An on-site tax audit is carried out at the office of the audited company. It is necessary to determine the correctness of the payment of taxes, to fill out the documentation. Its terms rarely exceed 2 months.
An on-site tax audit differs from a desk audit in that it is carried out on the territory of the taxpayer on the basis of the decision of the head of the tax inspectorate. It is believed that this method is one of the most effective in controlling the activities of an enterprise. The main purpose of the audit is to study how correctly taxes are calculated, whether they are being paid.
Who checks where and how?
The audit is carried out by inspectors in the office where the accounting department of the company is located. If the company has branches, they can also be checked. If the conditions do not allow for the analysis of the documentation, then the study can be transferred to the inspection building. Some rules are spelled out in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation:
- one organization cannot be checked more than two times within 12 months;
- it is not allowed to carry out work for the same tax for the previously considered period;
- documents can be requested no more than three previous years, not counting the current one.
In the process of working with documents, the inspector forms conclusions about the correctness of the calculation and the completeness of the payment of the necessary fees. At the same time, errors in documents, facts of violations in accounting are revealed. If necessary, additional tax amounts are charged that were not paid on time or mistakes were made. In these cases, the taxpayer can be held liable.
How is the check done?
There are two main methods: solid and selective. The first type is used more often, since decisions made using spot checks can be invalidated. With the continuous method, the following is investigated:
- primary documents;
- journal order;
- main book;
- cash book;
- register of invoices;
- register of income and expenses;
- bills and other papers.
All documents are analyzed, compared with each other and with official papers received from counterparties and other organizations. Records on primary documents are compared with information on accounting and tax accounting. Based on this information, conclusions are drawn.
With the sampling method, only a part of official securities is checked for individual reporting periods. This allows you to identify systematic violations that are extended by the tax authority to other time periods.
The audit should take no more than two months, but in some situations the period is extended to 6 months (if the company is liquidated). On the last day, a certificate is drawn up about the events held. It indicates the subject of research, terms. The end date of the check must coincide with the date when the certificate was drawn up. But the day of delivery of the document may differ from the day of preparation. It must be signed by all authorized persons. After drawing up the certificate, the inspector must stop all activities related to the on-site tax audit.
