The period for which the tax office checks depends on the type of check. The maximum terms that can be fixed in the decision to conduct a tax audit are determined in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.
Organizations and individual entrepreneurs are periodically subject to inspections by tax inspectors, who, by virtue of their official activities, are obliged to control the correctness of the calculation and transfer of tax payments to the budgets of different levels. The procedure for organizing and conducting an audit is strictly regulated by tax legislation, any deviations from this procedure may cause the cancellation of the decision made based on the results of the audit activity. One of the mandatory elements of such regulation is the limitation of the maximum period for which the verification of the correctness of the calculation and payment of taxes can be carried out. The named period is determined by the type of tax audit, which is carried out in a particular case.
Time limits for a desk audit
A cameral tax audit is carried out immediately after the organization or individual entrepreneur submits a tax return for the next period of activity (as a rule, this period is a calendar year). Within the framework of an office audit, only the correctness of the calculation and transfer of taxes under this declaration can be monitored, from which it follows that the maximum period to be checked in this case is limited to a period of one calendar year. At the same time, the rights of tax inspectors during a desk audit are significantly limited, they cannot request additional documents from business entities, with the exception of explanations about the information contained in the declaration.
Time limits for on-site inspection
Most of all, entrepreneurs are usually afraid of on-site tax audits, in which inspectors request any documents related to the organization's activities during the audited period. The general limitation for this type of tax control is that inspectors have the right to inspect no more than three years of the company's or entrepreneur's activities preceding the decision to conduct an on-site inspection. Moreover, it is prohibited to carry out a repeated field inspection for the same tax for the same period of time. The total number of on-site inspections for one organization during the year should not exceed two. When making a decision, the head of the tax authority can indicate any period within the indicated three years, as well as independently determine the types of taxes, the correctness of the calculation, the payment of which will be checked by inspectors.
