Sales of express payment cards and SIM cards. Long-standing controversy

Having experienced many of the types of earnings in the field, I can say the following: the path to success in this field is difficult and thorny, just like any other business.

Therefore, if you have firmly decided that you want to devote several years of your life to the activity described below, I recommend that you be patient and prepare for tireless and painstaking work. I warn you right away that the work will involve not only your favorite communication with portable communication devices and such achievements of the 20th century as the Internet, but also contacts with government agencies, controlling the activities of individual entrepreneurs and organizations. You will also have to master at least the basics of conducting accounting, constantly familiarize yourself with changes in laws and study new government regulations that may affect your activities.

If all of the above made you shudder, do not read the article further. I assure you, own business is for the brave and enterprising, so save time that you can spend searching for yourself in some other areas. Perhaps taking full responsibility for the activities of an entire enterprise is too burdensome for you, and you will find work in the cellular communications industry as an employee. In this article we will focus on those points that are important primarily for an independent entrepreneur. We will try to bring legal basis, which you should rely on when running a specific business in the field of mobile communications.

Accepting payments for services of mobile operators

So, one of the noteworthy types of business is accepting payments for the services of cellular operators. It is the acceptance of payments, without making connections to the operator’s network and providing other services. Because, in order to provide services for connecting to networks of cellular operators, you must obtain permission from them. It’s not only difficult for a beginner to do this, but almost impossible.

The fact is that the activity of accepting payments does not require permission from the company itself and is not subject to licensing or mandatory certification. Let me make a reservation that all these advantages apply only if, when accepting payments, you act as an agent of any company that organizes the system. She has everything Required documents must definitely be present.

Profit and expenses

Millions of people across the country top up their cell phone balance every day to stay connected. Some of these people live in your city or town.

Of course, currently the competition in this area is quite high. And yet, if, after carrying out some simple research, you notice that in your area there are definitely not enough places where you can top up your balance, and not only you, but also a good half of the population of your area lack them, it’s time to act and organize your own small socially useful business.

You will receive a small percentage of each payment. Usually from 1%-5%. Yours the main task organize the work of the payment acceptance point in such a way that cash subscribers were credited to their account on time. Provided you have good and high-quality service, people will be drawn to you. I suggest you do simple calculations of potential profit yourself: take the average payment amount; the average percentage of commission that you will charge from the client, or that the provider will pay you for services; guess how many people per day can top up their balance at the service point you choose. Having the above data, it’s easier than ever to assess the feasibility of the idea. I recommend not to deceive yourself and take into account the maximum possible indicators. Take the minimum, you can't go wrong. If the revenue is more than expected, you will be pleasantly surprised and rejoice from the bottom of your heart.

After minimum amount the expected profit has been determined, include in the estimate the costs of renting a small space in a public place, the salary of an employee who will accept payments (if you do not plan to do this yourself) and much more.

It is necessary to think through everything down to the smallest detail. In order for a business not to collapse in the first months of its formation, it is necessary to have starting capital. Also determine its size yourself: add up the cost of the first months of rent, the costs of equipment for the point, advertising (mainly outdoor) and other needs, which will be discussed below.

How it's done

In order to organize the acceptance of payments, you must have certain rights - rights legal entity. This means that you will have to register as an individual entrepreneur. Fortunately, it is quite inexpensive (check the amount of state duty at the Federal Tax Service Inspectorate at your place of registration). To accept cash from the public, you will need a cash register, abbreviated as KKM.

I can imagine how you grimaced your face with displeasure. This dissatisfaction is understandable. KKM is quite expensive. When faced with people on duty who want to engage in this type of activity, one often hears about their reluctance to purchase cash register machines. Anticipating questions like: “Is it possible without a cash register?”, I will say that without it, my dear, it is absolutely impossible. Why is the topic of a separate article. For now, just take my word for it. Although, okay... There are some alternative methods. If anyone is interested in learning about them, raise your hands. Okay, you, you and you read on. You can do without your own cash register in two cases: using a portable radio terminal to accept payments and... using someone else's cash register.

Using the cash register of another legal entity

The subtitle of this part may sound a little criminal, don't worry. You won’t have to take someone else’s cash register out of the neighboring store you broke into under the cover of darkness. Stop even thinking about such methods. Moreover, there is a wonderful legal way to use someone else’s cash register - concluding an agreement with its owner on the provision of paid services. If you have such an agreement, you can receive interest on payments accepted through the cash desk of another entrepreneur, without even leaving your home. So make an agreement (in writing) and go for it. Naturally, you will share the profit among yourself, according to the agreement.

Portable radio terminal - the solution to all problems

If you want to do without buying a cash register and even without purchasing a computer, I advise you to look towards wonderful devices - radio terminals for accepting payments.

This thing is specially “sharpened” for this type activities. The terminal combines the ability to receive and transmit payments through channels and print cash receipt, which in our case cannot be avoided. Therefore, if you want to deal only and only with accepting payments, and do not plan to simultaneously develop retail trade at your point, we recommend it! The price of the device is very, very competitive.

You can also accept payments from the public by installing software created for these purposes on your computer. An essential condition for working under this scheme is the ability to access the Internet.

Principal, Agents and Subagents are parts of one business

The most important link that ensures the very possibility of your work in this area is the presence of an agency agreement with the organizing company (Principal, in legal terms) of the payment acceptance system. Currently, there are several well-established organizations operating in Russia. We will not name them so as not to create advertising.

The principal will provide you with software (if working via a computer), a power of attorney to carry out transactions on his behalf and provide 24-hour information support.

Working conditions for almost all organizers are the same. You, as an individual entrepreneur, open a bank account, through it you transfer an advance payment to a special deposit account of the system organizer and then accept cash payments from the public within the limits of the advance payment you made. That. You get your money back and earn interest on customer payments. The scheme of work may seem too complicated to some, but upon closer examination everything is quite simple.

Perhaps, and most likely, someday the moment will come when you want to receive more profit from this type of activity. If you already have enough experience in accepting payments yourself to teach this to other people and provide them with information and technical support, start developing a subagent network. You can enter into an agreement similar to the one concluded between you and the organizer of the system with an unlimited number of organizations and entrepreneurs who want to provide a service for accepting payments to the public. With the normal functioning and stable turnover of your subagent points, you will receive profit from their activities, only once having expended efforts to attract them to this business.

Of course, it’s good if you can provide your subagents with consulting services and assistance in installation software etc. Build trusting relationships with partners, this is really beneficial.

Accounting and taxes

I would like to warn you against negligence in making payments, maintaining accounting and calculating taxes. In the accounting of an entrepreneur or organization involved in accepting payments, there are significant features that cannot be ignored. Therefore, if you are not savvy in accounting, it is better to immediately hire an accountant who will keep your affairs in order and prevent problems from arising with regulatory authorities.

The best taxation option for this type of activity would be to use the simplified taxation system (STS). It is ideal for entrepreneurs working under agency agreements. As they say, pay your taxes and sleep well.

Good luck in business, dear readers!

IN modern conditions A mobile phone is an indispensable attribute of the life of most Russians, and even more so, it is almost impossible to imagine a working person without a means of communication. For organizations, mobile operators are developing special tariff plans, which can significantly reduce costs for cellular communication.

On modern stage development of the country's economy, the telecommunications sector, and, in particular, the cellular communications market, plays an important role in the interaction and economic development of business structures. This area not only serves as a necessary condition for the effective functioning of enterprises in all industries, but also energetically influences the management processes themselves. The role of cellular communications in economic development is determined by the fact that by introducing the latest information and communication technologies, it makes it possible to include both consumers and producers in a single information space not only in Russia, but throughout the world. How component market economy, it ensures the rapid transmission and dissemination of information flows, and, therefore, is the most important factor in increasing the competitiveness of enterprises. In modern conditions efficient use information resources necessary for any company. Segmentation Information target market allows the company to identify marketing opportunities. Information is needed to clearly define competitive advantages company and its strategic positioning. Finally, information about a company's strategic position in the market is required to build an effective business strategy based on competitive advantage. Under these conditions, increasingly high demands are placed on business structures in the telecommunications sector.

Demonopolization of the telecommunications sector led to increased competition in the cellular communications market, the emergence of new types of communications and alternative operators, which contributed to the structuring of the market and increasing its transparency. However, the emergence of new types of communications has brought to life new problems associated with the diversification of the activities of telecommunications enterprises. In the current conditions, the effective functioning of business structures in the cellular communications market is possible only by identifying the main consumer preferences and motives of consumer behavior, as well as by solving the problem of choosing the preferred method of servicing the target market. In this regard, the development of methodological approaches to forecasting the activities of entrepreneurial structures in the telecommunications sector in order to develop a strategy for their market behavior is becoming urgent.

The financial condition, competitiveness, and, accordingly, the prospects for economic development of business entities depend on a huge number of factors. In most cases, the economic results of an organization's activities are directly related not only to the conclusion of profitable contracts, but also to the reasonable and rational use of the organization's resources, both material and labor. To a large extent, savings are achieved through the use of the most attractive and favorable prices and tariffs offered by suppliers. The role of tariff plans becomes especially important when using certain goods, works or services in the daily activities of the organization. There is no doubt that the category of such “fixed” expenses includes communication services, in particular mobile (cellular).

In modern conditions, a mobile phone is an indispensable attribute of the life of most Russians, and even more so, it is almost impossible to imagine a working person without a means of communication. Every day, mobile operators offer an increasing number of tariffs that meet the needs various categories users. Almost all companies providing cellular communication services provide different tariffs for individuals and business entities. In particular, corporate tariff plans are especially popular among organizations and individual entrepreneurs, the advantages of which are well known:

Low subscription fee or its complete absence;

The lowest possible cost for outgoing calls to the most frequently used directions;

Wide range of additional services;

Flexible system of discounts depending on the intensity of conversations and the number of telephone numbers registered to the organization;

Preferential long-distance/international calls;

Intranet roaming at reduced rates and others.

Large organizations have long appreciated the effectiveness and ease of use of corporate tariff plans. Currently, cellular operators are paying increasing attention to organizations and individual entrepreneurs, belonging to the category of small and medium-sized businesses, for which special tariffs are developed. In particular, when using corporate tariffs each employee taking into account his own job responsibilities can use additional discounts in the most popular areas when connecting special services. Corporate tariffs, as a rule, are structured in such a way that they can be optimized for any employee depending on his type of activity.

As practice shows, the use of these tariffs allows not only to significantly reduce the cost of cellular communications, but also to minimize document flow, which is especially important for organizations and entrepreneurs, “in which every person counts.” Cellular operators provide special services within the framework of corporate tariffs, which, for example, allow you to make calls to the phones of company employees for free, or there is no charge from the second minute of the call. In addition, corporate tariff plans may provide for the provision of such “useful and necessary” services as “caller ID”, “call waiting”, “mobile office”, “ Mobile Internet" and some others without any payment.

Several of the most promising directions are identified, following which will allow market players to achieve significant success in the coming years. These include:

1. Seamless migration of broadband to mobile All-IP to meet the ever-growing needs of the industry.

2. Providing premium class IP services to provide subscribers with high-quality services and the benefits of reliable communications.

3. Application of original creative solutions in order to expand the subscriber base and increase ARPU.

4. Improving the efficiency of narrowband communications through expanding the coverage areas of the urban network.

5. Promote single access points to meet the needs of horizontal integrated radio networks and support voice services, offering narrowband data services and mobile broadband services.

6. Creation of large-scale networks to handle the ever-increasing data traffic.

7. Introduction of new voice transmission models into the operator environment.

8. Provide necessary bandwidth performance, such as intelligent traffic management and processing of high-speed data traffic.

9. Support for traditional telecom operators, using their extensive subscriber base to provide content transmission and multimedia services.

The development of these areas will help optimize the construction and support of networks around the world, the main advantages of which will be quality and the ability to quickly respond to various requirements. Humanity is increasingly dependent on information technology and therefore no single society will be able to function normally outside the global information network. This is the reality of development modern societies in the world.

The globalization of the economy generates a flow of information that is increasingly increasing in volume and rapidly changing in content. All this has an impact on people’s activities and entails certain economic consequences, often on a fairly large scale. According to the prominent German public and statesman H.D. Genscher, “access and use of information, knowledge and communications have today become the fourth factor of production, along with land, capital and labor.” Information technology today has become a branch of the global economy. Currently, scientific and technological progress is reaching a new higher level, and one of the areas of breakthrough is information Technology: a combination of a computer and modern communications.

Entrepreneurial activity in the field of telecommunications in each country has its own specifics. However, the appearance digital technologies and the massive introduction of services to provide access to the Internet have led to the fact that today almost any telecommunications operator operates not only in the local (regional or national) but also in the global telecommunications services market. The advent of digital technology has brought about radical changes in the telecommunications industry. Traditional voice communications began to be replaced by interactive services, such as the Internet, data transmission, mobile connection.

The creation of a Russian information and telecommunications infrastructure should be considered as most important factor rise national economy, growth of business and intellectual activity of society, strengthening of the country’s authority on a global scale. The rapid development of telecommunications is a necessary condition for the development of business infrastructure, the creation of favorable conditions for attracting foreign investment, solving employment issues.

The domestic market for communication services remains quite closed. On the one hand, this is due on a huge scale territory of the country, thanks to which the main income of telecom operators is formed. On the other hand, Russia is still outside the world market of international traffic, which until now has been a consequence of insufficient high level digitalization of trunk channels and lower quality of communication compared to world standards. However, recently the quality long distance communication in the country has improved significantly, and its role in the international transit of telecommunications services has begun to increase.

Recently, the globalization of national markets for communication services has been taking place. If earlier entrepreneurial activity national operator was limited to its own country, now the largest telephone companies provide services abroad. This becomes possible mainly through the acquisition of large stakes in foreign operators.

Telecommunications mergers and acquisitions have had mixed results.
On the one hand, the globalization of communication services markets inevitably leads to changes in the capital management of operators; on the other hand, the sweeping “wave” of mergers contributed to the fact that “absorber” companies issued too many bonds to finance acquisitions, which led to a decrease in the credit ratings of many of them. them and had a negative impact on the stock market.

Telecommunications in the leading countries of the world are perhaps the most dynamic sector of the national economy. Throughout the post-war period, the pace of its development was high and almost unaffected by the deterioration of economic conditions. All Western economic and structural crises only slowed down investment activity, but did not in any way restrain the growth of the industry: the worse things are in the economy, the higher the need for quick, complete and comprehensive information. And the higher the organization of society, the brighter this trend. The rapid growth rate of communications is an objective pattern of a highly industrialized economy, reflecting its needs for adequate information support. There is a clear empirical relationship here: the volume of information flows transmitted by means of communication should increase at least in proportion to the square of the growth of the country's economic potential. In other words, the economy’s needs for communication services are met if the growth rate of information flows is at least twice the growth rate of GDP. Thus, the degree of development of telecommunications is one of the significant indicators of the maturity of the national economy.

Question: The organization carries out retail trade in express payment cards and mobile SIM cards, which it purchases from a dealer of a cellular operator. The communication store through which retail trade is carried out has an area trading floor less than 150 sq. m. Is the specified activity subject to transfer to UTII?

MINISTRY OF FINANCE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

The Department of Tax and Customs Tariff Policy reviewed the letter on the procedure for applying the provisions of Chapter. 26.3 "Taxation system in the form of a single tax on imputed income for certain types of activities" of the Tax Code Russian Federation(hereinafter referred to as the Code) in relation to business activities for the sale of express payment cards and mobile SIM cards and reports the following.

In accordance with paragraph 2 of Art. 346.26 of the Code, in particular, entrepreneurial activities in the field of retail trade can be transferred to the taxation system in the form of a single tax on imputed income.

Based on the provisions of Art. Code 346.27 under retail trade th refers to business activities related to the trade of goods (including in cash, as well as using payment cards) on the basis of retail purchase and sale contracts.

It is necessary to take into account that, according to Art. 38 of the Code, a commodity is any property sold or intended for sale, and property refers to types of objects civil rights(except for property rights) relating to property in accordance with the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

Article 128 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation establishes that objects of civil rights include things, including money and securities, other property, including property rights; works and services; information; results of intellectual activity, including exclusive rights to them (intellectual property); intangible benefits.

Thus, entrepreneurial activity for the sale of express payment cards for communication services acquired as property for further sale on one’s own behalf relates to retail trade and can be transferred to the payment of a single tax on imputed income.

Accordingly, the entrepreneurial activity carried out by the organization in the sale of express payment cards and mobile SIM cards purchased from a cellular dealer in ownership, through a communication store with a sales area of ​​less than 150 sq. m, can be classified as retail trade and transferred to the taxation system in the form of a single tax on imputed income.

At the same time, please note that if express payment cards and SIM cards are sold by an organization under an agency agreement on behalf of the principal (organization - telecom operator), then such activities should be taxed under the general taxation regime or the simplified taxation system.

Deputy Director
Tax Department
and customs tariff policy
S.V.RAZGULIN

1. How to confirm the validity of expenses for cellular communications.

2. How to register the use of personal phones and SIM cards by employees for business purposes.

3. In what order are cellular communications expenses reflected in accounting and tax accounting?

Expenses for communication services are one of those types of expenses that almost any organization and individual entrepreneur has. Moreover, an increasingly large share of these costs is occupied by cellular communication services. And this is not surprising, because cellular, or mobile, communications make it possible to solve work issues much more quickly, and for some workers the use landline phone It's simply impossible. So, for example, without mobile phones when implementing labor activity It is indispensable for employees with a traveling nature of work, as well as whose work involves frequent business trips. Therefore, employers are faced with the need to provide their employees with cellular communications, and to do this in a way that takes into account the interests of employees and their own, while avoiding claims from the tax authorities. Read the article on how to do this.

Providing employees with cellular communications is possible in two options:

• Corporate cellular communication: the employer enters into an agreement with the mobile operator, and employees are given SIM cards belonging to the employer for use.

• Reimbursement of employee expenses for cellular communications: each employee enters into an agreement with a mobile operator on his own behalf and uses a personal SIM card for business calls.

The selected method (or combination thereof), as well as all essential conditions for the use of cellular communications by employees for business purposes, must be fixed in the local normative act. Such a document could be, for example, Regulations on providing employees with cellular communications.

In tax accounting, expenses for cellular communication services, including the payment of compensation to employees for cellular communication expenses, accepted both for calculating income tax (clause 25, clause 1, article 264), and under the simplified tax system (clause 18, clause 1, article 346.16 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). By general rule expenses for cellular communications must be economically justified and documented. Moreover, the procedure for documenting such expenses directly depends on the method of providing employees with cellular communications.

Corporate cellular communication

To confirm expenses for corporate cellular communications, you will need the following: documentation(Letter of the Ministry of Finance dated June 23, 2011 No. 03-03-06/1/378):

• agreement with a cellular operator;
• invoice for services rendered;
• list of positions of employees who use cellular communications to perform work, approved by the head of the organization labor responsibilities. The specified list of positions can be enshrined in a separate order or specified in the Regulations on providing employees with cellular communications.

In some cases, the following is also required:

• invoice – for VAT taxpayers for the purpose of deducting “input” VAT (clause 1 of Article 172 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation);
• a document confirming payment for the services of a cellular operator - for organizations using the simplified tax system (clause 2 of article 346.17 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

In addition to the listed documents, tax inspectors often request additional documents confirming the economic justification of expenses for cellular communication services:

• job descriptions of employees who use cellular communications, as confirmation that the use of cellular communications is necessary to perform their job duties;
• employment contracts (collective agreement) with employees, which stipulate the conditions for providing cellular communications or provide a link to the relevant local act(Regulations on providing employees with cellular communications);
• details of bills for communication services, which indicate the telephone numbers of all subscribers with whom negotiations were conducted, as confirmation that the negotiations were of a work and not personal nature.

As for detailing bills for cellular communication services, the mandatory nature of such a document is ambiguous. The Ministry of Finance in some letters indicates that detail is required (Letters of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated January 19, 2009 No. 03-03-07/2, dated June 5, 2008 No. 03-03-06/1/350, dated July 27, 2006 No. 03-03- 04/3/15). However, courts in most cases do not consider the lack of detail as a basis for not accepting expenses for cellular communications. tax accounting(Resolutions of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Moscow Region dated June 22, 2010 No. KA-A40/6056-10, dated January 29, 2010 No. KA-A40/14759-09-2, Federal Antimonopoly Service dated May 23, 2008 in case No. A55-10554/07). Basically, the courts refer to the fact that the Tax Code of the Russian Federation does not contain a requirement for mandatory confirmation of communication expenses with a detailed invoice. In addition, the detail contains only telephone numbers, however, it does not reveal the nature and content of the conversation (business or personal).

! Note: If you decide to “hedge yourselves” and confirm the validity of expenses for cellular communication services by detailing the bills, you must keep in mind that if there is detail, it will certainly become the subject of an audit by the tax authorities. That's why the details need not just be attached to the invoice, but actually checked and cut off all personal conversations (that is, fees for them cannot be included in tax expenses). It is advisable to reflect the fact that the details have been verified, for example, by placing a mark on the document itself, indicating the date and signature of the responsible person.

Accounting for phones and SIM cards

With the “corporate” option of providing employees with cellular communications, SIM cards with telephone numbers “linked” to them belong to the employer and are issued to employees for use. However, SIM cards by themselves, as you know, do not work: you need phones (or other devices). And here, as a rule, one of two options is used:

• telephones are purchased by the employer and given to employees for use;
• workers use personal phones. In this case, employees may be paid, or.

A third option is often encountered: the organization does not have its own cell phones, and the use of employees’ personal phones is not formalized in any way. At the same time, cellular communications costs are regularly taken into account based on invoices issued by the operator. In this case, the legality of accepting expenses for cellular communications will most likely be questioned by tax inspectors. However, taxpayers have a chance to prove their case. Firstly, the Tax Code of the Russian Federation does not contain a requirement for the mandatory availability of telephones for the recognition of communication expenses (25 clause 1 of Article 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Secondly, the courts have more than once sided with taxpayers, confirming the legality of accepting expenses for cellular communications for tax accounting even in the absence of telephones (Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the North-West District dated April 24, 2007 in case No. A56-33529/2006; Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Moscow Region dated July 21, 2005 No. KA-A41/6715-05). And yet, in order not to give tax officials an extra reason for complaints, it makes sense to take care of documenting the use of cell phones by employees.

As for SIM cards, the cost of their acquisition may be reflected:

• as part of material expenses (clause 3, clause 1, clause 2, article 254, clause 5, clause 1, article 346.16 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). If the connection fee is greater than the amount credited to the account as an advance payment, then the difference will be the cost of the SIM card;
• if the entire amount paid upon connection is credited to the account, then the cost of the SIM card is zero, and the paid amount is taken into account as an advance for communication services.

Since SIM cards are the property of the employer and are transferred to employees for temporary use, it is advisable to keep off-balance sheet accounting of SIM cards with analytics on phone numbers and employees.

! Note: The transfer of the SIM card (and phone) to the employee must be documented. For this purpose, you can use the procedure established in the organization for documenting the movement of goods, or develop and approve special forms of primary documents, for example, a log of issuing phones and SIM cards to employees. Documenting transferring SIM cards to employees serves as proof that a specific employee uses a specific telephone number, and if limits are set on cellular communication expenses, this will be the basis for collecting from the employee the amount of excess of the limit.

Setting limits on cell phone spending

If employees are provided with corporate cellular communications, the organization does not have the opportunity to selectively pay the operator for the cost of services: they will have to pay the entire amount indicated in the invoice, which the employees “talked” about. Therefore, in order not to overpay for personal conversations of employees, most often they are set limits on expenses for cellular communications or use an unlimited tariff.

• Unlimited tariff

The unlimited tariff has a significant advantage: you do not need to control the amount of employee expenses, since the fee for communication services is fixed and does not depend on the number and duration of calls (subscription fee). In addition, as the Ministry of Finance explained, paying for cellular communication services at an unlimited tariff does not prevent them from being taken into account for tax purposes (Letter of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated June 23, 2011 No. 03-03-06/1/378).

However, in some cases, it is more profitable for organizations to use a time-based tariff, and this, in turn, involves setting limits on cellular communications expenses for employees. If such limits are not set, all the benefits from using a time-based tariff may be eliminated big amount“extra” calls and, as a result, “extra” expenses.

• Setting limits

The fact of establishing limits on expenses for cellular communications for employees, as well as the amount of these limits, must be fixed in a separate order of the manager or in the Regulations on providing employees with cellular communications and made known to employees using corporate cellular communications.

Despite the fact that setting limits is primarily an internal measure aimed at disciplining employees, it should be kept in mind that for inspectors the presence of limits means only one thing: costs for cellular communications exceeding these limits are economically unjustified for the organization, and, accordingly, are not accepted for tax accounting purposes.

Of course, communication expense limits set for employees should be as close as possible to actual costs. But even this does not guarantee that the limits will not be exceeded. When employee exceeding the limit established for him costs for cellular communications, the following options are possible:

1. Exceeding the limit is caused by business needs (for example, using cellular communications on a business trip abroad, etc.).

In this case, it makes sense to make a one-time increase in the limit on cellular communications expenses for a specific employee. The increase in the limit must be documented by issuing an appropriate order from the manager (the basis may be a statement or memo employee indicating the reasons for the overrun, as well as details of the invoice for communication services, confirming the business nature of the calls).

1. Exceeding the limit is not related to the performance of work duties (making personal calls from a work number, etc.).

The fact that the above-limit cellular expenses are indeed personal in nature and not business-related can be confirmed by the itemization of the bill. In this case, the amount exceeding the limit:

• may be contributed by the employee voluntarily or collected from the employee as compensation material damage caused to the employer (Chapter 39 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). With this option, the amount exceeding the limit:
  • is not the employee’s income subject to personal income tax;
  • not subject to insurance premiums;
  • taken into account as other expenses for tax purposes only after reimbursement by the employee. In this case, the amount of compensation paid by the employee (or collected from him) will be taken into account for tax purposes in income (Letter of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated October 13, 2010 No. 03-03-06/2/178).

! Note: the employer does not have the right to produce on his own initiative.

• may be “forgiven” to the employee. The amount of exceeding the limit, which is not reimbursed by the employee and is not collected from him, that is, paid at the expense of the employer:
  • is recognized as the employee’s income in kind and is subject to personal income tax (clause 1 of Article 2010, clause 1 of clause 2 of Article 211 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation);
  • subject to insurance premiums (clause 1, article 7 of Law No. 212-FZ);
  • is not taken into account in expenses for tax purposes (Letter of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated October 13, 2010 No. 03-03-06/2/178).

As mentioned at the beginning of the article, providing workers with cellular communications can be organized in the form of payment of compensation for cellular communications expenses. As a rule, with this option, compensation includes both payment for the use of employees’ personal cell phones for business purposes and reimbursement of expenses for communication services.

The processing and taxation of compensation for the use of personal cell phones is generally similar to the procedure that applies to any other personal property of employees, such as cars. You can read more about this in the articles: and.

To confirm the validity of compensation for cellular communications costs, the following will be required: documentation(Letters of the Ministry of Finance dated October 13, 2010 No. 03-03-06/2/178, Ministry of Health and Social Development dated August 6, 2010 No. 2538-19 (clause 3)):

• a list of positions of employees who use cellular communications to perform job duties approved by the manager;
• employee job description;
• an employment contract or other written agreement between the employer and employee, which establishes the amount and procedure for payment of compensation;
• a copy of the employee’s agreement with the cellular operator;
• a copy of the invoice for communication services, as well as details of the invoice, as confirmation of the “working” nature of the calls.

Compensation for cellular communications costs is usually established:

• in a fixed amount – in terms of compensation for the use of a personal cell phone;
• in the amount of actual expenses or within the established limit - in terms of reimbursement of expenses for cellular communication services.

Documented amount of compensation for employee expenses for cellular communications:

• not subject to personal income tax and insurance contributions (clause 3 of article 217 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, subparagraph “and” clause 2 of part 1 of article 9 of Law No. 212-FZ, Letter of the Ministry of Finance dated 04/20/2015 No. 03-04-06/22274 );
• accepted for profit tax purposes and under the simplified tax system, as expenses for payment for communication services (clause 25, clause 1, article 264, clause 18, clause 1, article 346.16 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Accounting for cellular expenses

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Normative base

1. Tax Code of the Russian Federation
2. Federal Law No. 212-FZ dated July 24, 2009 “On insurance premiums in Pension Fund Russian Federation, Social Insurance Fund of the Russian Federation, Federal Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund"
3. Letter of the Ministry of Health and Social Development dated 06.08.2010 No. 2538-19
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