In order for companies to duly fulfill their obligations, the practice of levying a forfeit has long been used in the world. It can be presented in the form of fines and penalties.
The need to pay a penalty arises in cases of unfair or untimely performance of their contractual obligations. In Russia, there are two main types of penalties - contractual and legal. The method of calculating it will depend on this.
Calculation of forfeit under the contract
Often, the method for calculating the forfeit is prescribed in the contract. It can be expressed in the form of penalties that are charged for each day of delay, or one-time fines.
Forfeit in the form of a fixed amount does not require special calculations. The contract must contain all the conditions under which the penalty must be paid. In this case, the amount of the fine must have an adequate ratio with the amount of the contract. For example, the imposition of a fine of 1 million rubles. with contractual obligations of the parties for 100 thousand rubles. is clearly disproportionate and can be challenged in court.
A penalty in the form of a penalty is usually fixed in the contract as a percentage of the contract amount for each day (or less often - for a different time period) of delay in obligations. In most contracts, penalties are imposed on both parties - the contractor and the customer. In this case, the contractor's responsibilities include the execution of the work on time, and the customer is the timely payment of the work performed.
At the same time, the limit value of the penalty is often prescribed in the contract. For example, the contract stipulates that the contractor is obliged to pay a penalty in the amount of 0.1% for each day of delay, but not more than 30% of the contract price.
No special knowledge is required to calculate the contractual penalty, it is not enough to multiply the contract amount (or the debt amount) by the specified interest rate of interest and the number of days of delay. You can calculate the delay from the day when the payment was not received, or when the work should have been completed.
The contract may provide for a combined penalty, which simultaneously includes one-time fines and penalties.
Calculation of forfeit from the refinancing rate
The need to pay a legal penalty arises when the liability of the parties is not spelled out in the contract. It turns out that even if the contract does not provide for penalties, this does not mean that they cannot be collected.
The penalty in this case will be calculated according to the following formula = contract price (amount owed) * number of days of delay * refinancing rate / 360. The refinancing rate is now 8.25%, it has been unchanged since 2012.
If the refinancing rate has changed during the period for calculating the forfeit, you must carry out two separate calculations for the periods with different rates.
