VAT 15.25 percent in some cases. VAT

I continue my thoughts about taxes and the tax system. Previously, I spoke on the property tax of individuals, namely the real estate tax in the article “”. Now it's the turn of the value added tax.
I warn you - there will be a lot of letters. The tax is complex, even confusing, and I will try to explain it in layman’s terms for those who are not in the know.

So. This tax belongs to the so-called indirect taxes. For those who don’t know, there are indirect and direct taxes. Direct taxes are, for example, income tax. You sold something and received proceeds. Expenses were subtracted from this revenue and profit (tax base) was obtained. It is from this profit that the tax is taken. But the fact is that there are many options for not paying this tax: underestimating revenue, overestimating expenses, using various benefits provided by law. It is clear that the state is interested in receiving taxes, and taxpayers are interested in paying them as little as possible, or not paying them at all. With income tax, it is quite easy for taxpayers, and quite legally, to understate their tax base. And this is where VAT comes into play!
The fact is that every taxpayer is required to include this tax in the price of his product or service. Whether you like it or not. There are, of course, legal options for exemption, for example, the use of special tax regimes - a single tax on imputed income, a simplified taxation system. Or you can get an exemption from paying it if a number of conditions are met, using certain benefits. (Tax Code to help). We will not take into account such an exception as the VAT rate of 0%. We will consider an average company.
If you are an ordinary organization applying a standard tax regime, then you cannot escape VAT. However, VAT consists of two parts. One has already been mentioned - accrual to the budget, the second is reimbursement from the budget. The fact is that before you sell a product, you must buy it or buy components for its production. But the seller also included his VAT in the price of the goods sold. Most of the total mass of goods and services presented in the economy is subject to VAT. Electricity, rent, water - the payment for them also includes VAT. Now imagine how much components and various types of raw materials does an average plant buy? In turn, all these components, as a rule, are also products of production and their production also requires its own raw materials. Have you introduced the chain?
So here it is. When selling goods, an organization is obliged to charge VAT, but at the same time has the right to deduct VAT, which was included in the cost of those goods and services that it purchased. The economics of your pocket dictates that, as much as they took out of your pocket, so much was put in. The tax rate is the same, but you will obviously sell the product at a slightly higher price than you bought it for. The calculation is simple.
Now the VAT rate is 18%, the VAT refund rate is 15.25% (it can be easily calculated using the formula: VAT = S * 18 / 118). That is, if you bought for 100 rubles, then the VAT included in this amount will be equal to 100*18/118 = 15.25 rubles.
There is just a little bit left for the trick I want to talk about to become obvious.
We stomp further.
You bought an item for 100 rubles. In these 100 rubles, the seller has already included his 18% VAT - 15.25 rubles. Then you resell this product with a markup of, say, 30 rubles, that is, the cost will be equal to 130 rubles. And add your VAT on top. 130*18%= 23.4 rub. The selling price will be 23.4+130= 153.4 rubles.
You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to understand that the VAT that you charged upon sale and the VAT that was charged when you bought will be different. Yours will be a little larger. The difference between these two amounts will go to the budget.
Calculation in numbers for those who didn’t believe it:
Purchased goods for 100 rubles. VAT deductible 15.25 rubles.
They sold the goods for 130 rubles. VAT to be charged: 130*18%= 23.4 rubles.
The difference to be paid to the budget: 23.4-15.25 = 8.15 rubles.
Not so much, you can live.
Based on this calculation, many schemes have been invented to ensure that VAT deductible exceeds VAT accrual. That is, so that there is a negative difference and then the budget will owe you. Of course, this is illegal and punishable.
And then there's hocus pocus.
It is not the company that pays VAT, but...the buyer! Moreover, the buyer who was the last in this chain. And who is our last? That's right - people. Me, you, your mother-in-law and your neighbor are drunks. After all, no matter what the economy produces, almost all of it is consumed by the population. If you don’t understand why we pay VAT and not the organization, let me explain.
You bought a computer in a store. The price of a computer includes VAT, which was charged by the store (and before it the supplier, and before it the manufacturer, etc.). The store, of course, will pay its 8.15 rubles. But he will take them from you. It's clear? No? For those who don't, here's the numbers:
You bought a computer in a store... well, maybe not a computer, but a mouse for 153.4 rubles. You gave these rubles and kopecks to the store, which distributed them: 100 rubles. to cover the cost of purchasing goods, 30 rubles for your profit, 23.4 rubles. for VAT, of which he will actually transfer 8.15 rubles to the budget. That is, he paid VAT on your money.
You spent money on VAT, but you cannot claim it as a deduction. In other words, VAT is a tax paid by the population.
Well, what then is the meaning of this tax, if it is actually paid by individuals, and not by legal entities?

This summer, the government decided to present two innovations to Russians: raising the retirement age and increasing the value added tax (VAT) rate from 18 to 20%. This, according to officials, will bring an additional 600 billion rubles a year to the federal treasury. On the one hand, “a mere trifle”: total VAT collections last year reached the level of 5 trillion rubles. So the plan to finance the new “May decrees” at a cost of 8 trillion by increasing the above-mentioned tax will not be able to be implemented.

Illustration by ronstik/shutterstock.com

Fair submit

What to expect then? Rising prices for consumer goods, experts are sure. How would this happen? Yes, it’s very simple if you understand the mechanism of this tax, which is considered the most economically “advanced” in the last hundred years. It was invented in 1954 by the chief tax officer of France, Maurice Loret, to replace the antediluvian tax on the turnover of enterprises.

This archaic tax was simple in terms of administration (collection), but the taxpayer (for example, a manufacturer) was forced to pay the “working tax” twice: when he bought raw materials for production, the cost of which already included turnover tax, and at the time of sale of the finished product.

The French financier proposed taxing only that part of the cost of production that is generated by the enterprise itself - personnel salaries, materials used in internal production, etc. Materials purchased externally and paid services received are not taxed, which is why it was called VAT - value added tax. price.

Let's return from economic theory to consumer practice. Why are we talking about rising prices in stores if the VAT increase concerns only part of the cost of products and manufactured goods? An example is a layer cake: the more layers it has, the higher the culinary product. The mechanism is the same with prices and taxes. Let's say a confectionery factory purchased flour, milk, butter and cocoa powder. All this went into the production of the final product - a layer cake - and therefore, it would seem, is not subject to tax.

But this is not so: VAT is already included in the price of ingredients, because they have added value - the same as farmers’ salaries. It turns out that there will already be two percentage points by which VAT will be increased in Russia. The same percentages will “add up” the cost of the cakes that have not yet become a pie, and so on. As a result, an increase in VAT by two percentage points can lead to an increase in production costs, which means the price of the finished pie will increase by five to six percent.

According to the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, if the VAT rate is raised from 18 to 20%, prices will increase by 1%. Other experts believe that the VAT increase will reduce inflation with a one-time effect of about 1.5%. Therefore, at the end of 2019 prices may increase by 4%.

Cats in a poke

This is a simple example that does not reflect the full range of business, investment and financial transactions in which VAT appears. Therefore, the effect of two percentage points in absolute terms may be larger. Above we gave an analogy of collecting VAT with baking a layer cake. The next example can be called cats falling into a black bag.

The first “pig in a poke”: the economic activity of enterprises is not a linear process, but an intermittent one. When selling finished goods, the manufacturer will already pay 20 percent VAT, part of which is reimbursed by the tax included in the price of raw materials. However, many months may pass from the moment of sale to the “hour X”, when the tax office will refund the VAT. This means that during this entire time the entrepreneur’s working capital is “frozen”.

To fill the gap, the manufacturer is forced to take out a loan - its cost will also affect the price tags, which, if the tax rate changes by 2 percentage points, will increase by much more than 2%. After all, percentage points are just the difference between percentages, and these percentages themselves reflect the difference between absolute values - rubles: hundreds, thousands, millions...

The second “cat”: there are sectors of the economy where the principle of VAT refund does not work or where sales of products are exempt from VAT. However, they can pay tax on external purchases. These include almost all small businesses that use special tax regimes in their core activities, educational, healthcare, cultural institutions, and the financial sector for a significant part of their operations.

Third “cat”: in which sectors of the national economy will costs and product prices increase if the VAT rate increases by 2 percentage points? According to the Federal Tax Service, more than 70% of domestic VAT (tax on goods and services produced within the country) revenues would come from six sectors of the economy: manufacturing (20.7% of additional budget revenues), wholesale and retail trade (12.1%). %), construction (11.5%), scientific and technical activities (9.5%), energy (9.1%), information and communication services (8.9%). Therefore, the main burden of increasing VAT will fall on the end consumers of products from these particular sectors - both the population and business.

Chief Revenue Officer

Currently, value added tax ranks first in the structure of payments to the budget. Let us illustrate with the example of St. Petersburg. VAT collections go entirely to the federal treasury, but city statistics also take it into account. In January - April 2018, enterprises and organizations of the northern capital transferred 380 billion rubles to the budget system, of which 119.1 billion rubles. provided VAT. The largest source of revenue to the city treasury - the personal income tax - gave the budget of St. Petersburg 77.1 billion rubles.

In general, for the country, value added tax is, without exaggeration, a system-forming tax. For example, in 2017, the budget received 3.1 trillion rubles of VAT on goods and services produced within the country (the so-called internal VAT), and another 2.1 trillion rubles of VAT on imported products, called external VAT. A total of 5.2 trillion rubles, which is slightly less than 8 trillion rubles required to accelerate the socio-economic development of Russia. But this is without taking into account the very two percentage points with which we began the story.

Comments

VAT are three letters that each of us has definitely heard. Even if you have nothing to do with business niches, the abbreviation can be found on any receipt when you go to a store. But not everyone knows what it is and why it is everywhere you look. And even if you ask this question, then a simple decoding of the abbreviation - “value added tax” may not say anything at all, except perhaps that this is again some kind of tax. Meanwhile, you need to know this. After all, VAT applies to absolutely everyone, even if you are a simple sales manager or an employee of an enterprise.

The simplest thing you need to know from the start is that this tax is imposed on any product and any service that is sold by a company at a price even slightly higher than its cost. In this option, VAT will be calculated based on the difference between the cost of the product and its selling price.

Where does VAT come from?

Almost a hundred years ago (twenties of the twentieth century), the value added tax replaced the then existing sales tax. Before this, the tax was taken from all revenue. And it was difficult for entrepreneurs, because they had to make constant identical payments, which did not take into account possible income at all. They were based only on bare revenue, not profits. But on the territory of the Russian Federation, VAT was introduced only in 1992.

Today the tax rate in Russia is the well-known eighteen percent. It applies, with some exceptions, to most goods and services. But there are other options. Thus, a rate of 10 percent, for example, is levied on medicines, children's products and some food products. But products for export (export) are not subject to this tax at all.

Who pays VAT

A scheme may be born in the mind of the average person, suggesting that this tax does not concern him at all. Well, the entrepreneur pays himself, and let him pay. But this is a mistaken opinion. Because in reality, the entire amount of this tax is ultimately paid by the buyer himself. To understand why this happens, let’s look at a simple example and see what stages the emerging value added tax goes through.

A certain company orders material from a third-party company to make its own product. This company, when it pays for the material, pays a sum of money to the company. And VAT will be imposed on this amount of money.
Next, the company produces a product from the material and sits down to think (figuratively) what the price of this product is. That is, how much money was spent on its production. VAT is not calculated here yet. We only know how much the costs cost. The tax amount is also calculated, but is recorded as a “tax credit”.
Next, the company needs to decide how much the product will cost the end customer. Here the cost of the goods is added up, excise taxes are calculated, the share that after the sale will go to profit is entered, and VAT is added. That is, it will already be included in the price of the product that the consumer will pay upon purchase.
When a product is sold in a certain quantity, the company sits down to calculate profits. From the money received, 18 percent of the tax that the buyer has already paid is calculated. And this money is spent on tax obligations to pay VAT.

Here is a simple diagram that shows that the price of a product in a store already includes value added tax. And if it were not taken into account, the product would cost less.

VAT calculation

To understand the whole process, let's look at an example again.

We opened a point where jeans will be sold. To sell something, you must first produce or buy it. In our case, we find a company that sells jeans wholesale. And we spend 100 thousand rubles on the purchase of a consignment of goods, where one pair of jeans costs 10 thousand rubles (the jeans turn out to be expensive, but for an example it will do). That is, we purchased 10 units of goods.

These 100 thousand rubles that were spent on goods already included 18 percent VAT. Since the sale of jeans to us was made by their supplier, who has already included this tax in the price, because he will have to pay it to the state for selling the goods above cost. Accordingly, we paid this interest for him.

We calculate this amount as an incoming contribution or deduction. And we will need to have evidence that we paid for the jeans with VAT already included. Therefore, it is important to have one of the supporting documents - this is either an invoice, or a check, or an invoice, where the tax amount is indicated separately. That is why on all such documents we can find a line with VAT.

Further, when we ourselves set the price at which we will sell our jeans at retail, we remove this amount of VAT from the price for the product. And the next VAT, which will be levied on our sale, will be calculated from the amount received. That is, we add up our costs for the goods (this will include not only the cost price, but also our other expenses that we incur during the organization of the sale) without VAT and add 18 percent to this amount.

VAT calculation formulas

Let us first note that the formulas for calculating taxes are not so simple, especially for a person who is not used to dealing with mathematical equations. Therefore, there is more than one calculator that will calculate VAT or the amount excluding VAT for you. You can find them on the Internet, on specialized sites. You don’t need to learn how to use it, everything is extremely simple - there are a couple of fields for entering the amount and that’s it. For those who want to understand the algorithm for calculating the tax percentage, let’s look at the formulas in more detail.

VAT calculation formula

Let’s take the amount we know and denote it by the letter “X”. To understand how much VAT will be, we use a simple formula:

VAT=X*18/100

That is, if our amount of goods is equal to 100 thousand rubles, then the VAT accrued on it will be equal, based on the formula, to 18,000 rubles. This is how much we paid when purchasing goods from a supplier in order to ensure that he paid his value added tax.

Once again, if we want to buy jeans worth 100,000 rubles, we will either pay 118,000 rubles, because we will also need to include VAT (this is done by the supplier), or we will pay 100,000 rubles with VAT already included, and in fact we will buy smaller quantity of goods. Because in fact the price will be 84,745 rubles, 76 kopecks, and another 15,254.24 kopecks. - this is the VAT price for this amount, which is already included in the invoice for us by the supplier. You can open any VAT calculator on the Internet and check the calculation, but for now we’ll move on to the formula that will show us why it turns out to be 118 thousand.

Formula for calculating the amount including VAT

Amount - X.

Amount with tax - Khn.

Xn = X+X*18/100

Xn=X*(1+18/100)=X*1.18

That is, from our amount of 100,000 rubles, the amount including VAT will be equal to 118,000 rubles. We have already described this above, that is, if we want to buy 10 pairs of jeans, we will actually have to pay 118 thousand, not 100, because the supplier will include VAT in the invoice.

Formula for calculating the amount excluding VAT

Amount including VAT = HN. You need to understand what the amount X will be equal to - the amount excluding VAT. To understand the formula, let’s remember the second formula, which calculated the amount including tax. And we enter the designation of the tax itself - it will be Y. Y, if the VAT is 18 percent = 18/100. Then the formulas will look like this:

Xn = X+Y*X

Xn = X*(1+Y)

From here we get that X = Xn/ (1+Y) = Xn / (1+0.18) = Xn / 1.18

We want to buy goods worth 100,000 rubles, but so that this figure already includes VAT, and at the same time understand how many rubles the true amount we pay for the goods, and not for the tax, will be. We use the calculation: Amount without VAT (X in this case) = 100,000 rubles (Xn) / 1.18 = 84,745 rubles with kopecks.

That is, if indeed one pair of jeans costs us 10 thousand rubles without VAT, then by paying only 100,000 rubles we will be able to purchase no more than 8 pairs from the supplier (there will be a little money left). Or, if we still spent 100,000 rubles and bought exactly 10 pairs, and VAT was already included in this amount, then a pair of jeans costs 10,000 rubles with VAT already included in it.

Tax credit and tax liability

We looked at the formulas, but how much should we pay to the budget for this tax, you ask. Let's finish off the topic with jeans and resolve this issue, and at the same time we will understand such components of the concepts of value added tax as credit and liability.

We still bought jeans for 118,000 rubles. Of which 18 thousand were paid as VAT for the supplier. We have an invoice from this supplier for our batch of jeans, where it is written in black and white that the price of the goods without VAT is 100,000 rubles, the amount of VAT is 18,000 rubles, and the total cost is 118,000 rubles.

Tax credit- this is the amount by which it will be possible to make a tax deduction from the tax liability at the end of the reporting period - that is, reduce the amount of tax we pay to the budget. And what we will have to pay to the budget is - tax liability.

In reality, we will subtract the VAT we have already paid from the amount of 118,000 rubles to form our price. That is, the amount will be the same 100 thousand rubles. Let's say, having included all other cost and expense factors, and adding the percentage of the desired profit, we got a price of 200,000 rubles. This is exactly how much our jeans will be sold for in our store to the end consumer. And it is from this amount that our tax liability will be deducted - that is, the tax that we must pay to the budget.

From 200 thousand rubles, according to the formula or calculator, it turns out that VAT is equal to 36,000 rubles. This is our tax liability. But! After all, we also have documents that confirm our tax credit of 18,000 rubles (that is, the fact that we have already paid 18 thousand in the form of value added tax). This means that we can subtract 18 thousand already paid from 36 thousand. In total, we will get 18 thousand rubles, which we will pay after selling all 10 pairs of jeans (let’s say this happened in one reporting period).

From 200 thousand rubles, 18,000 went to the budget in the form of tax. But we must not forget that our supplier also paid his 18 thousand into the budget, which he received from us when purchasing the jeans initially.

Types of VAT

As mentioned above, there are a number of goods and services that are not subject to this tax. Therefore, we can talk about the existence of a zero rate. These are exports of goods, products of the space business niche, gas and oil transportation niches and some other types of goods. Regulates the list of such positions of the Russian Federation.

There is also a list of trade names that are subject to a ten percent tax. These are mainly food products - meat, vegetables, dairy products. It also includes children's clothing, children's furniture and more. Again, the list is quite large; it is better to familiarize yourself with it in person in the tax code if this issue interests you.

Well, the rate of 18 percent is the most popular. You can meet her almost everywhere.

Transactions subject to VAT

Import of any product
Any work on the construction of buildings without concluding a contract
Transfer of services and goods for personal use, the costs of which are not taken into account when calculating tax.

Which processes are not subject to VAT?

The work of government bodies, which relates to its direct responsibilities.
The process of purchase and privatization of municipal and state-owned enterprises.
Investment.
Sale of land plots.
Transfer of money to enterprises operating on a non-profit basis.

VAT calculation methods

Subtraction. In this option, the tax is imposed on the full amount of revenue, and from this amount the VAT payable for the purchase of materials for the product or service is calculated.
Addition. In this case, VAT is imposed at a fixed rate according to the tax base. It is made up of the added value of each type of product sold.

So, while the second option is difficult to implement, because there are often very many such individual items, the first option is used much more often.

VAT reporting

It seems that it has become a little clearer what value added tax is, where it comes from, how it is calculated and who pays it. However, you still need to report to the FSN authorities for it. Let's figure out how this is done.

The first thing you need to know is that you need to report quarterly. Moreover, the deadline is until the 25th of the post-reporting month. Otherwise, ugly fines await.

Important! If you send a VAT report by mail, then take into account the filing date - this is the date that will be stamped on the letter.

Example: It took 10 days from the post office where you sent a registered letter with your declaration to the tax office itself. Sent on the 18th, arrived on the 28th. Will it be considered that you submitted the report late? The answer is no. After all, the 18th number will appear on the stamp of the letter.

Tax deductions

In the case of value added tax, deductions are considered to be the amount of tax that is presented for payment by the supplier of the goods. The tax that will go to the budget from you will be reduced by this figure.

But there are some nuances that you need to know and understand. This concerns the conditions for the tax authorities to accept these deductions. Three rules must be followed:

The product itself, which you purchased for the purpose of subsequent sale, is subject to VAT.
The company has all supporting documents, including a correctly executed invoice.
The goods that were purchased went through the accounting procedure.

And only after these conditions are met, the company will be able to accept the entire amount of payments as a deduction at the end of the tax period. Naturally, if all procedures were taxable.

Invoice

This document will reflect several amounts. Firstly, the cost of the goods without VAT. Secondly, the final amount includes VAT.

An invoice is provided for the goods sold to the client. This must be done within 5 days. All documentation is filed and noted in the sales book.

It happens that the audit makes a decision to cross out all calculated deductions and charge unpaid VAT. This can happen if there are errors on the invoice. And it’s not so difficult to allow them, because the invoice is issued by the counterparty, not the taxpayer.

Bottom line

Knowing what VAT is is important for anyone. Knowing how to calculate it is important for those who are directly involved in filling out documents and submitting reports to the tax department. Being unaccustomed to doing this using formulas is difficult and tedious. Therefore, to check yourself and your counterparties, there are many electronic resources where you can find a VAT calculator that will calculate it for you in two clicks. The main thing is to remember that attentiveness is an important component in the matter of VAT, and you cannot be late in submitting your reports to the tax office.

When VAT was introduced in Russia, a single tax rate was established equal to 28%. The value of this rate was calculated based on the need to maintain budget revenues at the level provided in the previous 1991 by the turnover tax and sales tax, in replacement of which VAT was introduced.

The uniform VAT rate established in Russia at the time of the introduction of this tax did not exist for long: already in 1992, taxation of some food products at a rate of 15% was introduced. Subsequently, there were also changes in the level of rates with a simultaneous revision of the list of goods taxed at the minimum rate.

At the time of the introduction of VAT in Russia, its rate was noticeably higher than in other countries. Thus, in Austria this tax was levied at a rate of 20%, in Belgium - 19, in Denmark - 22, in France - 18.6, in Germany - 14, in Norway - 20, in Sweden - 23.5, in Great Britain - 15 %.

At the end of 1993, VAT rates were established that are still in effect today: for food and children's goods according to the list approved by the Government of the Russian Federation - 10%, for other goods, works, services - 20%. The average European level of this tax is 14-20%, however, VAT interest rates are usually differentiated by type of product.

For example, in Italy there are four rates: normal - 19%, two reduced - 4 and 9% for consumer goods (food, water, gas, electricity for household needs, medicines, etc.) and increased - 38% for items luxury.

A similar picture is observed in other countries. In France, for example, in 1988 there were four VAT rates: the marginal rate on luxury goods, tobacco, alcohol - 33.33%; reduced rate on cultural and educational goods - 7%; the minimum rate on essential goods and services, including food (except chocolate, medicines, housing, transport) is 5.5%.

As part of the harmonization of the tax system of the EEC (now ES), it is assumed that in the coming years two VAT rates will be established in the countries of the Union: reduced - 4-9% and normal - 9-19%.

Currently in Russia VAT rates are 0, 10 and 18%:

0% - for goods (except for natural gas, which is exported to the territory of the CIS countries) exported under the customs export regime, as well as placed under the free customs zone regime, as well as for work (services) directly related to production and the sale of specified goods (for the organization and support of transportation, transportation or transportation, organization, support, loading and transhipment of goods exported abroad or imported into the Russian Federation, performed (provided) by Russian organizations or entrepreneurs (with the exception of Russian rail carriers), and other similar work (services), as well as work (services) for processing goods placed under the processing regime in the customs territory);

for work (services) directly related to the transportation or transportation of goods placed under the international customs transit regime;

for services for the transportation of passengers and luggage outside the Russian Federation when registering transportation on the basis of unified international transportation documents;

for work (services) performed (rendered) in outer space, as well as for a set of preparatory ground work (services) technologically determined and inextricably linked with the performance of work (rendering services) in space;

for precious metals by taxpayers engaged in their extraction or production from scrap and waste, State fund precious metals and precious stones of the Russian Federation, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, banks;

for goods (works, services) for the official use of foreign diplomatic and equivalent missions or for the personal use of diplomatic or administrative and technical personnel of these missions, including members of their families living with them;

for supplies exported from the Russian Federation under the customs regime for the movement of supplies.
Supplies are fuel and lubricants that are necessary to ensure the normal operation of aircraft, sea vessels, and mixed (river - sea) navigation vessels;

for work (services) performed by Russian carriers on railway transport for the transportation or transportation of goods exported abroad, as well as work (services) related to such transportation, including work (services) for organizing transportation, escorting, loading, reloading.

For sales of goods taxed at a rate of 0%, the payer submits a separate declaration to the tax authorities.

10% - for food products (except excisable ones), goods for children according to the lists contained in Art. 164 Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

18% - for other goods (works, services), including excisable food products.

If the payer produces and sells goods that are taxed at different rates, then it is necessary to keep records of the sale of goods and the amounts of VAT on them separately in the context of the applied rates and indicate in the settlement documents the amounts of VAT by type of goods depending on the applied rates. In other words, a prerequisite for the differentiated application of rates is that the enterprise maintains separate records of sales of goods (works, services) and the amount of tax on them in the context of approved rates. If separate accounting is not provided, then the maximum rate is applied - 18%.

The rate of 10%, which is usually called the general rate, corresponds to the so-called settlement rate of 9.09%, and the general rate of 18% corresponds to the settlement rate of 15.25%.

Essentially these are also settlement rates. They are used in the following cases:

1) upon receipt of funds related to payment for goods (work, services):

a) payment received, partial payment for upcoming deliveries of goods;

b) received for goods (work, services) sold in the form of financial assistance, to replenish special-purpose funds, to increase income or otherwise related to payment for goods (work, services);

c) received in the form of interest (discount) on bonds and bills received as payment for goods (work, services), interest on a trade loan in the part exceeding the amount of interest calculated in accordance with the Central Bank refinancing rates in force in the periods for which interest is calculated;

d) insurance payments received under insurance contracts for the risk of non-fulfillment of contractual obligations by the counterparty of the insured-creditor, if the insured contractual obligations provide for the supply of goods (work, services) by the insured, implementation which are recognized as subject to VAT;

2) upon receipt of payment, partial payment towards the upcoming transfer of property rights:

a) the income received by the new creditor of a monetary claim arising from a contract for the sale of goods upon the subsequent assignment of this claim or upon termination of the corresponding obligation;

b) received cost transferable property rights (including by participants in shared construction, to residential buildings or residential premises, shares in residential buildings or residential premises, garages or parking spaces);

c) income received from the debtor or upon subsequent assignment of a monetary claim under an acquired claim from third parties;

3) when tax is withheld by tax agents;

4) when selling property acquired externally and accounted for VAT;

5) when selling agricultural products and processed products purchased from physical persons

(who are not taxpayers), according to the list approved by the Government of the Russian Federation (with the exception of excisable goods);

6) in other cases when, in accordance with the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the amount of VAT must be determined by calculation method.

By virtue of Art. 454 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the seller and the buyer independently determine the price of the item being sold. However, tax legislation assumes that the price agreed upon by the parties is subject to an increase by the amount of VAT.
Consequently, if in the contract, when indicating the price of the product, the parties did not make a reservation about the inclusion of VAT, then the price agreed upon by them must be increased by the amount of VAT. In other words, an indirect tax is something separate from the price, something like a special addition to the price goods. The seller, when formulating the price, includes VAT at a rate of 18 or 10%, and in the final price VAT is 15.25 or 9.09%, respectively.

The VAT amount is allocated in the price solely for tax purposes. Calculation of VAT is the determination of the amount of tax payable to the budget, and is carried out on the basis of a special, invoice, method, also called the invoice offset method. This method is based on highlighting in the price of a product a part of the added value that goes to the budget in the form of a tax. To apply the method, two conditional calculation indicators are distinguished in the price: “tax received from buyers” and “tax paid by the seller.”

The price always contains a certain amount of VAT, regardless of whether it is specifically allocated in the primary payment or settlement documents. Indeed, the price contains the value added at a given technological stage of the movement of goods, and therefore the tax on this amount of added value. In other words, added value initially arises as a result of economic activity, and only then part of this value is withdrawn in the form of VAT to the budget at the expense of received property (the source of the tax). The tax must be allocated from the price at the estimated rate (15.25 and 9.09%), and not be charged in excess of the amount received.

It cannot be assumed that if the payer has not indicated the tax in the documents, then there is no tax; on the contrary, there is a tax only when it is indicated in the documents. Tax arises due to the presence of an object of taxation (sale), and not due to whether the technical employee of the accounting department indicated the amount of accrued tax in the relevant documents.

When selling goods (work, services), the price of goods (work, services) must be increased by the amount of VAT, therefore, to determine the amount of tax in the price formed taking into account VAT, the calculated rate is used.

It should be noted that the estimated rate is not any independent (third) tax rate. The calculated rate is a derivative of the basic rate and differs from the latter not in size, but in the calculation method. Thus, if a rate of 18% is set in relation to the price before VAT is included in it, then a calculated rate of 15.25% is automatically obtained by applying the base rate of 18% to the final selling price, including VAT.

For example, if the total cost of a product is 480 rubles, and the profit provided for in the wholesale price is 170 rubles, then the wholesale price will be 650 rubles. (480 + 170). VAT in this case is equal to 117 rubles. (18% from 650 rub.). The selling price will be 767 rubles. (650 + 117).

The share of VAT (117 rubles) in the wholesale price (650 rubles) is 18%, and the share of the same amount of VAT (117 rubles) in the selling price (767 rubles), i.e. in the selling price, which already includes VAT , - 15.25%.

It follows that any calculated rate (15.25; 9.09%) means that taxation occurs in the general manner at standard rates (18 and 10%).

Since retail enterprises simultaneously sell goods taxed at different rates, they determine the so-called average calculated rate based on the following ratio:

where VAT is the amount of VAT attributable to goods received during the reporting period; C - the cost of goods received during the reporting period at a price including VAT (except products, not subject to VAT only from suppliers, as well as purchased from the public). The current regulations also provide for special VAT rates, which, unlike calculated ones, are independent rates. Their level coincides with the calculated rates (15.25 and 9.09%), but are not identical to the calculated rates. Special rates apply to the amounts of fines, penalties, penalties received for

violation of obligations stipulated by contracts for the supply of goods (implementation of works, services).

Thus, when characterizing VAT rates, it is necessary to divide them into standard, reduced, estimated and special (standard and reduced).

If trading enterprises do not maintain separate accounting or calculate the average rate, VAT is calculated at the maximum level - 15.25%.