Each company in its current activities must monitor the status of settlements with counterparties, controlling the timing and amount of mutual debts. This directly affects the “purity” of the enterprise’s balance sheet. But situations arise when the debt cannot be repaid and it is necessary to write off accounts payable or receivable. What to do as an accountant, how to carry out such operations, what transactions are generated, what documents to follow - we will consider all this further.

To write off any type of debt, you need good reasons, supported by relevant documents. These, according to the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, are:

• Expiration of the limitation period;
• Liquidation of the counterparty;
• The unreality of collection.

To “part” with the company’s debt, it is necessary to draw up a number of documents for each obligation:

• Inventory report of mutual settlements with counterparties (form INV-17);
• Resolution of the bailiff to terminate enforcement proceedings - in case of unrealistic recovery;
• An extract from the state register of legal entities with a record of the completion of the liquidation procedure of the enterprise (Article 49, Article 63 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation) - in case of liquidation of the counterparty;
• The manager's order for write-off, signed on the basis of the listed documents.

At the same time, KZ is taken into account as non-operating income, except for debt to government agencies and extra-budgetary funds (Article 250 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, clause 18; Article 251, clause 21), DZ is included in non-operating expenses or is included in the account. 63 “Provisions for doubtful debts”.

Important: when writing off debt due to the impossibility of collection due to the debtor’s lack of property, it is necessary to take into account such debt for 5 years on the balance sheet in account 007 in order to control the likelihood of its collection when the financial condition of the debtor improves.

Get 267 video lessons on 1C for free:

Write off accounts receivable

We document the inventory results and identify expired records. Documents confirming its existence and the statute of limitations are:

• Agreement and payment documents thereto;
• Documents confirming the delivery (rendering of services) – acts, invoices;
• Reconciliation report (if available);
• Mutual official correspondence confirming the fact of debt collection (claim). It is necessary to support copies of letters with a document confirming the receipt of the letter by the counterparty (for example, a receipt).

It is important to note that if there is a reconciliation report on a certain date, the period begins to be calculated from the beginning.

Documents to confirm the impossibility of collection: a bailiff’s order or an extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities:

Write-off of accounts receivable - postings

In accounting, the accounting procedure is as follows:

1) If the reserve was created (Order of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated July 29, 1998 No. 34-n):

• Dt 63 Kt 62 (60,76,71,73,70) – accounts receivable written off;

2) If the reserve was not formed or its size does not cover the amount of debt:

• Dt 91.2 Kt 62 (60,76,71,73,70) – accounts receivable written off;
• Dt 007 – reflect the written-off debt on the balance sheet.

The amount of the reserve is determined separately for each doubtful amount of debt. Formation of the reserve since 2011. became the responsibility of enterprises.

In tax accounting, a reserve is used to cover losses from the write-off of receivables (Article 266 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). If it is not created or is insufficient, then the debt is attributed to non-operating expenses in the period when the statute of limitations has expired or the impossibility of collection has been confirmed (letter of the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation dated April 13, 2011 No. 16-15 / 035618.1).

We write off the creditor

Every year, before preparing reports, the company is required to conduct an inventory, including accounts payable. If a claim with an expired statute of limitations is identified, it is written off on the basis of an order as part of the income of account 91 for both accounting and tax purposes. It should be remembered that, by analogy with the contractual assignment, the presence of a signed reconciliation report or receipt of an official claim from the supplier extends the statute of limitations:

Write-off of accounts payable - postings

For both tax and accounting purposes, accounts payable (AC) are written off uniformly, using the following entries:

• Dt 60 (76,70,71,73) Kt 91.1 – written off accounts payable are reflected.

However, in tax accounting, shortcomings are written off in the period when the period has expired, regardless of the date of its detection.

To write off an overdue creditor, a package of documents is required:

• Agreement;
• Certificates of services rendered or invoices from the supplier;
• Reconciliation report;
• Official claim correspondence.

Having collected and analyzed the package of documents, making sure that the deadline has expired, you need to write off the KZ and reflect it as part of taxable income in order to avoid comments from the Federal Tax Service.

The timing of debt inventory is established by accounting policy, but it must be carried out at least once in the reporting period (year).

In the economic life of a legal entity, cases often arise when an organization has long-term accounts payable (AC): a committed loan, a supplier shipping goods on credit, non-payment of wages to employees of the enterprise on time.

Dear readers! The article talks about typical ways to resolve legal issues, but each case is individual. If you want to know how solve exactly your problem- contact a consultant:

APPLICATIONS AND CALLS ARE ACCEPTED 24/7 and 7 days a week.

It's fast and FOR FREE!

If, for various reasons, the debt cannot be paid within the time limits established by law, such debt becomes overdue. However, a debt cannot hang “forever” - if the creditor organization does not claim the debt in court within the time limits established by law, it must be written off.

To avoid additional charges in the event of an audit by the tax authorities, it is necessary to write off accounts payable correctly, taking into account all regulatory documents.

Basic Concepts

Write-off of accounts payable is a procedure for accounting for debts for which the statute of limitations has expired, which has tax consequences.

The statute of limitations under the civil legislation of the Russian Federation is calculated for a period of three years (Article 196 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

Interruption of the limitation period is possible if the creditor brings a claim against the debtor organization. Also, the basis for interruption may be some actions of the borrower that indicate recognition of the debt, for example, by means of a response letter to a claim acknowledging the existence of non-payment, signing a reconciliation report with the creditor, or partial repayment of the debt. After the break, the limitation period will be calculated anew, i.e. 3 years, the previous time no longer counts.

Grounds

The main reason for writing off a claim is the expiration of the statute of limitations. There may be other grounds that an organization can refer to when writing off a debt.

The basis for writing off accounts payable will be the impossibility of fulfilling the obligation for objective reasons. For example, writing off accounts payable upon liquidation of a creditor () is the only way to legally refuse to repay money to a legal entity that no longer exists.

In this case, you must wait for the inactive creditor to be excluded from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities. Payment of the debt is also impossible in a situation where the debtor is declared bankrupt.

Obligations may be terminated due to the creditor releasing the debtor from paying the debt (). A similar situation in practice is possible between related, affiliated persons or, suppose, when a loan to an organization was provided by the founder. Such a procedure is considered a gift in civil law if the resulting economic benefit of the party forgiving the debt is not proven.

The legislation suggests using an act of a state body as a basis for write-off if, as a result of its issuance, the fulfillment of an obligation becomes impossible (Article).

Another reason for writing off a contract is the impossibility of its execution due to the occurrence of an event (force majeure), for which neither party can be responsible (Article).

Finally, the death of the creditor (Art.) can serve as a basis for termination of credit relations if we are talking about an individual.

All of the above grounds allow you to write off bad accounts payable .

Basic rules

The basic rule applied to the write-off of accounts payable is that accounting for this operation is carried out precisely during the period when its statute of limitations has expired.

If there is a violation of this norm, you will have to submit an updated declaration in the next reporting period.

Deadlines

The task of the organization's accountant is to correctly calculate the timing of the amounts to be written off. This is necessary in order not to make mistakes when calculating income tax.

Based on the three-year period established by law for filing a claim, the accountant must check whether all the conditions for writing off the debt have been met, whether there was an interruption if the debtor organization somehow came into contact with the creditor: a letter of guarantee, a signed reconciliation act, etc. d. If there were no contacts, the time interval from the date of the last payment or from the end date of the credit agreement is taken as a basis.

Documentation

The write-off of short-term assets is carried out in accounting and tax accounting documents.

The procedure consists of preparation:

• inventory act;
• accountant's certificates;
• order from the head of the institution to write off overdue accounts payable.

It is recommended to carry out an inventory regularly at the end of each reporting period. This will allow you to promptly identify any outstanding debt. The peculiarity of conducting an inventory at an enterprise is that in addition to the accounts payable part, it is also necessary to check the accounts receivable.

When conducting an inventory, we pay special attention to settlements with financial institutions, extra-budgetary funds, clients of the enterprise and the amount of debt to the budget. As a rule, if based on the results of an inspection, an act is drawn up in a standard form.

It should be noted that conducting a quarterly inventory is the right of an economic entity, but not its obligation. The Federal Law “On Accounting” requires an inventory to be carried out once a year.

The next important step is to prepare an accounting statement that includes important information on overdue debts:

• contract number and date of its preparation;
• links to primary documents: delivery notes, acts, invoices;
• justification of the statute of limitations by performing a mathematical calculation;
• information about the creditor company.

The director of the organization is guided by these documents when signing the order to write off the debt.

Order to write off overdue accounts payable

A standard order to write off bad accounts payable may look like this.

The order is issued on the company's letterhead, in the header of which its details are indicated.

In the text of the order, referring to the accounting rules approved by the Ministry of Finance of Russia and the articles of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the head of the organization justifies the need to write off the debt to a specific creditor based on the inventory and accounting certificate. The amount written off is recognized as non-operating income. Control over the execution of the order is assigned to the chief accountant.

Procedure

The procedure for writing off short-circuits takes place in four stages:

1. Identification of the amount of overdue debt during the inventory at the end of the reporting period.
2. Drawing up an accounting certificate for the identified shortcomings.
3. Issuance by the director (manager) of the company of an order to write off debt on the basis of regulatory documents.
4. Making appropriate changes to accounting and tax accounting by the accounting department.

In accounting, write-off is carried out based on the following posting:

Debit 60 – Credit 91-1

Taxation

Tax accounting requires registration of arrears during the period when the statute of limitations expired. If this did not happen due to an accounting oversight, you will have to submit an “updated” declaration in the next period.

The grounds for recording the amount of debt and statute of limitations are exactly the same as in accounting:

• order to conduct an inventory;
• inventory statement in a standard form;
• accounting certificate;
• order from the manager to write off the short circuit.

When calculating the single tax according to the simplified tax system, regardless of its form (single income tax, or income minus expenses), the debt is included in non-operating income. Income does not include debts that arose for the payment of fines and penalties, as well as mandatory insurance contributions.

If an organization pays UTII, it is obliged to keep separate records of income, expenses and business transactions. Therefore, for the purposes of calculating the single tax on imputed activities, the total amount of income received is not important and there are no tax consequences.

The reporting period for income tax is a quarter. If taxpayers calculate monthly advance payments based on advance profits - every month.

Often accountants have a question about how to pay VAT on an advance payment after the expiration of the contract. The Ministry of Finance clarifies this point by allowing taxpayers to reduce VAT only in relation to material and production resources, works and services.

The old question becomes relevant again when posing the problem of writing off illiquid debt. In this article, SBK-Pravo partner Maxim Zinyakov tells how to write off accounts receivable so that there is nothing for it.

What debt can be written off?

Organizations must write off receivables that are deemed uncollectible. This is stated in paragraph 77 of the Regulations on accounting and financial reporting in the Russian Federation, approved by order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated July 29, 1998 No. 34n (hereinafter referred to as the Regulations on accounting).

Secondly, debts that cannot be collected from the debtor. For example, the debt of a liquidated organization. An organization declared bankrupt and in the process of liquidation can be considered a hopeless debtor, if it is already reliably known that it will not be possible to collect debts from it. Debt that the bailiff was unable to collect from the debtor is also considered unrealistic for collection.

Why should a creditor organization write off a “debtor” that is unrealistic for collection? The fact is that the amount of receivables hanging on the balance sheet participates in the calculation of the enterprise’s net profit and leads to an increase in this indicator. The organization's balance sheet should reflect the real picture of its financial condition. If bad debt is taken into account, the net profit may be unreasonably inflated. And this directly affects the interests of owners, shareholders and other interested users of reporting.

In fact, the creditor himself is interested in writing off receivables from the balance sheet. The tax consequences of a write-off are positive for the taxpayer. The loss from writing off bad receivables is recognized not only in accounting, but also in tax accounting (clause 2, clause 2, article 265 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Supporting documents

When writing off receivables, the creditor organization must prove that the debt is uncollectible. The expiration of the limitation period can be confirmed:

• documents for the shipment of products (goods, works, services) to a buyer who has not paid for the valuables received;
• payment documents confirming the date of payment of the advance to the supplier, who subsequently failed to fulfill contractual delivery obligations;
• debt reconciliation acts, etc.

We remind you that the limitation period is interrupted when the debtor performs any actions indicating recognition of the debt. This is stated in Article 203 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. The debtor's written responses and statements, his recognition of the claim, the signing of the debt reconciliation act, partial, even meager payment of the debt - all this serves as the starting point for the new statute of limitations.

In addition, the limitation period is interrupted if the creditor files a claim in court. After a court decision on the need for the debtor to repay the amount of the debt, a new limitation period begins to run. But if a claim filed by a creditor is left without consideration by the court, the statute of limitations is not considered interrupted (Article 204 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

When writing off receivables for which the statute of limitations has not yet expired, documentary evidence is also required that the debt has become unrealistic for collection. Evidence may include:

• ruling of the arbitration court on completion of bankruptcy proceedings and liquidation of the debtor;
• an extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities stating that the debtor organization has been liquidated;
• a court decision or notification of the liquidation commission (bankruptcy trustee) that the creditor’s claims will not be satisfied due to insufficient property of the liquidated organization;
• act of the bailiff on the impossibility of collecting the debt from the debtor organization, etc.

Without having supporting documents in hand to substantiate the hopelessness of the receivables, the creditor has no right to begin writing off the debt.

After the debt is written off, the organization must keep supporting documents. Paragraph 1 of Article 17 of the Federal Law “On Accounting” dated November 21, 1996 No. 129-FZ (hereinafter referred to as the Accounting Law) establishes that an organization is obliged to store primary accounting documents, accounting registers and financial statements for at least five years. Subparagraph 8 of paragraph 1 of Article 23 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation stipulates that the taxpayer is obliged to preserve for four years the documents necessary for the calculation and payment of taxes.

Please note that the storage period for documents on the basis of which bad receivables were written off is calculated not from the date of their preparation, but from the moment the debt is written off. This is explained by the fact that taxpayers must keep a debt inventory report, written justification and the manager’s order to write off the bad debt for five years.

Naturally, along with these documents, primary documents confirming the occurrence of debt should be preserved. If during a tax audit the taxpayer is unable to document the occurrence of receivables, he will face a sad ending - non-recognition of a loss in the form of a written-off “receivable”, additional taxes, penalties and fines. Evidence of this is the loss of court case No. 5073 by a taxpayer from the Tver region, which was heard on January 23, 2003 in the Federal Arbitration Court of the North-Western District.

Debt inventory

Before writing off bad debts, the creditor organization must complete a number of preparatory procedures. As follows from paragraph 77 of the Accounting Regulations, debts that are unrealistic for collection are written off not as a total amount, but “by name.” Therefore, the organization must first conduct an inventory of existing receivables and identify debts to be written off.

The inventory is carried out by order of the head of the organization. The order is drawn up in the form INV-22, approved by Resolution of the State Statistics Committee of Russia dated August 18, 1998 No. 88. The frequency of inventory is determined by the enterprise independently, but there are cases that do not depend on the will of management. Thus, an inventory of property and debt must be carried out by all enterprises before preparing annual reports and in other cases listed in paragraph 2 of Article 12 of the Accounting Law.

In addition, debt inventories are carried out quarterly by organizations that, for the purpose of calculating income taxes, create reserves for doubtful debts. This requirement is stated in paragraph 4 of Article 266 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. According to this paragraph, the amount of contributions to the reserve is calculated on the basis of the inventory of receivables carried out on the last day of the reporting (tax) period.

Before conducting an inventory, the accounting department draws up a certificate about the status of accounts receivable and payable as of the date of the inventory. The certificate is an appendix to the act of inventory of settlements with buyers, suppliers and other debtors and creditors (form INV-17). It contains detailed information about each debtor (his name, address, telephone number), the amount of the debt, when and why it arose, and also lists the documents confirming the debt. First of all, these are payment and shipping documents. A certificate of the status of receivables and payables serves as a kind of guide for the inventory commission when checking the status of settlements with buyers and suppliers.

The results of the inventory of receivables are recorded in the act in the INV-17 form. When drawing up the act, it is indicated which amount of debt is confirmed by debtors, which is not confirmed, and debt with an expired statute of limitations is also highlighted.

Unfortunately, the form of the act does not provide a separate column for indicating the amounts of debt for which the statute of limitations has not yet expired, but which is nevertheless recognized as unrealistic for collection. We advise an organization that has identified receivables of this kind to enter an additional column in the form. The legislation allows this. Otherwise, the amount of bad, although not overdue, debts will have to be indicated in the column intended for receivables with an expired statute of limitations. Without highlighting the amount of all bad debts as a separate line in the inventory report, the creditor does not have the right to begin writing off the “receivable”.

Based on the inventory report and supporting documents, a written justification for the upcoming write-off of receivables is drawn up. After this, the head of the organization issues an order to write off the bad debt. The order is drawn up in any form. Only after this can the accountant begin directly writing off the debt from the organization’s balance sheet.

Write-off of buyer's bad debt

Let's look at the procedure for writing off accounts receivable using the example of writing off a buyer's bad debt. But first, let’s focus on one important tax aspect.

The write-off of receivables arising through the fault of the buyer differs from other types of “receivables” in that the write-off procedure is usually accompanied by the accrual of VAT. Therefore, we advise you to start writing off the buyer’s bad debt by clarifying this tax issue. The accountant must check whether VAT was previously accrued at the time the receivable arose. If the organization’s accounting policy approves the “by shipment” method, VAT is accrued for payment at the time of shipment of goods (work, services). When writing off the buyer's bad receivables, the tax does not need to be re-assessed.

“The write-off of receivables that arose through the fault of the buyer differs from other types of “receivables” in that the write-off procedure is usually accompanied by the accrual of VAT”

If, in accordance with the accounting policy, the organization calculates VAT “on payment”, the moment of payment is the day of expiration of the limitation period or the day of writing off bad receivables (clause 5 of Article 167 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Therefore, when writing off accounts receivable, the organization must charge VAT.

The procedure for writing off bad receivables in accounting depends on whether the creditor organization has created a reserve for doubtful debts. If it was not created, the amount of receivables is credited to the financial results account as non-operating expenses (clause 77 of the Accounting Regulations).

Example 1

Based on the results of the inventory carried out in April 2003, it was revealed that on the balance sheet of Volna LLC there are accounts receivable from the buyer with an expired statute of limitations - 42,000 rubles. (including VAT - 7000 rubles). VAT is calculated “on payment”. No reserve for doubtful debts was created.

When writing off accounts receivable, the following entries were made:

debit 91-2 credit 62
-- 42,000 rub. -- accounts receivable with expired statute of limitations are written off;

7000 rub. -- VAT is charged on the amount of written off receivables.

Now let's look at how bad receivables are written off in an organization that has created a reserve for doubtful debts. First of all, the accountant must check whether amounts were reserved specifically for this receivable in previous years. If a reserve for this debt was not created, it should be written off in the manner described above. Amounts of debts for which a reserve was previously created are credited to the account of this reserve. That is, debt is written off by using the reserve for doubtful debts. This operation is documented by accounting entry:

debit 63 credit 62
-- the amount of bad receivables is written off from the reserve for doubtful debts.

If the reserve for doubtful debts was created not for the entire amount of doubtful debts, but only for a part of it, then when writing off the bad debt, the amount of this reserve will not be enough to cover the entire debt. The outstanding debt balance is included in non-operating expenses.

Example 2

In December 2002, Bereg CJSC carried out an inventory of settlements with customers and created a reserve of doubtful debts in the amount of 80,000 rubles. In June 2003, the debt of the purchasing organization was recognized as unrealistic to collect due to its liquidation. The amount of bad debt amounted to RUB 120,000. (including VAT - 20,000 rubles). According to the accounting policy of CJSC Bereg, VAT was calculated “on payment”.

The following entries were made in the accounting of Bereg CJSC:

in December 2002

debit 91-2 credit 63
-- 80,000 rub. -- a reserve for doubtful debts has been created;

in June 2003

debit 63 credit 62
-- 80,000 rub. -- part of the bad debt was written off from the reserve for doubtful debts;

debit 91-2 credit 62
-- 40,000 rub. (120,000 rubles - 80,000 rubles) - the remaining part of the receivables was written off, not covered by the amount of the reserve for doubtful debts;

debit 76 subaccount “deferred VAT settlements” credit 68 “VAT settlements”
-- 20,000 rub. -- VAT is charged on the amount of written off receivables.

The opposite situation occurs when a reserve is created for the full amount of the debt, and only part of the receivable is considered unrealistic for collection. For example, the court may satisfy only part of the claim brought by the creditor. If the debtor organization is declared bankrupt, the court, if the liquidated organization’s property is insufficient, satisfies only part of the creditors’ claims. In this case, the amount of receivables is distributed by the creditor organization into two parts: the amount of debt that, according to a court decision, is subject to reimbursement, and the amount of debt that is unrealistic for collection. Not the entire amount of receivables is written off to financial results or repaid from the reserve for doubtful debts, but only the bad part of the debt. This operation is recorded in accounting with the following entries:

debit 51 (50, 10, 01, etc.) credit 62
-- part of the receivables was reimbursed by court decision;

debit 91-2 (63) credit 62
-- the bad part of the debt is written off as non-operating expenses (or repaid from the reserve for doubtful debts).

When partially repaying accounts receivable from the reserve for doubtful debts, it is necessary to ensure that the remaining amount of reserved funds does not “hang up” in the accounting. The unused portion of the reserve must be included in operating income. This must be done at the end of the year following the year the reserve was created (clause 70 of the Accounting Regulations).

Example 3

In March 2002, Orion CJSC shipped products to Arkada LLC in the amount of 540,000 rubles. (including VAT - 90,000 rubles). The buyer did not pay for the shipped products. At the end of 2002, a reserve of doubtful debts was created in the accounting of Orion CJSC for the full amount of debt of Arkada LLC.

In August 2003, Arkada LLC was declared bankrupt. The creditor claims of Orion CJSC were partially satisfied by the court - in the amount of 210,000 rubles. The amount of debt was credited to the supplier's bank account in September 2003. According to the accounting policy of Orion CJSC, VAT is calculated “on payment”.

The following entries were made in the accounting of Orion CJSC:

in March 2002

debit 62 credit 90-1
-- 540,000 rub. -- reflects the amount of revenue for products sold;

90,000 rub. -- VAT is charged on the sales amount;

in December 2002

debit 91-2 credit 63
-- 540,000 rub. -- a reserve for doubtful debts has been created;

in August 2003

debit 63 credit 62
-- 330,000 rub. (540,000 rubles - 210,000 rubles) - part of the bad receivables was written off from the reserve;

debit 76 subaccount “deferred VAT settlements” credit 68 subaccount “VAT settlements”
-- 55,000 rub. (RUB 330,000 ? 20/120) - VAT was charged on the amount of bad debt written off;

in September 2003

debit 51 credit 62
-- 210,000 rub. -- the amount of debt awarded for compensation by a court decision has been received;

debit 76 subaccount “deferred VAT settlements” credit 68 subaccount “VAT settlements”
-- 35,000 rub. (RUB 210,000 ? 20/120) - VAT is charged on the amount of received receivables;

in December 2003

debit 63 credit 91-1
-- 210,000 rub. (540,000 rubles - 330,000 rubles) - the unused part of the reserve for doubtful debts is included in operating income.

Write-off of supplier's bad debts

Accounts receivable can arise due to failure to fulfill contractual obligations not only by the buyer, but also by the supplier. If the supplier, having received money from the buyer on account of the upcoming delivery, does not ship within the time period specified in the contract, the buyer will have a receivable. Once the statute of limitations expires or other circumstances occur (for example, the liquidation of the supplier), it turns into a bad debt.

Supplier receivables, as well as bad debts from customers, are written off against financial results or against the amounts created in the reserve for doubtful debts. The accounting entry for writing off the supplier's bad debt amount will be as follows:

debit 91-2 (63) credit 60 subaccount “advances issued”
-- charged to non-operating expenses (or repaid from the reserve for doubtful debts) the amount of bad debts of the supplier.

The write-off of a supplier's receivables that are unrealistic for collection is not accompanied by the accrual of VAT. Paragraph 1 of Article 146 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation recognizes transactions for the sale of goods (work, services) as an object of VAT taxation. Payment to the supplier of funds on account of future delivery is not a sale. Therefore, when writing off a bad receivable from a supplier who has not made a shipment on account of the advance received, the buyer does not have the obligation to charge and pay VAT. But the buyer will not be able to offset the VAT that was paid to the supplier as part of the advance payment. The tax becomes a bad receivable along with the rest of the payment.

Writing off bad debts in tax accounting

When calculating taxable profit, bad receivables are taken into account in the same way as in accounting. The definition of bad debt for tax accounting purposes is given in paragraph 2 of Article 266 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. As in accounting, debts that are unrealistic for collection are debts for which the statute of limitations has expired, as well as those that cannot be collected from the debtor due to its liquidation or other grounds confirmed by acts of government bodies.

Amounts of bad debts are recognized as non-operating expenses if a reserve for doubtful debts was not created for this debt in tax accounting (clause 2, clause 2, article 265 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). If it was created, losses in the form of bad debts are repaid from the amounts of this reserve (clause 4 of Article 266 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Debt not covered by the amount of the created reserve is included in non-operating expenses (clause 5 of Article 266 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

As you can see, the procedure for writing off losses in the form of bad receivables in tax accounting completely coincides with accounting. To simplify the work of accounting for receivables not paid on time, we recommend establishing a uniform procedure in tax and accounting policies for creating reserves for doubtful debts. That is, it is necessary either not to create reserves at all, or to use the same principles for their formation in both accounting and tax accounting. Since the procedure for creating a reserve is strictly regulated only in the Tax Code, similar rules can be approved for accounting purposes.

The fate of written off receivables

What happens to bad receivables after they are written off? Can a creditor forget forever about a “receivable” written off in accounting and tax accounting? No, it can't. The written-off debt must be taken into account on the balance sheet for five years, so that if the debtor’s financial situation changes, the debt can be collected. This is required by paragraph 77 of the Accounting Regulations.

Of course, this requirement applies to written off debt of “living” debtors. If the organization through whose fault the “receivable” arose was liquidated, there is no point in taking its debt off the balance sheet. It will never be possible to repay this debt anyway.

To account for written-off debt, off-balance sheet account 007 “Debt of insolvent debtors written off at a loss” is intended. When a bad debt is written off from the balance sheet, this account is debited:

debit 007
-- reflects the amount of accounts receivable written off the balance sheet.

The organization must provide detailed analytics on off-balance sheet accounts so that it can highlight not only the amount of debt and the date it was written off, but also identify the debtor organization and the basis for writing off the debt from the balance sheet.

If the debtor ever repays the debt, the amount of debt is written off off-balance sheet and reflected in the organization’s non-operating income (clause 8 of PBU 9/99). In this case, the following accounting entries will appear in the accounting:

debit 51 credit 91-1
-- reflected in non-operating income is the amount of written off debt returned by the debtor;

credit 007
-- the amount of the repaid debt is written off off-balance sheet.

The question arises: should an organization charge VAT at the time of return of written-off receivables? No, you don't need to do this. After all, VAT has already been paid upon shipment or debt write-off. Repeated assessment of VAT will result in double taxation of the same amount. But a creditor who unexpectedly received a debt written off long ago will have to pay income tax.

In tax accounting, the return of previously written off receivables is reflected as receipt of non-operating income. Despite the fact that such receipts are not directly mentioned in Article 250 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, returned debt should be qualified specifically under this article.

Please note: the list of non-operating income given in Article 250 of the Code is open, since it is preceded by the word “in particular”. In addition, carefully read the first phrase with which this article opens: “For the purposes of this chapter, non-operating income is recognized as income not specified in Article 249 of this Code.” That is, non-operating income includes all receipts that are not income from sales.

Thus, a creditor who unexpectedly received a long-standing debt, which was previously recognized as a loss and included in non-operating expenses, receives an equally unexpected non-operating income. And along with it, the creditor has tax obligations for income tax, which, to the consolation of the recipient of the “old” debts, are not accompanied by the burden of paying VAT.

Non-ruble “receivable”

Accounts receivable may arise from transactions whose price is expressed in foreign currency or conventional monetary units. “Hanging” debt in foreign currency is subject to conversion into rubles at the official exchange rate of the Bank of Russia for each reporting date, as well as on the day of the transaction (clauses 7 and 9 of PBU 3/2000). Therefore, before writing off a bad receivable, the accountant must recalculate the amount of the debt and write it off at the “new” value. The resulting exchange rate difference must be attributed to non-operating income or expenses (clause 8 of PBU 9/99, clause 12 of PBU 10/99).

The accounting rules do not provide for the recalculation of debt expressed in conventional monetary units as of the date of preparation of the financial statements. It is necessary to identify the amount difference in obligations expressed in conventional monetary units only on the day of recognition of income or expense. When writing off bad receivables in conventional monetary units, the accountant must calculate its “new” value. But the resulting amount differences are not included in non-operating income (expenses), but are attributed to the increase (decrease) in the value of written off receivables (clause 6.6 of PBU 9/99, clause 6.6 of PBU 10/99).

For organizations that calculate VAT “on payment”, a revaluation of written-off receivables expressed in foreign currency or conventional monetary units will inevitably entail a recalculation of VAT liabilities. A creditor who has not paid the budget at the time of sale of goods (works, services) will have to charge a different amount of VAT for payment than that which was calculated upon shipment and deferred until payment.

Example 4

In January 2003, Arktika CJSC shipped goods worth 500 USD to Polyus LLC. e. (including VAT - 20%). According to the contract, the buyer must pay the cost of the goods supplied in rubles at the official euro exchange rate on the day of payment. On the day of shipment, the euro exchange rate was 30 rubles. The goods were not paid for by the buyer. Arktika CJSC did not create reserves for doubtful debts. VAT was calculated “on payment”.

In October 2003, CJSC Arktika learned that Polyus LLC had been declared bankrupt. The creditors' claims of Arktika CJSC were not satisfied due to the insufficiency of the debtor's property. The supplier decided to write off the buyer's bad debt. The euro exchange rate on the day of write-off is 33 rubles.

The following entries were made in the accounting of CJSC Arktika:

in January

debit 62 credit 90-1
--15,000 rub. (500 eur ? 30 rubles/eur) - reflects the amount of revenue from sales;

debit 90-3 credit 76 subaccount “deferred VAT settlements”
--2500 rub. (RUB 15,000 ? 20/120) - VAT is charged on the sales amount;

in October

debit 91-2 credit 62
--16,500 rub. (500 cu ? 33 rubles/eur) - the amount of the buyer's bad debt is written off as non-operating expenses;

debit 62 credit 91-1
--1500 rub. (16,500 rubles - 15,000 rubles) - the resulting amount difference is reflected in non-operating income;

debit 76 subaccount “deferred VAT settlements” credit 68 subaccount “VAT settlements”
--2500 rub. -- VAT is payable, calculated at the exchange rate on the day of shipment;

debit 91-2 credit 68 subaccount “VAT calculations”
--250 rub. (RUB 1,500 ? 20/120) - additional VAT is charged on the amount of the resulting difference.

For tax accounting purposes, the resulting amount and exchange rate differences are recognized as non-operating income or expenses of the organization (clauses 11 and 11 1 of Article 250, subclauses 5 and 5 of 1 clause 1 of Article 265 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Income or expense in the form of the amount difference appears to the taxpayer-seller at the time of repayment of receivables (clause 7 of Article 271, clause 9 of Article 272 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Consequently, when writing off a bad “receivable” expressed in conventional monetary units, the supplier must calculate the amount difference and include the resulting non-operating income (expense) in the tax base for income tax.

The moment of occurrence of income (expense) in the form of exchange rate differences is determined in a similar way. According to paragraph 8 of Article 271 and paragraph 10 of Article 272 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, income (expenses) expressed in foreign currency are recalculated at the Bank of Russia exchange rate on the date of recognition of the corresponding income (expense). Thus, when writing off bad receivables denominated in foreign currency, taxpayers must recalculate the amount of this debt at the Bank of Russia exchange rate effective on the day of write-off. The resulting exchange rate difference must be reflected as part of non-operating income or expenses of the reporting or tax period to which the operation to include bad debt in expenses relates.

Tax problems when writing off accounts receivable

Until now, we have talked about writing off bad receivables by organizations using the generally established tax system. But taxpayers who apply special tax rules also have to deal with stuck debts. At the same time, representatives of “tax minorities” inevitably encounter problems.

Does Article 145 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation exempt you from “old” obligations?

Let’s assume that an organization that has a doubtful buyer’s receivable and calculates VAT using the “on payment” method has decided to take advantage of the tax exemption under Article 145 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. During the VAT exemption period, “old” receivables turn into bad debts. For example, after the expiration of the statute of limitations. The creditor organization faces the need to write it off. What about VAT? On the one hand, the organization is relieved of obligations to calculate and pay VAT. On the other hand, VAT was calculated, but was not paid to the budget at the time of sale of goods to the buyer. That is, when the organization was the payer of this tax. The tax was “deferred” for the future - until the buyer paid for the shipped goods.

The Tax Code does not provide an answer to this question. The “transition period” for those who decided to take advantage of the right to be exempt from VAT under Article 145 is prescribed only for “input” VAT. However, the answer to the question posed can be found in paragraph 2.10 of the Methodological recommendations for the application of Chapter 21 “Value Added Tax” of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, approved by order of the Ministry of Taxes of Russia dated December 20, 2000 No. BG-3-03/447.

This document states that those organizations and individual entrepreneurs who, before taking advantage of the exemption, worked “on payment” and who have unfulfilled tax obligations must pay the previously calculated but not paid VAT to the budget as soon as payment is received from buyers . The day of expiration of the limitation period or write-off of bad receivables for other reasons is recognized as the date of payment (clause 5 of Article 167 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Therefore, taxpayers exempt from VAT under Article 145 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation must charge tax payable to the budget on the amount of the written-off “receivables”.

Whether or not to agree with this opinion of the Russian Tax Ministry is up to the organization itself. In any case, there is certainly logic in the ministry’s reasoning. Article 145 of the Code provides exemption from VAT for those sales that relate to the exemption period, but does not relieve taxpayers from those obligations that arose earlier during the period of application of generally established norms.

Problems of "simplified"

Taxpayers who apply special tax regimes may encounter similar problems: UTII, simplified taxation system (STS), unified agricultural tax. Unfortunately, issues regarding the taxation of bad receivables for these taxpayers are not covered in the Tax Code.

It will be especially difficult to solve the problem of such debt for taxpayers who have switched to the simplified tax system. The Tax Code does not stipulate at all “transitional” VAT norms for those who have switched to the “simplified” system. When forming the tax base for a single tax, such expenses are not accepted (they are not provided for in Article 346 16 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). In accounting, it will also not be possible to write off bad debts, since taxpayers who have switched to the simplified tax system do not keep such records at all (clause 3 of article 4 of the Accounting Law).

Thus, having said goodbye to the previous accounting and generally accepted taxation system, taxpayers who switched to the simplified tax system, who previously used the accrual method, lose the right to recognize losses in the form of bad receivables.

However, when writing off accounts receivable, a taxpayer who has switched to the simplified tax system must pay the calculated amount of VAT. VAT is paid because the sale of goods (work, services) was carried out before the transition to the “simplified system” and was a transaction subject to VAT. This is the position of the Russian Ministry of Taxes and Taxes.

Difficulties of UTII payers

Payers of the single tax on imputed income, unlike those who switched to the simplified tax system, still keep accounting records. This means that they must write off from the balance sheet accounts receivable with an expired statute of limitations and debts that are unrealistic for collection for other reasons. But the loss from writing off a bad debt will not reduce the amount of their obligations to the budget to pay a single tax, since the single tax on imputed income is calculated not from the actual profit received, but from the amount of imputed income.

Only those payers of the single tax on imputed income who simultaneously conduct several types of activities - subject to both UTII and income tax - will be able to take advantage of the resulting loss. They can reduce profits subject to taxation according to the norms of Chapter 25 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation by the amount of losses from writing off bad receivables. Those payers of the single tax on imputed income who do not conduct activities subject to income tax must write off the unrealistic “receivable” in accounting, but will not be able to use the losses from this write-off to reduce their tax obligations to the budget.

Payers of the single tax on imputed income who write off bad receivables face the same problem with VAT calculation as organizations that are exempt from VAT under Article 145 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation or have switched to the simplified tax system. On the one hand, UTII payers are not responsible for calculating and paying VAT. On the other hand, they failed to pay tax on the amount of the unpaid sales when they applied the normal tax regime. Therefore, the Ministry of Taxes of Russia believes that when writing off bad receivables, UTII payers must calculate and pay to the budget the amount of VAT on these transactions.

Accounts receivable(EnglishAccounts receivable) – a type of asset, defined as the amount of debt of legal entities or individuals of an organization that arises from the sale of products on credit. In accounting, accounts receivable are understood as property rights and, therefore, accounts receivable are classified as property of the organization.

Accounts receivable arise immediately upon shipment of products and are repaid within the terms established by the contract. The reasons for the occurrence of accounts receivable can be explained by the following premises. The creditor organization receives additional sources of sales for its products, while the creditor, by shifting the loan repayment date, receives additional cash and current assets.

Accounts receivable accounting necessary to control the debts of counterparties and their timely collection. Excessive growth of accounts receivable can lead to a loss of financial stability of the organization, since often accounts receivable are used to pay off accounts payable. In practice, to speed up payments by counterparties for shipped goods, various systems of discounts and incentives are used. For example, a 10% discount for prepayment of goods.

Sources of formation of receivables

Let us highlight the main sources of accounts receivable formation:

• debts of buyers and customers;
• advances issued;
• debts of subsidiaries;
• debts of the founders for contributions to the authorized capital;
• bills;

Types of accounts receivable

According to the maturity date of obligations, accounts receivable are divided into:

• Short-term accounts receivable – payments due within 12 months.
• Long-term accounts receivable – payments due over 12 months.

Video lesson “Settlements with buyers and customers. Count 62"

This video discusses accounting account 62 “Settlements with buyers and customers”, analyzes transactions and practical situations. The lesson is taught by chief accountant N.V. Gandeva. (teacher, expert of the site “Accounting for Dummies”). Click to watch video ⇓

Account 62 in accounting. Write-off of accounts receivable

After an inventory, written justification for the debt and a decision by management, accounts receivable can be defined as debt for which payments are expected or debt not paid on time. If the receivables were not paid on time, then they can be of two types:

• doubtful;
• hopeless.

Doubtful accounts receivable– debt not repaid within the period established by the contract without guarantee and security (clause 70 “Regulations on maintaining financial statements in the Russian Federation”).

Uncollectible accounts receivable b – a debt that cannot be recovered from the counterparty. A doubtful debt becomes a bad debt in the following situations:

• the counterparty is declared bankrupt based on a court decision;
• liquidation of the counterparty and its exclusion from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities ( Clause 8 of Article 63 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation);
• expiration of the statute of limitations ( clause 7 PBU 9/99, clause 78 “Regulations on accounting and reporting”);

In accounting, an organization can create a reserve fund to write off doubtful debts; if there is no such reserve, then the losses are classified as non-operating expenses ( subp. 2 p. 2 art. 265 Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Bad debts are written off from the reserves for doubtful debts; if there is no reserve, then the losses are reflected in other expenses ( clause 11, 14.3 PBU 10/99 “Organization expenses”).

Deadline for writing off accounts receivable

If the buyer is unable to pay for the products on time, then the receivables become doubtful, and if payment is not received three years after the fact of shipment, then such debt can be considered uncollectible and written off in accounting and tax accounting. The period for writing off receivables is 3 years and is established on the basis of Art. 196 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. The period ends three years later on the corresponding month and day of occurrence of the violation ( Art. 192 Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

The statute of limitations is interrupted if the borrower admits to being a debtor: he has paid part of the debt or interest for the delay, written confirmation, an agreement to restructure the debt, etc.

Write-off of accounts receivable. Postings to account 62

Let's look at typical accounting entries necessary to write off accounts receivable.

Write-off of bad receivables. Postings

Example of writing off accounts receivable

Video lesson “Account 62. Writing off accounts receivable in 1C Accounting”

This video lesson reveals the features of writing off accounts receivable in the 1C Accounting program.