How do direct taxes differ from indirect taxes, their list, general characteristics and functions. Indirect taxes: list, payment, declaration

Which are accrued to specific legal entities or individuals, while they are paid directly to those to whom they are accrued and cannot be transferred to other persons. Direct taxes in the Russian Federation are the following on corporate profits, income tax, land tax, tax on transactions with securities, inheritance tax, property tax, etc. Direct taxes are an earlier historical form of tax payments.

The following direct taxes are levied on: individuals(citizens) - property tax; income tax; tax on property received as a result of gift or inheritance; transport tax.

Primary place is given to income tax, since it is the main tax charged on the personal income of citizens. In combination with other economic instruments, this tax is aimed at ensuring a fair redistribution of income received in enterprises, organizations and institutions, as well as funds received from other sources or from individual labor activity. The object of taxation is that received by a citizen during calendar year not only in cash, but also in kind. When calculating income tax, the legislation determines the amount of the applicable non-taxable minimum, i.e. a certain portion of the income received is not taxed. Payment of income tax is not allowed at the expense of organizations, enterprises and institutions. Citizens submit a report to the tax authorities on the income they received, i.e. a declaration is filled out, which indicates all the information for the year about the income received, indicating each source of payment, as well as the amount of accrued tax and already paid on this income.

Held P direct taxes in the Russian Federation and from legal entities(organizations, enterprises, institutions and individual entrepreneurs). These include the following direct taxes, types - corporation tax (income tax), land tax and property tax.

Income tax for business is charged on the income of private individual entrepreneurs and partnerships. At the same time, direct taxes, types of tax charged on personal income, have an impact on joint stock companies, because all companies must withhold a specified percentage of the earnings of their employees and transfer it to the state.

Among direct taxes, the next most important is the income tax, which is characterized by a stable decrease in its share in general taxes. In many countries, a special tax system is used for corporations, expressed in the form of a corporate tax. It represents fixed cash contributions to the budget made from balance sheet profit. At the same time, the remaining part is subject to taxes on retained earnings and dividends. The main disadvantages of income tax include the fact that the tax base includes inflation, in which the difference between the initial and current value is actually considered income of the organization and, accordingly, is subject to taxation.

Taxable profits of organizations include

1. non-operating income;

2. income received as a result of the sale of goods (services, works) and property rights.

The tax base is determined for each type of income separately, since different tax rates are established for them.

To the main disadvantages Russian system Taxation may include instability of taxes, periodic changes in quantity, and benefits. All this undoubtedly plays a negative role. The instability of the Russian tax system is the main problem of taxation.

Taxes in modern society perform two functions. On the one hand, they fill the budget (the main economic instrument of the state), and on the other, they regulate the economy, make it possible to equalize social standards and prioritize the development of industries needed by society. A coherent system of these payments in a codified form is legislated by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Functionally, it consists of two parts: a general one, which establishes the integrating principles of the tax system, and a special one, which reveals the mechanism of each individual tax or fee. Separate chapters in the second part of the Tax Code present value added tax (VAT) and excise duty (or simply excise tax). This article will be devoted to their consideration.

State tax policy

The uniqueness of tax regulation lies in the fact that the state changes the macroeconomic environment by varying tax rates. This is the policy of taxes. It is characteristic that they must correspond to the reproductive principle, i.e. promote growth social production, increasing labor productivity. However, tax regulation is a delicate matter, so when changing the tax rate, you should keep your finger on the pulse of the economic situation.

Its patterns are clearly demonstrated by the Laffer curve, named after the economist from Los Angeles University who discovered the principle of dependence of budget revenues on the tax rate. he displayed it classically: on the x-axis - the percentage charged by the state to the treasury, on the y-axis - the amount of tax received. Initially, this curve increases. The economic meaning of this is this: production in a given segment increases faster than the tax rate, accordingly the economy progresses, and tax revenues increase. However, at the level of 40-50% of the tax rate (for countries of the 1st world) and 35-40% (for countries of the 3rd world), the curve reaches a maximum and begins to decrease. In this case, they say that the tax policy is discriminatory. With relatively high incomes of the working population, it is 40-45% of their income level.

Therefore, the indicator of progressivity social policy It is generally accepted to consider a consistent reduction in the share of the tax burden in relation to the income of the population.

Direct and indirect taxes

Taxes, based on the nature of tax withdrawal, are divided into direct and indirect. The tax base for direct taxes is income (salary, profit, rent, interest) or property (land, house, securities), owned by the taxpayer. Examples of direct taxes can be land taxes on income, on property, on profit. An indirect tax, unlike a direct one, has a fundamentally different character - an addition to the price or tariff.

However, for the benefit of the matter, let us comment on the circumstances of the formation of the income tax tax base. The term “indirect” is also found there, but in this aspect it has nothing to do with indirect taxes (income tax, as we have already mentioned, is direct). In this interpretation, the similarity of the name is associated not with the characteristics of the tax itself, but with the process of determining its value. When determining the tax base, those associated with the main production are deducted from it, and indirect costs are not deducted. In this purely economic way, income tax contributes to greater specialization of the company and the minimization of its non-production costs.

As for indirect taxes, the outstanding German economist Karl Marx commented on their essence in the hidden, hidden in every purchase, withdrawal by the state Money from citizens. It seems that consumers are simply buying goods, so they cannot control their budget appetites. In fact, the payer is the consumer, while the seller of goods and services acts as a collector of indirect taxes and an intermediary in transferring them to the state.

The following net indirect taxes apply in Russia: value added tax (VAT), excise taxes and customs duties.

Indirect taxes. VAT

VAT was first introduced in France; in 1958 it was pilot tested and then implemented. In the 70s, other European countries borrowed it. In Russia, the Law “On VAT” was adopted in 1992 by the Government of Yegor Gaidar. At first, its rate was 28%, which created a significant tax burden, and then it was reduced twice: to 20% and 18%, respectively.

The indirect tax VAT is successfully spreading in global tax systems. What is the reason for its popularity? Most likely, it is insensitivity to crisis phenomena in the economy and acyclicality, since it is not production that is taxed, but consumption.

The main directions of Russian budget policy for 2012 and for the period until 2014 emphasize the leading importance of VAT in the federal tax system. This tax accounts for 32-35% of federal tax revenues.

VAT, as an example of an indirect tax, assumes that the tax base (according to Article 146 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation) is the sale of goods and services on the territory of Russia, the transfer of goods and the provision of services for which deduction is not intended, installation and construction work performed for one’s own needs, the import of goods into the territory RF.

Preferential regimes in the VAT tax base

The Tax Code excludes certain operations from the extremely wide scope of VAT taxation: circulation of rubles and foreign currency, transfer of property by a company to its legal successor, transfer of property for statutory activities non-profit organizations, transfer of property by way of investment, return of the initial contribution to a participant in a business partnership and company, privatization by individuals of state and municipal apartments, confiscation, inheritance of property.

Indirect tax VAT also implies a number of preferential tax rates. Firstly, zero rate. It is used for goods exported, determined by the FZ regime (customs free zone). It is also used in relation to services for loading, transportation, escort of exported goods related to the international transit of goods through the territory of Russia and for the transportation of luggage and passengers if they are sent from outside the territory of the Russian Federation.

However, if we talk further about such a complex tax as VAT, then it also applies a reduced rate (10%) for food, children's goods, media and book products. Thus, federal tax legislation offers simplified tax regime for these categories of goods by lowering their prices and, accordingly, increasing demand for them. As we can see, indirect taxes in the Russian Federation function in a certain area that is not related to production cycles, and their influx into the budget is more uniform.

What else is included in the VAT tax base?

Legal entities and individual entrepreneurs When filling out a VAT return, the following are also included in the tax base:

  • Advances received. The exception is such payments for goods subject to a 0% rate (see above) and for products with a production cycle exceeding 6 months.
  • Funds with the status “ financial aid”, but received in exchange for services and goods sold.
  • Interest on trade loans, bills, bonds in terms of excess of the refinancing rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.
  • Transferred compensation under insurance contracts in case of failure to fulfill obligations by the counterparty.

But there is an exception to the rule: a legal entity or individual entrepreneur, whose income for the previous 3 months amounted to no more than 2 million rubles, writes a corresponding application to the servicing tax authority and is exempt from paying VAT for 12 months.

On the complexity of determining the VAT base

We looked at an example of an indirect VAT tax in accordance with Chapter 21 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation only in terms of forming the tax base. Why one example? So that readers can appreciate the complexity of calculating it using primary documents. For large manufacturing enterprise competent preparation of a VAT tax return, which entails the non-application of penalties by the tax authorities, is relevant and important. This is truly skilled work that requires specific knowledge of the auditor. This area of ​​activity is determined by Law N 943-1 “On Russian Tax Authorities” dated March 21, 1991. Value added tax, as well as corporate income tax, are the most difficult to calculate, therefore, even within tax authorities There is an unspoken specialization: some check VAT, others check income tax. Much less common are station wagons that can do both.

About the methodology for VAT tax audits

Let's consider " internal kitchen» tax related to verification, for example, indirect tax VAT. Generally speaking, inspections can be desk-based, on-site, or include both of the previous types. According to the degree of coverage of the tax base, they are divided into thematic and complex, continuous and selective.

How does a desk audit of VAT take place? Tax inspectors carry out this directly in their office. At their service are those previously provided by the inspected legal entity or individual entrepreneur tax returns and the accounting registers and primary documents required during the inspection itself. On-site inspection is carried out directly in the accounting department of a legal entity (entrepreneur).

As a rule, on the eve of a planned on-site comprehensive documentary audit of VAT, a desk audit of the VAT reporting provided by the taxpayer and the calculations provided for it is carried out to subsequently determine its discrepancies with those actually determined by tax auditors based on the primary tax documents.

VAT, as an example of an indirect tax, demonstrates two areas of verification by auditors of an enterprise’s statements: the completeness of the VAT tax base presented in them and the correctness of accountants’ application of tax deductions.

Analysis of the purchase of goods during a VAT audit

During a comprehensive audit, the availability of primary documents for suppliers is first carefully checked. Regarding suppliers, the inclusion of goods and services provided by them both in the tax base and in deductions (determined in accordance with Article No. 171-173 of the Tax Code Russian Federation) can be taken into account only if certain conditions are met. Must be present primary document- an invoice from a supplier, which, according to accounting, is capitalized on the account allocated to it, the transaction on it is included in the corresponding reporting tax period (meaning the corresponding tax return).

An example of such compensation could be the return of the amount of excess of actually paid VAT over a certain Tax Code of the Russian Federation when next situation: a book publishing company purchases paper and inks, paying an 18% tax, but the finished commercial products(books) are taxed at 10%. Based on the above, the excess tax from the purchase of paper and paints over the tax on the sale of books is included in the tax deduction.

Analysis of the sale of goods during a VAT audit

The sale of goods is tracked based on invoices issued by the audited legal entity and its sales journal (a specific consolidated tax register, and in fact a handwritten database for the tax return).

This check concerns the compliance of accounting registers regarding settlements with suppliers and contractors and settlements with accountable persons. In this case, second copies of invoices must be attached to the journal.

The indirect VAT tax is determined on the principle of non-fictitious transactions (for the supply of each product there must be an appropriate payment by bank transfer - from the current account of the enterprise, or from the cash register - in cash). In this way, possible attempts to return VAT to the enterprise for actually non-existent transactions are determined.

Tax authorities check transactions under K-to account 201 01 610 and under K-to account 201 04 610. If there is no invoice for the sale of goods (services), a counter tax audit is carried out on it in the accounting department of the counterparty of the legal entity. If it is not there either, the transaction is fictitious, and this is an economic crime. At the same time, attention is drawn to chronological order preparation and registration of invoices. Also, random counter checks are assigned for large deliveries for which invoices are available.

An example of a tax error when selling a product

The supplier company must have competent legal support for the execution of contracts. The point is that the sale of services and goods should always be subject to an increase in their price by the amount of VAT. The parties entering into an agreement are required to clearly define the mandatory details of the specified price - with or without tax. The contract specifies the price excluding VAT, which is the tax base. Therefore, it is highly advisable to highlight the VAT amount as a separate line in the agreement itself.

The latter is due to the fact that, according to Art. 424 of the Civil Code of Russia, the parties pay the price of the goods according to the details specified in the contract.

Concluding our review of VAT, we note that, due to its universal nature, it is one of the most complex in its methodology among taxes existing in the Russian Federation.

Excise tax. Tax base

Indirect taxes in the Russian Federation (except for the largest of them - value added tax) include federal tax - excise duty (often called abbreviated as excise tax) and customs duties. It is levied on certain groups of goods both when selling them in Russia and when moving them across the Russian border. It is transferred to the budget of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs, and the actual payers are consumers, since it is included in the price of the goods they purchase. Since the amount of tax is included in the price of the product, it is obvious that the indirect tax is an excise tax.

As a rule, excisable cars are alcoholic products, diesel fuel, motor oils, beer, straight-run and motor gasoline, alcohol and alcohol-containing products, tobacco products.

According to Article 182 of the Tax Code, the object of taxation is transactions involving the taxpayer's sale of excisable goods produced in Russia, receipt and posting of these products, certain types of transfer of goods (toll-to-buy scheme), and transactions of moving excisable goods outside of Russia.

pp. 1 clause 6 art. 182 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation records the emergence of an excisable item during the confiscation and posting of unowned goods by this indirect tax. The transfer of excisable property to the authorized capital of companies is also subject to taxation.

Procedure for excise taxation

Export of excisable goods, transfer between divisions of a manufacturing enterprise, initial transfer of confiscated goods for subsequent industrial processing, import of excisable goods into the customs territory with subsequent refusal in favor of the state, import of excisable property into a port SEZ are not subject to excise tax.

The current excise tax rates for the period until 2015 are presented in Art. 193 Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

Tax authorities carry out a documentary check, take into account the contract of the taxpayer with his counterparty, documents on payment in combination with a bank statement on the transfer of funds, cargo customs declaration, copies of supporting transport documents indicating the export of excisable products outside Russia.

The tax period for domestic sales of excisable goods is a month, for those transported across the border - according to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

Example of determining the amount of excise tax

Initial conditions: The distillery produces vodka with an ethyl alcohol content of 40%. Its production is characterized by a monthly volume of 500 liters. Current tax rate- 210 rubles per liter of anhydrous ethyl alcohol. The amount of excise tax on purchased ethyl alcohol is 1,650 rubles.

Solution: The tax base will be: 500 x 40% = 200 l.

The amount of excise tax corresponding to the sold vodka: 200 l x 210 rubles = 42,000 rubles.

Amount of excise tax to be paid: 42,000 - 1650 = 40,350 rubles.

Conclusion

Indirect taxes are an indispensable attribute of the modern tax system. Of particular importance in it is VAT, which provides the largest amount of tax budget revenues (for Russia 33-35%). It should be noted that the VAT tax rate is an important incentive for economic development. It is not surprising that during the period of increasing the country’s economic potential, starting in 1992, the VAT rate in the Russian Federation decreased from 28% to 18%.

Note that excise tax is an indirect tax, but a rather specific one. Although it has an order of magnitude smaller specific gravity in tax revenues than VAT, but its rates are an indicator of the state’s attitude towards the middle class.

There are many criteria by which tax payments can be classified. One of the main criteria is the division into direct and indirect taxes. What is direct and what is indirect tax? Determining the main difference between direct taxes and indirect taxes is the possibility or impossibility of “shifting” the tax burden to the end consumer.

Types of direct taxes

Direct taxes can be divided into 2 groups – taxes on income and property. These mandatory payments are paid by the taxpayer himself - the recipient of the income or the owner of the property. From the point of view of classical theory, the main difference between direct taxes and indirect taxes is the inability to redistribute the tax burden to other economic entities.

However, this is not the case for all payments. direct tax from indirect corresponds to traditional ideas

Income taxes include personal income tax and corporate income tax. These payments are indeed practically impossible to shift to other persons.

As for the “property” group of direct taxes, the situation here is somewhat different. The owner of the property, land plot or vehicle can rent it out. Thus, the cost of ownership taxes specified objects In fact, it will not be the owner of the property who will bear the burden, but the tenant.

Consequently, this group of direct taxes to a certain extent has the properties of indirect taxes.

Types of indirect taxes

Indirect taxes are levied in such a way that the taxpayer has the opportunity to offset the costs of paying them at the expense of others. The main way of such redistribution is to include tax amounts in the price of a product or service for the end consumer. Financing the costs of tax payments at the expense of the taxpayer himself is not typical for indirect taxes.

Indirect taxes include the following groups of mandatory payments.

1. Universal taxes. For almost any sale of goods or services (with the exception of certain preferential categories), indirect taxes related to this group are levied. Examples are VAT or sales tax.

2. Special taxes. In this case, the tax is paid only on the sale of certain categories of goods (usually alcohol, tobacco products, luxuries). An example of special indirect taxes is excise taxes.

3. State monopolies. Economic entities make payments to the budget for obtaining permits to engage in certain types of activities (licensing) or for performing legally significant actions (state duty).

4. Indirect taxes, along with others, include customs duties. This is a special group of mandatory payments that are paid only when moving goods or services across state borders.

Direct and indirect taxes - table

So, we have looked at the groups into which direct and indirect taxes are divided. The list of main types of taxes by group is given in the table.

Direct and indirect taxes

Indirect taxes on business and individuals from the state's point of view

Compared to direct taxes, collecting indirect taxes seems to be a simpler task for the state. In this case, the main taxpayer is business, and the tax base is sales revenue or added value, i.e. indicators that are easy to monitor during an audit.

An enterprise may not make a profit for some time or may not own (rent) real estate, but added value is almost always generated if at least some activity is carried out. Individuals may not be payers of personal income tax (for example, pensioners), but in any case they indirectly pay indirect taxes included in the price of purchased goods.

Therefore, we can say that, unlike direct taxes, indirect taxes are obligatory for payment by all economic entities on the territory of the state.

In addition, because These taxes are paid on turnover, then in the presence of inflation, the amount of tax payments “automatically” increases in proportion to the rise in prices.

Therefore, in states with relatively high level inflation and difficulties in tax administration (which include Russia), the ratio of direct and indirect taxes, as a rule, shifts in favor of the latter.

Indirect taxes and elasticity of demand

When talking about redistributing the tax burden to the final consumer of goods and services, we should not forget that prices cannot be increased indefinitely. To what extent is it possible? This depends on a measure called elasticity of demand. Demand is more elastic the more it changes when any influencing factor changes (in our case, the more it decreases when prices rise).

Accordingly, the less elastic the demand for a certain group of goods, the larger part of the burden of indirect taxes the manufacturer can shift to consumers of its products.

It is no coincidence that the highest indirect taxes - excise taxes - are levied primarily on alcohol and tobacco products. The elasticity of demand for these groups of goods is very low (simply put, they will be bought at almost any price), which guarantees budget revenues from this tax.

Conclusion

Depending on the ability to shift the burden to the end consumer of goods or services, taxes are divided into direct and indirect. Direct taxes are divided into income and property, and indirect taxes are divided into universal, special, payment public services and customs duties. Indirect taxes are easier to administer than direct taxes, and their revenue increases in proportion to inflation. Therefore, indirect taxes traditionally predominate in the structure of budget revenues of the Russian Federation.

There are various classifications that consider accrued taxes and divide them into groups and types. The type of payment may depend on the level of establishment; it can be federal, uniform for the entire country, regional or local. Taxes also differ different categories payers, including individuals and organizations. In addition, taxes can have their own purpose - general or special. There is also a division according to the method of collection, which determines direct and indirect taxes. They have certain differences.

Types of taxes

In modern legislation there is no specific definition of what constitutes a classification of taxes according to the method of collection. The fact that taxes can be direct and indirect stems from the essence of these charges, the characteristics of the taxpayers participating in this process, as well as the existing elements of operations, which together form a certain group of characteristics that allows the tax to be classified into one category or another.

Taking into account the features, it is possible to determine the difference between a direct tax and an indirect one. It is levied on income or property, and is also paid by the taxpayer out of his own funds. Indirect is not a directly accrued payment; this category includes all kinds of surcharges on the cost of goods and services, which are paid by end customers interested in purchasing products.

Based on this, it is quite clear how direct taxes differ from indirect ones. The first are payments accrued to a specific person, which he makes from his own funds. This option could be property tax or income tax. The second category does not have a specific addressee; any buyer who wants to purchase a product or service becomes the one who pays this tax.

If we consider all payments and their distribution, we can see that the ratio of direct and indirect taxes is uneven. The second category includes only VAT and excise taxes, while the first is more extensive and includes various types of tax payments.

The direct classification of taxes according to the collection method includes the following types of payments that can be made by various companies:

  • The profit received by the organization is subject to tax, which belongs specifically to this category.
  • If the company is engaged in mining, this activity is also subject to taxation, and payments, in turn, are direct.
  • This group also includes water tax.
  • Property taxes belong specifically to direct deductions.
  • If a company has a gambling business, it must pay taxes, which will be direct.
  • Transport and land taxes are also in this category.
  • Personal property tax refers to direct payments.

In addition, this group includes some other types of taxes that differ in a similar essence. In general, it is usually not difficult to distinguish payments belonging to any category, since the difference between them is quite clear.

Output and table

To determine which taxes are indirect and which are direct, we provide a list of direct and indirect taxes established in the Russian Federation in the table.