The interaction of taxpayers and the state implies that both parties have certain legal statuses. This is necessary, first of all, to legitimize such communications. The taxpayer acquires specific rights and obligations, as well as the state represented by the bodies administering taxes and fees, in accordance with the specific status. However, there are also a number of other interpretations of this concept. What is their essence?
The essence of legal status
The legal status of a taxpayer, in accordance with a popular definition among Russian lawyers, is a combination of such elements as tax obligations, rights, as well as liability mechanisms of an entity - an individual or a legal entity - for violating the norms of the law regarding regulation of taxes and fees. Thus, the taxpayer, having the appropriate status, delimits his subjectivity with that which characterizes an ordinary citizen. Consider the essence of the basic elements that together form the legal status of taxpayers, in more detail.
Tax liabilities as an element of status
Tax liabilities are an essential element of the status in question. These may arise due to the presence of a subject - an individual or legal entity, taxable income or property. For example, if a person is employed, then the tax, at a rate of 13%, will be his salary. Moreover, the tax agent, namely, the citizen’s employer, will actually have obligations to pay it to the budget. In turn, a person who received income from other sources - for example, as a result of property sales, will have to calculate and pay the necessary fees in favor of the state independently. The status of a taxpayer by default has the majority of legal entities, since their activities are usually associated with the extraction of income from commercial activities.
Features of the obligations of individuals and legal entities
Obligations for the calculation and payment of fees to the budget of a legal entity in the general case are fulfilled independently. Thus, the considered element of taxpayer status may vary in content depending on the legal characteristics of the subject. If this is an individual, then tax liabilities can be divided between him and the agent with whom the citizen interacts - for example, with the employer. In turn, the status of a legal entity implies, mainly, independent fulfillment by him of obligations to the state.
Reporting as part of tax liabilities
Tax liabilities may imply not only the necessary amounts to be paid into the state treasury, but also reporting to the authorities administering certain payments, most often to the Federal Tax Service. As for individuals - the relevant documents are sent to the Federal Tax Service for them tax agents. Legal entities, in turn, report to state bodies independently.
The main reporting document in the framework of the reporting of individuals to the Federal Tax Service is the personal income tax declaration. It can be noted that scenarios are possible in which a person will have to provide this source to the Federal Tax Service on his own, for example, if he draws up a property deduction. In turn, legal entities may have obligations to provide the Federal Tax Service with the widest range of reporting documents - everything will depend on the tax regime, the specifics of the industry in which the company operates, and the scale of the business.
Rights of the subject as an element of status
The next element, which includes the taxpayer’s tax status, is the rights of the relevant entity. Indeed, an individual and a legal entity can have not only obligations prescribed by law. They may well have substantial rights. Which ones?
One of the most important can be called the right of the subject of payment of taxes and fees to deduct, that is, to a partial or complete release from the obligation to transfer funds to the state treasury. This right may be based, for example, on the offset of other amounts that have already been paid to the budget, or on socially oriented rules of law. In the first case, the corresponding deduction may be a reduction in VAT, since the companies that must pay it usually manage to transfer this tax already at the stage of settlements with the supplier. An example of a socially oriented deduction - personal income tax return, which can be carried out by citizens who have bought real estate, including with the use of mortgage loans.
Another group of rights of tax payers is related to the procedures for their communication with state bodies. In particular, during tax audits, a citizen or organization has the right to provide the Federal Tax Service with documents confirming the lawful fulfillment by them of their obligations to contribute the necessary amounts to the budget. Or - sources testifying to the correctness and timeliness of providing the state with reporting stipulated by law. Taxpayers also have the right to legally dispute the representations and claims of the Federal Tax Service, including through lawsuits.
A full list of rights and obligations of tax payers in the Russian Federation is recorded in Articles 21-25 of the Tax Code. It can be noted that the implementation of the list of relevant rights is carried out during the period when the tax payer enters into legal relations with any of the other participants in budget communications - the Federal Tax Service or other payment administrators.
Responsibility mechanisms as an element of status
Another element of taxpayer status is liability mechanisms for the entity not fulfilling its obligations to transfer to the state tax amounts stipulated by law. If the individual and the organization do not make the necessary payments to the budget, then due to the fact that they have the status in question, the bodies administering taxes and fees are entitled to recover the due amounts from them. This can be done in court, among other things. The bodies administering payments can recover money from taxpayers both at the expense of the amounts placed on the accounts of the relevant entities, and through writ of execution, applying to the FSF.
The state as a subject of responsibility
There are, of course, also mechanisms of state responsibility to the taxpayer. For example, if tax authority made a mistake when calculating payments for an individual or incorrectly processed information about the transfer of funds to a tax account by a legal entity, the relevant legal entities have the right to challenge the actions of the Federal Tax Service. This can be done both through direct interaction with the agency, and by applying to the court.
Thus, the rights, obligations and liability mechanisms as elements of tax status can be established both for entities that pay statutory amounts to the budget of taxpayers, and for the state that administers the relevant payments.
Status as payment details
There is another noteworthy interpretation of the concept of “taxpayer status” - as a payment attribute. It differs somewhat from the interpretation considered by us above. The property in question is indicated in a document such as payment order. The taxpayer status is recorded in field 101 of the corresponding source. It is indicated by a two-digit number.
It can be noted that this attribute is more correctly called “payer status”. The fact is that the tax authority may also be such - in this case, the figures 03 must be entered in the payment. Therefore, the term “taxpayer status” in the context of filling out payment orders is unofficial. Strictly speaking, it is applicable if the document indicates the subject of tax payments to the budget, for example, a legal entity (code 01 corresponds to this status) or a tax agent (code 02). It can be noted that in total, the legislation of the Russian Federation provides for 26 possible statuses of the payer, which can be indicated in payment orders.
Status as requisite certificate 2-NDFL
The taxpayer status can also be indicated in 2-NDFL - a certificate of personal income, which may be requested from the employer. In this case, the corresponding props can be represented in 3 values. The taxpayer status in 2-personal income tax is indicated as 1, if the individual is not tax resident RF, that is, lives in Russia for less than half a year. The status is indicated as 2 if the payer meets the criteria of a highly qualified employee, as 3 if the person is a tax resident of the Russian Federation.
Thus, the status of a taxpayer (individual or organization) is a concept that can be interpreted in different ways. From the point of view of legal science, such is understood as a combination of such elements as obligations, rights of the subject and mechanisms of responsibility. The indicator of the status of the taxpayer is the requisite recorded in payment orders. Officially - “payer status”. In total there can be a lot of them - 26. There is also such a thing as the status of the taxpayer of personal income tax. It can be fixed in the corresponding certificate confirming the income of a person, in 3 versions.
