What costs are not considered indirect? Tell me, please. Is it possible for the accounting policy to provide for all expenses of an enterprise for profit tax purposes to be classified as direct, without indirect ones?

Direct income tax expenses , as well as indirect ones, are included in the cost finished products, however, the order of their distribution is different. This must be taken into account when forming the income tax base in order to avoid subsequent incorrect calculation of the tax itself.

Which income tax expenses are direct?

To answer this question, you should carefully read the Tax Code. Direct costs include:

Amounts paid for material resources that are used in the process of manufacturing finished products, when selling goods or carrying out work, according to subparagraph. 1 clause 1 art. 254 Tax Code of the Russian Federation.
Costs for equipment and parts for assembling equipment or semi-finished products used for subsequent processing, based on subclause. 4 paragraphs 1 art. 254 Tax Code of the Russian Federation.
Costs for salaries of personnel directly involved in the manufacture of products, sales of goods, and performance of work. In addition, this category includes contributions to off-budget funds, including contributions for injuries, payment of unworked time (sick leave), medical insurance, additional pension contributions. All these deductions must be made specifically from wages for the work done. This required condition for tax registration. It is directly mentioned in Art. 255, paragraph 1, art. 264 Tax Code of the Russian Federation.
Size depreciation charges With non-current assets, used in the main activities of the company, for the manufacture of products, sale of goods and services, as stated in sub. 3 p. 2 art. 253, art. 259 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

Liberalization legislative framework I also touched upon the list of expenses in Art. 318. Thus, according to the information contained in letters from the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 02/07/2011 No. 03-03-06/1/79 and the Federal Tax Service for the city of Moscow dated 02/02/2010 No. 16-12/009984@, companies can expand the range of direct expenses, however, all additional titles will have to be approved by accounting policy.

Direct Cost Accounting Policy

tax code involves accounting direct income tax expenses in accordance with the rules established therein.

The difficulty lies in the fact that such expenses are counted against the reduction of income in the share attributable solely to the volume of products, goods, works or services sold during the time period taken into account. This thesis is enshrined in paragraph. 2 p. 2 art. 318 Tax Code of the Russian Federation. There are additional explanations from officials in letters of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 06/09/2009 No. 03-03-06/1/382, dated 12/08/2006 No. 03-03-04/1/821, as well as the Federal Tax Service of Russia for the city of Moscow dated 05/18/2010 No. 16-15/051839@. All similar income tax expenses are taken into account in the month of actual sales, even if the receipt of funds from the transaction from the sale is planned in future periods. Similar views were held by the judges in the resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the West Siberian District dated June 15, 2011 No. A45-12953/2010.

The procedure for accounting for direct costs when selling services

For enterprises that have chosen services as their main activity, a specific rule has been established for writing off direct expenses. In particular, para. 3 p. 2 art. 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation provides for their write-off in full in reporting month. This is what officials think in letters from the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated June 15, 2011 No. 03-03-06/1/348, dated August 31, 2009 No. 03-03-06/1/557. They support this position and judiciary(for example, resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the West Siberian District dated August 27, 2013 No. A27-19013/2012). This is due to the fact that services do not have a material embodiment, unlike work, the results of which are always tangible. To illustrate this position, we give an example.

Example 1

Drawing up design and estimate documents refers to work related to the implementation of contracts construction contract. Based on the provisions of Art. 758 The Civil Code of the Russian Federation and the letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated February 22, 2007 No. 03-03-06/1/114, we can conclude that they cannot be taken into account at the same time.

Conducting an audit by an audit firm, on the contrary, belongs to the service sector in accordance with clause 2 of Art. 779 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. This means that the direct expenses of such a company can be taken into account when calculating income tax at a time when they are incurred.

Situations are possible when a company diversifies its activities and, in addition to production, also provides services. In this case, expenses will have to be written off separately: those related to the manufacture of products - according to general rule, for services - one-time according to the specific provisions given above.

Despite the fact that, according to the fiscal authorities, it is not necessary to establish such a provision in the accounting policy, it is better to do so.

How to correctly write off direct expenses in tax accounting?

To correctly determine the amount of costs related to the products sold for the current month, you must first obtain the following data:

amounts of work in progress;
the quantity and amount of goods shipped, but not classified as sold;
some of the goods that did not find buyers at storage sites.

Costs that qualify as direct and remain “inside” these objects do not need to be taken into account when taxing profits.

After a change in accounting policy in the middle of the period, some of the direct costs may be converted into indirect costs. Those direct expenses that remain in work in progress should, after changes in policy, be written off as the balances are sold. Representatives of the Ministry of Finance speak about this in letters dated 09.15.2010 No. 03-03-06/1/588, dated 05.20.2010 No. 03-03-06/1/336. At the same time there is arbitrage practice, which allows you not to act in this way, but to write off the costs of work in progress at a time, if they were classified as indirect in the company, from the month of changes in the accounting procedure.

List of indirect income tax expenses

As a general rule, it is customary to call indirect costs that are associated with servicing the main activities of the company (general production, general economic). They are taken into account in the cost of finished products according to a pre-established proportion in the company, which must be enshrined in the accounting policy.

Features of tax accounting of indirect expenses

On a literal reading of Art. 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, it can be established that the name “indirect” is applicable to costs that are not taken into account as part of direct and non-operating expenses. As a result, to accurately determine the list of indirect costs, it is necessary to exclude those related to direct costs from the list of items existing in accounting. The list of such operations is open and can be created by the company at its discretion. All indirect costs are written off in full reporting period, this is stated, for example, in the letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated March 25, 2010 No. 03-03-06/1/182.

Example 2

The company makes cakes in a specialized department, independently looks for customers and sells them. In this case, it is possible that part of the finished product is not sold within the allotted time and is again returned for recycling into raw materials and subsequent use in production. In this case, the costs of re-processing can be taken into account only during the subsequent sale of products for which the received raw materials were consumed.

From general rule There are exceptions, and sometimes this type of cost needs to be distributed, in particular, this applies to amounts belonging to several time periods.

Also separate rules Accounting for indirect expenses is established for advertising and entertainment expenses, R&D expenses, and insurance.

The procedure for recording direct and indirect income tax expenses is regulated by the provisions of Art. 318 Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Thus, direct expenses reduce income exclusively in the share attributable to products sold, and indirect - completely at the time of their implementation.

At the same time, there are special cases governed by other provisions, to which the closest attention should be paid. This applies to the costs of providing services. There are also difficulties in accounting for expenses when making changes to their classification in accounting policies.

However, for all complex situations, a certain practice has already developed, and there are also corresponding explanations from the fiscal authorities.

For certain resources. All costs that the implementation of a business project involves can be divided into direct and indirect. You must try to predict all these expenses as accurately as possible in order to draw up a business plan.

What is included in direct costs

Direct costs are directly related to the products or services a company produces or provides. They are included in the cost using the direct method. When calculating income tax, direct costs are taken into account as products are sold.

Most often, the structure of direct costs includes the following groups:
- material costs;
- labor costs and salary deductions;
- depreciation deductions;
- other types of costs.

In number material costs all materials used are included, excluding products own production. These are, in particular, raw materials, semi-finished products, building materials, components, fuel, spare parts, containers, etc. Their list and specific gravity differs depending on the industry. For example, for metallurgy, an important share will be occupied by energy costs, and for the food industry, the largest share will be accounted for by raw materials. The criterion for classifying material costs as direct costs is that the materials included here, during their further processing, become part of the finished product, i.e. transfer their value to it.

Labor costs include the costs of salaries of workers directly involved in the production process. This is, for example, the salary of programmers in a website development company, or craftsmen in construction organization. But the salaries of accountants and administrative personnel can be classified as indirect expenses. It is worth considering that this group of costs includes not only wages, but also various incentives, bonuses, vacation pay, as well as various contributions to extra-budgetary funds.

Depreciation expenses are carried out using depreciation rates. They represent the process of partially transferring the cost of fixed assets as they wear out to cost.

Expenses often include the cost of services auxiliary production and external contractors. Direct costs include other types of costs that are directly related to production.

What are indirect costs?

Indirect costs cannot be directly transferred to the cost of production or provision of services, because they are distributed between various types products. They are not directly related to the products produced and are often also called overhead costs.

These are, for example, rental costs, administrative and management costs, costs for training workers, office supplies, communication services, etc. When starting a business, it is quite problematic to predict all indirect costs; unforeseen expenses can always arise.

It is worth noting that the specified list and division of costs into direct and indirect is very arbitrary; each organization determines it independently based on the specifics of the organization of production. For example, the salary of accountants in a medical institution will be indirect costs, and in a company engaged in external accounting services, - straight.

Tell me, please. Is it possible to provide accounting policy For profit tax purposes, should all costs of an enterprise be classified as direct, without indirect ones?

An enterprise’s costs cannot be attributed only to direct ones, without indirect ones. In tax accounting, an organization's expenses for production and sales are divided into two groups: direct and indirect. This procedure is established by paragraph 1 of Article 318 and the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

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

In tax accounting, an organization’s expenses for production and sales are divided into two groups:

straight;
indirect.

The organization must establish the exact list of direct costs associated with production and sales independently (clause 1 of Article 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Develop such a list and consolidate it in your accounting policies for tax purposes. The formation of a list of direct costs must be economically justified. Costs must be distributed taking into account the characteristics of the technological process and industry specifics. At the same time, only those expenses that cannot be classified as direct for objective reasons can be recognized as indirect. For example, the costs of raw materials and materials that are included in the unit cost of production are always direct and cannot be classified as indirect costs. Similar clarifications are contained in the letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated February 24, 2011 No. KE-4-3/2952. The validity of this conclusion is confirmed by arbitration practice (see, for example, the ruling of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated May 13, 2010 No. VAS-5306/10, the resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Ural District dated February 25, 2010 No. F09-799/10-S3).

When determining the list of direct expenses for tax accounting, an organization can use a similar list that it uses in accounting (letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated May 30, 2012 No. 03-03-06/1/283).

Costs that relate to direct expenses are included in the tax base as products are sold (work is performed), in the cost of which they are taken into account (paragraph 2, clause 2, article 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Indirect costs should be taken into account in the costs of the period when they were incurred (clause 2 of Article 318, clause 1 of Article 272 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

The organization provides services

Organizations that provide services can distribute expenses into direct and indirect in the same order as production ones.* They should also create a list of direct expenses and consolidate it in their accounting policies. However, between the rules for recognizing expenses production organizations and organizations that specialize in providing services have a significant difference.

For tax purposes, a service is recognized as an activity whose results do not have material expression and are sold and consumed in the process of its implementation (clause 5 of Article 38 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). In this regard, organizations providing services (for example, audit companies) are not required to distribute direct costs between the costs of the current tax (reporting) period and the cost of services not accepted by customers at the end of this period (paragraph 3, paragraph 2, article 318 of the Tax Code RF, letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated June 15, 2011 No. 03-03-06/1/348). They have the right to recognize all expenses incurred (both direct and indirect) in the current tax (reporting) period. In this case, such a procedure for accounting for direct costs must be established in the accounting policy (

Classifying the concept of “costs” into direct and indirect (non-releasing) is extremely important for the correct distribution of the tax base for income tax. Direct costs are redistributed to sold and unsold products, the remainder goes to unfinished production. All expenses that the company does not consider direct are automatically classified as indirect. Indirect costs are expenses that are associated with the sale of goods. They are fully included in expenses that affect taxation. If accounting for direct costs is quite clear and understandable, then accounting for indirect costs has its own difficulties. Since direct costs affect the cost and selling price of the product, it is important to correctly distribute between cost groups.

Also note that indirect costs for one company are direct costs for another. Sometimes the same expenses can change the category. For example, advertising a specific service is a direct cost, while advertising an organization as a whole is an indirect cost. Before classifying costs, you need to give them the correct definition. For this purpose, you can refer to Art. 253 Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

What are considered direct costs?

Direct costs are costs directly associated with the manufacture of certain types of products. They are the ones that are calculated in the cost price. The Tax Code does not provide a clear definition of direct expenses, it only provides an approximate list. The enterprise itself must classify expenses and record them in accounting documents. This is necessary for rational taxation. Typically, direct costs include:

Basic materials.
Accessories.
Semi-finished products.
Z with deductions.
Other direct costs.

IN this list It is worth clarifying the last position. This category includes equipment rental, installation and preparation work for this equipment (cooling of machines, adjustment production machines for a certain type of product, material disposal).

As mentioned above, direct costs go towards production costs. Examples: boards and fittings in the manufacture of furniture, the cost of purchased goods for further resale in trade, etc. Sometimes it is not practical to count the costs of materials for one product (glue, paper clips, nails, bolts). Then they are classified as business expenses and considered general business expenses. They are taken into account in each reporting period and are methodically redistributed between specific types of goods.

An enterprise that is directly involved in production has the right to include in expenses only costs related to goods already sold. The rest will go to no goods sold and unfinished production. In accounting, this group of expenses is taken into account in account 20. For the convenience of analysis, you can also keep account 43 and calculate the cost on account 20. Tax accounting also reflects the amount of direct expenses; the calculation looks like this:

Direct costs = sum of direct costs x (amount from sales of goods / (amount of output + amount of unfinished production)).

As for direct costs for the service sector, Tax Code simplifies the accounting of direct costs. According to paragraph 2 of Art. 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, dividing direct costs into sold services and unfinished production is not necessary. All costs that affect the cost of the service are taken into account in tax period and reduce the company's taxable income. In view of this rule, it is important to have at least one sale of services in the reporting period so that the entire amount of direct expenses reduces the tax base.

In trade, the cost of purchased products is fully indicated when filling out a tax return. If fare are not taken into account in the cost of goods, they can also be classified as direct costs. In accounting, this is recorded as Debit 90.2 – Credit 41.

What are indirect costs?

The definition of indirect costs is contained in paragraph 1 of Art. 318 Tax Code of the Russian Federation. They include the costs of producing not a single product, but an entire category. They cannot be associated with this product in any way. Indirect costs consist of:

Depreciation of fixed assets.
Costs of voluntary health insurance for employees.
All tax deductions.
Costs for licensing and certification.
Advisory services.
and marketing.
Repair of buildings and transport.
Utilities.
Training and advanced training of employees.
Cost of transportation costs for delivering products to the buyer.
Salaries with accruals for support staff.
General production and general shop expenses.

All types of non-production costs are reflected in Art. 265 Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Most of the indirect costs are fixed at . The amount of these expenses is not related to the volume of output. In accounting they go through balance account 26" General running costs" Postings to 25, 23 and 20 accounts are also possible.

To solve the problem of determining cost, an individual absorption coefficient is established, which reflects the share of overhead costs per unit of goods. One method is to divide indirect costs proportionally by all direct costs. It is possible to divide indirect costs into production costs labor. Taking into account indirect costs will help you realistically estimate the cost. However, as the redistribution base changes, the result will also change.

The Direct Costs method provides that the cost includes only direct costs, and indirect costs fall on the financial result of the enterprise (subtracted from net profit). Tax return for income tax reflects the accumulated amount of indirect costs. However, certain indirect costs require individual decoding, namely:

The amount of taxes and councils.
Depreciation of fixed assets.
Amount of costs for social protection disabled people.
Amount for the acquisition of land and lease rights for land plots.
Research costs.

The categories of indirect and direct costs are extremely important for any enterprise. First of all, they form the true cost of production. Secondly, they help calculate the optimal markup. Thirdly, expenses are involved in economic analysis when calculating the profitability of sales and specific types of goods, calculating the break-even point and payback. Fourthly, expenses directly affect the amount of tax deductions. In the end, the redistribution between indirect and direct costs will be reflected in the financial result.