Excise taxes and VAT are one of the key concepts both for economists involved in taxation features and for entrepreneurs trying to survive in conditions of strong market competition in our country. These words frighten many, while others cause a storm of discontent - “Again, the state takes away the last money!”. However, it is difficult to argue that taxation in the existing form, having many acute angles, is nevertheless effective - the rates are not as high as in many powers, and the return allows everyone to feel social security at the expense of the state and its “financial pillow”.
Excise taxes: what is it and why?
Talking about excise taxes and VAT, to simplify the situation, each of the types of premiums should be considered separately. This avoids the confusion of concepts. However, one must also remember that these two varieties have a lot in common. So, VAT, excise taxes, income tax are indirect taxation. This term means the following fact: the premium is added to the cost of the goods, which the buyer will have to pay. This is a categorical difference from direct taxes, the payment of which is more "transparent", is obvious and falls on the seller, manufacturer, employer.
At the same time, excise taxes are distinguished by a narrow scope of application, which is what stands out against the background of VAT. They can be applied only to certain groups of products manufactured abroad or in their native country, but cannot be extended to services, work. Usually, excise tax and VAT are calculated individually for each group of excisable goods. This approach provides the most fair and cost-effective result of the tax system.
Excise tax: difference from VAT
Despite the fact that the tax base of VAT and excise taxes is quite similar in structure, there are some important differences. Excise duty is charged and charged only once for the entire cycle of the existence of the goods. Tax is charged at one stage of product promotion, most often at the initial stage, that is, at the moment when the product is sold by the manufacturer to the first (probably wholesale) buyer.
When the goods are resold, additional deductions under the excise tax program are not required, since the funds have already been allocated to the budget. The manufacturer includes excise taxes and VAT in the selling price, which means that these values in the future are only an element of the price. At the same time, the one-time deduction of this amount makes excise taxes much more friendly for enterprises and buyers than VAT, which over and over again constitutes an increase in the price of the goods and ultimately rests with the final consumer. How big it will be at the same time is determined by the length of the chain of resellers. In many ways, this difference in the accrual logic is the main difference important for accounting for VAT and excise taxes, which is carried out by the accounting department of the enterprise.
Excise taxes: present and future
The specified specifics of accrual of excise taxes and VAT makes the relationship of the taxation system and inflation obvious. If the increase in VAT volumes with each operation on a product only stimulates inflationary growth, the regularity and one-time excise taxes can minimize the growth in the cost of the product and make the market more stable.
At the same time, excise taxes, VAT, and customs duties cannot be completely ruled out, even if, given an idealistic view of the economic sciences, it seems that this is the best way to eliminate inflation. It is these taxes that make it possible to fill the state budget, and also provide an inflow of funds to the budgets of the country's subjects.
Stability: will it be?
Annually an analytics is formed, reflecting how large the payment of VAT and excise taxes was in the reporting period in each individual entity and in the state as a whole. If you pick up the data for the last few years, you will notice that the fluctuations of the indicators are significant. Therefore, it is difficult to predict the importance of the excise tax premium for the federal and territorial budgets for the future. There are known years when, due to excise taxes, only 3.6% of the total amount came to the country's budget, and in other reporting periods this figure increased to 15%.
Speaking about the fiscal significance of this element of the taxation system, it is important to note that without excise taxes and VAT it is impossible to draw correct conclusions about the importance for the country's budget of the sale of excisable products against the background of the total volumes of all trade operations in the state. Correct tax accounting allows you to identify the percentage of excise taxes from other tax deductions directed to the consolidated state budget. This value depends on the established excise tax rates and preferential programs, inflation and features of the objects for which taxes are accrued. The correct use of the information obtained from such analytics allows you to adjust the accrual of VAT, excise taxes, income tax, personal income tax in such a way that enterprises with sufficient volume of contributions to the budget can work for their own benefit.
Analytics and Relationships
So, the price of any product includes VAT and excise taxes, which also show the potential of the tax system. In addition, we can draw conclusions about the need to expand or reduce the range of goods for which it is necessary to introduce (or exclude) excise taxes.
Excisable goods currently:
- ethanol;
- products in which ethyl alcohol is present in a concentration of 9% or more;
- alcoholic goods;
- beer;
- tobacco products;
- personal cars;
- motorcycles with an engine power of 150 horsepower or more;
- gasoline for cars;
- diesel;
- motor oils;
- straight run fuel.
For all these categories of goods, excise taxes and VAT are substantial enough to guarantee the budget annual revenues of a rather large amount of funds.
It was - it became
It is known that previously cigarettes and ethyl alcohol were not included in the number of excisable goods. Corrections in this regard were introduced into the law not so long ago. Revenues, VAT, excise taxes on these product categories have become similar to other alcoholic, automobile, tobacco-containing goods. Incidentally, motorcycles were also included in the list of excisable goods not so long ago.
However, not everything is so simple. Analysts that measure revenue, VAT, and excise taxes have allowed economists to advance the idea of excluding certain categories of goods from the excisable list. So, jewelry and some categories of fuel made from gas and oil were taken from here. These changes caused some discontent on the part of local officials, as they reduced budget revenues. If we talk about quantitative expression, the exclusion of these items from the number of excisable goods only in St. Petersburg reduced tax revenues by 7.5%. For the whole country, the indicator fell by an average of 2.5%.
Partially these losses were compensated by including in the list of excisable goods from the category of household chemicals, perfumes, as well as products containing alcohol. The rules apply to products marketed in aerosolized metal packaging.
Tax Attorneys Avoid
Some products are not subject to excise taxes, despite the presence of alcohol among the components. However, excise taxes are not levied only subject to certain conditions. For example, drugs made on the basis of alcohol turned out to be in such a special situation.
An individual approach on the part of tax laws is also practiced for veterinary products, which contain alcohol. Cosmetic and perfume goods are also not predominantly taxed. All these categories avoid excise tax only if the manufacturer has taken care of state registration of the product. In addition, there are requirements for packaging: containers must meet the standards adopted at the state level.
Taxes and regulations
It is estimated that each year, through the excise tax program alone, the federal budget of Russia should receive about 130 billion, of which the majority are deductions from goods manufactured within the state. In percentage terms, this is about 84%. Of these, more than 40% of revenues are expected from oil and products made on its basis, slightly less from the sale of tobacco-containing goods.
Whose wallet is suffering?
Who should pay the excise tax? By law, this obligation falls on enterprises and entrepreneurs producing goods or transporting them across the state border of Russia. But separate divisions and other similar structural formations do not have to pay taxes on their own, they only assume the responsibility of transferring money from the head office to the local tax office.
If a certain entrepreneur or enterprise has been included in the list of excise tax payers, they must first analyze the economic activity. Is there such an object on which excise taxes are accrued? If there is one, the tax will have to be paid without fail. In the absence of products from the excisable list, you do not need to pay anything - until the goods substantiating the deductions appear.
Tax Code and Object of Taxation
From the main collection of tax laws in Russia, it follows that the object of excise taxation is those operations in which goods are subject to excise taxes.
These business transactions in the economic sciences are usually divided into groups to simplify the compilation of analytics. Existing division:
- operations with oil and its refined products;
- operations with other goods subject to excise taxes.
This division is based on the introduction of a specialized procedure for calculating taxes on oil and products made on its basis.
Operations: what will you have to account for?
Excise taxes will have to be paid when performing a number of operations with goods included in the state list (the main categories included in it are listed above). These operations primarily include implementation. The deals concluded on the territory of Russia are considered, moreover, one of the parties is a manufacturer of excisable products. The law interprets the concept of "implementation" not only as a sale, but also deals with a gratuitous basis, as well as product transfer, in response to which the manufacturer receives compensation, innovations. As a “payment” for implementation, in-kind wages may be used.
Taxes will also be levied on operations carried out within the state borders of Russia with excisable goods if they were made from raw materials supplied by the customer and then transferred to the person who provided the raw materials. If the manufacturer retains a certain percentage of the manufactured products as compensation for manufacturing services, the transaction is also subject to excise tax.
And what else?
The tax will have to be paid if the organization transfers the manufactured products, officially presenting them as raw materials for the subsequent production of goods that are not subject to excise duty. You will have to pay deductions to the budget in the case when the excisable product was manufactured by the company and transferred to the consumer without paying the cost, but under the contract the consumer is obliged to pay for processing.
If the goods are transferred for their own needs and internal use, the products are also subject to excise taxes, as well as the transfer of goods as contributions to the charter capital of a third legal entity.
VAT: take a closer look
This type of tax is also indirect and is included in the price of the goods paid by the buyer. Payers for this category of tax deductions are enterprises, entrepreneurs, as well as those who transport goods across the state border of Russia.
VAT can only be accrued when goods are transferred (services are rendered, work is performed) within the state borders of Russia, and the buyer is active in the country. In order for the procedure to be legal and correct, it is accompanied by documentation confirming exactly where the goods were sold, services rendered, and work performed. Such official confirmation is concluded agreements, checks and other documents, from which it follows that the services are provided, the work is performed.
VAT: basic concepts
What the tax base for calculating VAT is, the Tax Code says in article number 40. It follows from this that the cost of a product, service or work is taken to calculate taxes, subtracting the amount of excise taxes from it. The value is taken as the value that both parties to the transaction indicate in the documents accompanying the operation.
If it is necessary to sell a product whose price already includes VAT, then to calculate the tax base, the market price of the product is determined and the residual value is subtracted from it, revaluing the positions in the process of accounting calculations.