Prolongation of reporting and tax payment terms and new benefits for SMEs

LEGAL DIGEST, NEWS \ 16.04.2020

As part of the next supporting measures, terms for submitting tax reporting, suspending inspections, and not applying fines will be provided. Subsequently all companies and individual entrepreneurs have their submission term postponed by 3 months:

• tax declarations and advance payment settlements (excluding VAT declarations and insurance premium settlements) submission term of which falls on March – May 2020;
• accounting reports.

The term for submission has been postponed until May 15, 2020:

• VAT declarations and insurance premium settlements for the first quarter of 2020.

The term for submission has been postponed by 20 business days:

• documents, explanations and other information at the request of tax authorities received within the period from March 1 to June 1, 2020.

The term for submission has been postponed by 10 business days:

• documents, explanations and other information on requirements, concerning VAT.

A detailed table on postponements of tax payment and submission of reporting may be found at the link (information from the Federal Tax Service)

In accordance with the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 409 dated 2/4/2020, the term for submitting declarations and paying taxes (contributions) has been postponed for small and medium-sized enterprises that are included in the register of SMEs (as of March 1, 2020) and are operating in the industries affected by coronavirus.

Payment terms are postponed for 6 months:

• profits tax for 2019;
• taxes and advances on them, excluding VAT, for the reporting periods that fall on March and the first quarter of 2020;
• the unified tax paid in connection with the application of the Simplified Tax System, Single Agricultural Tax for 2019.

Payment terms are postponed for 4 months:

• taxes, except for VAT, paid for the reporting periods that fall on the half-year (second quarter) of 2020

Payment terms are postponed to October 30, 2020:

• advance payments for transport tax, tax on the assets of organizations and land tax for the first quarter of 2020.

Payment terms are postponed to October 30, 2020:

• advance payments for transport tax, tax on the assets of organizations and land tax for the second quarter of 2020.

In addition, in accordance with the latest amendments to article 6.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation (clause 4 of article 1 of the Federal Law No. 102-FZ dated 1/4/2020), if the deadline for submitting reports or paying taxes falls on a weekend, holiday days off or non-working day established by a presidential Decree, this term is postponed to the first working day. Let us recall that before this the term was postponed only in cases when it fell on a weekend and a holiday days off.

It is worth noting that if your company is not subject to non-working days regime or you continue to work as normal (including in the remote mode), we recommend not to delay the submission of reporting.

Interest free salary loans

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced new supporting measures for entrepreneurs at a meeting with Government members on April 15. One of the points is the change in the government program of interest free loans to pay salaries.

Given that interest free loans for the payment of salaries were ineffective (since banks are reluctant to meet the borrower and it is difficult to obtain a loan), 75% of the amount of such salary loans should be guaranteed by the Bank for Foreign Economic Activity. This will allow to mitigate risks for commercial banks and enhance the availability of loan resources. In addition, such loans will be available to medium and large enterprises in the affected sectors of the economy.

New loan product for systemic companies

Another important measure to support businesses during the pandemic was the news of the establishment of preferential loans to funds added to current assets (money necessary for the purchase of materials and components, payment of advances to suppliers, etc.).

The rate on such loans will be subsidized by the state in the amount of the Central Bank’s key rate. This means that the actual cost of the loan for enterprises will be 6% lower against the current market rate. At the same time, half of the loan will be provided by state guarantees of the Ministry of Finance. The list of systemic companies is currently being replenished.

We continue to monitor all legislative changes and inform you as new information becomes available.