correctness of the choice, and possibly to conclude an employment contract, he must be invited for an interview in Novosibirsk.

It is necessary to draw up an invitation confirming the economic feasibility of financing the costs of the applicant’s travel to and from the place of the interview, as well as his stay in Novosibirsk, calculate taxes, reflect operations in accounting, if it is known that the applicant is forced to incur the following expenses in order to pass the interview:

- buy air tickets (St. Petersburg - Novosibirsk - St. Petersburg) - 14,000 rubles;

- pay for hotel accommodation - 1100 rubles;

- spend money on food - 1000 rubles;

- travel by public transport - 100 rubles.

Solution. The invitation to the interview was made by the HR manager as shown on p. 92 (sample 1).

The applicant responded to the invitation, paid for his trip to the place of the interview, showed himself perfectly in person, was invited to work, but took time out for reflection. He filed an application with Resource LLC with a request to compensate for the costs incurred and attached supporting documents (cheques, receipts, tickets) to it.

On the basis of the application and supporting documents attached to it, R.K. Faberge was issued an agreed amount of compensation for expenses, minus the personal income tax withheld from it - 14,094 rubles. (16,200 rubles - 16,200 rubles x 13%).

Since the applicant is not yet an employee of Resource LLC, it is impossible to use account 71 “Settlements with accountable persons”, settlements with him are carried out using account 76 “Settlements with various debtors and creditors”, for account analytics it is better to create a subaccount, for example, subaccount 76 -6 "Settlements with applicants".

The following entries were made in accounting:

Debit 26 Credit 76-6, sub-account "Settlements with applicants",

— 16,200 rubles. (14,000 rubles + 1,100 rubles + 1,000 rubles + 100 rubles) - compensation for the expenses of R.K. Faberge associated with the arrival for an interview was accrued;

Debit 76-6, sub-account "Settlements with applicants", Credit 68 "Calculations for personal income tax"

- 2106 rubles. (16,200 rubles x 13%) - calculated and deducted from the amount of personal income tax compensation;

Debit 68 "Calculations for personal income tax" Credit 51

- 2106 rubles. - the withheld personal income tax is transferred to the budget;

Debit 76-6, sub-account "Settlements with applicants", Credit 50

— 14,094 rubles. (16,200 rubles - 2,106 rubles) - the amount of compensation for R.K. Faberge's expenses related to the arrival for an interview, minus the withheld personal income tax, was issued from the cash desk.

If the company itself paid for the travel and accommodation of the applicant

If the company independently purchases tickets for the applicant, pays for his hotel accommodation, the composition of the accounting entries will be slightly different than in our example.

Posting Debit 26 Credit 76, sub-account "Settlements with one-time contractors", the accountant will reflect the amounts of invoices issued by the transport organization and the hotel.

Posting Debit 76 “Settlements with one-time contractors” Credit 51 will record the fact of payment of these invoices from the company's current account.

Obviously, in this situation, the company has no way to withhold personal income tax from the applicant's income received in kind.

In this case, it will be necessary to inform tax office and the recipient of income that personal income tax was not withheld, and indicate the amount of tax (clause 5, article 226 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). This must be done no later than January 31, 2015 by filling out a message in the form 2-NDFL with sign 2.

Note. Which employers will be able to participate in the labor mobility support program

A cash certificate is issued to an employer provided that:

- he concludes an agreement on assistance in the field of employment of the population with the executive authority of the subject of the Russian Federation;

- he has no debts on payments to the budgets of the Russian Federation, as well as debts on payment wages;

- it attracts citizens from the constituent entities of the Russian Federation that are not classified as priority areas for attracting labor resources;

- he concludes an employment contract with the employee for a period of at least three years.

It is not uncommon for companies to invite specialists from other regions to vacant positions. At the same time, the employer is ready to reimburse the applicant's expenses related to travel to the interview site. What tax consequences will arise for both parties as a result of such compensation, State Councilor of the Russian Federation III class Yuri Mikhailovich Lermontov.

The employer invited for an interview a citizen applying for the position of "lawyer" from another subject of the Russian Federation. Is the employer obliged to calculate and pay personal income tax if the organization, when providing travel documents, reimbursed the candidate for travel expenses?

The employer, when reimbursement to the candidate for the position of the cost of travel to the place of the interview, is obliged to calculate and pay personal income tax.

Rationale: When determining the tax base for personal income tax, all income received by him both in cash and in kind (clause 1 of article 210 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation) is taken into account. Organizations, notaries in private practice, lawyers who have established law offices, as well as separate divisions organizations in the Russian Federation that are the source of payment of income to the taxpayer are required to calculate, withhold from him and pay the amount of tax (clause 1, article 226 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). That is, these persons must fulfill the duties of a tax agent.

At the same time, it is necessary to calculate and transfer tax in relation to all income of the taxpayer, which was paid by the tax agent. An exception in this case is income taxed in accordance with articles 214.3, 214.4, 214.5, 214.6, 226.1, 227, 227.1 and 228 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation (clause 2 of article 226 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Tax agents are required to withhold the accrued amount of tax directly from the taxpayer's income when they are actually paid (clause 4, article 226 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Withholding of the accrued amount of tax is made by the tax agent at the expense of any Money paid by the tax agent to the taxpayer, upon their actual payment or on behalf of the payer to third parties.

However, the withholding tax cannot exceed 50 percent of the payment amount.

It turns out that in the above situation, the citizen received income in cash and, therefore, the object of personal income tax is present. Thus, personal income tax should be calculated from the amount of reimbursement of fare. At the same time, the question remains unsolved whether in this case the employer is recognized as a tax agent.

As indicated in letters dated October 28, 2010 No. 03-03-06/1/669, dated August 19, 2010, No. 03-03-06/1/562, dated August 06, 2010 No. 03-04-06/6-170 payment by the employer of the cost of travel and accommodation of the participants of the interview at the place of interview is the income received by these persons in kind, which is subject to personal income tax in the order.

At the same time, as the Ministry of Finance of Russia explained in letter No. 03-04-06/47325 dated September 22, 2014, in the event that an individual pays the cost of travel and accommodation at the place of the interview and the organization subsequently reimburses these expenses, personal income tax must be withheld. persons from the amounts of compensation when it is paid.

Thus, the employer in this case will be a tax agent and must calculate and pay personal income tax when reimbursed for travel expenses to the place of the interview. Accordingly, the applicant will be paid the fare minus the amount of tax.

Many companies, when looking for employees for vacant positions, resort to the services of organizations specializing in recruitment. Moreover, this option is preferred even by those organizations that have their own personnel service. Let's see what tax risks may arise when making such a business transaction.

In ch. 25 "Corporate profit tax" of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation there is a special rule that directly allows you to take into account the costs of recruiting employees (including the services of specialized organizations for the recruitment of personnel) as part of other costs associated with production and sales. This is pp. 8 p. 1 art. 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. It follows from the content of this rule that recruitment costs may include costs for the search and selection of personnel that meets the requirements of the employer, including payment for the services of recruitment agencies and other specialized organizations, payment for advertising in the media or otherwise related to vacancies and other similar expenses related specifically to the search for employees (Resolution of the Arbitration Court of the Moscow District of October 27, 2014 N F05-12749 / 14 in case N A40-119798 / 13-107-447).
It would seem that there should be no problems with the reflection in the calculation of income tax of services of recruitment agencies and other expenses associated with the selection of personnel. But in life, not everything is so rosy.

We pay for the services of a recruitment agencyin the presence of a personnel department

By general rule for the purposes of taxation of profits, expenses of the organization are recognized as expenses if they are economically justified (clause 1 of article 252 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Companies that have their own personnel department may face difficulties in justifying the costs of third-party recruitment services.
In Letter N 03-03-04/2/257 dated 06.12.2006, experts from the Ministry of Finance of Russia came to the conclusion that when calculating income tax, it is possible to take into account the services of third-party organizations in the recruitment of personnel only if they do not duplicate the obligations established for own relevant unit of the organization. True, it considered the question of the legality of accounting for the costs of services law firms. But this approach can be projected to our situation.
Note that a little later (in 2008) financiers again returned to the issue business case legal services provided that the company has its own lawyers. But this time they avoided a clear answer, escaping with only a reference to the legal position of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation on the economic justification of expenses, given in the Ruling of 04.06.2007 N 320-O-P. According to her, the provisions of Art. 252 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation do not allow their arbitrary interpretation, since they require the establishment of an objective connection between the expenses incurred by the taxpayer and the focus of his activities on making a profit, and the burden of proving the unreasonableness of the taxpayer's expenses rests with the tax authorities.

Arbitrage practice

Most courts, including the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation, consider that a company has the right to take into account the costs of paying for services of third parties, despite the fact that it has its own divisions with similar functions. So, the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation, considering the dispute on the legality of reflecting the costs of legal services, pointed out that the inspectorate and the courts have no legal grounds for recognizing the costs of legal services as economically unjustified on the grounds that there is a legal service in its structure that performs similar functions. Since the company has confirmed the fact and the amount of the expenses incurred, the courts shall impose on it the additional burden of proving the reasonableness of these expenses legal grounds do not have (Decree of 18.03.2008 N 14616/07).
Similar conclusions are contained in the Decrees of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Moscow District of 04/03/2012 N A40-23728 / 08-108-75, the North Caucasian District of 09/28/2012 N A32-36378 / 2011, the Ural District of 12/23/2011 N A07-4203 / 11 , Central District dated 06/26/2009 N A35-991 / 08-C21, Volga district dated 04/30/2009 N A12-17953 / 2008, Volga-Vyatka district dated 05/22/2006 N A82-8772 / 2005-37, etc.
As you can see, the above conclusions can also be used in defense of the position on the legitimacy of accounting for recruitment costs if the organization has its own personnel service.
It should be noted that disputes about the possibility of accounting for expenses directly for the recruitment of personnel were also considered in judicial practice. An example is the Decree of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Moscow District of August 19, 2009 N A40-93568 / 08-87-466. In this case, the tax authorities wanted to recognize unreasonable expenses under contracts for the provision of services with personnel agencies due to the fact that the internal structure of the organization provided for the presence of a personnel department, the functions and duties of which included the selection of candidates for filling vacant positions, as well as ensuring the appropriate use of employees. But the courts did not support the tax authorities.
The arbitrators agreed with the taxpayer's argument, which was as follows. Recruitment of the right qualifications is a prerequisite for their income-generating activities, and the use of third-party recruitment services was a necessary measure due to the high volume of recruitment work. Therefore, such expenses cannot be considered economically unjustified.
But in arbitration practice there are cases in which arbitrators supported the tax authorities. For example, when making a decision in favor of the tax authorities, the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Volga District in its Decree N A65-21503/2011 dated 04.10.2012 stated the following. Expenses can be considered as economically justified if the functions performed under a civil law contract do not duplicate the duties of a staff unit or the obligations of counterparties with whom contracts have been previously concluded. In this case, the company, in the presence of its own division that performs the same work, also concluded a similar contract.

How to avoid disputes

In our opinion, the company can protect itself in advance against claims from the tax authorities. It should be noted that it is possible to talk about duplicating the functions of personnel department employees with the services of a recruitment agency only if the job description of such employees contains the obligation to recruit personnel. If such an obligation is provided for, but in reality personnel officers do not do this, it is better to exclude the function of finding new employees from their job descriptions. In this case, the risk of a dispute with the tax authorities is significantly reduced.
It may turn out that there is no way to cut the functionality of personnel officers. Then it is necessary to stock up on arguments about the advisability of concluding a contract for the provision of personnel search services. Here are some arguments:
- a vacant position is filled as quickly as possible, since the agency has its own database of applicants;
- the agency provides A complex approach to recruitment - from a preliminary audit of the vacancy and selection of the most suitable candidates to recommendations in the selection of the final candidate and evaluation of new employees;
- the agency checks the correspondence of experience in the resume and records in work book applicants, which guarantees the conclusion of an employment contract with professionals.
With such a development of events, it will be difficult for the tax authorities to prove that the company's recruitment services are not economically justified.

Recruitment agency services paid, no result

By entering into an agreement with recruitment agency for the provision of recruitment services, the company cannot guarantee the success of the transaction. It may well turn out that after the expiration of the contract, the contractor will not fulfill the tasks assigned to him, that is, the company will not staff the missing employees. Is it possible in such a situation to take into account the cost of recruiting for income tax purposes?
When solving this issue, the company will again have to face the problem of justification for the costs incurred. Let's tell you more.
The position of the Ministry of Finance of Russia on this issue is set out in Letters No. 03-03-06/1/504 of 04.09.2008 and No. 03-03-04/1/497 of 01.06.2006.
Financiers believe that if the services of specialized recruitment organizations did not lead to a positive result (that is, the organization did not recruit new employees), the costs of such services cannot be taken into account in expenses when calculating income tax. This conclusion also applies to the payment for the services of a recruitment agency for the selection of candidates who did not fit the organization. Argument: the requirements of Art. 252 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation on the economic feasibility of expenses.
The tax authorities also adhere to a similar position (Letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia for the city of Moscow dated March 22, 2005 N 20-12 / 19398).

Arbitrage practice

As the analysis of arbitration practice shows, the courts are on the side of taxpayers in this matter. In the Decree of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Moscow District dated March 13, 2009 N A40-32344 / 08-75-75, the following dispute was considered.
The company entered into an agreement with a recruitment agency for the provision of recruitment services. According to its terms, it was considered fully completed only after the customer decides to hire one or more candidates from among those presented by the contractor. But in the end it turned out that at the end of the contract, none of the candidates presented was hired. The organization took into account the cost of services under such an agreement when calculating income tax as an expense. The tax authorities decided that she had no right to do this, since the contract in this case cannot be considered fully executed.
The courts, deciding in favor of the organization, indicated the following. The validity of the costs of paying for recruitment services does not determine the final result of such services, for example, hiring employees, but the very fact of their provision, that is, the actual activity of the contractor, aimed at finding, selecting and providing applicants for the position. The recruitment agency performed the services - the applicant was provided with external candidates who were interviewed by the specialists of the contracting organization. Therefore, the company had full right to account for such expenses.
And in the Decree of the same Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Moscow District dated November 9, 2007 N A40-38224 / 06-140-265, the judges noted that the Tax Code does not contain additional conditions, according to which the employees proposed by the specialized organization were to be hired by the organization. A similar conclusion was made by the arbitrators in the Decree of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Volga District dated May 22, 2007 N A55-29883 / 05-53.
In favor of the tax authorities, we managed to find only one case, and in it such a decision was made due to the fact that from the primary documents it followed that during the period of expenditure on recruitment, the vacant position was already occupied (Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the North-Western District of April 13, 2007 N A56-4088/2006).

How to avoid disputes

In this case, in order not to fall under the sight of the tax authorities, the organization at the stage of concluding an agreement with a recruitment agency needs to thoroughly work out and fix the terms of the agreement.
Firstly, it is not necessary to prescribe in the contract that it is considered fulfilled only if it is concluded with the candidate for vacant position labor contract. Otherwise, the claims of the inspectors are unlikely to be avoided.
Secondly, we recommend that payment under such an agreement be divided into two parts. The first will be charged directly for the selection of personnel, and the second will be transferred to the contractor only after the employment contract with the candidate provided by the recruitment agency is actually concluded.
Thirdly, it is possible to conclude an agreement with a recruitment agency not for the recruitment of personnel, but for the provision of consulting services. In this case, the costs will be taken into account under paragraphs. 15 p. 1 art. 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. And in this case, the fact of concluding an employment contract with the applicants provided by the agency will not matter. Note that the legitimacy of this option is confirmed by arbitration practice (Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Moscow District of September 6, 2005, August 30, 2005 N KA-A40 / 7275-05-1.2).

The employee did not pass probation

Let's simulate the situation: suppose a company has concluded an employment contract with a candidate proposed by a recruitment agency. The agency's services were fully paid for and expensed, and the organization deducted VAT attributable to their cost.
but the new employee failed probation and was fired. Usually, in such cases, recruitment agencies return their remuneration (by the way, you need to pay special attention to this point when concluding a contract for the provision of recruitment services).
The amount of the returned remuneration must be included in non-operating expenses on the basis of Art. 250 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. What to do with VAT? Do I need to recover the previously accepted tax deduction?
Unfortunately, we were unable to find clarifications from the regulatory authorities and judicial practice on this issue.
In our opinion, when a recruitment agency returns payment due to the fact that the hired applicant has not passed the probationary period, the contracting authority must restore the VAT previously accepted for deduction. This is explained as follows.
If the contract with the recruitment agency provides for a condition on the return of remuneration, until it is clear whether the applicant has passed the probationary period or not, the contract will not be considered completed, and the service will be rendered. Therefore, the amounts received by the contractor should be regarded as an advance on account of the forthcoming provision of services.
As a general rule, VAT can be deductible only if the purchased services are used in transactions subject to VAT (clause 2, article 171 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). The cases when previously legally deductible VAT amounts must be restored are listed in paragraph 3 of Art. 170 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. According to paragraphs. 3 of this norm, VAT recovery is carried out by the buyer in the tax period in which the conditions were changed or the relevant agreement was terminated and the corresponding amounts of payment, partial payment received by the taxpayer on account of the forthcoming provision of services were returned. Once the advance payment is returned, the customer must restore the previously accepted VAT for deduction.

Job seeker travel expensesto the place of the interview

In some cases, an employer, intending to hire a worker who lives in another region, pays the cost of travel of the vacancy applicant to the place of work for an interview and includes such expenses in the recruitment costs.
As practice shows, tax authorities do not recognize such expenses and the courts agree with them. As an example, we can cite the Decree of the Arbitration Court of the Moscow District of October 27, 2014 N F05-12749 / 14 in case N A40-119798 / 13-107-447.
Refusing to satisfy the stated requirements in this episode, the courts of first instance and appeal came to the conclusion that the provisions of paragraphs. 8 p. 1 art. 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation do not provide the right to include in the cost of recruiting employees the cost of travel for an employee who is getting a job to the place of work for an interview. The court of cassation agreed with this conclusion of the courts.
Thus, the courts, having examined and evaluated the evidence presented in the case file, came to the conclusion that the costs of compensating the costs of an individual who is not an employee of the organization for his travel from his place of residence (in this case, Penza) to the place of the interview (Moscow) until the date of his employment are economically unjustified and not provided for by tax and labor legislation, in connection with which they are regarded by the courts as a fare for the employee solely for signing an employment contract, which, taking into account his actual work at the place of residence (g. . Penza) is unfounded. A different assessment of the circumstances established by the courts and a different interpretation of the rules of law do not indicate a miscarriage of justice. At the same time, the cassation drew attention to the fact that evidence of sending a job offer to a future employee, calling him for an interview on the very day of his arrival in Moscow and holding an interview on that day was not presented to the courts. Based on this, it can be assumed that if the company presented Required documents the judgment would have been different.

Payment for consulting services for the assessmentpersonal and business qualities workers

On the basis of paragraphs. 8 and 15 paragraph 1 of Art. 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the taxpayer has the right to include consulting and other similar services as expenses for the recruitment of employees. At the same time, the list of expenses for consulting services is open and limited only common criteria estimates of such costs, established in Art. 252 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.
Let us turn to the Decree of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Moscow District dated June 9, 2011 N KA-A40 / 5329-11-2 in case N A40-81531 / 10-107-408. In this case, the taxpayer challenged the decision of the Federal Tax Service Inspectorate, in which the tax authorities did not recognize the company's costs for paying for consulting services to assess the personal and business qualities of executive employees for compliance with the requirements for senior and middle managers, followed by the development of a recommendation.
The court of cassation agreed with the taxpayer's rightness, since the case file contains detailed individual reports in respect of each employee being inspected, as well as staffing, confirming that the audit was carried out specifically in relation to the taxpayer's executives.
Recognizing the decision of the inspectorate as unlawful, the courts came to the correct conclusion that the inspectorate did not prove the unreality of the consulting services provided, the unreliability of the primary documents confirming them (acts, reports, contracts, invoices), and took into account the testimony CEO company - counterparty of the taxpayer, which did not deny the conclusion of an agreement with the taxpayer and the provision of consulting services to him.

Attention to documents

As you know, one economic justification of expenses for accounting for profit tax purposes is not enough. Expenses must be documented.
According to the Federal Tax Service of Russia for the city of Moscow, expressed in Letter No. 16-15/064754@ dated 19.07.2012, the document confirming the fulfillment of the obligations stipulated by the contract with a recruitment agency is an act of providing services for the provision of personnel, applications indicating the number and qualifications requested workers.
In our opinion, in order to protect themselves from possible conflict situations with the tax authorities, it is better for a company to keep resumes and profiles of applicants proposed by a recruitment agency, as well as to document the reasons for refusing to employ them.

Please explain with what postings to issue personal income tax withholding: we have postings: Dt 60.02 Kt 51 - an air ticket was purchased by bank transferDt 91.02 (or 76) Kt 60.01 - an act of rendering services was credited. What postings to issue personal income tax. Please also explain another situation. For example: the company paid the fare for a foreign applicant. Subsequently (after some time, for example, 3-6 months), upon receipt of a work visa, the applicant was hired and reimbursed the cost of the paid travel. (either paid to the cashier, or deducted from salary). Does the company have any tax obligations in such a situation? And during the audit, can the tax inspectorate make claims on the subject that the fare was reimbursed not immediately, but after some time? What documents need to be issued in order to avoid claims of the tax authority.

The rationale for this position is given below in the materials of the Glavbukh System

1. Article:The Ministry of Finance of Russia is against accounting for personnel search costs if the right specialist is not found

If the company compensates the candidate for the cost of travel to the place of the interview, it is obliged to withhold personal income tax from this amount

The Ministry of Finance of Russia is convinced that in the event of compensation or payment potential employer the cost of travel and accommodation of the applicant, the latter generates income subject to personal income tax (letters dated 10/28/10 No. 03-03-06/1/669, dated 19.08.10 No. -04-06/6-170). Indeed, although the candidate came for an interview at the head office at the initiative of the organization, he also pursued his own goals, as he sought to get a job * (letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 06.08.10 No. 03-04-06 / 6-170):

It is advisable to make copies of the passports of all candidates for whom the organization pays for travel and accommodation at the interview site

“The reference that the invitation to an interview is carried out solely in the interests of the organization is unfounded, since such an interview is also conducted in the interests of an individual applying for a job in this organization.”

Such income is considered to be received by the applicant in kind (subclause 1, clause 2, article 211 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Nevertheless, the company is obliged to determine the amount of this income, calculate personal income tax from it, withhold tax and transfer it to the budget * (clause , and article 226 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). She will have no difficulty with this when it comes to reimbursement of expenses incurred by the candidate. The organization will withhold the corresponding amount of tax when paying him monetary compensation.

If the company does not reimburse expenses, but independently purchases tickets for the applicant or pays for his hotel accommodation, it will be able to withhold personal income tax only from the candidate whom it eventually hires. And then only when paying him a salary and, perhaps, not the entire amount of the calculated tax at once.

Applicants who do not pass the interview will most likely not be able to withhold tax. In this case, it will be necessary to inform the inspection and the candidate himself that personal income tax was not withheld, and indicate the amount of tax * (clause 5, article 226 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). This must be done no later than January 31 of the year following the year in which the organization paid his travel and accommodation expenses. To issue such a message (it is drawn up in the form of 2-NDFL), you will need the full name of the applicant, his date of birth, passport details, address of residence and TIN (if any). Therefore, it is advisable to make copies of the passports of all candidates to whom the company pays or compensates for the cost of travel and accommodation.

Elena Vaitman,

expert of the Russian Tax Courier magazine

2. Article:The applicant came for an interview from another city

The head of the personnel department intends to invite a job seeker from another area for an interview. It is important for an accountant to know who finances this trip, how to draw up documents, what taxes and fees the company and the applicant will pay. The answers to these and other questions are in the article.

Labor legislation does not oblige the employer to pay for the travel and accommodation of the applicant who came for an interview from another city. But it does not contain a prohibition to spend one's own funds for these purposes in order to attract and locate a unique specialist.

TAXES AND CONTRIBUTIONS

Specialists of the Ministry of Finance of Russia in letters dated June 30, 2014 No. 030406/31359, dated October 28, 2010 No. 03-03-06/1/669 and dated August 19, 2010 No. and accommodation of the applicant who arrived at the place of the interview:

- can be taken into account when calculating the tax base for income tax , if they are economically justified and documented (clause 1 of article 252 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation);
- are the income of an individual - a job seeker, received in kind, taxable personal income tax (Clause 1, Article 210 and Subclause 1, Clause 2, Article 211 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation);
- not taxed insurance premiums , since they are not a payment within the framework of labor relations, therefore they do not relate to the object of taxation in accordance with Part 1 of Article 7 of the Federal Law of July 24, 2009 No. 212-FZ and paragraph 1 of Article 20.1 of the Federal Law of July 24, 1998 No. 125-FZ.

On the basis of the application and supporting documents attached to it, R.K. Faberge was given an agreed amount of compensation for expenses, minus personal income tax withheld from her, 14,094 rubles. (16,200 rubles - 16,200 rubles? 13%).

The following entries were made in accounting:

DEBIT 26 CREDIT 76-6 sub-account "Settlements with applicants"

16 200 rub. (14,000 rubles + 1,100 rubles + 1,000 rubles + 100 rubles) - R.K. Faberge associated with the arrival for an interview;

DEBIT 76-6 sub-account "Settlements with applicants" CREDIT 68 "Calculations for personal income tax"

2106 rub. (16,200 rubles? 13%) - calculated and withheld from the amount of personal income tax compensation;

DEBIT 68 "Calculations for personal income tax" CREDIT 51

2106 rub. - transferred to the budget withheld personal income tax; *

DEBIT 76-6 sub-account "Settlements with applicants" CREDIT 50

RUB 14,094 (16,200 rubles - 2,106 rubles) - the amount of compensation for the expenses of R.K. Faberge, associated with the arrival at the interview, minus the withheld personal income tax.

IF THE COMPANY ITSELF PAID FOR THE APPLICANT'S TRAVEL AND ACCOMMODATION

If the company independently purchases tickets for the applicant, pays for his hotel accommodation, the composition of the accounting entries will be slightly different than in our example.

wiring DEBIT 26 CREDIT 76 sub-account "Settlements with one-time contractors" the accountant will reflect the amounts of invoices issued by the transport organization and the hotel.

Wiring DEBIT 76"Settlements with one-time contractors" CREDIT 51 will record the fact of payment of these invoices from the current account of the company.

Obviously, in this situation, the company has no way to withhold personal income tax from the applicant's income received in kind.

In this case, it will be necessary to inform the tax inspectorate and the recipient of income that personal income tax was not withheld, and indicate the amount of tax (clause 5, article 226 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). This must be done no later than January 31, 2015, by filling out a message in the form 2-NDFL with sign 2. *

O.V. dunaeva,

expert of the magazine "Salary"

It is not uncommon for organizations to conduct recruitment events in newly opened regional offices. The final decision on the admission of candidates is made after additional meetings and testing, for which candidates are invited to regional centers organizations. During such an interview, the organization pays for the travel and accommodation of the candidate.
Organizations from which or as a result of relations with which the taxpayer has received income are required to calculate, withhold from the taxpayer and pay tax amounts. An exception may be income in respect of which the calculation and payment of tax are carried out in accordance with Art. Art. 214.3, 214.4, 214.5, 214.6, 226.1, 227, 227.1 and 228 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as the Code), so these articles are regulated (clause 2 of article 226 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
What about personal income tax when paying for candidates the cost of travel and accommodation at the place of the interview?

If the candidate is reimbursed for his expenses

If the candidate pays for his own travel and accommodation to the place of the interview, the organization may assume the reimbursement of these costs. At the same time, she herself pays tax to the budget system.
The organization withholds personal income tax upon actual payment of income (clause 4 of article 226 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation), the taxpayer receives a refund minus tax. At the same time, the organization is obliged to transfer the amount of the calculated tax no later than the day the money is actually received from the bank to pay the candidate the expenses reimbursed to him (clause 6 of article 226 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
In addition, the organization must submit to the tax authority at the place of its registration information on the income of the candidate and the amounts of taxes accrued, withheld and transferred to the budget system of the Russian Federation for this tax period. Such information is submitted annually no later than April 1 of the year following the expired tax period - the calendar year (clause 2 of article 230 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
Reference. The Tax Code of the Russian Federation states that amounts related to travel to work in another area and reimbursement may be exempted from personal income tax travel expenses(Section 3, Article 217). Compensation for expenses when moving to another locality is provided only in the event of the conclusion of an employment contract (Article 169 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). And for candidates, these trips are not moving to work in another area. Expenses related to travel and accommodation are incurred for the purpose of further employment not of an employee, but only of a job seeker. Thus, the organization's payment for the cost of travel and accommodation of the interview participants at the interview site is the income of the candidate. And this income is subject to personal income tax in the generally established manner.

If the candidate is using organizational resources

If an organization pays the candidate for travel and accommodation costs without paying any income in cash (for example, issues a ticket), then it has no way to withhold personal income tax. In this case, it is obliged not later than one month from the date of the end of the tax period in which the payment was made (until January 31 next year), inform the taxpayer and the tax authority at the place of its registration in writing about the impossibility of withholding tax (clause 5, article 226 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). According to the approved Order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated September 16, 2011 N ММВ-7-3 / 576@ "On the procedure for submitting to the tax authority information on the income of individuals and reporting the impossibility of withholding tax and the amount of tax on income of individuals" (hereinafter - Order N ММВ -7-3/576) information must be provided in the format of the 2-NDFL certificate. The 2-NDFL certificate form was approved by Order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated November 17, 2010 N MMV-7-3 / 611@.
In this case, it calculates, transfers to the budget and reports directly individual- recipient of income (clause 4 clause 1 article 228 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). The declaration is submitted by him at the place of residence in the form 3-NDFL (clause 3 of article 228 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). The tax is transferred no later than July 15 of the year following the reporting one (clause 4, article 228 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Another point of view

However, many courts consider this issue debatable. The arbitrators are of the opinion that the payment for travel and accommodation of candidates for an interview is not subject to personal income tax, regardless of whether the candidate is hired or not. They argue that if the candidate is hired, then the expenses incurred for travel and accommodation will be related to the performance of labor duties, and therefore exempt from paying tax in accordance with paragraph 3 of Art. 217 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. If the candidate has not received vacancy, he does not receive any economic benefit. In this case, the arbitrators believe that the expenses were made solely for the purposes of the organization, and therefore no taxable income arises (Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the North-Western District of August 17, 2012 N A56-35143 / 2011).
The Ministry of Finance, in the past, was of the opinion that the payment for travel and accommodation of a candidate at the place of the interview is subject to personal income tax (Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 08/06/2010 N 03-04-06 / 6-170). In the Letter, the financiers referred to paragraph 1 of Art. 210 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, which prescribes to take into account in the tax base for personal income tax all the taxpayer's income received by him both in cash and in kind, as well as income, the right to dispose of which he did not have. Payment, in the opinion of the Ministry of Finance, of travel and accommodation services is made in the interests of the candidate and is recognized as his income received in kind. Consequently, the Ministry of Finance recognized that such compensations for the cost of travel and accommodation of the candidate at the place of the interview are taxable income.
Summing up, let's say that the position of the Ministry of Finance is understandable and justified. If candidates pay for travel to an interview, and the company then reimburses the costs, then personal income tax will need to be withheld from them. And if the company pays for the tickets of applicants and does not pay any money, it is necessary to report the impossibility of withholding personal income tax to the tax office.