Writing off a creditor: is it worth the rush? All about the procedure for writing off accounts payable.

Every accountant should know how to properly write off accounts payable. But due to the fact that this happens quite rarely, there are various questions at documentation. It's quite normal. Find out what exactly is necessary and how to arrange it to write off accounts receivable and payable, written in this article.

Reasons for the procedure

According to current legislation, writing off overdue accounts payable can occur in a number of cases, namely:

1. Expiration of the statute of limitations for accounts payable for write-off (Article 196 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).
2. Termination of the creditor's activities (Article 419 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).
3. Forgiveness of delay by concluding an additional agreement to the contract (Article 415 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).
4. Force majeure circumstances (Article 416 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).
5. Court decision (Article 417 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).
6. In case of death individual, which is a creditor (Article 418 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

The procedure for writing off accounts payable in 1c 8.2 occurs in a standard way, which is no different when working with other programs.

The procedure for removing debt from the balance sheet of an enterprise

It is necessary to carry out all the steps correctly to avoid problems with the tax authorities in the future. Violation of procedural rules can also lead to the recognition of an action as unlawful. Below is an algorithm for writing off accounts payable in tax accounting.

Stage	Responsible specialist	The essence of the action	Required documents	Additional Information
1	Chief Accountant	Carrying out an inventory at the end of the reporting period, during which the amounts for credit and debit items are identified	Inventory report in form INV-17	To quickly detect debt, it is recommended to conduct an inventory of every reporting period.
2	Chief Accountant	Preparation of relevant documents on identified inconsistencies	Reference	The certificate must contain information about accounts payable write-off account when adjusting debt, information about the counterparty, contract number and numbers of primary accounting documentation.
3	Director of the enterprise	A corresponding order is created to remove the debt from the company’s balance sheet	Order to write off accounts payable	The order must indicate the grounds for carrying out the action to remove debt from the company’s balance sheet, references to regulations, and an indication that the specified amount should be displayed in income items.
4	Chief Accountant	Carrying out correction entries	Changes in accounting registers	All changes must be reflected in the accounting and tax accounting. Write-off of bad accounts payable carried out for each contract separately.

Thus, the procedure for writing off accounts payable is the same, regardless of the basis for this. However, the documents may vary slightly. For example, when reaching an agreement with a counterparty, you will need to attach a corresponding additional agreement.

And in case of liquidation of the company, an extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities will be required.

Registration in tax accounting

Many people are interested in the impact of writing off accounts payable on income taxes. Indeed, the Federal Tax Service believes that a company should report all debts removed from its balance sheet as profit. Thus, when an accountant makes corrective entries, he indicates in other income “writing off debt on the basis of...”.

IMPORTANT: if a company operates under the simplified tax system, then there is no need to include in income debts removed from the balance sheet for taxes, fines, various contributions and other sanctions.

According to paragraph 4 of Art. 271 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and letters from the Ministry of Finance, in order to optimize the work of the Federal Tax Service, companies are required to indicate income after removing debt from the balance sheet in the current reporting period. In this case, the date is not important. The main thing is that it should be after the day when the basis for removing the debt from the balance sheet appeared.

Advantages and disadvantages of write-off

There are several advantages and disadvantages when writing off accounts payable for VAT, simplified taxation system and other forms of taxation. Here are the main advantages:

1. Reinstatement of VAT when writing off accounts payable.
2. There is no need to pay taxes if withdrawals occur during periods when the company suffers losses.
3. The ability to reduce the risk of debt collection in court or pre-trial proceedings.

However, there is also negative points which consist in increasing the tax base. That is, when an enterprise has income, it has to pay more to the Federal Tax Service. To avoid paying taxes on such debts, many companies resort to the trick of extending the term limitation period.

According to current legislation, the statute of limitations begins to count from the time when the buyer must make payment. But if this date is not specified in the contract, then many begin counting from the moment the goods or services are received. sometimes this is a different reporting period, as a result of which there is an opportunity to optimize tax costs.

Risks of inaction

Many companies miss deadlines for writing off receivables and payables. This gives the Federal Tax Service employees grounds to charge additional taxes. However, this is usually only possible after an inspection has been carried out. It is necessary to understand the consequences of ignoring firms’ responsibilities to remove debt from their balance sheets.

Responsibility for untimely removal of debt from the balance sheet

According to the provision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation No. 302-KG 16-8806, on a bill of exchange the beneficiary can apply for payment within a year. If he did not do this, then he has another 3 years to obtain payment through the courts.

However, it is necessary to file a claim when it was not possible to reach a voluntary agreement.

When a company refuses to write off its receivables or payables, then after an inspection by Federal Tax Service employees, a fine is imposed on it. The tax base is also increasing in the current reporting period. For all the time of delay in taxes, a penalty is charged. It is counted from the moment the basis for removing the debt from the balance sheet of the enterprise occurs. Thus, it is better to comply with the requirements of current legislation within the specified period. Otherwise, you can lose much more Money.

Maintaining economic activity of an enterprise is inextricably linked with the financial relationships between it and other counterparties. If an organization has debts - to customers or suppliers, founders or employees, budget funds or subsidiaries - we are talking about accounts payable. Is it possible to write off debts of this kind and how to do it?

Writing off debt to creditors - terms

In what case and during what time can the accounts payable of an enterprise be written off?

• Upon expiration of the limitation period. This period is most often 3 years (unless otherwise specified in the cooperation agreement of the parties). In some cases, which are provided for by law, this time interval may be reduced or increased. The date of writing off debts to creditors is the date of expiration of the statute of limitations.
• If the creditor organization ceases to exist. The write-off operation can be carried out starting from the date the relevant information is entered into the Unified State Register of Legal Entities.
• Removal from the list of the Unified State Register of Legal Entities of the creditor enterprise as a legal entity that does not carry out activities.
• The day the debt is transferred to income is the date of the corresponding deletion.
• Writing off a debt by mutual agreement of the parties is the so-called “forgiveness” of obligations. The date specified in the forgiveness agreement is the day the debt to the creditor is written off.
• When an organization makes a demand for debt repayment (filing a claim in court), the limitation period is interrupted.

Removal of debt to creditors - documentary support of the operation

If, however, the limitation period has ended and the loan debt can be written off, it is important to properly document this business transaction.

• Carrying out an inventory of not only property, but also financial obligations. It is carried out most often once a year (but not less often). The inventory commission forms the results of the inspection in the form of an act of settlement with creditors of the same name. The procedure for completing this document is free.
• An organization can use both approved form(No. INV-17), or develop your own, but also with the presence of the necessary details in accordance with Law N 402-FZ (clause 2 of Article 9).
• This document contains information not only about overdue debts, but also about the rest of the accounts payable, indicating the details of the parties and the amount of debts in the accounting accounts. During the preparation of the document, it is possible to use reconciliation acts signed by both parties (justification of the amount of debt).
• After fixing all debt amounts, the planned debt write-off is justified. For this purpose, an accounting certificate is prepared with information about the reasons and date of occurrence of the “creditor”, as well as the conditions that allow it to be written off.
• On the basis of previously prepared documentation (inventory act and accounting certificate), a decision (Order) of the head of the organization is prepared to write off debts to creditors.

Removal of debt to creditors - a reflection of the effect of accounting and tax accounting

Removed debt in mandatory is also reflected in the accounting of the enterprise - both in tax accounting and in the accounts accounting. The result of such an operation is an increase in the organization's income.

Carrying out transactions in accounting

Income received as a result of writing off creditor debts is reflected in the subaccount of account 91 - “Other income”. The wiring is formed from Dt 60 to Kt 91-1. For debit there can be not only account 60, but also 62, 66, 67, 70, 71 and 76 - depending on the type of accounts payable. The operation is carried out in the period in which the debt statute of limitations has expired. The amount also includes the amount of VAT (if we are talking, for example, about an advance received previously).

Reflection of write-offs in tax accounting

When reflecting data in accounting for tax purposes, the amount of cleared accounts payable falls into the section “Non-operating income” - the date of debt write-off must fall within the reporting period. If during the formation of the debt VAT was allocated (accepted for deduction), then when reflecting the income from writing off the debt on the “creditor”, the full amount of the debt (including VAT) is taken into account; VAT is not included in expenses.

The inclusion of income in tax accounting from the write-off of unpaid fines and penalties to budgetary and extra-budgetary funds is not mandatory. For enterprises operating on a simplified system, previously received advances (without subsequent delivery of goods or services), debts to liquidated organizations, as well as amounts to creditors, if the latter have forgiven them, are not included in income.

The issue of debt repayment today is quite relevant and is widely discussed in legal circles. In particular, one of the most discussed issues is the possibility of writing off debt due to the statute of limitations. Debt cancellation is often the best option for both parties to the agreement - the creditor and the debtor. However, both parties need to correctly display the fact of write-off in the reporting and follow its procedure.

Concept of overdue debt

Overdue accounts payable - these are funds that were received by the debtor from the creditor on the basis of various types of agreements and were not returned within the period established by the terms of the transaction. Traditionally, such agreements are a loan agreement and a credit agreement (in combination with or without methods of ensuring the fulfillment of the obligation). The basis for the occurrence of debt (overdue) is two main legal facts:

1. Conclusion of an agreement between the parties, providing receipt of funds by one of the counterparties.
2. Failure to return funds received by a party within the period established by the terms of the transaction.

After the period for the return of funds has expired, the counterparty under the agreement who has not fulfilled its terms acquires the status of a debtor. From this moment on, the parties to the contractual relationship are called “debtor” and “creditor”. After determining the existence of debt, the creditor receives a fairly large number of rights. All of them relate to the return of funds transferred legally, as well as receiving additional “compensation” for failure to fulfill the contract by the counterparty. Such “compensations” include interest for using the loan and penalties for failure to comply with the terms of the transaction. For some types of agreement, creditors (especially secondary creditors - persons who have acquired the right of claim under a factoring agreement (assignment of the right of claim) are also charged additional fees for servicing the agreement.

For the lender debt has a double meaning. Firstly, she is undoubted loss. In this case, the logic is quite simple - the funds were given, but were not returned. Secondly , it can be included in the income item. At taxation, for the lender this fact plays an important role. However, in order for the definition of overdue debts as income to be carried out correctly, the creditor needs to know how to write off accounts payable.

Deadline for writing off accounts payable

The determining point for identifying the possibility of write-off is the statute of limitations for writing off accounts payable. Its calculation is based on another basic period in civil law - the statute of limitations. The general limitation period is 3 years. The beginning of the deduction of this time period occurs from the moment when the person learned or presumably could find out about a violation of their rights. For credit legal relations, such a moment is when the debtor goes “in arrears”. That is, it is from the moment of failure to make the first payment under the loan agreement in accordance with the established schedule that the statute of limitations period should count, and, accordingly, the period for writing off the debt.

In legal circles, there are often discussions about when the statute of limitations begins to count and debt is written off. Some experts believe that the limitation period for credit agreements and loan agreements should begin from the date of expiration of the agreement specified in it. However, judicial practice almost unambiguously accepts the position of the moment of delay as the starting point. After the expiration of the temporary period of 3 years, the creditor becomes eligible for write-off.

Types of accounts payable

When calculating the deadline, you need to remember about the possibility of its interruption. According to the general rule, the limitation period is considered interrupted if the debtor has carried out certain actions, testifying about recognition of his debt. Such actions include:

• written acknowledgment of the claim;
• recognition of the claim in part (for example, in part of the “body” of the loan or interest) and denial of the claim in another part;
• signing the reconciliation report;
• conclusion of the contract restructuring debt;
• liquidation of a legal entity—debtor;
• death of an individual debtor;
• partial payment according to the contract.

If one of these actions took place: the limitation period is interrupted and begins to count again, and accordingly, the period for recognizing the debt as overdue is interrupted.

Civil law also establishes the possibility of stopping the limitation period. Such a stop is provided in cases of a citizen’s service in the Armed Forces, illness, etc. When the limitation period is stopped, its countdown after the elimination of the ground circumstances continues (and does not start anew, as happens when interrupted). If the limitation period is interrupted, the countdown for debt write-off begins only after the circumstance that became the basis for the interruption has been eliminated. For example, if an individual debtor returns from the army, the period continues to count from that moment.

Write-off of accounts payable

The procedure for writing off debt requires clarification from the point of view of its formal display. In order for a write-off to be considered carried out in accordance with the established procedure, the following documents must be drawn up by the creditor:

• order (order) of the head of the creditor organization;
• inventory act.

The inventory act must also be supplemented with a clear description of the assets that directly relate to the amount of debt. Formally, this amount of debt is displayed in the category “Other income” (“Other income”). Transfer of monetary amounts to the category of other income is possible only if the debt is recognized as bad. To recognize a debt as such, it is not necessary to issue a specific act or any other document. It is sufficient to confirm the fact that the limitation period under the contract has expired.

Also, the basis for writing off accounts payable is the impossibility of fulfilling an obligation for objective reasons. In order to avoid manipulations with the concept of “objective reason”, the legislator has established a list of such reasons. These include :

• presence of an authority act state authorities;
• the unreality of debt collection as assessed by the creditor himself.

In practice, under an act of authority state authority means an act executive bailiff on completion executive proceedings and the impossibility of collecting debt from the debtor. In accordance with the Resolution VAS from 07.08.2008, for purposes taxation such a basis can be considered legal.

Sample accounting certificate on write-off of accounts payable

Another criterion is the assessment of the creditor organization itself, which is rather vaguely reflected in legislation. At first glance, the creditor only needs to assess and justify in writing the impossibility of collecting the debt, but in practice it is not enough to justify the impossibility of such collection. Subsequent debt write-off only leads to questions about expediency and the legality of such actions on the part of the tax inspectorate. If such actions were carried out after the expiration of the statute of limitations, writing off the debt is considered quite logical. However, before this period, it must be fairly well substantiated.

Tax accounting when writing off

For purposes taxation writing off overdue accounts payable is of paramount importance in the context of two main taxes:

• VAT;
• income tax.

Some financiers mistakenly believe that if the debt is written off, there is a possibility of VAT restoration. Tax Code of the Russian Federation provides closed list of cases of VAT restoration, previously provided to deduction. There is no case of debt write-off in this list, therefore the restoration of VAT on such a basis is groundless.

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Accounts payable are virtually all of the organization's debts.

Accounts payable arise in two cases.

The first case is if the Organization has not settled with its counterparties (for example, the loan to the founder has not been repaid, the bank loan has not been repaid, the goods or materials supplied have not been paid for).

The second case is that an advance payment was received, but for its part the Organization did not fulfill its obligations. For example, the Organization did not ship goods to the buyer on account of the previously transferred funds.

Deadlines for writing off accounts payable

Both in accounting and for tax purposes, accounts payable must be written off within the following terms (clause 78 of the Accounting Regulations No. 34n, clause 18 of Article 250 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, Letter of the Federal Tax Service dated December 8, 2014 No. GD-4-3/25307@ , dated 06/02/2011 N ED-4-3/8754, dated 02/14/2011 N KE-4-3/2303, Ministry of Finance dated 09/12/2014 N 03-03-RZ/45767, dated 03/25/2013 N 03-03- 06/1/9152, dated 10.24.2011 N 03-11-11/264):

Reason for write-off	Write-off date
Expiration of the statute of limitations (usually three years)	date of expiration of the limitation period
Liquidation of the creditor organization	date of entry into the Unified State Register of Legal Entities on the liquidation of the creditor organization
Exclusion of the creditor organization from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities as inactive legal entity	date of entry into the Unified State Register of Legal Entities on the exclusion of the creditor organization from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities
Debt forgiveness by creditor	Or the date of signing the debt forgiveness agreement; Or the date of receipt from the creditor of a document confirming debt forgiveness

Accounting for write-off of accounts payable

In accounting, the write-off of accounts payable is reflected by the following entry:

Let's consider the procedure for reflecting in accounting and tax accounting the operation of writing off accounts payable due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.

Determination of the limitation period

Accounts payable can be written off if the statute of limitations has expired. It is three years (Article 196 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

The limitation period must also be counted according to certain rules (clause 2 of Article 200 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). For those obligations whose repayment date is known, the period is counted from the day following the end of the established payment date.

For example, according to the supply agreement, the Organization was supposed to pay for the goods on May 11, 2015, but did not do so.

In this case, the limitation period will be counted from May 12, 2015. And if the debt is not claimed within three years, the limitation period will expire on May 11, 2018. And from that moment on, the “creditor” can be written off.

If a specific day for repayment of the debt is not determined, the statute of limitations should be considered from the moment when the creditor sent the Organization a demand for payment of the debt. And in the case where the Organization was given a certain time to repay the debt, - upon completion last day this period.

In this case, the limitation period may be interrupted. This happens if a creditor files a lawsuit to collect a debt from you. Or if the Organization itself acknowledged its debt: partially repaid it, submitted an application for offset, asked for a deferred payment, signed a reconciliation act (Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated November 12, 2001 N 15 and the Plenum of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated November 15, 2001 N 18).

If such actions took place, the limitation period is interrupted and then counted again. In this case, the time that passed before the break is not taken into account (Article 203 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

Documentation of write-off of accounts payable

If the statute of limitations on accounts payable has expired, they should be written off.

And for this, the following documents should be prepared (clause 78 of the Regulations on accounting and reporting, approved by Order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated July 29, 1998 N 34n) (hereinafter referred to as the Regulations):

1) an act of inventory of settlements with buyers, suppliers and other debtors and creditors. Such a document is necessary since accounts payable are identified precisely as a result of inventory. The form of this act can be either arbitrary or unified (form N INV-17, approved by Resolution of the State Statistics Committee of Russia dated August 18, 1998 N 88);

2) an accounting certificate indicating all necessary information about accounts payable and provides a justification for the reason for its write-off.

Based on these documents, a manager’s order to write off accounts payable is issued.

Reflection of the write-off of accounts payable in accounting

Written off accounts payable generates income, which in accounting is reflected in the account, subaccount "Other income" (clauses 7 and 10.4 of PBU 9/99 "Income of the organization"). The wiring will be like this:

70,800 rub. - the receipt of goods is reflected;

in June 2015

Debit Credit, subaccount "Other income",

70,800 rub. - the amount of accounts payable for unpaid goods with an expired statute of limitations is written off.

In tax accounting under the simplified tax system, written off accounts payable in the amount of 70,800 rubles. included in non-operating income on the date of expiration of the limitation period - June 25, 2015. On the same day, made a corresponding entry in the book of income and expenses

In this situation, when accounts payable arose in connection with the purchase of goods and includes the amount of “input” VAT, the entire amount of “creditor” together with VAT is included in non-operating income.

At the same time, the Organization will not be able to write off the cost of the unpaid item itself as expenses during the “simplification”. Even if the product is sold.

Because the Organization did not pay for him. Since, under the simplified system, it is allowed to take into account the costs of purchasing goods only if two conditions are met at once: the goods are shipped to the final buyer and the company has paid the supplier for it (clause 2, clause 2, article 346.17 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). A similar conclusion is contained in Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 08/07/2013 N 03-11-06/2/31883.

Thus, the Organization will not have any expenses when writing off unclaimed accounts payable, since expenses are taken into account in the tax base under the simplified taxation system only if payment is made (clause 2 of Article 346.17 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

An exception is the liquidation of the counterparty. In this case, the obligations are completely terminated. Goods, works and services, the debt for which is written off due to the liquidation of the counterparty, are considered paid (Article 419 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). And they can be attributed to expenses during the “simplification”.

Goods (work, services) are also considered paid, the debt for which has been forgiven (Letter of the Ministry of Finance dated May 25, 2012 N 03-11-11/169).

Example

An organization using the “simplified system” with the object “income minus expenses” received an advance in the amount of 60,000 rubles. The organization did not complete the work before the expiration of the limitation period. The statute of limitations for accounts payable incurred by the organization to the customer expires in June of this year.

The transaction to write off accounts payable should be reflected in the following entries:

Since organizations applying the simplified tax system recognize the date of receipt of income as the day of receipt of funds in bank accounts and (or) in the organization’s cash desk, the received advance amount was recognized as income in the period of receipt.

Consequently, the amount of accounts payable arising in connection with the receipt of an advance is not re-included in income after the expiration of the limitation period (clause 1 of Article 346.15, clause 1 of Article 346.17 Tax Code RF, see also Decision of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated January 20, 2006 N 4294/05).