Unified social tax credited to the federal budget. When was the unified social tax abolished (replaced by insurance premiums)? In what year was the unified social tax abolished and what was it associated with?

In 2016, it became known that insurance premiums would be replaced by a new unified insurance fee. In essence, the country had to return to paying the unified social tax (UST), which accountants said goodbye to seven years ago. Ultimately, the government decided not to change the name of the payment. Policyholders are still calculating insurance premiums, but they pay them to the federal tax service. There is one exception: as before the change of the contribution administrator, you need to pay contributions from industrial accidents to the Social Insurance Fund.

For simplicity, many accountants among their colleagues refer to insurance premiums as UST. In this article we will also use this concept. But it is worth remembering that the Tax Code of the Russian Federation does not contain such a term.

Contribution rates in 2019 (table)

Insurance premiums in 2019 include four types of contributions:

• in case of maternity and illness;
• medical;
• pension;
• for injuries.

The general contribution rate in 2019 is 30% plus the rate of accident insurance premiums (the value is variable and depends on the danger of production). Tariffs in 2019 directly depend on the maximum value of the base for calculating insurance premiums. The tariff rates for the majority of payers (Article 425 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation) are shown in the table.

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Where to submit reports

In 2019, contributions must be reported to the Federal Tax Service and Social Insurance Fund.

In addition to this calculation, policyholders need to submit form 4-FSS. Since 2017, the form has become more simplified and contains figures only for “traumatic” contributions. The paper version of the form must be submitted by the 20th day, and the electronic version by the 25th day of the month following the reporting period.

Calculation example

The salary fund of KGB LLC in February 2019 amounted to 358,378 rubles. None of the employees' payments went beyond the limits established by law limit. KGB LLC does not have benefits. At a rate of 0.3%, KGB LLC pays “traumatic” contributions.

The accountant of KGB LLC calculated the contributions and received the following values:

OPS = 358,378 x 22% = 78,843.16 rubles

Compulsory medical insurance = 358,378 x 5.1% = 18,277.28 rubles

OSS = 358,378 x 2.9% = 10,392.96 rubles

Contributions for injuries = 358,378 x 0.3% = 1,075.13 rubles.

In total, KGB LLC will transfer contributions in the amount of 107,513.40 rubles (78,843.16 + 18,277.28 + 10,392.96) to the Federal Tax Service for various CBKs. You need to send 1,075.13 rubles to the Social Insurance Fund.

Interest in this tax, which “does not work” in the Russian tax system since 2010 (repealed by Law 212-F3 of July 24, 2009) was recently fueled by a report from the Interfax agency, citing a government source, about its possible remake in 2015. We tried to present to your attention the essence of the unified social tax, its calculation methodology, existing optimization and evasion schemes.

Payers of the unified social tax of the Russian Federation

By its economic nature, this tax is economically preferable to the separate social payments that make up it. Let us recall its main economic characteristics, based on the provisions of Part II of Chapter 24, which has been inoperative since 2010 Tax Code RF. After all, apparently, with some changes made this year, it will soon regain relevance.

The Unified Social Tax (UST) is controlled by the tax authorities in terms of timeliness and completeness of payment. It does not include payments social insurance in case of accidents.

Its payers are:

• entrepreneurs, organizations and enterprises that pay wages to individuals working under labor and civil contracts;
• citizens who independently carry out labor activities (except for “simplified workers”).

Individual entrepreneurs, enterprises, and organizations operating under special tax regimes do not pay this tax. Traditional economic sectors are exempt from it small peoples North, individual farms and peasant households.

Composition of tax, frequency of payment and reporting

Components of the unified social tax are three social insurance contributions for citizens:

• to the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation;
• to the Social Insurance Fund of the Russian Federation;
• to the federal and territorial funds compulsory health insurance.

The payment frequency is monthly. The tax period is considered to be a year. Reporting periods- blocks.

The actual payment is made before the 15th day of the month following the reporting month. The payer submits a report showing the amount of accrued single social tax and insurance contributions to the tax authority by the 20th day following the reporting month.

Funds are transferred by UST payers to the personal accounts of the Pension Fund, Social Insurance Fund and Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund, opened in the federal treasury.

Quarterly, in the month following the end of the quarter, employers who pay UST submit a report to the FSS on in the prescribed form, which takes into account:

• the amount of the single social tax;
• total amount accruals to the Social Insurance Fund;
• used funds for sick leave, pregnancy and childbirth, child care up to one and a half years old; for reimbursement of the cost of funeral services, etc.

The base rate ranges from 26% to 36%.

Thus, the object of taxation for the Unified Social Tax is payment under employment contracts, as well as remuneration under civil law contracts.

There is a list of payments to personnel taken outside the tax base for the calculation of unified social tax:

• non-taxable benefits and compensations for individuals;
• compensation for unused vacation paid upon dismissal;
• contributions for employee health insurance paid by the employer (relevant for insurance contracts for up to a year);
• payments personal insurance in case of injury or death.

Practice has shown the positive potential of the tax in economic regulation and in filling the budget.

More details about the remake of the Unified Social Tax

What changes in tax payment are expected for legal entities and individual entrepreneurs who will pay the unified social tax in 2015? Let's list them:

• inside general rate consolidated tax (30%) it is expected that the current levels of payments to the Pension Fund, Social Insurance Fund, and Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund will be maintained;
• tariffs for injuries will remain on the same scale;
• the maximum amount of payments to the Pension Fund will be 711 thousand rubles, to the Social Insurance Fund - 670 thousand rubles. (there will be no limit on payments to the Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund);
• by payers-employers (single social tax), the contribution is calculated in kopecks, i.e. without rounding;
• It is expected that the rules for offset of contributions will change, according to different types insurance within the competence of one body;
• will increase to 5965 rubles. (according to the minimum wage) fixed payment.

Predictably, even in 2015, the UST rate is expected to change. The main factor in this dynamics may be annual indexation pensions. Also, the change in the UST rate will most likely be initiated by the reform of the healthcare system that has already begun.

Economic nature of the tax

A return to the Unified Social Tax does not mean Russia is choosing between the American and European financial systems. Rather, this is a step towards reforming the social insurance system of Russian society.

It’s not even a matter of banal logistics: combining three social payments into one. After all, the expected size of the single social tax will not change contributions to social funds.

The Russian government has more than once discussed the problem of balancing pensions. The relevance of the UST increases if the existing pension system refuses to use the mechanism of partial compulsory pension accumulation.

The economic potential of the tax involves using its rate in the interests of simultaneously balancing the pension system and stimulating the development of enterprises.

About the calculation of UST

Auditor publications indicate that the function economic regulation implements the unified social tax. The interest (tax rate) is regressive.

It becomes profitable for employers to pay salaries to employees with an annual fund of more than 280 thousand rubles. In this case, the UST rate is reduced by more than half! The tax rate regression remains if the employee quits his job and is hired back within one month.

For ease of understanding by readers, we will compactly present the formulas used to calculate the unified social tax for the main categories of employers provided for in Chapter II, 24 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation (where ZS is the salary of employees, UST is the required amount of the unified social tax).

However, the regression mechanism of the single social tax requires further improvement, although it was developed quite carefully. For example, the following situation is provided for by him.

As you know, dynamic business development is characterized by the transfer of an IE employee from one division of the company to another. It is positive that the regressive tax rate remains in force, even if the transfer is made to a unit that has a separate balance sheet.

As an example, let us indicate a bottleneck in taxation. Unfortunately, maintaining a regressive rate during the reorganization of an enterprise (merger, spin-off, division) according to the existing judicial practice is controversial.

The reason is that the reorganized legal entity, in accordance with clause 2, art. 51 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, forms its tax base (including the unified social tax) starting from the moment of its state registration.

In the following presentation, we will consider the unified social tax of the Russian Federation both from the point of view of the existing positive and negative taxation practices, and we will consider ways to improve it.

Qualification of unified social tax optimization schemes by the Federal Tax Service

Why was this tax abolished in the Russian Federation in 2010? After all, it is clear that, purely technically, it is more convenient for the employer to pay a single social tax than to make separate insurance payments to the pension, social insurance, and MHIF funds at the federal and municipal levels.

Experts say there are two reasons for the cancellation. Firstly, the imperfection of the taxation mechanism (according to preliminary information from Interfax, the returned unified social tax of the Russian Federation will be collected by a new single specialized fiscal body created within the Federal Tax Service). Obviously, this step will be taken to prevent various types of evasion from paying the unified social tax.

Verification of the employer-payer's compliance with the tax payment procedure and the absence of "envelope schemes" that optimize the UST taxation will be carried out by the tax authorities. In this case, fundamental attention will be paid to the presence of a business purpose in the actions of the payer, as well as the presence of artificial, i.e. fictitious transactions. Qualification of the enterprise's activities, according to Art. 45 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, is the starting point for audit tax audit any employer.

Illegal schemes for optimizing unified social tax

Is it possible to optimize the unified social tax? I guess, yes. However, excessive aggressive creative activity is fraught with zero tolerance tax authorities. It's about about schemes for evading the payment of unified tax related to:

• insurance;
• transfer of employees to the category of disabled people;
• use of a non-resident company;
• compensation for delayed wages;
• student agreement;
• bonus scheme.

Let us briefly describe the above-mentioned schemes, which are the responsibility of the Federal Tax Service to uncover and punish for them.

• Insurance scheme. The organization insures employees for extremely rare insured event. Workers receive a loan from a bank and pay it as insurance premiums. On the same day, the loan is immediately repaid by the insurance company in order to prevent the occurrence of material benefit. Employees receive income from the insurance company.
• Scheme with disabled employees. Employees leave the enterprise and at the same time are employed in a branch of the OPO (public organization of disabled people) controlled by the director. The OIO and the enterprise sign a contract. For this agreement, the company pays an amount equivalent to the labor of employees who were fired (subclause 2 of Article 238 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation was used).
• Scheme associated with a non-resident company. The latter is registered in an offshore zone. The personnel of the resident enterprise are transferred to it, while actually working in the same place. Because the foreign company is not a payer of this tax, the unified social tax is not paid to the budget.
• A scheme related to the unlawful conclusion of a student agreement. For the period of validity of the contract, in accordance with Art. 198 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, unified social tax is not paid.
• Scheme using bonuses. The founder of the enterprise - a company with a stake of more than 50% - transfers funds to the enterprise for its main activities. The funds received are paid by the enterprise to its employees as gratuitous assistance. This scheme, in addition to the unified social tax, also contributes to the evasion of income tax and VAT.

Optimization schemes contested by the Federal Tax Service

The second group of schemes follows the audit methodology of the Federal Tax Service as evasion of payment of unified tax, however federal legislation does not contain a direct prohibition. Let's name three schemes of this kind:

• outsourcing;
• dividend;
• associated with harmful working conditions.

The essence of the outsourcing scheme is to fire employees and place them in an agency company operating according to a simplified scheme. An outsourcing agreement is concluded between two companies. The agency sends employees to the company and pays for their work.

• Dividend scheme. Managers of the main company establish Joint-Stock Company. Profit is transferred to this joint stock company and distributed.
• Scheme related to harmful working conditions. The annex to the collective agreement - the agreement on labor protection - lists compensation to employees for harmful working conditions. The trade union formalizes the examination of workplaces with an act. After certification of workplaces, the personnel working there are paid untaxed UST compensation (Article 219 of the Labor Code, clause 2, Article 238 and clause 3, Article 217 of the Tax Code).

The above mentioned schemes require a correct mechanism for their use. They will obviously fall under the control of a tax audit. However, if their use is truly appropriate, then in the inspection report they will not become a source of additional tax charges under the Unified Social Tax.

Schemes corresponding to the tax audit methodology

The third group consists of models of legitimate optimization of the unified social tax; let’s name three of them:

• the company’s work with individual entrepreneurs as employees;
• pay wages in the form of rental payments;
• selling goods to employees.

The first model involves registering an employee as a “simplified” private entrepreneur. A civil law contract is concluded with him. Individual entrepreneurs are paid half as much single tax instead of the unified social tax.

The second model is positioned with a lease agreement between an enterprise and an employee’s property (usually a car or computer). According to paragraph 1, art. 236 of the Tax Code, payment of the unified social tax in this case is not made.

The third model is characterized by the enterprise purchasing goods from an employee. For example, paintings. According to paragraph 1, art. 236, such payments are also not included in the UST tax base.

Conclusion

For an economy that is developing and emerging from a crisis, reducing the tax burden becomes a strategic issue.

Sustainable progress and prosperity of the nation are possible with a significant reduction in the fiscal burden on small and medium business. In particular, reducing the UST rate in the tax system of the Russian Federation to 20% would be a significant factor contributing to the shadowization and development of small and medium-sized businesses. The single social contribution is more sensitive specifically for small enterprises and entrepreneurs. For them, it creates large costs (up to 40% of the wage fund), at the same time its burden on big business significantly lower: 15-18%.

In addition, in the development tax we are considering domestic market Russia should see a budget-forming perspective.

In balanced economies, the single social tax accounts for a significant share of total tax revenue. For example, its share for Japan is 38%, for Germany - 37%, for Great Britain - 18%, for France - 41%.

In fact, the unified social tax was abolished several years ago. But accountants, out of habit, for the sake of simplicity, continue to call the compulsory insurance premiums that have replaced it with this term.

What is the Unified Social Tax in 2018 and why is it needed?

UST stands for “single social tax”. Legally, such a tax has not existed since 2010. In the old fashioned way, accountants call it mandatory contributions for social, pension and health insurance.

In accordance with the requirements of Article 419 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, insurers are required to make social contributions, i.e. persons directly making payments and other benefits to employees:

• enterprises;
• Individual entrepreneurs and private practitioners;
• individuals.

The UST is intended to provide working citizens with state pensions and a number of things in the future. additional payments. It allocates the amounts necessary to provide free medical care and provision of benefits.

What is the rate for the unified social tax in 2018?

The total UST rate in 2018 consists of several contributions:

• 22% – for pension contributions;
• 5.1% – for compulsory health insurance;
• 2.9% - for social insurance.

As a result, the total burden on the employer is 30%. The amount of contributions for employee accident insurance (“injury”) is added to it. It is variable (from 0.2% to 8.5%) and depends on the level of danger at work.

In 2018, tariffs for contributions included in the Unified Social Tax are directly dependent on maximum value base accepted for calculating insurance premiums. For most payers, the tariff rates for the period 2017–2020 are established by Article 426 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation:

The overall rate for the unified social tax in 2018 may be reduced. Thus, the rate of contributions to the Pension Fund is reduced to 10% if the amount of the employee’s earnings exceeds the norm provided for by law - 1021 thousand rubles. Also, for the amount exceeding the income limit of 815 thousand rubles, contributions to the Social Insurance Fund are not charged.

For workers in “harmful” and dangerous conditions, depending on the assigned hazard class and subclass of working conditions, additional insurance rates are applied pension contributions in the amount: from 0% to 8% if there are results of an assessment of working conditions, or 6% and 9% for those who did not conduct a special assessment (Article 428 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Read about additional tariffs.

Insurance premiums for individual entrepreneurs

The amount of fixed insurance premiums paid by entrepreneurs “for themselves” since 2018 does not depend on the contribution rate and the size of the minimum wage. Now individual entrepreneurs pay the amount determined by the Government of the Russian Federation, which in 2018 is 32,385 rubles, including:

• RUB 26,545 – for pension insurance;
• RUB 5,840 - for health insurance.

With income exceeding 300 thousand rubles, the individual entrepreneur is obliged to pay an additional 1% of the pension insurance contribution, while the total amount Pension Fund contributions per year should not exceed 212,360 rubles (Article 430 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

The pension fund budget was formed from employer contributions as part of the Unified Social Tax (UST). The unified social tax introduced in 2001 combined separate payments paid by enterprises to three funds - the Pension Fund of Russia (PFR), the Mandatory Fund health insurance(MHIF), Social Insurance Fund (FSS). The UST rate at that time began to amount to 35.6% of the wage fund, which reduced insurance deductions organizations and workers by more than 3%. The basic rate of transfers to the Pension Fund remained the same and amounted to 28% using a regressive scale. After the Unified Social Tax came into force, Law No. 173-F3 “On Labor Pensions in the Russian Federation” was adopted on December 17, 2001, and Law No. 167-FZ of December 15, 2001 “On Compulsory Pension Insurance in the Russian Federation” was adopted. As a result, a savings element was built into the distribution mechanism of the pension system, as mentioned earlier, and the pension began to consist of three parts. The procedure for distribution of unified social tax in terms of pension contributions has also changed. General tariff was 28%, it was divided into 2 parts: one part in the amount of 14% was sent to the federal budget to pay the basic part of the pension to current pensioners, and the second part - 14%, was sent to the Pension Fund and distributed into 2 more components. 8% of it was allocated to insurance part and 6% on accumulative part, but this only applied to persons younger than 1967. For men born over 1952 and women over 1956, all 14% was transferred to the insurance part of the pension. For men born between 1953 and 1966. and women born between 1957 and 1966. 12% was allocated to the insurance part and 2% to the savings part. However, this order lasted only until 2007. After 2007, changes were made to the law, as a result savings accounts citizens born in 1967 have not been replenished with mandatory insurance contributions for the funded part since 2007 and to this day labor pension. Thus, at the current time, the accumulative part of the future pension is present for men younger than 1953 and women younger than 1957, inclusive, but since 2007, the accumulative part is replenished only for citizens younger than 1967. This means that about 30 million people (almost 40% economically) active population countries at that time) were excluded from the funded system pension insurance. According to Federal service government statistics, it was in the period from approximately 1950 to 1965 that there was a surge in the country's birth rate. The first pensioners of this period will appear in 2012. By allowing citizens of this age to participate in savings program, it was possible to slightly reduce the burden on the working population during the period when these people retire. But in this case, it is necessary to allocate more funds from federal budget actual pensioners for pension payments, for which the state is obviously not ready.

The introduction of the unified social tax caused a number of contradictions. The problems were as follows: since 2001, the income of the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation was generated from the received UST fees, the procedure for paying UST and the size of tariffs were regulated by the Tax Code. This means that decisions to increase pensions and decisions to change tariffs tax collections V pension system were adopted by various departments, whose goals did not always coincide. The Unified Social Tax was entrusted with the task of not only acting as a source of financing the state’s social obligations, but also at the same time serving as a catalyst for the policy of legalizing the income of the population. In this connection, from January 1, 2005, the maximum UST tariff was reduced from 35.6% to 26%, including the share of revenues for pension provision decreased by 8 points and amounted to 20%. Initially, the distribution was carried out as follows: for the funded part - 4%, for the insurance part - 10%, for the basic part - 6%. This order was fixed for the period from 2005 to 2007, later the interest was redistributed: 8% was allocated to the insurance part, 6% to the savings part, the base remained unchanged (described in detail in the previous paragraph). However, obligations to pay pensions to pensioners continued to increase. The reduction of the unified social tax led to a decrease in the funds received by the Pension Fund to ensure payments of the basic and insurance parts of the labor pension. As a result, the Pension Fund's dependence on federal budget funds has increased. So in 2007, the share of revenues from the federal budget in the total budget of the Pension Fund exceeded 50%. Expectations that a reduction in the UST rate would lead to the withdrawal of taxpayers’ wages from the “shadow” and compensate for the reduced tariff with new revenues did not materialize. It becomes obvious that the transition from the method of collecting the revenue part of the budget of the Russian Pension Fund (PFR) through insurance premiums collected by the PFR itself, to the payment of taxes (UST) has proven to be ineffective. And, as a result, the unified social tax has been abolished since 2011. All of the above changes are presented in Table 3.1.

Table 3.1

Rates social contributions from 1997 to 2012 in Russia 121

This is a serious innovation in the tax system. It was able to replace the previously existing taxes, which went to three state extra-budgetary social fund. Before the introduction of the Unified Social Tax, payers were required to provide separate reporting forms to each of the above funds, as well as make timely payments within the deadlines established by the relevant fund.

History of the Unified Social Tax

The idea of ​​introducing a single social tax (UST), which would cover everything, arose back in 1998, when the State Tax Service proposed creating a single unified tax base, transferring all accounting and control functions to a single department. However, in those years this plan remained unfinished, so it had to be frozen. After 2 years, the second part of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation was adopted, as well as the federal law from 09/05/2000. Started from 01/01/2001 new order calculations and payment of contributions to social off-budget funds RF. Chapter 24, part 2, spoke about the introduction of the unified social tax. Tax in as well as taxes in the Social Insurance Fund and compulsory medical insurance funds were consolidated as part of the Unified Social Tax in order to mobilize funds for the implementation of citizens’ rights to pension and social Security, as well as proper medical care. In addition to this, a certain procedure was established for contributions to compulsory social insurance from accidents at work and occupational diseases.

UST: essence and characteristics

Go to open market economy in Russia was marked by fundamental changes in financial system when extra-budgetary funds began to be disconnected from the national budget system. Because of budget deficit, inflation, decline in production, growth of unforeseen expenses and other circumstances, the formation of extra-budgetary funds has become one of the most important elements in updating the mechanisms of the activities of social service institutions. As mentioned earlier, the unified social tax was introduced after the entry into force of the 2nd part of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. In general, UST is a tax designed to replace all insurance contributions to the above-mentioned funds, but without contributions to insurance against accidents and occupational diseases, which must be paid regardless of UST.

In 2010, the Unified Social Tax was abolished, and was replaced by insurance premiums, which, however, were not much different from the latter. Significant differences between the unified social tax and insurance premiums were the payment of taxes: previously, citizens paid through the tax service, but with the arrival of insurance premiums, they began to pay taxes to extra-budgetary funds. In addition, tax rates were slightly changed. However, on January 1, 2014, a proposal was made to return to the old UST scheme, which was in force until 2010.

Objects of taxation

For taxpayers of the 1st group, the objects of taxation are all accrued payments, as well as remunerations, bonuses and other income, including payments for civil contracts, copyright and licensing agreements and, finally, payments intended to provide financial assistance. It is worth noting interesting fact that all of the above income may not be subject to taxation if they were paid from the profit that was in the remaining account of the organization.

For entrepreneurs, the objects of taxation are all income that they receive from their business/professional activities, but minus the costs associated with their extraction.

Finally, we will say that the objects of taxation do not include various payments, the subject of which is the transfer of ownership rights to property or the transfer of temporary use of property. For example, such agreements may be a purchase and sale agreement and a rental agreement.

Tax base for UST

Based on the objects of taxation established by law, the tax base is formed. For employers it is determined:

• all kinds of remunerations and payments made in accordance with labor legislation;
• payment under civil contracts;
• income from copyright and licensing agreements;
• various payments to provide financial assistance and other gratuitous payments.

When the tax base is determined, all income that is in one way or another accrued to workers by their employers in cash or in kind, as well as under the guise of social, material and other benefits, minus non-taxable income, which we will talk about later. When UST is accrued, taxpayers-employers are required to determine the tax base for each employee separately throughout the entire tax period. The tax base entrepreneurs - this is a generalized amount of income that is subject to taxation and was received by them for taxable period excluding costs not associated with their extraction. Income received by employees in kind (goods, services) must be taken into account as part of taxable income, based on their value/cost, which is determined under Art. 40 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, based on market tariffs and prices.

Payments not included in the tax base

These include the following:

• government benefits;
• compensation upon dismissal;
• travel expenses;
• compensation for damage caused to health;
• compensation for the use of personal belongings of employees;
• all kinds of compensation for athletes;
• other types of compensation;
• provision of free food;
• income received by members of the peasant household;
• reimbursement of expenses for improving the professional level of workers;
• contributions for compulsory/voluntary insurance of workers;
• material payments to state employees;
• one-time financial payments;
• free housing;
• incomes of members of the few peoples of the North;
• other payments established by art. 237 Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

Payers

The UST payers will be the same persons who pay contributions to extra-budgetary funds. Essentially speaking, there are now only 2 groups of payers, where the first includes wage-earners, organizations, entrepreneurs and corporate entities that have civil legal capacity, and the second - self-employed citizens (lawyers, notaries, tribal communities of the few peoples of the North, engaged in traditional farming, and others).

If taxpayers belong to both categories, then they pay taxes on two grounds. For example, an individual entrepreneur who uses the labor of hired workers is obliged to pay unified social tax on the income received from entrepreneurial activity income, as well as accrued payments in favor of their workers. Notaries, detectives and security guards who are engaged in private practice do not belong to a separate class of payers for the reason that they are already included in the group of “individual entrepreneurs”, which is enshrined in paragraph 2 of Art. 11 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

Unified Social Tax rate in 2013 and 2014

Russia is experiencing gradual growth tax burden, which is caused by the “aging of the nation”, and subsequently by the fall in the number of able-bodied and working citizens. Of course, the older generation needs to be treated and pensions regularly paid to these people. Nowadays the lowest insurance premiums are paid individual entrepreneurs and other self-employed citizens. They pay a fixed premium, which is noticeably lower than the “average” employee who works for someone else. As for the actual interest on insurance premiums (UST), in 2013 they amounted to 30% of wages. Plus, it has been confiscated since 2012 additional bet in the amount of 10% for wages over 512 thousand rubles, 568 thousand in 2013 and expected for wages over 624 thousand in 2014. Unified Social Tax in 2014 was expected to rise to 34%. Due to a sharp increase in rates in 2010, which increased by 8% (from 26% to 34%), most small businesses went into the shadows, as they were unable to bear such a significant burden on their business.

How to calculate UST?

The UST calculation in 2014 is carried out according to the following algorithm:

1. First you need to determine the tax base, which is the amount of income individual. It can be received by him as a salary (that is, under employment contracts) or under the guise of other payments issued under civil contracts: royalties, rewards for performing work, etc. In addition, UST payers will be both organizations and individual entrepreneurs who use the labor of hired workers.

2. The next step is to determine the tax rate. It has a regressive scale, in which larger amount Less interest is charged. For the bulk of payers total percentage will be 30% (for income from 1 to 624,000 rubles): Unified Social Tax contributions to Pension Fund Russia - 22%, to the Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund - 5.1%, to the Social Insurance Fund - 2.9%. On top of the limit amount (624 thousand) 10% will be withheld.

3. Match your salary with the desired group (<624000<) и просто умножьте вашу сумму на определенный процент. На этом все, ваш индивидуальный расчет ЕСН окончен.

Tax periods

The tax period is 1 calendar year. At the same time, for the 1st group of taxpayers there are also reporting periods (quarter, 6 and 9 months). For group 2 there are no such periods. At the end of the tax season, taxpayers must file a tax return.

Typical UST accrual transactions

UST. Postings for its accrual

Tax benefits

According to Russian tax legislation, it was established that the following organizations and persons were exempt from paying tax (before the abolition of the unified social tax in 2010):

1. In organizations, the UST accrual is not withheld from payments and other remunerations that during the tax period do not exceed 100 thousand rubles for each individual who is a disabled person of group I, II or III.
2. The previous principle also applies to the following categories of taxpayers:
   • For public organizations of disabled people (NOI). In this category, taxes are not withheld if at least 80% of the participants are disabled people and their legal representatives. This also applies to their regional branches.
   • For institutions where the authorized capital is formed from deposits (OI), the average number of which [disabled people] is at least 50%. Plus, the share in wages should be at least 25%.
   • Organizations that were created to achieve social goals, including assistance to people with disabilities, disabled children and their parents. It is worth noting that the owners of the property should only be POOs.
3. Individual entrepreneurs and lawyers with disability status of groups I, II or III. Income from their business/professional activities must also not exceed 100 thousand rubles during the tax period.

Nowadays, a preferential percentage of unified social tax (insurance contributions) is also present. For example, in 2013, the preferential rate was 20% in the Pension Fund, the Social Insurance Fund - 0%, the Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund - 0%.

Prerequisites for returning to the unified social tax

For many, the information about the refund did not seem surprising, because the Unified Social Tax was an important component of the tax system of the Russian Federation in the 2000s. Most experts cite the fact that the main reasons for the return to the unified social tax was that the replacement of the unified social tax with insurance contributions, the scale of which changed in favor of a more regressive one and an increase in the rates of mandatory contributions from 26% to 34% of the payroll (payroll fund), did not provide balance of the pension system, but only led to an increase in the tax burden and various administration complications. From this we can conclude that a return to the single social tax will most likely be received favorably by business (especially small ones), and the system itself will suit both the state and business. In 2010-13 all entrepreneurs were forced to contact three (!) bodies, which, in turn, increased the cost of accounting.

It is also not profitable for the country to maintain an increased staff of civil servants, which complicates the control of the financial activities of entrepreneurs. In addition, we have already mentioned that due to sharp increases in rates, many small companies have gone into the shadows. So for now, only positive changes are predicted. On the other hand, in 2014 the rate of social payments was increased, because the unified social tax is now 34% (regular) and 26% (preferential), which will not make businessmen very happy.

Conclusion

Quite a long time has passed for the UST taxation system to become close and understandable to all taxpayers. Meanwhile, it is worth noting that certain provisions in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation require additional improvements and clarifications. The abolition of the unified social tax did not have a negative impact on the tax system, however, the practice of introducing insurance contributions did not bring any improvements, increasing the current rate of unified tax. Currently, unified tax rates are 34% and 26% for the bulk of payers and beneficiaries, respectively, which is not very friendly to entrepreneurs . However, it is worth noting that UST is a good alternative to insurance premiums, which can improve the tax situation in the country.