Check contractor by name. Counterparty verification throughout Russia. Official sources. What is ogrn

Checking the counterparty on the tax website inspection will be useful if you are going to cooperate with a counterparty for the first time or if there are any doubts about the reality of his activities. Let's figure out how you can carry out such a check.

When is it worth checking partners on the website of the tax inspection of the Russian Federation?

Need counterparty checks caused by various reasons. First of all, it is associated with the intention to reduce the risks of their own business:

Avoid non-payments for the delivered goods or services rendered.
Prevent non-receipt of paid goods.
Do not incur losses due to late arrival of goods or its poor quality.
Do not be a participant in fraudulent schemes.
Avoid obtaining questionable documents, which carries risks of income tax and VAT.

Legal obligations counterparty checks does not exist. And according to clause 3 of the new Art. 54.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation in itself the signing primary documents an unidentified or unauthorized person, as well as tax violations of the counterparty, cannot be grounds for refusal to deduct VAT or to accept expenses on profit.

We talked about the new rules in detail.

But in fact, a taxpayer acting without due diligence may be held liable for unjustified receipt of tax benefits (clause 10 of the resolution of the plenum of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation of 12.10.2006, No. 53). And most often it is the taxpayer who has to prove his good faith on his own.

Therefore, most organizations and individual entrepreneurs, entering into business relationships, especially with new partners, try to protect themselves as much as possible. Often, when concluding contracts, sufficiently voluminous sets of documents are mutually requested, confirming the reality of the existence of the counterparty:

The fact of its registration in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities and the Federal Tax Service Inspectorate.
The presence of his property, turnover in the bank.
Credentials officials and samples of their signatures.
Absence of tax and reporting debts.

This information requires not only storage space, but also periodic updating. In addition, over time, even a completely conscientious counterparty may have problems, which it is better to find out about in advance.

In this regard, Internet resources are of particular importance in terms of verification, which make it possible to obtain up-to-date information about a partner with minimal labor costs and do not require extensive workflow. One of these resources is the site IFTS- counterparty check is done here for free and allows you to find out not only information about the partner, but also data about your own organization or individual entrepreneur. The latter, too, will not be superfluous from the point of view of checking the reliability of information available for general observation or looking at oneself from the outside.

What information about the organization and individual entrepreneur is provided by the IFTS

The FTS is entrusted not only with fiscal functions, but also with the obligation to register taxpayers, therefore it has the maximum possible amount of reliable up-to-date data on all persons entered in the registration state register.

Based on this information on the FTS website in relation to the counterparty, you can check:

The facts of entering it into the Unified State Register of Legal Entities and registration with the IFTS.
Have there been such events as reorganization, liquidation, exclusion from the state register, reduction of the Criminal Code.
Legal address for mass registration and for the actual presence of the counterparty on it.
The presence of disqualified persons in the composition of the founders, owners or managers of the partner.
The founder, owner or manager for the fact of participation in related organizations.
Availability of tax and reporting debts.

How the official website of the Federal Tax Service can help

Checking the counterparty by TIN or other data is available on the website of the tax inspection http://egrul.nalog.ru/.

The site allows not only to see the above information about the partner, but also to print it, and also makes it possible to obtain an extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, signed by the Federal Tax Service Inspectorate electronically.

In relation to debtors in payment of taxes and reporting, the website of the Federal Tax Service (according to ) now refers to the database of enforcement proceedings of the FSSP, which is also worth checking the counterparty.

You can also use the sites of other authorities for verification. For example, on the website of the Notary Chamber, you can check the notarial powers of attorney of the counterparty - cm. .

Data for search: PSRN, TIN, KPP, company name, full name of individual entrepreneur, region

To obtain information about a counterparty, it is enough to enter the following information in the search criteria window on one of the tabs (for an organization or individual entrepreneur):

For legal entities - OGRN or TIN, which are unique for each company. You can also search by the name of the organization. Since the names of companies may be duplicated several times, it is advisable to indicate the region of its location.
For individual entrepreneurs - OGRNIP or TIN, which are also inherent in each specific person. You can search for an individual entrepreneur by name. However, to simplify the search among the full namesakes, it is advisable to indicate the region of residence of the individual entrepreneur.

Knowledge of the organization's PPC for finding information about it does not matter. Moreover, one organization may have several checkpoints.

On the website of the Federal Tax Service, the checkpoint is involved in the search for counterparties to confirm the fact of issuing documents reflected in the purchase book presented to the Federal Tax Service Inspectorate as part of VAT reporting. However, it is not required here.

An example of searching for information about an LLC by TIN

As a rule, to search for information about a counterparty, the necessary unique information (OGRN, OGRNIP or TIN) is available. Most often verification of counterparties on the website of the Federal Tax Service Inspectorate do according to TIN.

If you enter the TIN for a specific LLC into the search criteria window and, after entering the proposed digital code into the line for the cipher, press the "Find" function, then the information about the person we are interested in will appear on the screen in a tabular form:

full name;
legal address;
OGRN;
date of assignment of OGRN;
date of entering information about the termination of activities - if available.

The generated table, like the extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, can be saved as a file or printed.

On the same page of the IFTS website there are separate sections in which, in a similar way, you can find information of interest about a specific organization or individual entrepreneur on the following issues:

Changes to constituent documents.
On the processes of liquidation, reorganization, reduction of the authorized capital, acquisition of shares.
On exclusion from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities.
About addresses of mass registration.
About legal entities, the place of actual location of which does not correspond to their legal addresses.
On the existing tax debts of legal entities and submitted reports.
About disqualified individuals.
About legal entities in the management of which there are disqualified persons.
About individuals who cannot manage organizations by court order.
About individuals who take part in the creation of several organizations or in their leadership.

A legal entity has reporting and tax debts - what does this mean?

For purposes counterparty checks failure to pay them taxes is a characteristic indicator of existing problems. A tax-free firm is probably not doing well.

If the company has tax debts or does not submit reports (or the individual entrepreneur does not pay taxes), then information about this can be transferred to the FSSP to collect tax payments or penalties (if they exceed a certain amount).

Now the FTS website recommends inquiring about the availability of such information on the FSSP website, which can be accessed directly from the FTS website. But from June 1, 2018, information about tax debtors will have to appear directly on the website of the tax service. At least that's how we promises FTS .

It should be noted that on the issue of non-payments by the counterparty, information about the cases considered by the arbitration court may also be interesting.

It is bearing fruit, for example, the collection of income tax in 2016 in relation to 2015 increased by 8.5 percent, and VAT in relation to the same period - by 6.6 percent.

In the struggle for positive dynamics in tax collection, the FTS helps inspectors software package ASK VAT 2. The complex finds tax gaps by establishing unscrupulous companies in the supply chain of goods in the country from the importer, manufacturer to the end consumer, exporter. Thus, the problem of checking its counterparties for good faith is becoming more and more urgent for business. Despite the fact that there is still no legislative establishment of the rules for exercising due diligence and caution when choosing business partners, the regulatory authorities refer to this obligation in the first place, making claims on the validity of the tax benefit.

Checking the counterparty for good faith is possible through the use of a set of measures that are aimed at ensuring that the taxpayer can make sure of the decency of his partner. The audited company must be an operating organization that can fulfill its obligations under the contract (Resolution of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation of April 20, 2010 No. 18162/09; letter of the Federal Tax Service of January 23, 2013 No. AS-4-2 / [email protected]).

Minimizing risks

After making sure of the trustworthiness business partner, the firm minimizes the risks of making claims on the validity of the tax benefit in terms of deductions for VAT and expenses that reduce the taxable base for income tax. Thus, in accordance with clause 10 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation of October 12, 2006 No. 53 “On the assessment by arbitration courts of the justification for a taxpayer's receipt of tax benefits”, the fact that a counterparty has violated its tax obligations does not in itself constitute evidence of an unjustified tax benefit. A tax benefit may be deemed unreasonable if the inspectors prove that the firm acted without due diligence and care and should have been aware of violations committed by the counterparty, in particular, due to the relationship of interdependence or affiliation of the taxpayer with the counterparty. I note that more attention should be paid to checking counterparties for transactions that are significant for the taxpayer, since the amount of additional charges on a transaction with an unscrupulous counterparty can be up to 50 percent of the turnover.

Hosting an event

So, to check the counterparty, special events should be carried out, we will consider them step by step.

Step 1. Electronic verification

First, you need to use electronic public services on the website of the tax service: www.nalog.ru (letter of the Ministry of Finance dated July 12, 2016 No. 03-01-10 / 41099). On the site you can check the legal capacity of the counterparty using the TIN details; OGRN or by name (clause 3 of article 49 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation), that is, check whether this organization is registered in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities. In the absence of her in the relevant register, it is impossible to conclude an agreement with her. The service also allows you to find out whether the manager or participant of the counterparty has refused to manage or participate in such an organization (https://service.nalog.ru/svl.do). It is necessary to check the tax arrears, as well as the timeliness of the submission of reports (https://service.nalog.ru/zd.do). There you can also clarify whether a decision has been made in relation to the counterparty on the upcoming exclusion due to the latter's failure to carry out activities (http://www.vestnik-gosreg.ru/publ/fz83).

Step 2. Request for documents

In order to minimize tax risks, before concluding a transaction, the taxpayer is advised to request documents confirming the legal capacity of the verified counterparty and the ability to fulfill its obligations. So, based on the existing judicial practice and the content of letters from the Federal Tax Service and the Ministry of Finance, it is possible to recommend companies to request the following documents:

articles of association;
certificate of entering the information of the organization into the Unified State Register of Legal Entities or individual entrepreneur in the USRIP;
certificate of tax registration of an organization or individual entrepreneur;
document on the appointment of the head (decision general meeting and order of appointment);
an extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities for the organization or an extract from the USRIP for individual entrepreneurs;
tax and accounting reporting;
licenses (if the activity is subject to licensing);
information about vehicles(if a supply or carriage contract is concluded);
information about construction equipment(if the company carries out contract work).

All submitted copies of documents must be properly certified, that is, by the signature and seal (if the individual entrepreneur has it) of the verified counterparty.

This recommendation is confirmed jurisprudence, for example, in the Resolution of the Sixteenth Arbitration Court of Appeal dated April 11, 2017 No. 16AP-5007/2016 in case No. A15-2566 / 2016, the Court of Appeal indicated that one of the evidences of insufficient exercise of the due degree of caution and prudence when choosing a counterparty may be that circumstance that the constituent documents of the counterparty were not properly certified, the official who certified these papers was not indicated.

Step 3. Verification from a distance

You should also note that in the case of signing these documents a taxpayer who is not the head of the organization should check with the counterparty whether a power of attorney is available to sign them by the relevant company representative. When the taxpayer interacts with the counterparty "at a distance", that is, when the latter is actually located in another region, the company does not hurt to ask to demonstrate the above documents by electronic means connections and at this moment fix their presence by making the appropriate screenshots. If you doubt the good faith of the counterparty, you can also ask his manager to show an identity document.

Step 4. Justification of the choice

In addition, one should not forget about the validity of the choice of this particular counterparty. For example, inspectors like to ask the taxpayer what criteria were used to choose a business partner. In this case, it will be useful to save information about the counterparty received from the Internet, for example, printouts of screenshots of ads; should be preserved and commercial offers, price lists and business correspondence... It is also advisable to make sure that the counterparty is not included in the list of persons with whom, according to the data of the tax authority, through the legal address is absent (letter from the Central Bank of the Russian Federation dated February 28, 2013 No. 32-T). In addition, it is advisable to have copies of the passports of the head or persons signing the primary documents.

Step 5. Request for inspection

Despite the fact that you can find out about the presence or absence of tax debts of the counterparty through the official website of the Federal Tax Service, it is advisable to make a request to the territorial tax authority at the place of registration of the counterparty about the fulfillment of his obligations to pay taxes, the basis is the letter of the Ministry of Finance dated June 4, 2012 No. 03-02-07 / 1-134 with reference to the definition of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated December 1, 2010 No. VAS-16124/10.

Step 6. Act and conclusion

At the same time, it is advisable to draw up an act of departure at the legal address of the counterparty, which must be signed by at least two employees of the company. In addition, you can receive from the counterparty a response to a request to bring the company or its head to tax liability, as well as request a copy of the auditor's report on the counterparty's accounting statements for the previous reporting year.

If these recommendations are followed, the risks of recognizing the tax benefit as unjustified are reduced, but do not disappear completely. Arbitrage practice on fiscal disputes proceeds from the fact that in the absence of reality under the transaction, even if the counterparty of the first link is in good faith, claims can be brought against the counterparties of the second and subsequent links and the recognition of the tax benefit as justified may be refused (Resolution of the Arbitration Court of the Moscow District of July 20 2015 No. F05-8786 / 2015 in case No. A40-122602 / 14).

Every business inevitably faces the need to check its business partners. Before concluding an agreement, and even more so sending an advance payment, we will do our best to check what our counterparty is (by TIN, for example): does it really exist? who signs the contract? how long has the company been on the market? do they know this company?

In a more specific case, an accountant is faced with the need to have confirmation of his discretion in the event tax audits even though the Tax Code does not explicitly dictate such a duty.

The easiest first step is to check the counterparty by TIN on the Tax Office website for free. Online check so it is called "Check yourself and the counterparty" (nalog.ru). This method makes it possible to view the extract about the company from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities by TIN. As practice shows, this is good, but it is completely insufficient to check the firm fully and secure your business both from fraudsters and from claims from regulatory authorities.

We will tell you all the subtleties and details of checking companies: how and what to check, whether it is enough to check a company by TIN, with the help of what paid and free options to do it.

Counterparty check - tools:

Counterparty check - detailed help

What does “check a counterparty” mean?

On the website of the Tax Service and in special programs, you can collect and analyze documentary and other information about a business partner. These actions will determine how well your partner is doing business.

Who should do this?

In an organization, a tax audit of a counterparty by TIN is usually carried out by employees of the legal department or department economic security... If the organization does not have such a department, then checking the counterparties (according to the TIN on the IFTS website, for example) is the responsibility of the person concluding the contract.

Why do I need to check a counterparty by TIN on the website of the Tax Service or in a paid program?

There are various reasons to justify the need for this activity. This includes the risks of financial and economic life: the risk of non-delivery of goods, delivery of low-quality goods, late delivery of goods, etc., up to fraudulent schemes.

We are also obliged to remember that any transaction is subject to taxation. The Federal Tax Service has repeatedly stressed that the responsibility for choosing a company with which to cooperate lies entirely with the organization. The possible consequences of this choice are the organization's business risk. For example, during the audit, tax authorities may exclude a dubious transaction from expenses or not accept VAT for deduction. To avoid such troubles, it is easier to check in advance the company by TIN on the website of the Tax Service, having received an extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities (tax.ru).

The state has not established a formal obligation to check companies when concluding contracts, much less the criteria for such a procedure, a list of necessary actions, a minimum package of documents.

IN Tax Code there are no concepts such as "checking the counterparty" or "bad faith of the taxpayer." Meanwhile, there is clause 10 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Arbitration Court Russian Federation dated 12.10.2006 N 53 "On the assessment by arbitration courts of the reasonableness of the taxpayer's receipt of tax benefits", which says: "The benefit may be recognized as unjustified if the tax authority proves that the taxpayer acted without due diligence ...". After that, the state actually entrusted the business with the obligation to check its partners, and a practicing accountant is constantly faced with the need to find a counterparty by TIN on the tax authorities' website, and then check "what he breathes".

Business customs

For many years, organizations must first check the counterparty according to the TIN (Federal tax office allows you to do this free of charge), and then document such an audit. During this time, the most frequently requested package of documents was formed:

copy of the Articles of Association;
extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities;
copy of the registration certificate;
a copy of the tax registration certificate;
letter from statistics with codes;
documents confirming the powers of the person with whom the contract is signed, for example, a power of attorney and a copy of a passport.

Please note that the verification of the fact of entering information into the Unified State Register of Legal Entities and obtaining a document confirming the authority of the person to sign documents from the point of view of the Ministry of Finance indicates due diligence (letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 10.04.2009 No. 03-02-07 / 1-177).

In addition, depending on the activity, the following may be requested:

organization card;
extract from staffing table(if a narrow specialist requires to perform the work);
licenses with attachments to them, required permissions;
certificates from the Federal Tax Service about the absence of debt;
copies of accounting and tax reporting for the past period with the mark of the Federal Tax Service;
copy of the lease agreement (office, warehouse, etc.).

Much less common, but there are already use cases when the following are requested:

analytical notes (i.e. short summary companies about the implementation of similar projects);
letters of recommendation (usually requested by banks);
audit report;
and even a statement of the current account for the last month-quarter-year.

Publicly available sources of information

Acting on your own, you should use the sources of information:

request an extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities on your own to your partner;
check if he has a website;
send a request to the FTS inspection in a free form about the conscientiousness of the taxpayer;
check if he is registered at the "mass registration" address on the FTS website;
you can check yourself and the counterparty in the service of the Federal Tax Service of the same name on the site "check yourself and the counterparty" nalog.ru (initially you will need to check the tax number on the tax site);
check it out in the "Bulletin state registration»Whether he has started a liquidation or reorganization procedure;
check it in the service of the Federal Tax Service "Transparent Business";
look for the passport of the sole executive body on the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to find out if it was lost some time ago;
on the website of the licensing authority, you can check the license data;
on the website of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation and other courts, you can find out if the company participated in the proceedings;
fill in the name of the company you are interested in and the surname, name, patronymic of the director in any search engine and view all references to them.

What organizational measures should be taken in the company to be protected from unscrupulous counterparties?

Each company independently decides the degree possible risk when concluding contracts and takes appropriate organizational measures. Usually, a person responsible for this procedure is appointed, and the procedure itself is regulated by the internal Regulation or the Rules of Procedure for the verification of counterparties. At a minimum, in each organization, a counterparty is checked on the tax website by TIN for free.

As a rule, the need to find out about the liquidation of an LLC arises mainly from the partners or creditors of the company. This is due to the large number of fraudulent transactions carried out after the closure of the organization, which the other party to the contract may not even be aware of. But there are times when an enterprise itself needs to find out its actual status. How do you find out that your LLC is closed?

If the liquidation of the company took place, then, after going through all the necessary procedures, paying a state duty of 800 rubles and submitting an application in the R16001 form to the tax office, you should have received the Unified State Register of Legal Entities and a certificate of deregistration there, after 6 working days. This can be done independently or by proxy.

There are other ways to find out if an LLC has been liquidated:

Through the official website of the Federal Tax Service according to the TIN of the enterprise. There you will find information on liquidation.
Through an extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities. To do this, a request is submitted to any IFTS, a state duty is paid in the amount of 200 rubles or 400 rubles for urgency (clause 1 of the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 462). In the usual mode, you can receive an extract in 5 days, in urgent mode - the next day.
Through the official portal of the Supreme Arbitration Court by TIN, the name of the company or its OGRN - in the event that the LLC participates in the bankruptcy case as a debtor.
Through the official website of the journal "Bulletin of State Registration" also by TIN or OGRN of the company. This method is more suitable for those who are the creditor of your LLC and want to know if the liquidation process of your company has begun or if it is at the stage of bankruptcy. In the magazine, according to clause 1 of Art. 63 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, information about the beginning of the closure process is posted, but at the same time its outcome is not mentioned - for this it is worth using other proposed sources of information.

Is it possible to dispute the liquidation of an LLC?

It is quite easy to find out about the liquidation of an LLC these days and even, in some cases, free of charge. A record of this is contained in the state register legal entities... You can voluntarily cancel the closure of your company only until the information is entered into the Unified State Register of Legal Entities by submitting an application certified by a notary in the R15001 form with a note in section 2.4. and the minutes of the meeting concerned.

The fact of liquidation of the company is entered into the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, which is the main source of information about all companies in the country. It is not difficult to determine whether an LLC is closed - this can be done via the Internet or the body that registers the data. The opportunity to check the status of the enterprise can be used not only by its owners, but also by any interested persons.

One-day counterparties can harm both the state in the event of tax evasion and the taxpayer, who will have to prove the validity of the tax benefit received when refunding VAT or when accounting for expenses for tax purposes of profits as a result of interaction with such unscrupulous counterparties.

The inspections are guided by the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation of October 12, 2006 No. 53 "", which fixed the main signs of bad faith taxpayer and rules for their determination.

Taxpayers, on the other hand, may contact Public criteria
self-assessment of risks for taxpayers used by tax authorities in the process of selecting objects for conducting field tax audits (approved by order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated May 30, 2007 No. MM-3-06 / [email protected]""), as well as clarifications of the financial authorities about in which case the taxpayer is considered to have fulfilled the obligation to check the counterparty.

In order to protect yourself from risks when conducting economic activity and possible claims from the tax authorities, there are many opportunities to ascertain the integrity of a potential business partner.

We have highlighted a number of actions that, in the opinion of tax authorities and courts, should be taken in order to confirm the exercise of due diligence and caution when choosing a counterparty.

You can find out if a license was issued to a potential counterparty at sites of licensing authorities- the licensing authority will be different for each type of activity. For example, the Rospotrebnadzor website allows you to search through the registers of licenses issued for activities related to the use of pathogens of infectious diseases, and for activities in the field of using sources of ionizing radiation.

7. Get acquainted with the annual accounting statements of the counterparty... In accordance with clause 89 of the Regulation on accounting and financial reporting in the Russian Federation (approved by the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated July 29, 1998 No. 34n), the organization's annual financial statements are open to interested users(banks, investors, lenders, buyers, suppliers, etc.), who can familiarize themselves with it and receive copies of it with reimbursement of copying costs, and the organization should provide an opportunity for interested users to familiarize themselves with the accounting statements.

In addition, Rosstat is obliged to provide information on the annual financial statements of organizations free of charge (Regulation on the Federal State Statistics Service, approved by the Government of the Russian Federation of June 2, 2008 No. 42, Rosstat of May 20, 2013 No. 183 "On Approval of the Administrative Regulations for Provision of Federal Service state statistics public service"Providing interested users with data from accounting (financial) statements of legal entities operating in the Russian Federation").

8. Examine the register of unscrupulous suppliers... Of course, a potential counterparty is not necessarily a participant in the procurement system for state and municipal needs, but there is such a possibility. Therefore, we still recommend that you go through this optional verification stage and search for the appropriate registry, updated by FAS Russia.

Advice

We recommend to develop local normative act on the organization and improvement of pre-contractual work with potential counterparties, which would indicate its goals, principles of activity and interaction of managers, supply and security services, lawyers and other taxpayer officials in contact with potential counterparties, as well as list the documents that must be requested from counterparties and others. The courts also draw attention to the presence of such a local act (resolution of the FAS MO dated May 23, 2013 in case No. A40-98947 / 12-140-714). In addition, it makes sense to publish separate orders on the verification of a specific counterparty for subsequent confirmation of his innocence in the event of a conflict.

9. Check the authority of the person signing the contract. Courts often point to the need to verify powers as a condition for recognizing a taxpayer as good faith (FAS ZSO dated May 25, 2012 in case No. A75-788 / 2011, the Eighth Arbitration Court of Appeal dated September 20, 2013 in case No. A46-5720 / 2013) ... Moreover, if the taxpayer received all the necessary documents and information, but did not verify the authority of the counterparty's representative to sign the documents, this will be the basis for recognizing this taxpayer as unscrupulous (resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of Moscow on July 11, 2012 in case No. A40-103278 / 11 -140-436).

When considering a case, in the event that the signatory refuses his signature on the documents, it is usually appointed handwriting examination- but sometimes it does without it (FAS UO dated June 30, 2010 No. F09-4904 / 10-C2 in case No. A76-39186 / 2009-41-833). However, more often the courts emphasize that a simple visual comparison of the signatures and the testimony of the taxpayer's representative cannot be considered a sufficient basis for recognizing that the documents were signed by unidentified persons (decision of the Third Arbitration Court of Appeal dated October 13, 2010 in case No. A33-4148 / 2010).

And of course, the courts state the fact of bad faith of the taxpayer in the event that the authorized representative of the counterparty at the time of signing the documents died(The Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation of December 6, 2010 No. VAS-16471/10) or his powers were terminated(FAS PO dated February 28, 2012 No. F06-998 / 12 in case No. A65-14837 / 2011). On the other hand, the latter case cannot, in the opinion of the courts, testify to the receipt of an unjustified tax benefit if, prior to the conclusion of the disputed transaction, the taxpayer had a long-term economic relationship with the counterparty (FAS SKO dated April 25, 2013 No. F08-1895 / 13 in the case No. A53-12917 / 2012, resolution of the FAS ZSO dated October 27, 2011 No. F07-8946 / 11 in case No. A52-4227 / 2010).

Before signing documents, you should pay attention to the following:

is the transaction being made for your counterparty large;
has not expired term of office a representative of the counterparty (it is determined by the charter of the organization or by a power of attorney);
not limited whether charter powers of the director to conclude transactions, the amount of which exceeds a certain value.

10. Make a request to the tax office at the place of registration of the counterparty... The courts emphasize that this is also regarded as a manifestation of the prudence of the taxpayer (FAS ZSO dated October 14, 2010 in case No. A27-26264 / 2009, FAS ZSO dated March 5, 2008 No. F04-1408 / 2008 (1506-A45-34) in case No. A45-5924 / 07-31 / 153, the Third Arbitration Court of Appeal dated October 11, 2013 in case No. A74-5445 / 2012, the Eleventh Arbitration Court of Appeal dated September 5, 2012 in case No. A55-1742 / 2012 ).

Moreover, the District Arbitration Courts confirm duty of tax authorities provide the requested information within the scope of information that is not recognized in accordance with tax secrets. Thus, the FAS ZSO emphasized that the inspectorate's refusal to provide information about the taxpayer's counterparty affects the rights of the latter related to obtaining tax benefits, taking into account the taxpayer's obligation to confirm due diligence and caution when choosing a counterparty (Resolution of the FAS ZSO dated December 14, 2007 No. F04- 67/2007 (77-A67-32) in case No. A67-1687 / 2007).

Sometimes the courts even emphasize that the taxpayer had the opportunity to contact the relevant services to check the counterparty, but he did not do this (resolution of the FAS MO dated September 14, 2010 No. KA-A40 / 10728-10 in case No. A40-4632 / 10- 115-57).

True, sometimes the courts still come to the conclusion that the taxpayer could not apply to the inspectorate at the place of registration of the counterparty, since only the tax authorities have this authority (FAS SZO dated July 31, 2013 in case No. A13-8751 / 2012).

But even if the tax office refuses to respond to the request, the fact of his direction will indicate that the taxpayer wished to protect himself when choosing a counterparty and can serve as proof of due diligence in the future. In this case, it is important that the request is submitted personally to the office of the tax office (a copy of the request with a mark of acceptance should remain on hand) or by mail with a receipt acknowledgment and a list of attachments (in this case, one copy of the inventory and the returned notice remain).

As we can see, the positions of the courts regarding the scope of actions that must be performed to verify the good faith of the counterparty differ. True, sometimes the courts are a little cunning.

So, they point out that the tax inspectorate has not proved the lack of due diligence of the taxpayer - on the contrary, when making controversial transactions, they were asked for notarized copies required documents... At the same time, the courts emphasize that in the field of tax relations there are presumption of good faith, and law enforcement agencies cannot interpret the concept of "bona fide taxpayers" as imposing additional obligations on taxpayers not provided for by law (resolution of the FAS MO dated January 31, 2011 No. KA-A40 / 17302-10 in case No. A40-30846 / 10-35 -187, resolution of the FAS MO dated December 16, 2010 No. KA-A40 / 15535-10-P in case No. A40-960 / 09-126-4, resolution of the FAS MO dated July 22, 2009 No. KA-A40 / 6386 -09 in case No. A40-67706 / 08-127-308).

This understanding of good faith was developed by the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation in October 16, 2003, No. 329-O, which is often referred to by taxpayers when justifying their position. In particular, the Court emphasized that the taxpayer cannot be held responsible for the actions of all organizations participating in the multi-stage process of paying and transferring taxes to the budget.

At the same time, the courts often point to the need to request the relevant documents from the counterparty, emphasizing that these actions have for the taxpayer nature of duty(FAS PO dated July 14, 2010 in case No. A57-7689 / 2009, FAS ZSO dated July 20, 2010 in case No. A81-4676 / 2009).

Sometimes the attention of the courts can be drawn to other details - for example, the conclusion of a contract for the "trial" delivery of goods small batch to check the counterparty (resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Moscow District of December 16, 2010 No. KA-A40 / 15535-10-P in case No. A40-960 / 09-126-4), the fact of registration of the counterparty in several days before the transaction (FAS UO dated November 28, 2012 No. F09-11410 / 12 in case No. A60-7356 / 2012), etc. Tax authorities may also refer to the fact that the counterparty organization has "mass leaders and founders", and this fact should have alerted the taxpayer (FAS MO dated November 3, 2011 No. F05-11505 / 11 in case No. A41-23181 / 2010).

In conclusion, note that the presence just one sign of bad faith the counterparty, as a rule, is not an obstacle to the recognition of the tax benefit received by the taxpayer as unjustified. However, their combination often makes tax inspectorates alert, and the courts - to make a decision not in favor of the taxpayer.