Indirect costs. Accounting and distribution when calculating income tax

Indirect costs, what they include: accounting and distribution of indirect costs in organizations engaged in various types of activities. A detailed list of expenses that the company can safely classify as indirect. >>>

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

• direct costs;
• indirect costs.

Organizations that are not classified as trading must allocate costs between direct and indirect expenses only if they calculate income tax on an accrual basis. Organizations using the cash method are not required to distribute expenses among these groups.

Depending on which group of expenses certain expenses belong to, the moment of their recognition in the tax base differs. Write off indirect expenses in full in the period to which they relate. Direct costs must be allocated. That part of them that relates to the balance of work in progress or unsold goods will not increase the organization’s current expenses.

Trade organizations distribute costs into direct and indirect expenses, regardless of the method of calculating income tax (accrual method or cash method). Direct costs include:

• the cost of purchasing goods sold during the reporting (tax period);
• costs for delivery of goods to the buyer's warehouse (if these costs are not included in the price of goods).

Direct expenses are taken into account when calculating income tax as goods are sold. All other expenses (except non-operating expenses) are classified as indirect. Indirect expenses reduce revenue from sales of the current month.

The procedure for dividing costs into direct and indirect costs largely depends on what activities the organization is engaged in:

• production of products, performance of work;
• provision of services;
• trade.

Let's talk about each of these types of activities in more detail.

Indirect costs of production organizations

Indirect costs, what applies to them in manufacturing organizations? For production organizations, an approximate list of direct costs is established by paragraph 1 of Article 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. These include:

• material costs. These are the costs of purchasing: raw materials and supplies used to produce products (perform work); components to be installed; semi-finished products requiring additional processing;
• expenses for remuneration of employees involved in the production of products (performance of work), as well as contributions accrued on these payments for compulsory pension (social, medical) insurance and insurance against accidents and occupational diseases;
• depreciation charges for fixed assets used in the production of products (performance of work).

The remaining costs (except for non-operating costs) are indirect costs.

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

When determining the list of direct expenses for tax accounting, an organization can use a similar list that it uses in accounting.

Costs that relate to direct expenses are included in the tax base as products are sold (work is performed), in the cost of which they are taken into account. Indirect costs are included in the costs of the period in which they are accrued.

Indirect costs of organizations providing services

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

A service is an activity whose results do not have material expression and are sold and consumed in the process of its implementation. In this regard, organizations providing services (for example, consulting companies) are not required to distribute direct costs between the costs of the current tax (reporting) period and the cost of services not accepted by customers at the end of this period (letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated June 15, 2011 No. 03-03-06/1/348). They have the right to recognize all costs incurred (both direct and indirect costs) in the current tax (reporting) period. In this case, such a procedure for accounting for direct costs must be established in the accounting policy.

Indirect costs of trade organizations

Indirect costs, what applies to them in trade organizations? For trade organizations, the list of direct expenses is fixed. It is given in Article 320 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Direct costs include:

• purchase price of goods. The organization has the right to determine the procedure for its formation independently. Thus, the purchase price of goods can include expenses associated with the acquisition of goods. These are, for example, warehouse, insurance and other costs paid by another organization. Fix the selected option in your accounting policy for tax purposes;
• costs associated with the delivery of goods to the organization’s warehouse (if they are not included in the purchase price).

All other costs of trading organizations, except non-operating ones, are indirect costs.

Write off direct expenses as you sell the purchased goods to which they relate. Indirect expenses should be taken into account when calculating income tax at the time of their accrual.

Advice
Equate direct expenses in tax accounting to expenses that form the purchase price of goods in accounting. In this case, temporary differences will not arise and the procedure for maintaining accounting and tax accounting will be closer.

Accounting for indirect expenses in the absence of income

If there is no income in the reporting period, the organization can only recognize indirect expenses. Direct expenses that relate to the balance of unsold products cannot be taken into account when calculating income tax. It turns out that if the organization has not sold anything, then it does not have any direct expenses. As for indirect expenses, they are in no way tied to the revenue received and can be taken into account in the current period. This follows from paragraph 2 of Article 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

Moreover, if a specific expense does not bring direct income to the organization, this does not mean that it is unreasonable. It is enough that it is necessary for the activity that will result in the income generated. Thus, indirect expenses of an organization can be taken into account in reducing the tax base even in the case when income has not yet been received in the reporting period.

Indirect costs (expenses)- these are expenses that cannot be directly included in the cost of the manufactured product (goods or services). They are distributed evenly among other expenses and are included in a certain base.

According to the tax code, Each enterprise independently determines which costs in its budget are indirect and which are direct.

Direct and indirect costs

Direct costs according to the code include the costs of producing products, performing work and providing services.

Indirect costs include: general production and general business expenses.

Direct costs:

• All production costs.
• Payroll and all costs to employees.
• Compensation costs, bonuses, allowances.

Indirect costs include:

1. Salary pay.
2. Cost of materials spent.
3. Volume of completed works
4. Electricity and lighting.
5. Security enterprises.
6. Space rental which are subleased.
7. Advertising.
8. Personnel costs(salary, benefits and bonuses).
9. Depreciation of fixed assets funds.
10. Office expenses.
11. Amortization of intangibles assets.
12. Mobile connection.
13. Internet t and email.
14. Postal service.
15. Business trips.

The main difference between distributed money– this means that all indirect expenses relate to the current tax period, but all direct expenses relate to expenses in the current period. The exception is organizations providing services to the population.

The taxpayer has every right to attribute the entire volume of expenses of the reporting (tax) period to a decrease in income and to unfinished technological production.

Organizations that, in addition to providing services, perform some kind of work or are engaged in production activities, can attribute part of the indirect costs to the reporting (tax) period.

Who shares the costs?

The division of expenses is regulated by the Code of the Russian Federation, namely Article 318.

The procedure for distributing and sorting received and spent funds is a very important task, since the amount of tax money paid will depend on this, and if the law is neglected, criminal liability may arise for tax evasion or non-payment.

Not everyone divides income into categories. For organizations that keep track of earnings through a cash register, the need for accounting disappears.

This same category of taxpayers includes organizations that provide services to the population; all income is automatically considered indirect. All others must maintain separation in their accounting policies.

The division of income in strict compliance with all provisions of article number 318 is not necessary, since some of its provisions are advisory in nature, therefore the accountant himself has the right to decide which income is classified as indirect and which as direct.

Features of indirect costs

Indirect costs include all costs that are not included in direct costs.

• The distribution is made by an accountant and the classification of an expense into one category or another depends on many factors.
• The article does not spell out exactly what principle the distribution should be based on., so the company often takes advantage of this, and the distribution occurs with the greatest benefit to production.

This approach is not beneficial for tax authorities, Therefore, conflict situations often arise that can only be resolved in court.

For example: Electricity and steam are included by many companies in the list of production costs, i.e. indirect costs.

The same applies to containers for transporting raw materials, packaging, stickers, work of auxiliary institutions and workers.

This approach is not beneficial to the tax service. The argument is that electricity is related to the product, just like its components, and therefore must be included in the list of direct expenses.

Disputes also arise from the wages of workers directly involved in the production of goods, fuel, water, etc.

Consolidation of the list of direct and indirect expenses in the accounting policy

Every company that does not have a cash register and does not provide only services to the public is required to keep records of income and expenses in the company’s accounting policies.

This requirement is mandatory and beneficial to the company itself.

In case the accounting policy is not provided to the tax authorities, the breakdown of expenses will be made by taxpayers.

To prevent this from happening, the documentation is drawn up correctly, and the classification of expenses as indirect is fully justified.

List of direct expenses:

• Expenses for purchased raw materials e, materials, services or works.
• Amounts of tariff rates, workers' salaries(according to the employment contract or a percentage of the company’s profit).
• Prizes and allowances as well as any other incentives for staff.
• Accruals compensating for damage, received as a result of work, medical services and others.
• Services provided to employees free of charge: food, utility bills, housing and more.
• Special clothing and shoes, protective suits and other equipment necessary for work.
• Salary, vacations, travel tickets, insurance.
• Allowances, tuition fees, advanced training course.
• Refund and workers' compensation.

Everything that is not included in the list of direct expenses according to the law can automatically be classified as indirect.

Features of accounting for wages and salaries

Manufacturing products in accounting has several main expenses:

• Salary.
• Social payments.
• Material costs.
• Depreciation.
• Other expenses.

Remuneration is the main column. To correctly calculate allowances, additional bonuses and basic labor income, special calculation sheets are used.

An individual approach is applied to each employee, taking into account:

• opening hours;
• volume of performed products;
• quality products;
• labor intensity process;
• skills, incentives;
• allowances, pension.

Ultimately, a final score is generated.

In addition to the calculation system, which depends on the hours of production, there are calculations based on sales volume, according to the contract, and others.

The payment received relates to direct expenses and is taken into account by the tax service. There are categories of workers that can be classified as indirect. These are those who are not in the company on a permanent basis, are not documented and perform work as needed.

It is beneficial for an enterprise to have an informal workforce whose salary is placed in a “white envelope”, since there is no need to pay tax.

Such a salary is of no benefit to the employee, since there is no work experience, there are no pension accruals, and he risks losing his job at any time without a good reason.

Some large companies include wages of their employees as direct expenses.

Indirect costs of production organizations

All expenses not included in the ledger as direct expenses are included. As well as income regulated Article 265 of the Tax Code.

Their accounting depends on the method of filling out the accounting– manual or automatic.

If the manual method is used, then the accountant independently enters into the Declaration all indirect expenses, when, by whom and in what amount they were incurred.

If this is an automatic distribution, then they will be calculated by the computer independently.

Trade organizations have the right to include in direct expenses only the costs of sold products, which has already arrived on store shelves or has been purchased.

If the goods have not yet been sold, then the costs are included in the item of the unfinished trade process.

Indirect costs of organizations providing services

The indirect costs of such organizations include almost everything.

It's pinned Article 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

All expenses will be taken into account during the period of their incurrence; division into indirect and direct, as well as into the costs of sold products and those at the manufacturing stage is not relevant.

Indirect costs of trade organizations

Direct expenses of trade organizations include:

• Costs of purchasing goods and services. This is formed from: the contractual (wholesale) price of the product and the costs of preparation for sale (packaging, labeling, packing, etc.).
• Costs of selling goods(its delivery to the place of sale or to the reseller).

All other types of waste are classified as indirect.

Accounting for indirect expenses in the absence of income

Lack of income is caused by two reasons:

• The first is: the company conducts its activities correctly, but it has no buyers or sales do not generate revenue. Taxation for such industries can only be disastrous and significantly worsen financial affairs.
• The second reason: the organization is performing the work, but payment will occur after some time.

For example, construction companies. Profit from building an object and renting it out will occur only after significant costs and a long period of time.

If profit is calculated on a cash basis, then when taxes are deducted, the company goes into the red.

Sometimes tax inspectors do not collect tax, since the company has no income.

Leading experts in the country argue that it is prohibited to levy taxes on a company that does not have any profit. This doesn't always happen.

How to justify indirect expenses?

If indirect taxes are significant or represent a significant amount, it attracts the attention of the tax authorities.

The tax office will require, within five calendar days, to provide documents and extracts confirming the validity of indirect costs.

The more detailed and convincing the report is, the less likely it is that the budget will need to be recalculated..

It is worth providing statements and receipts and journals. In order for an expense to be classified as indirect, convince the service that it does not fit any of the criteria classifying it as direct.

Fare

Transport costs are charged at the same time both indirect and direct costs.

If we are talking about delivering goods to the buyer, that is, to wholesale warehouses, stores or directly to home, then this applies to indirect.

If we talk about the transportation of materials used at the production stage, then according to the article, this is direct expense.

To reduce tax, you can distribute the costs spent on delivering goods within production evenly across all expenses - include both sold and non-sold goods.

What are indirect costs?

Expenses for the use and operation of equipment, non-production costs, cost of some goods.

Many industrial companies include the following as indirect costs: heating, electricity, depreciation, administrative and management apparatus, wages of individual workers, lighting.

Indirect costs depend on the country where the organization operates.

The turnover of the enterprise - the higher the income, the more space is allocated for indirect costs. From the field of activity: service sector or production sector.

When managing the accounting of an enterprise, much attention is paid to the distribution of costs into direct and indirect. With the right approach, you will avoid problems with the Tax Service and significantly reduce your tax payments.

Main - compliance with the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and justification of accounting policies.

The classification of direct costs includes those that can be easily attributed to a specific cost object (product, service or project). These include raw materials and supplies that are directly used to produce the product, or labor costs directly associated with its production.

For example, if a company develops software, the cost of paying programmers is direct. Another example of such costs is piecework wages for workers.

Remember that in most cases direct costs are variable, but this is not always the case. As a rule, variable costs increase in proportion to the volume of products produced, which will be fair in relation to the raw materials and supplies used. However, the salary of a supervisor who directly supervises production is already considered a fixed cost.

Indirect costs

Indirect costs include those that cannot be attributed directly to a specific cost object, but are associated with maintaining the activities of the company as a whole. Overhead, which remains after subtracting direct costs, is an example of such a cost.

An example of indirect costs are administrative expenses such as cleaning supplies, utilities, office equipment rental, computers, communication services, etc. While these elements contribute to the overall performance of the company, they cannot be attributed to the creation of any specific product. Other examples of this type of expense are advertising and marketing expenses, consulting and legal services, call center expenses, etc.

Indirect labor costs enable the production of a cost item but cannot be attributed to a specific product. For example, labor costs for the accounting and finance departments are necessary to maintain the company's operations, but cannot be directly attributed to a specific type of product.

Just like direct costs, indirect costs can be either fixed or variable in nature. For example, fixed costs include rent for a company's office space, and variable costs include electricity and natural gas for auxiliary equipment.

It should be understood that in each individual case, the classification of costs into direct and indirect requires an individual approach, since cost items can differ significantly even for companies operating in the same industry.

In general, the classification of direct costs can be presented as follows.

1. Direct material costs:

• raw materials and materials;
• components and semi-finished products;
• energy for main production equipment.

• salaries of key production personnel.

• depreciation of capital production equipment;
• advertising costs for a specific product;
• fare;
• packaging costs;
• commissions to sales agents.

The classification of indirect costs in aggregate form is as follows.

1. Indirect material costs:

• energy for auxiliary production equipment.

• wages of production support personnel;
• salaries of administrative and management personnel.

• depreciation of auxiliary production equipment;
• advertising costs for the company as a whole;
• administrative and general expenses;
• professional services costs;
• other expenses.

The figure below shows an example of the classification of direct and indirect costs.

Calculation examples

Below is an example of a direct labor cost budget.

For example, direct labor costs for the first quarter are CU 5,425.

1,240×0.35×12.5=5,425 USD

Below is an example of a direct materials budget.

For example, direct materials costs for the third quarter are CU 348,160.

In the current economic situation, careful control over cost accounting issues that are directly related to tax optimization and the efficiency of organizations is simply necessary. The accounting procedure and rules for submitting information on the expenses of commercial companies, except for insurance and credit, and the classification of expenses are described in the Accounting Regulations PBU 10/99 “Expenses of an Organization” and the Instructions for the Chart of Accounts for accounting the financial and economic activities of organizations. They are designed to bring two types of accounting as close as possible - tax and accounting, although this is not always beneficial for organizations.

In the regulations that regulate the accounting of government organizations, the concepts of “income” and “expenses” are not clearly disclosed. Expense reporting is prepared in accordance with the Orders of the Ministry of Finance and the federal standard “Conceptual Framework for Accounting and Reporting for Public Sector Organizations.” Failure to understand the differences between indirect and direct expenses and erroneous reporting can sharply limit the circle of sponsors and creditors, become a significant obstacle to the development of the organization’s activities, increase the tax burden and distort tax accounting data.

Direct costs - what are they?

Effective cost management is a strategic task for any enterprise. Proper use of accounting and cost formation rules will allow you to optimize them and reduce tax payments. The expenses of a commercial enterprise, according to Accounting Regulation 10/99, are the reduction of economic benefits after the disposal of any assets, for example, money, property, and the formation of liabilities leading to a decrease in capital (with the exception of if the decrease in contributions is due to the decision of participants, property owners). Expenses are often identified with costs and expenses. Expenses in government organizations mean a decrease in the useful potential of assets, a decrease in economic benefits for the reporting period as a result of the occurrence of liabilities, consumption of assets, but without taking into account the decrease in capital due to the seizure of property by the founder or owner.

The classification of income and expenses of commercial enterprises is set out in PBU 10/99, and in budgetary organizations it is regulated by the Budget Code of the Russian Federation. The concept of direct and indirect expenses in tax accounting is slightly different. Here they are recognized as justified and documented, economically justified costs for carrying out the activities of the taxpayer. In order for an expense to be recognized in tax accounting, it is necessary to fulfill 3 conditions: justification of costs, documentary evidence, target direction - for carrying out activities aimed at generating income. But accounting has its own requirements in this regard:

• incurring expenses in accordance with the contract, the requirements of legal acts, and business principles;
• the amount can be determined;
• confidence that a certain transaction will result in a reduction in the economic benefits of the enterprise.

That is, expenses in accounting and tax accounting differ. For example, tax accounting does not take into account all the expenses that accounting recognizes.

Direct costs include costs that can be attributed to a specific taxation object, those that affect the cost and are fixed as the finished product is sold, directly related to the production of products or the performance of work, the provision of services. They must be written off in the period when the products are sold, even if the money was received in the next tax period. In accounting, a clear division of expenses into direct and indirect is not provided for by law, although in practice this classification is often used.

Advice: When preparing reports, it is important to remember that after the changes to Ch. 25 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation by Law No. 58-FZ, the composition of direct and indirect expenses is determined equally for the purposes of accounting and tax accounting. But in some cases, indirect costs may still differ (for example, the cost of work in progress, shipped goods, finished goods).

Indirect costs - what are they?

Indirect costs include documented costs that cannot be directly attributed to a specific operation or tied to any one type of product. They are distributed by type of goods and work performed indirectly (conditionally) or written off in full to financial results at the end of the reporting period.

On the one hand, they are necessary for the development of organization and normal production, and on the other hand, they represent an important reserve for reducing production costs. Indirect costs require distribution among several income tax bases. They are written off as a reduction in profits immediately. In accounting, indirect costs are divided into general production (related to maintenance and production management), general business (management of the company as a whole) or expenses for ordinary activities and other expenses.

Why is it necessary to separate direct and indirect costs?

According to the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, taxpayers who determine expenses and income using the accrual method must classify costs into direct and indirect. Their composition largely depends on the characteristics, specifics of production and technological processes. Correct division into different types is one of the measures of tax optimization, because indirect expenses in tax accounting are recognized as expenses of the reporting period and do not affect the assessment of work in progress. Direct costs often remain unaccounted for in the process of work in progress and among the balances of unsold goods. Consequently, the amount of indirect income tax expenses increases.

Therefore, it is more profitable to classify as many expenses as possible as indirect, but this division must be economically justified. At the same time, if during the reporting period the company receives little income or does not achieve it at all, a large number of indirect expenses will lead to the formation of a loss, and the positive economic effect from the distribution of expenses among different types will not be achieved. Also, classification of costs is necessary for their optimal distribution, reducing the tax burden and creating competent and correct reporting. According to paragraph 1 of Art. 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, a company can independently determine which expenses are recognized as direct (all others will be classified as indirect). It is very important to make the correct classification and consolidate the chosen rule in the accounting policies of the organization.

What are direct costs?

Previously in ch. 25 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation contained strict regulation of direct and indirect costs. Direct expenses were considered to be material costs for remuneration of employees involved in the production or performance of work, depreciation on funds used in production, and the amount of the single social tax. But since January 1, 2005, the Federal Law “On Amendments to Chapters 23 and 25 of Part Two of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and some other legislative acts on taxes and fees” has been in force. According to it, each enterprise receives the right to independently determine direct expenses, fixing their list in the accounting policy for tax purposes. That is, the list of direct expenses in legislative acts is advisory in nature. They are included in the costs of the current reporting period as services and products are sold:

1. Material costs for the purchase of raw materials, materials for production, provision of services, if they are a necessary component, as well as the purchase of components, semi-finished products that undergo additional processing.
2. Salaries of employees who participate in the production process and performance of work, costs of pension insurance, compulsory social insurance in connection with maternity, due to temporary disability, etc.
3. Amounts of gradual transfer of the cost of fixed assets to the cost of products and services (depreciation), which are used in the production of goods or provision of services.

Advice: Companies that have a long production cycle and large balances of work in progress need to pay particular attention to the classification of expenses as a method of tax optimization.

What are indirect costs?

Before changes are made to Ch. 25 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, indirect costs were not distributed among manufactured products, services already provided or work performed, but were written off as expenses in the reporting period when they were incurred. After amendments were made to tax legislation in January 2005, including with the aim of optimizing the calculation of expenses, indirect costs are considered to be resources spent for the purpose of manufacturing certain types of products. They are distributed according to place of origin and type of product.

The entire volume of expenses, except for direct and non-operating ones, that the taxpayer incurs during the reporting period is classified as indirect expenses. The manager can approve the list himself and enshrine this in the accounting policies of the organization. They will apply in full to the current reporting period. To reduce the tax burden, indirect expenses often include:

• the salary of shop managers (if the employee’s salary is not related to the sale of goods and production);
• vacation pay for employees engaged in production (if provided for by the accounting policy);
• salary during the repair period (subject to performing an auxiliary function, for example, during repair work, modernization of production);
• workers' salaries when providing services to a third-party company (after all, their activities are not related to production).

Are transport costs direct or indirect costs?

Transport costs for the delivery of purchased goods to the warehouse of a trading organization, as well as raw materials and materials are considered direct only if they are not included in the price of the goods and are accounted for separately. If a company produces or sells different types of goods with varying shipping costs, you need to consider whether to include shipping costs in the price. Other types of transport costs are considered indirect - delivery to the warehouse, store where the buyer will purchase them, transportation of goods between the warehouses of the trading organization itself after they are posted. If a company fully recognizes the transportation costs for delivering goods from the warehouse of the first supplier to the buyer’s warehouse as indirect, it may have conflicts with the tax service, so in this case it would be more appropriate to recognize the entire amount of transportation costs as direct.

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The activities of any organization that operates within a market economy, regardless of its form and scope, involve generating income and incurring direct and indirect costs. They are one of the basic values ​​for calculating the company’s financial performance indicators. The correct distribution of expenses into direct and indirect will make it possible not only to correctly maintain reports, reduce income tax, but also to optimize the work of the organization as a whole.

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Direct expenses in tax accounting can be interpreted quite broadly. This opportunity is given to the taxpayer by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Let's consider how this can be used for the purpose of bringing accounting (AC) and tax (TA) accounting closer together.

Direct and indirect expenses in tax accounting

Art. is devoted to the issues of dividing expenses into direct and indirect for the purposes of NU. 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, which obliges, when applying the accrual method, to divide production and sales costs into these 2 types of expenses.

Indirect expenses are allowed to be fully attributed to the reduction of the tax base for profits in the period of their occurrence, and direct expenses will reduce this base as the products (works, services) to which they relate are sold. The exception here is the provision of services, which makes it possible to take into account direct costs of services in the same manner as indirect ones. Thus, direct expenses in NU, in contrast to indirect ones, will form not only the cost of sales, but also the tax value of work in progress, as well as unsold finished products.

Such an impact on the profit base requires a careful approach to the issue of justifying the division of costs into direct and indirect. The right of such division Art. 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation is left to the taxpayer, recommending that the following be taken into account:

• basic materials needed for production;
• salaries of key production personnel involved in the production process;
• accruals on the salaries of key production personnel;
• depreciation of fixed assets used in production.

All other expenses can be considered indirect for NU purposes.

Principles of dividing expenses in accounting

The list of direct costs given in Art. 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, corresponds to the concept of similar expenses for accounting purposes. The accounting system defines these expenses as directly related to the production process (Chart of Accounts, approved by order of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated October 31, 2000 No. 94n), allocating certain accounting accounts for them (20, 23, 29). Other costs associated with production and sales in BU, as well as in NU, will be indirect. Their accounting accounts (25, 26, 44) must be closed monthly.

However, unlike NU, not all indirect expenses can be immediately attributed to the financial result in the period of their occurrence. There is an obligation to do this only in relation to sales expenses (commercial) collected on account 44. For account 26, which accumulates general business expenses, 2 methods of closing are allowed, of which 1 allows the entire amount generated on the account to be immediately attributed to the financial result, i.e. . taken into account in the same way as in NU.

But closing account 25, which collects costs associated with production (general production expenses), is possible only in one way: by distributing it to the cost of production. Therefore, the accounting values ​​of the cost of sales, the cost of work in progress and unsold finished products will necessarily include direct production costs and indirect general production costs. The cost price, consisting of such a set of expenses, is called production.

Actions to bring BU and NU closer together

So, NU makes it possible to take into account a larger amount of expenses in the cost of sales than in the accounting book. What will be the winnings? Not very significant because:

• it will be created by those amounts of indirect expenses that in accounting will be included in work in progress and unsold finished products, and their share in comparison with the total cost of sales is, as a rule, small;
• in fact, it will appear only in the first tax period, and then the amounts of indirect costs taken into account in the cost, in accounting and tax accounting, will be approximately the same until the period in which production ceases altogether.

Differences in cost will have to be very convincingly justified, since they are reflected in the amount of income tax. The tax authorities, insisting on such justification (letter of the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation dated February 24, 2011 No. KE-4-3/2952@), use the wording “related to production” in relation to expenses, referring, in essence, to the definition that is used in accounting to indicate production cost.

That is, the inclusion in NU as direct expenses of those that characterize production costs in the accounting system will not raise objections from the tax authorities. And in taxpayer accounting, such an action will allow you to avoid tax differences or at least make it possible to confidently control them. While with different cost estimates for NU and BU, there will be many problems with taking into account and controlling tax differences.

Thus, by bringing closer the assessment of direct costs in accounting and financial accounting, it is possible to achieve a positive result in the following points:

• minimize differences between the data of 2 records;
• avoid disagreements with tax authorities in assessing the cost of sales.

For the purpose of bringing data closer to NU and BU, you should:

• in the accounting system, in relation to the write-off of expenses collected on account 26, adopt a method of simultaneously attributing them to the financial result;
• in NU, a list of direct expenses should be determined in a composition equivalent to the accounting production cost, including for services.

Results

Compound direct expenses in tax accounting the taxpayer has the right to determine independently. However, establishing direct expenses in the minimum allowable amount will lead to both objections from the tax authorities and a loss of control over the process of forming differences between accounting and accounting data. To avoid this kind of consequences, the accounting system should establish direct costs equal to the cost, defined in the accounting system as production.