Seasonal discount is provided. Not the only discounts: how and when to stimulate sales. How regular price reductions can hurt

The idea for this article came up out of the blue. Going through the documents on my computer, I found a file where 10 types of the most unusual discounts were collected.

And looking at them, I thought, why not take and write more in the form of a manual, it will be useful for us in the company, and for you, our readers, it will be useful in your work. Therefore, today we will talk about discounts. Rather, I will write the types of discounts in marketing.

Most likely you may have a question “Why do we need this?”. And rightly so, you yourself know very well what types of discounts there are, for example, “regular customers” or “buy more, get more”.

However, this is all selective, in fits and starts. I tried for you and found various types and types of discounts with examples, and structured them. And you yourself think about how to use them, using them in a profitable promotion or sale.

Wow, I'll come up with something

types and examples of discounts: TOP-30

Below you will find the types of discounts and the conditions for their application. Choose those that are more suitable for your field of activity and for your task.

1. Discount for one day. It works great, even I often buy it myself. Select some product and set a discount on it. By the way, if you highlight it with the price tag "Only today", then the product, especially if it is, will fly very well.

And do not forget that you need to highlight not the product that you already sell very well, but the one that you have already “stale”.

2. Discount on days of the week. Almost the same as a one-day discount, but tied to a specific day of the week.

For example, on Friday, the international supermarket chain SPAR offers a significantly cheaper purchase of various meat products. It's called “Meat Friday”.

3. Discount for any period. An analogue of discounts for one day or a day of the week, only the period can be any. I recommend not to set large intervals. The benefit, as always, is in the simplest thing - in greed.

Buyers understand that good offer will end soon, so they are actively parting with their money.

4. Discount for a specific product. Product discounts may be limited in time (preferable), may not. An excellent solution is to highlight the “Product of the Day” with a price tag (with the old and new prices).

5. Discount for pre-order. Whoever orders earlier, and therefore gives the money earlier, receives a substantial discount. Your profit is extremely simple - you get money with which you pay for this very product.

Yes, earnings may not be so big due to the discount provided, however, you save time and do not use loans and credits (if we talk about a large purchase).

6. Magnetic discount... Upon reaching a certain volume of purchases, a discount is provided. Why magnetic? Because it works great with “” technology.

This type of discount, for example, worked very well for our client who sells jewelry. Only in the first week of the introduction of such a tool, the number of checks with the amount from s__ increased by 19% compared to the previous month.

7. Discount for wholesale / large amount. The higher the purchase amount from the customer, the more he will want to get a discount. You can play with this when developing your marketing strategy.

8. The discount is cumulative. Discount type is quite popular now. With each purchase, a certain percentage falls on the client's balance, with which he can later pay.

9. Discount for payment in cash / non-cash... We all don't like banks. Or rather not so. Most entrepreneurs do not like credit card payments.

There are 2 reasons for this: the acquiring commission is on average 2%, and with a large turnover it is not profitable. And the money takes a long time to reach. Therefore, offer a discount if the customer pays in cash.

10. Discount with personalization. Examples may include the following: “Only for Nikita” (at least mentioned himself somewhere), “Only for this promo code”, “Say this word and get a discount”. Of course, do not use them in such a direct way, as I wrote above. Change to suit your company.

11. Discount for a holiday / event. Day of the city, New Year, Day of Russia, and for any professional holidays.

By the way, you can invent the holidays yourself. For example, discounts and bonuses in honor of the birthday of the director's grandmother (a real case).

12. Discount on the launch of a product or service. Although they are an event or a holiday, they are still singled out in a separate block, since they happen only once when starting a business.

13. Discount on the Internet. It is a fairly widespread move in marketing now, when a discount is provided for an online order through a website. It can be 5-10 percent or more. All of this works as additional advertising for your site.

14. Discount for action. Like it and get a discount. Repost, show it to the administrator and get a discount.

It is very popular now among young people. Its main task is not even to make a discount on the price and you have bought it now, but to start a chain reaction in social networks and increase the reach of potential audience.

WE ARE ALREADY MORE THAN 29,000 people.
TURN ON

15. Melting discount. They are set for a certain time and are reduced every day / hour. Example: cars are exhibited on December 1st with a 30% discount and every day the discount is reduced by 1%.

16. Discount in the moment. The most common discount. The one that any buyer asks for when he buys a product with the words “Will you give a discount?”.

17. An unexpected discount. There can be any reason. Among those that I liked: “First customer of the day”, “Last customer of the day”, “1000th customer”.

18. Discount for certain groups of persons... Select a certain group of people and provide them with a discount. Example: “10% discount for all students” or “15% discount for seniors”.

19. Affiliate discount. Popular in network marketing. That is, the discount is provided to all newly arrived partners.

21. The discount is collective. Given to a group of people with a certain number of people. In fact, the same as the wholesale discount, only in public.

22. Cross-discount. One or more products are sold at standard prices, and an additional or accompanying one is already at a discount. Example: discount belt for jeans.

23. Discount for speed. The most interesting description this discount, which I met - "Discount for quick bunnies" :). That is, the faster the client makes an advance payment (perhaps even before agreeing on the contract, etc., the greater the discount he receives).

For example, we have extremely interesting conditions for people who know us and quickly make decisions about cooperation with us.

24. Discount on the first purchase. The trend of the last couple of years. It is very relevant on the Internet, but recently it has been actively moving offline. When buying the first item, the buyer is given a discount on it.

25. Discounts, subscriptions. Distributed in fitness clubs. A one-time lesson costs 1000 rubles, and, for example, when buying a subscription, its cost is reduced for a client to 200-300 rubles.

Recently, they have been working very well in public catering. Subscriptions for business lunches and coffee in some coffee houses.

26. Bonus discount. This is when, even if the buyer has a discount card, you give him another discount (bonus), but only for a certain type of product.

27. Seasonal discount. Correctly speaking, this is an off-season discount. A simple example is down jackets, fur coats, ski suits.

That is, the discount is given for groups of goods for which it is “out of season” now. As a rule, experienced (and thrifty) people wait for such “sales” and buy summer tires in winter and vice versa.

To your answer that it is not entirely profitable, let me remind you of one entrepreneur from Izhevsk, who in the off-season makes a turnover on the sale of fur coats more than in the season.

28. Club discount. If your store is included in the system of discount clubs, for example, "Rainbow" or "Discount Club", then customers receive a discount on this card.

To be honest, this system is already dying in its original understanding, since most stores are already implementing their applications with discounts.

But at the same time, applications are beginning to be promoted, which contain 20-30 discount cards of small stores.

This application is much more convenient to use. Therefore, I recommend taking a closer look at it if we are the owner of a small store. A sort of modern level of the 21st century.

29. Trade-in-discount. Best known in automobiles and engineering. Renting out an old car of the same make and buying a car of the same make, you can get a substantial discount.

Do you think it works only in large purchases? Far from it! For example, we introduced this discount for one of our clients when selling / buying musical instruments.

And she quite successfully worked herself in the disastrous months. Here are a couple of niches where this approach definitely works - jewelry (especially important if you have your own pawnshop) and computer equipment.

30. Discount on the occasion. All the same, I allocated it into a separate block. The reason can be anything - angel day, name day, and so on.

Briefly about the main

As you can see, the types of price discounts are varied and there is a huge variety of them (I assume that I have not named all of them, I do not pretend to be 100 percent accurate).

For example, I did not mention the sale of discount coupons, as it is recommended on popular discount services like Biglion or Friendy.

That is, you buy a coupon for 200 rubles, for example, which gives you a 50% discount on all menus in a particular restaurant. However, the main types of discounts, I think I have named for you and to the question "what types of discounts are there?" I answered.

After reading the article, your main task is to test all the options presented in your marketing.

Perhaps you will think that this is not necessary, because “there are workers”, however, I assure you, if competitors tried, but they “didn’t work”, this does not mean that they did everything right. Therefore, the list of your actions is as follows:

1. Read the article again and write out discounts that suit your niche. Rather, the types of discounts and the conditions for their application;
2. Calculate the profitability of each discount (you will not give them to yourself as a minus).
3. Introduce it into your business by writing a short text explaining how to apply (and work out objections) for employees for each type of discount.

The third point is especially important in order not to have a case like one of our clients (niche - products).

He raised prices, but at the same time introduced accumulative discount cards. If we counted everything in the context of 3-4 purchases, then the prices were even lower.

However, he forgot to write an explanation for his sellers and people just started running out of the store when, to his question, "Why did they raise prices?" instead of explaining, they heard the answer: "Because the leadership wanted it so."

"Topical issues of accounting and taxation", 2008, N 6

Discount provision is an integral part of a market economy, where prices are largely governed by fluctuations in supply and demand. So, in paragraph 3 of Art. 40 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, several reasons for granting discounts are mentioned at once, which tax authorities should take into account when deciding on the actual market price for a particular product:

• seasonal fluctuations in consumer demand for goods, works or services;
• loss of quality or other consumer properties by the product;
• expiration (or approaching expiration date) of the expiration date or sale of goods;
• marketing policy, including when promoting new, unparalleled goods to markets, as well as when promoting goods, works or services to new markets;
• implementation of prototypes and samples of goods in order to familiarize consumers with them.

The options for providing discounts are also varied. Someone has a discount for the purchase of a certain amount of goods, someone - for exceeding the monetary limit of purchases. Sometimes the discount is provided in advance, before the purchase, sometimes - after. It happens that the seller returns the discount to the buyer in cash or allows subsequent purchases to be made cheaper.

A variety of options (which is natural) is reflected in the accounting of discounts - both accounting and tax.

Civil law

Unfortunately, in civil law, such a concept as a discount is not deciphered. Some experts believe that in this situation it is necessary to use the provisions of Art. 424 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and either include a discount in the process of forming the contractual price, or change the already formed contractual price. However, all the variety of options for providing a discount cannot be brought under this base. For example, if a discount is provided for the past reporting or tax periods when a certain amount of purchases is reached (regardless of the type of goods), then it is impossible to talk about a price change at all, because it is "thrown off" for several groups of goods at once, without division.

Legal uncertainty gave rise to the Ministry of Finance in Letter of 15.09.2005 N 03-03-04 / 1/190 to express the idea that if a discount is provided after the transaction has taken place, then this is nothing more than a gift or forgiveness of a debt. Based on Art. 572 and Art. 574 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, financiers equated discounts with a donation agreement, according to which the donor frees the debtor from property obligations to himself free of charge.

However, this position does not hold water. First, a donation worth more than five minimum wages between commercial organizations generally prohibited. At the same time, it did not occur to anyone to prohibit on this basis the provision of discounts for much large sums... Secondly, granting a discount differs from debt forgiveness or donation in that the discount is contractual, bilateral in nature. The decision on donation or forgiveness is taken by the creditor unilaterally, does not require the consent of the debtor himself and the drawing up of an agreement (Article 415 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). Thirdly, the discount differs from the donation contract also in that the buyer, even having received a discount, must pay for the goods, and the donation contract does not imply a reciprocal provision of something in return (Article 572 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). Fourth, technically, in order to forgive a debt, you need to have it. If the seller provides a discount after the buyer pays for certain goods, then what kind of debt can we talk about?

The courts have to decide the same questions. So, in the Decree of the FAS ZSO of 21.08.2006 N F04-3446 / 2006 (25284-A27-33), the following definition of a discount was given: in contractual relations, a discount means the amount by which the price of goods is reduced when the buyer fulfills certain conditions.

In principle, the problem would be small, since the use of discounts has actually become a business custom, an unwritten law. However, the vagueness of the concept of a discount has a noticeable effect on taxation, where you cannot get rid of the reference to business customs.

Income tax Discount on services

In pp. 19.1 clause 1 of Art. 265 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation states that non-operating expenses include expenses in the form of a premium (discount) paid (provided) by the seller to the buyer due to the fulfillment of certain conditions of the contract, in particular the volume of purchases. Incidentally, such a wording gave the officials reason to assert that such a benefit does not apply to cases of rendering services. In the Letters of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated February 28, 2007 N 03-03-06 / 1/138 and the Federal Tax Service for Moscow dated 08/28/2007 N 20-12 / 081752, it is indicated that the provisions of paragraphs. 19.1 clause 1 of Art. 265 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation apply only to sales and purchase agreements. The fact is that in accordance with paragraph 1 of Art. 454 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation under a sale and purchase agreement, one party (the seller) undertakes to transfer the thing (goods) to the ownership of the other party (the buyer), and the buyer undertakes to accept this product and pay a certain amount of money (price) for it.

At the same time, in paragraph 1 of Art. 779 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation stipulates that under a contract for the provision of services for a fee, the performer undertakes, on the instructions of the customer, to provide services (perform certain actions or carry out certain activities), and the customer undertakes to pay for these services.

Thus, take into account in tax expenditures the amount of discounts can only be the seller of goods (the financiers expressed the same opinion earlier - see Letter of 02.02.2006 N 03-03-04 / 1/70).

However, the position of the Ministry of Finance immediately found opponents. The most important objection is, perhaps, that in the text of Ch. 25 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the term "seller" is also used in relation to works or services. Therefore, such a selective application of the provisions of civil law to taxation issues is unacceptable. In addition, from Art. 265 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation does not follow in any way that pp. 19.1 paragraph 1 applies only to sales contracts. The Ministry of Finance deduced this from the same provisions of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, which in this case is incorrect. And, finally, such an interpretation of tax legislation discriminates against taxpayers who sell works or services, which violates the basic provisions of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. According to paragraph 1 of Art. 3 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the principle of equality must be observed in taxation.

Some experts suggested a compromise option - to take into account discounts for work or services under PP. 20 p. 1 art. 265 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, that is, as other justified expenses.

The situation is quite controversial, and, unfortunately, there is no judicial practice on it. As a result, taxpayers who risk asserting their rights will have to go to court without a guarantee of a positive result.

And again a dispute about concepts

In the Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 02.05.2006 N 03-03-04 / 1/411 it was indicated that paragraphs. 19.1 clause 1 of Art. 265 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation is applied if the granting of a discount (payment of a premium) is provided for by the terms of the relevant purchase and sale agreement, and the basis for granting a discount (payment of a premium) is the fulfillment by the buyer of certain conditions of the contract. This sub-clause does not apply to those discounts that are provided to the buyer by specifying the reduced price of the goods in the sales contract. The tax authorities also agree with this - see, for example, Letter of the Federal Tax Service for Moscow dated November 14, 2006 N 20-12 / 100238.

In this Letter, the capital's tax authorities divided the discounts into two groups (see also the Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated September 15, 2005 N 03-03-04 / 1/190). To the first, they attributed the cases when the seller, when the buyer fulfills certain conditions for purchases, changes the price of a unit of goods for him, as provided for in Art. 424 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. In turn, this leads to the need to amend the primary documents and tax accounting. In addition, on the basis of Art. 54 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation for those periods in which goods with a changed price were sold, it is necessary to submit revised tax returns.

The second group includes cases when the seller provides a discount or premium to the buyer without changing the unit price of the product. In the opinion of the tax authorities, the selling organization is reviewing the amount owed by the buyer under the sale and purchase agreement. Based on Art. Art. 572 and 574 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, such a discount should be considered as an exemption from property obligations to the seller, which is a gratuitous transfer of that part of the goods that is not paid for by the buyer (we have already considered above what the fallacy of this point of view is). Naturally, the tax authorities admit that such a supposedly gratuitous transfer is subject to paragraphs. 19.1 clause 1 of Art. 265 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and can be taken into account in the seller's tax expenses.

In the Letter under consideration, the tax authorities put forward a number of requirements for documenting the granting of a discount. You must have:

• an agreement with a buyer stipulating the conditions for granting a discount;
• calculation or corrected invoice (invoice) for the amount of the discount provided;
• documents confirming the fulfillment of the conditions stipulated by the contract.

However, here the controlling authorities had to face opposition from the courts. So, the FAS ZSO in the Resolution of 17.09.2007 N F04-6332 / 2007 (38166-A67-15) did not find in the legislation confirmation of the conclusions of financiers and tax authorities. The court indicated that the reference of the tax authority to the Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 05/02/2006 N 03-03-04 / 1/411, which indicates that discounts provided to the buyer by indicating in the purchase and sale agreement the reduced price of the goods, p. 19.1 clause 1 of Art. 265 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation does not apply, the cassation instance rejects it, since it does not follow from this subparagraph that we are talking about discounts provided without changing the price of the goods.

Note that the taxpayer who won the court determined the amount of the discount based on the data for past periods and scattered it across the invoices of the current period. In fact, it looked exactly like a change in the price of a product. In this case, the amount of the discount was confirmed by an act of reconciliation of settlements and an additional agreement.

The procedure for applying a discount is the simplest

Currently, the option does not cause any special problems when the seller transfers to the buyer to the current account the amount of the premium accrued for the latter's fulfillment of the pre-established conditions for its receipt - by the volume of purchases, by their cost, etc. In this case, the seller includes the amount of the premium in non-operating expenses (see, for example, Letter of the Federal Tax Service for Moscow dated 06.11.2007 N 20-12 / 105702.1), and the buyer - in non-operating income, as a gratuitous receipt in accordance with clause 8 Art. 250 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation (see Letters of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated September 15, 2005 N 03-03-04 / 1/190 and dated November 14, 2005 N 03-03-04 / 1/354).

Example 1... JSC "Magnum" sells goods to LLC "Fantasy" at a price of 100 rubles. per unit (including VAT - 15.25 rubles). The supply agreement stipulates that if during the quarter the total amount of purchased goods exceeds 10,000 units, then the premium for each unit of goods purchased in excess of the limit will amount to 5 rubles for the buyer.

In April 2008, the parties drew up an act on the achievement of the conditions under which the buyer is given a discount. The amount of the discount was 10,000 rubles. ((12,000 units - 10,000 units) x 5 rubles / unit).

In accordance with the terms of the agreement, the premium is transferred to the buyer to his current account.

However, be careful: even this simple option can be turned into a rather complex one. So, if the seller does not pay the premium in money, but ships free goods to the buyer (we will talk about this a little later), then the result will be a gratuitous transfer of property, which will have to be subject to VAT.

The procedure for applying a discount is the most difficult

The most difficult situation is when the seller and the buyer agree upon the occurrence of certain conditions to change the price of already sold goods. In the opinion of the tax authorities, in this case, the amount of proceeds from the sale should be revised in tax accounting, including reporting period to which the implementation belongs. The fact is that a change in the price of the contract does not affect the date of sale under the contract. Consequently, when granting a discount, the tax base of the exact period in which the sale took place must be adjusted.

As Art. 54 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, if distortions are detected in the calculation of the tax base relating to past tax or reporting periods, in the current reporting or tax period, tax liabilities are recalculated in the period of the error. And only if it is impossible to determine a specific period, the tax liabilities of the reporting period in which the distortions were actually revealed should be adjusted.

Example 2... JSC "Magnum" sells goods to LLC "Melody" at a price of 100 rubles. per unit (including VAT - 15.25 rubles). The supply agreement stipulates that if during a quarter the total amount of purchased goods exceeds 10,000 units, then the price per unit of goods will be 90 rubles for the buyer. (including VAT - 13.73 rubles) on all previously purchased consignments of goods.

The purchase for the period from January to March (we will use the data of the previous example) amounted to more than 10,000 units. goods, namely 12,000 units. (3500 + 5500 + 3000).

In April 2008, the parties drew up an act on the achievement of the conditions under which the buyer is given a discount. The amount of the discount was 120,000 rubles. ((100 rubles / unit - 90 rubles / unit) x 12,000 units).

Following the requirements of the tax office, the taxpayer submitted revised tax returns.

For the 1st quarter of 2008, the VAT charged was reduced by 18,305 rubles.

((100 rubles / unit - 90 rubles / unit) x 12,000 units / 118% x 18%). The advance payment of income tax for the 1st quarter of 2008 should be reduced by 24,422 rubles. (((100 rubles / unit - 15.25 rubles / unit) - (90 rubles / unit - 13.73 rubles / unit)) x 12,000 units x 24% / 100%).

Unlike tax accounting, in accounting, the provision of a discount is reflected in the period when it was actually provided, that is, during the period of signing the corresponding act.

Thus, the following entries should be made in the seller's accounting:

The position of the regulatory authorities seems, to put it mildly, not undeniable. In Art. 81 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation states that the taxpayer becomes obliged to correct the data of past reporting or tax periods only when he discovers either an incomplete reflection of some important information, or errors that led to an underestimation of the amount of tax payable to the budget. However, nothing of the kind occurs before the discount is granted in past accounting or tax periods. Indeed, at that time, all the reflected data were true, and the right to a discount appeared only later. Granting a discount is an independent business transaction, and information about it should be reflected in the current reporting (tax) period.

Example 3... If we take the conditions of the previous example and do not draw up revised tax declarations, then, according to the author, in April 2008 the seller may recognize an expense in his tax and accounting records in the form of a discount in the amount of 101 695 rubles.

(((100 rubles / unit - 15.25 rubles / unit) - (90 rubles / unit - 13.73 rubles / unit)) x 12,000 units).

In turn, the buyer must recognize in tax and accounting the income in the form of the discount received also in the amount of 101,695 rubles.

The procedure for applying a discount is ideal

Another option for applying a discount may be a subsequent change in the price of the same product purchased in the future. In this case, no clarifying tax returns are needed. Tax authorities will not be able to apply in this situation the provisions of Art. 40 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation - after all, paragraph 3 of this article clearly states that when determining the market price, it is imperative to take into account the discounts provided.

The main question, in the author's opinion, is different - is it possible to take into account in the seller's tax expenses the amount that he lost by selling his product not at full price, but taking into account a discount? And is it necessary in this case to recognize in the tax income of the buyer the amount of the received benefit?

In our opinion, this is not necessary. In accordance with paragraph 1 of Art. 40 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, for tax purposes, the price of the goods specified by the parties to the transaction is taken. According to paragraph 2 of Art. 249 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, proceeds from sales are determined based on all receipts associated with settlements for goods, work or services sold. Consequently, when a discount is provided immediately at the time of the subsequent sale of goods in tax accounting, the seller reflects their sale at a price taking into account the discount provided. The buyer does the same at his expense.

With all the convenience of this option, it is far from always applicable. It provides that the buyer will continue to purchase goods from the seller in the future, which is sometimes impossible, especially if the goods are specific. In such situations, the seller and the buyer will have to negotiate either a retroactive price change or a premium.

Value added tax

If the seller pays the buyer a monetary premium for fulfilling certain conditions for purchases, then neither the seller nor the buyer needs to charge VAT. The fact is that according to paragraph 3 of Art. 168 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, invoices are presented to buyers when goods, works or services are sold, property rights are transferred, and the provision of a discount is a separate operation not related to the sale of goods. The Ministry of Finance also agrees with this, for example, in the Letter of 20.12.2006 N 03-03-04 / 1/847.

However, if the premium is paid by the goods, then the VAT charge is inevitable. The supervisory authorities equate such a transfer with the gratuitous transfer of property, which is subject to VAT - this is clearly stated in paragraphs. 1 p. 1 of Art. 146 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. The seller will be obliged to charge VAT on the value of the goods being transferred, issue an invoice in one copy and reflect it in the sales book. The recipient of the goods will not receive any invoice, and he will not have the right to deduct.

Example 4... JSC "Magnum" sells goods to LLC "Felicia" at a price of 100 rubles. per unit (including VAT - 15.25 rubles). The supply agreement stipulates that if during the quarter the total amount of purchased goods exceeds 10,000 units, then 500 units will be delivered to the buyer free of charge. goods.

In January 2008, the buyer purchased 3,500 units. goods, in February - 5500 units, in March - 3000 units. Thus, the limit set in the contract is 10,000 units. was overcome (3500 + 5500 + 3000 = 12000 (units)).

In April 2008, the parties drew up an act on the achievement of the conditions under which the buyer is given a discount. 500 units were shipped to the buyer. goods.

The following entries should be made in the seller's accounting records:

In the event that a discount is provided by changing the price of an already sold product, according to tax authorities, VAT must be recalculated for the reporting or tax period when the fact of sale took place. Accordingly, the seller will reduce the amount of VAT accrued, and the buyer will deduct. As a result, the buyer will suffer the most, who will have to recover the already reimbursed input VAT.

Let's see how the process of calculating VAT in this situation should look like from the point of view of financiers (see Letter dated 26.07.2007 N 03-07-15 / 112<1>). Firstly, the financiers require corrections to the previously drawn up invoice for the shipment of goods. Corrections made to invoices must be certified by the signature of the manager and the seal of the seller indicating the date of the correction (clause 29 of the Rules<2>).

<1>Sent for review and use in work by Letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated 30.08.2007 N SHS-6-03 / [email protected]
<2>Rules for keeping logs of received and issued invoices, purchase books and sales books, approved. Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of 02.12.2000 N 914.

Secondly, the previously received invoice must be canceled. This is done in accordance with clause 7 of the Rules: if it is necessary to make changes to the purchase book, an entry about the cancellation of the invoice is made in an additional sheet of the purchase book for the tax period in which the invoice was registered before the amendments were made to it. Additional sheets of the shopping book are an integral part of it.

Thirdly, VAT can be claimed for deduction on a corrected invoice only in the tax period in which it was received and, accordingly, registered in the purchase book. Well, and fourthly, for the tax period when changes were made to the purchase book, you need to submit a corrective tax return.

Simply put, financiers demand that all input VAT on a purchase be restored in the period when it was made, and presented for refund in the period when the revised invoice was actually received, that is, when the seller provided the buyer with a discount.

Example 5... OOO Melodiya purchased goods from OAO Magnum at a price of 100 rubles. per unit (including VAT - 15.25 rubles). The supply agreement stipulates that if during a quarter the total amount of purchased goods exceeds 10,000 units, then the price per unit of goods will be 90 rubles for the buyer. (including VAT - 13.73 rubles) on all previously purchased consignments of goods.

In January - March 2008, the buyer purchased 12,000 units. goods (in January - 3500 units, in February - 5500 units, in March - 3000 units). The amount of sales for the specified period amounted to 1,200,000 rubles. (350,000 + 550,000 + 300,000). Due to the fact that the limit set in the contract at 10,000 units. was overcome, in April 2008 the parties drew up an act on the achievement of the conditions under which the buyer is given a discount. The amount of the discount was 120,000 rubles. ((100 rubles / unit - 90 rubles / unit) x 12,000 units).

In accordance with the terms of the agreement, the overpaid amounts (in the amount of the discount) are returned to the buyer to his current account in April 2008.

Following the requirements of the tax office, the taxpayer submitted revised tax returns. In the first quarter of 2008, the VAT subject to reimbursement was reduced by 183,000 rubles. (12,000 units x 15.25 rubles / unit). For the II quarter of 2008 the buyer can present for deduction on the received corrected invoice only 164,760 rubles. (12,000 units x 13.73 rubles / unit).

The advance payment of income tax for the 1st quarter of 2008 should be increased by 24,422 rubles. (((100 rubles / unit - 15.25 rubles / unit) - (90 rubles / unit - 13.73 rubles / unit)) x 12,000 units x 24% / 100%).

Unlike tax accounting, accounting records of the granting of a discount are made in the period when it was actually provided, that is, during the period when the corresponding act was signed.

Thus, the following entries should be made in the buyer's accounting:

However, according to the author, if we consider that there was no distortion of the data of previous periods in the accounting, and the provision of a discount should be reflected outside of connection with previous business transactions, then no changes in the calculation of VAT need to be made. At the moment when the sale took place, VAT was charged and refunded correctly, and it is no longer subject to recalculation. The seller has already transferred the amount of VAT received from the buyer, and the buyer has deducted the VAT paid to the seller. Thus, no one including the state budget, would not lose anything.

In the event that a discount is provided to the buyer by reducing the price of newly sold goods, VAT is charged and paid in general order... Let us remind once again that if the reduction in the usual price is supported by documents confirming the provision of a discount, then the tax authorities will not be able to apply Art. 40 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and try to charge additional tax.

Discounts and "networkers"

Currently, in our country, the so-called network retail trade, or, in other words, "networkers", is gaining more and more power and influence. The emergence of "networkers" led to the fact that the leading role in a pair of manufacturer (supplier) - retailer took the last one. Now he dictates his terms to producers.

As a result, what was previously considered a discount (in the case of online trading), according to the author, has turned into something completely different, almost the opposite. And again, the lack of a legislatively established concept of discounts has a negative effect. As a consequence, all payments and bonuses that suppliers have to transfer to "networkers" are classified in the contracts between them as discounts. Although not everything that is called a discount is in fact.

When addressing specific issues related to the economic relations of "networkers" and their suppliers, the Ministry of Finance adheres to an approach based on an already outdated understanding of the situation, and does not take into account the change in the essence of these relations. This is evidenced by the already mentioned Letter of July 26, 2007 N 03-07-15 / 112.

So the financiers divided possible options discounts for three large groups. First, these are bonuses or discounts aimed at promoting goods (in particular, for placing goods on shelves in specified places and allocating permanent or extra space in the shop). Secondly, payment for the fact of concluding a supply agreement with the seller, delivery of goods to newly opened stores trading network, the inclusion of commodity items in the assortment of stores, etc. Thirdly, the actual discounts (bonuses and bonuses), which provide for a reduction in the price of previously supplied goods.

As for the third group, there are no special features - these discounts are traditional. We have discussed the issues of their accounting and taxation above. The first two groups are of particular interest.

The cost of promoting a product, according to financiers, is included in the costs of suppliers to pay for the services that retail chains provide them. Indeed, from the outside it looks exactly like this. "Networkers" provide services for the promotion of goods, but payment for these services is not made directly, but by reducing the price of goods supplied to the distribution network. And if these are services, then regardless of the way they are paid from the proceeds received from the provision of such services, the "networkers" must pay VAT and issue an invoice to the supplier so that he can accept this VAT for deduction.

True, there are several "buts" that prevent one from interpreting the situation so unambiguously.

Firstly, by promoting the supplier's product, the "networkers" provide a service not only to him, but also to themselves (note, for example, that the FAS MO, in Resolution No. KA-A40 / 9281-03 dated 18.11.2003, trademarks, which he does not own, if he sells goods produced with their use). Agree that a service that is necessary not only for the customer, but also for the performer himself, is not exactly the service that is intended solely for implementation purposes.

Secondly, let us recall the definition of a discount that was given by the FAS ZSO in the Resolution of 21.08.2006 N Ф04-3446 / 2006 (25284-А27-33): in contractual relations, a discount means the amount by which the price of goods is reduced when the buyer fulfills certain conditions ... What these conditions are is not specified, therefore, nothing prohibits the parties from agreeing that in order to receive a discount, the buyer must conduct a number of marketing and promotional activities, and for mutual benefit. Then it will not be possible to say that the buyer provides the seller with independent services, separate from the supply contract.

By the way, the interpretation of this situation precisely as the provision of a service adds another problem to the parties. Since the payment for the service actually occurs in non-monetary funds, the parties will have to apply the provisions of clause 4 of Art. 168 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. In other words, in order to receive a VAT deduction, the supplier is forced to transfer the amount of VAT calculated on goods promotion services in a separate payment order.

The situation is very bad for suppliers with the payments that they have to make for the right to enter the retail network, for the right to supply goods to newly opened stores, for expanding the product range, etc. The regulatory authorities do not recognize such costs as economically justified. This is confirmed by the Letters of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 03.10.2006 N 03-03-04 / 1/677 and dated 17.10.2006 N 03-03-02 / 247, UFNS for Moscow dated 17.06.2005 N 20-12 / 43635 and from 23.05.2007 N 19-11 / 047634.

The old-fashioned financiers believe that suppliers are actually paying for what is the responsibility of the buyers themselves - retailers. In fact, at the present time, without these payments, it is simply impossible to get into online commerce. Suppliers have to fight for the right to supply in the same way as, for example, builders for the right to enter into a lease. At the same time, the payment for the right to conclude a lease agreement for some reason is not considered economically unreasonable (see, for example, Letter of the Federal Tax Service for Moscow dated 03.03.2005 N 20-12 / 14540). If the supplier cannot sell his products without the above payments or discounts, why cannot these costs be recognized as economically justified? The question is rhetorical.

The only plus of this situation is that these payments or discounts are not subject to VAT. They are not related to the activities of the seller of goods and their payment, therefore they are not covered by paragraphs. 2 p. 1 art. 162 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, which says that the tax base determined in accordance with Art. Art. 153 - 158 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, increases by the amounts received for goods, work or services sold related to their payment.

Note that there is a serious discrepancy between the financiers and the tax authorities. In the Letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated March 21, 2007 N MM-8-03 / [email protected] the tax authorities concluded that at least payments or discounts for the presence of the supplier's goods in the buyer's stores are payment for services. Consequently, these amounts are subject to VAT.

In general, suppliers are not to be envied. It remains to be hoped that the regulatory authorities themselves will be able to decide whether the fact of concluding a supply agreement with the seller, the supply of goods to the newly opened stores of the distribution network, the inclusion of commodity items in the assortment of stores are services. And then it will have to be determined - either to tax the disputed amounts of VAT, but allow them to be included in tax expenses, or not to recognize it in tax expenses, but not to include them in the VAT tax base.

Bonus "gingerbread"

Perhaps the stupidest thing a salesperson can do to encourage a customer is to provide him with a batch of free goods instead of a cash bonus. Not only will the seller himself have to charge VAT on the transferred goods, which the recipient cannot accept for deduction, but the buyer will actually have to pay income tax on the gift twice. This was stated quite unambiguously by the financial department in the Letter of 19.01.2006 N 03-03-04 / 1/44.

The naive taxpayer considered that if he pays income tax on a gratuitous basis, in the form of a bonus received from the seller of the goods, then upon its subsequent sale, it is no longer necessary to charge income tax. But no, it wasn’t there!

The financiers recalled that in accordance with paragraph 2 of Art. 248 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, property is considered received free of charge if the receipt of this property is not associated with the recipient's obligation to transfer property or property rights to the transferor, to perform work for him or provide services. According to clause 8 of Art. 250 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, non-operating income of a taxpayer is recognized, in particular, income in the form of property (work, services) received free of charge or property rights, with the exception of the cases specified in Art. 251 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

We discussed all this earlier. Upon receiving the goods free of charge, the recipient will have to pay income tax on the market price of the "gift".

However, in addition, when taxing profits from trade, the tax base does not include the amount of the margin, but the difference between the revenue of the trade organization and its expenses. According to paragraphs. 3 p. 1 of Art. 268 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, when selling purchased goods, the taxpayer has the right to reduce income from such an operation by the cost of acquiring these goods, determined in accordance with the accounting policy adopted by the organization for profit tax purposes.

Since the goods were received free of charge, then the organization has the proceeds from its sale, but there are no expenses for its acquisition. As a result, income tax will not be levied on the difference between income and expense, but on the entire proceeds (excluding VAT).

In the case of a manufacturing (non-trading) organization, the result will be the same. In pp. 1 p. 1 of Art. 254 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation states that material costs for calculating income tax are the costs of purchasing raw materials or materials. If the taxpayer did not have such costs, then there will be nothing to take into account when calculating the costs. Accordingly, that part of the proceeds from sales finished products, which in the general case would be "closed" by the cost of raw materials or materials, will be subject to income tax in the considered situation.

A.V. Anischenko

Journal Expert

"Topical issues

accounting

and taxation "

Currently, an increasing number of firms have begun to resort to using discounts.
The possibility of accounting for discounts in income tax expenses has appeared for sellers since January 1, 2006. At the same time, not all discounts can be applied for tax purposes.

Discount concept

Usually, a discount is understood as one of the terms of the transaction, which determines the amount of a possible decrease in the price of the goods specified in the contract, that is, a discount is a decrease in the previously declared price of the goods.

According to clause 1 of Article 424 of the Civil Code, the performance of the contract is paid at the price established by the agreement of the parties. In accordance with clause 2 of this article, a change in the price after the conclusion of the contract is allowed in the cases and on the conditions provided for by the contract or the law in established order.

Deciding whether to grant a discount

• both parties come to an agreement on the presentation of the discount through negotiations;
• the seller unilaterally decided to provide the buyer with a discount and simply informed him about it.

At the same time, the judicial authorities note that the legislator has not established a specific method for implementing discounts, therefore, the methods may be different, for example, providing goods or paying a premium for the amount of the discount, offsetting the discount in payment for the next batch of goods, etc. (Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the West Siberian District of 17 September 2007 in case No. F04-6332 / 2007 (Resolution)).

Types of discounts

• for the fulfillment of the plan, the terms of the contract or obligations for the timing of payment;
• upon prepayment;
• retro-discounts (provided based on the results of the buyer's activity in the previous month by distributing the discount amount according to the invoices of the current month);
• bonuses for the purchase of a certain volume of a particular product.

A. The discount is granted by changing the unit price of the product specified in the sales contract.

According to clauses 5 and 6.5 of the Regulation on accounting"Income of the organization" PBU 9/99 proceeds from the sale of products and goods, as well as receipts related to the performance of work and the provision of services, are income from ordinary activities, which are determined taking into account all discounts (capes).

In accounting and tax accounting, the seller determines the income according to the contract, taking into account the discount provided. The buyer also reflects in the expenses the cost of the goods, taking into account the discount, and the buyer does not have any non-operating income.

Thus, the discounts in question are taken into account in the period in which they are granted. There is no need to adjust the original price of the goods for these amounts, therefore, the provision of such a discount allows you not to make changes to the primary documents and eliminates the need to submit revised tax returns.

However, there are different points of view regarding the accounting of the discount in expenses when calculating income tax.

The Ministry of Finance believes that these discounts, pp. 19.1 p. 1 Article 265 of the Tax Code does not apply. For these amounts, the seller changes the primary tax accounting documents, and also submits an updated tax declaration for the period in which the goods (works, services) were sold (Letters of the Ministry of Finance dated May 2, 2006 No. 03-03-04 / 1/411) ...

The judicial authorities believe that it is possible to recognize a discount in the form of a decrease in the price of a unit of goods (works, services) only in the period of its provision. on the recalculation of tax liabilities to the budget applies to errors and distortions of the tax base, but not to the provision of discounts. At the time of their sale, the seller recorded the proceeds without errors based on the actual selling price. Therefore, he must account for the retroactively granted discount as part of the current period expenses. This means that there is no need to submit updated tax returns for VAT and income tax for the period of sale of the goods.

B. The buyer is given a discount on previous purchases without changing the unit price.

Initially, the shipment was made without taking into account the discount, therefore, it becomes necessary to adjust the price of the contract in the tax records of the seller and the buyer.

The amount of revenue should be determined by the seller, taking into account the discounts provided. If the discount is provided in the same tax period in which the income is taken into account without taking into account the discount, then the revenue is reflected in the amount of the actual income received, if in a different tax period, the seller needs to make the appropriate changes and submit revised declarations.

In this case, in the event of a change in the price of an already sold product, the seller makes corrections both to his invoice and to the invoice of the buyer.

In the case of an invoice with a reduced price in the period of its receipt, the buyer is at risk. After all, the inspectors may decide that the deduction was claimed before the moment when the taxpayer became entitled to it, and, most likely, they will offer the buyer to pay a penalty. However, the courts recognize as legitimate the VAT recovery by the buyer in the period of obtaining the discount, and not in the period of actual tax deduction.

Note also that regulatory authorities do not allow the issuance of "negative" invoices.

So, according to the Letter of the Ministry of Finance dated March 21, 2006 No. 03-04-09 / 05, in the event of a change in the price of the contract, the previously issued invoice must be corrected (both in the copy of the seller and in the copy of the buyer). Moreover, the buyer makes changes to the Sales Book for the tax period in which the invoice was registered, and the seller makes changes to the Sales Book during the initial invoicing period, and they both submit revised declarations.

Offering a discount is an important marketing ploy used by many companies to reward the buyer for certain actions, for example, for the regular purchase of large quantities of products.

The price discount is a decrease in the price set by the company for the goods sold to it, the services provided, the work performed<1>... The reasons for granting a discount can vary - from the above-mentioned regularly made significant purchases up to a special status of a buyer (for example, a regular customer), the onset of a season of temporary decrease in demand, and other reasons. The marketing policy of a company may imply the possibility of providing customers not only with those types of discounts that are widespread in world practice (for example, seasonal discounts, discounts for cash payments), but also other types of discounts due to the specifics of the company's activities, the specifics of the market for its goods, works or services.

<1>Usually the price initially set by the company for its product, work, service is referred to as the initial or base price.

At the same time, companies do not always properly document both the grounds and conditions2 for the provision of discounts, and the very fact of the provision of a discount. In view of this, both the company that provided the discount and its buyer (or a customer under a paid service agreement or a work contract) bear the risks of adverse tax consequences. Such consequences for the selling company (executor, contractor) is the need to determine the tax base for income tax and VAT proceeding from the initial, basic, price, i.e. the price from which the discount amount has not been deducted, which, in fact, means the need to pay a certain part of the income tax at the expense of own funds... An unfavorable consequence for the buyer may be the inclusion in the composition of non-operating income, which increase the tax base for income tax, of the amount of the discount received by him.

<2>The conditions for granting discounts include, in particular, the possible amounts of such discounts.

In the absence of proper documentation of the grounds and conditions for granting a discount and the very fact of granting a discount, the seller and its buyer will find it difficult to defend their position in a dispute with the tax authority both at the stage of filing objections to the tax audit act and in court.

So, in order to avoid financial losses from the seller and the buyer as a result of disputes with the tax authorities, firstly, the grounds and conditions for granting the discount and, secondly, the fact of granting the discount must be documented.

Grounds and conditions for granting discounts

between interdependent persons;

on commodity exchange (barter) transactions;

when making foreign trade transactions;

if there is a deviation of more than 20% upward or downward from the level of prices applied by the taxpayer for identical (homogeneous) goods (works, services) within a short period.

According to paragraph 3 of Art. 40 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation in these cases, when the prices of goods, works or services applied by the parties to the transaction deviate upward or downward by more than 20% of the market price of identical (similar) goods (works or services), the tax authority has the right to make a reasoned decision on additional tax and penalty charges calculated in such a way as if the results of this transaction were evaluated based on the application of market prices for the relevant goods, works or services.

At the same time, Art. 40 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation establishes that when determining the market price, the usual price markups or discounts when concluding transactions between independent parties are taken into account. In particular, discounts caused by:

• seasonal and other fluctuations in consumer demand for goods (works, services);
• loss of quality or other consumer properties by goods;
• expiration (approaching the expiration date) of the shelf life or sale of goods;
• marketing policy, including when promoting new products to the markets that have no analogues, as well as when promoting goods (works, services) to new markets;
• the implementation of prototypes and samples of goods in order to familiarize consumers with them.

In Art. 40 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation lists five reasons for discounts, however, in their economic essence, discounts, for example, caused by seasonal fluctuations in demand, are also determined by the marketing policy of the selling company, as well as discounts established in view of the promotion of a new product on the market, as well as any other justified, i.e. .e. a discount stimulating the buyer to take any action that brings economic benefits to the seller. Taking into account the above, it can be concluded that Art. 40 only says that the discount must be reasonable, and then the transaction price for the seller and for the buyer for tax purposes will be reduced by the amount of this discount. In other words, the discount should stimulate the buyer, for example:

• purchase a product, order the provision of a service, perform work in conditions of reduced demand for this product, service, work;
• to purchase a product, service, work in a larger than planned volume;
• to acquire such a product, service, work in the future for a long time, etc.

So, the decision of the authorized body of the selling company on what discounts the selling company provides, on the amount of these discounts, on which categories of buyers these discounts are provided, as well as in what the incentive nature of such discounts is expressed, should be properly documented. This decision can be called a documentary expression of the company's marketing policy.

It should be borne in mind that the need to strengthen market positions may require a sudden change in pricing policy, including policy in the field of discounts, for example, during negotiations with a strategically important potential buyer, the seller company may need to offer a potential buyer a discount, which was previously authorized body no decision was made, or else to agree to provide the potential buyer with the discount he declared. In such cases, it can be recommended to fix in the local act of the selling company the procedure for documenting discounts that go beyond the discounts already established by the company. It is desirable that such a documentary procedure would allow to record what exactly the incentive nature of the discount provided is expressed.

Registration of the fact of providing discounts

Firstly, the parties can agree on the provision of a discount even at the conclusion of the contract, then the price of goods, work, services will be determined in the contract itself, taking into account the discount.

Example 1... The price of the goods under this agreement is 768 (seven hundred sixty eight) rubles. per one unit of production, in addition, the buyer pays the supplier VAT - 138 (one hundred thirty eight) rubles. 24 kopecks The price of the goods is determined taking into account a 35% discount provided to the buyer on the basis of the order of the head of the supplier No. 132 dated March 25, 2003 as a buyer purchasing products in the amount of at least 20,000 (twenty thousand) pieces under one supply agreement.

It should be noted that the parties, even at the stage of negotiations, during which all the terms of the agreement are discussed, may come to an agreement on the provision of a discount when concluding an agreement on the given conditions. Such an obligation to provide a discount can be formalized in writing, in this case there is no need to duplicate the discount agreement in the contract.

Secondly, the parties can agree to provide a discount upon the occurrence of certain conditions (for example, upon reaching a certain volume of purchases) specified in the contract. In this case, the change in the price of the contract will be caused by the occurrence of these conditions.

Example 2. The price of the goods under this contract is 1200 (one thousand two hundred) rubles. per one unit of production, in addition, the buyer pays the supplier VAT - 216 (two hundred sixteen) rubles. In case of early (but not less than 1.5 months before the due date) fulfillment by the buyer of the obligation to pay for the goods, the supplier will provide the buyer with a discount of 24% of the amount of the repaid debt on the basis of order of the head of the supplier No. 132 of March 25, 2003.

If the discount is due to the contract and the occurrence of a certain condition, then the parties can draw up an act on the achievement of such conditions. As for the return Money constituting the amount of the discount, upon the occurrence of such conditions, the following should be noted. Given the wording of paragraph 4 of Art. 453 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation that the parties do not have the right to demand the return of what was performed by them under the obligation until the moment of amendment or termination of the contract, unless otherwise provided by law or by agreement of the parties, the parties to the contract in order to avoid the relevant risks should stipulate that the overpaid amount is subject to return to the buyer by the seller company (unless the obligation to return this overpaid amount is not otherwise terminated).

Example 3... On the basis of clause 5.6 of the supply agreement No. 459 of April 2, 2004, as well as on the basis of clause 14 of the order of the head of the supplier No. 132 of March 25, 2003, the parties drew up this act confirming that the supplier must provide the buyer with a discount of 149 867 (one hundred forty nine thousand eight hundred sixty seven) rub. Since payment under the supply agreement No. 459 dated April 2, 2004 was made by the buyer in full, the parties agreed that the amount of 149,867 rubles. is overpaid. The parties also agreed that the supplier's obligation to return the overpaid amount in the amount of 149,867 rubles. will be terminated: in part 59,000 (fifty-nine thousand) rubles. - offset with a homogeneous counterclaim of the supplier to the buyer for payment for the goods under the supply agreement No. 460 dated June 3, 2004; in the rest - by transferring the remaining amount of money to the buyer's current account specified in the supply agreement No. 459 dated April 2, 2004.

Thirdly, the parties can also agree on the provision of a discount in the period after the conclusion of the contract (and until the moment of its execution, since upon execution the contract terminates and it becomes impossible to change it).

In any of these cases, the discount agreement must be concluded in the form required by law.

List of transactions<3>, for which a mandatory written form is provided, is established by Art. 161 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. These are deals:

legal entities among themselves and with citizens;

citizens among themselves for an amount exceeding at least 10 times the minimum wage, and in cases stipulated by law - regardless of the amount of the transaction.

<3>The agreement is a multilateral transaction.

In accordance with paragraph 1 of Art. 452 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, an agreement on amending or terminating an agreement is made in the same form as the agreement, unless otherwise follows from the law, other legal acts, agreement or business customs.

According to Art. 162 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, non-observance of the simple written form of the transaction deprives the parties of the right in case of a dispute to refer to the confirmation of the transaction and its conditions to witness testimony, but does not deprive them of the right to provide written and other evidence. In cases directly specified in the law or in the agreement of the parties, non-compliance with the simple written form of the transaction entails its invalidity (for example, non-compliance with the simple written form of a foreign economic transaction entails the invalidity of the transaction). In accordance with Art. 160 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, a transaction in writing must be completed by drawing up a document expressing its content and signed by the person or persons making the transaction, or persons duly authorized by them. An agreement in writing can be concluded by drawing up one document signed by the parties, as well as by exchanging documents by means of postal, telegraph, teletype, telephone, electronic or other communication, allowing to reliably establish that the document comes from a party to the agreement. This also applies to agreements on changing the contract (in particular, to agreements on changing the price of the contract).

The main provisions on the conclusion of the contract are provided for in Art. 432 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. The contract is considered concluded if the parties have reached an agreement on all essential terms of the contract in the form required in the appropriate cases. Essential are the conditions on the subject of the contract, the conditions that are named in the law or other legal acts as essential or necessary for contracts of this type, as well as all those conditions regarding which, at the request of one of the parties, an agreement must be reached. The contract is concluded by sending an offer (proposal to conclude a contract) by one of the parties and its acceptance (acceptance of the proposal) by the other party. In accordance with Art. 433 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the contract is recognized as concluded at the time of receipt by the person who sent the offer, its acceptance.

An offer in accordance with Art. 435 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation is recognized a proposal addressed to one or several specific persons, which is quite specific and expresses the intention of the person who made the proposal, to consider himself to have concluded an agreement with the addressee who will accept the proposal. The offer must contain the essential terms of the contract.

Acceptance in accordance with Art. 438 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation recognizes the response of the person to whom the offer is addressed about its acceptance. The acceptance must be complete and unconditional. The performance by the person who received the offer, within the time period established for its acceptance, of actions to fulfill the terms of the contract specified in it (for example, the transfer of the seller company in response to the buyer's offer to provide him with a discount after the early payment of the goods on account of the discount) is considered acceptance, unless otherwise provided by law, otherwise legal acts or not specified in the offer.

In view of the above, all agreements between legal entities about discounts must be made in writing.

Considering that the change in the contract price does not affect the date of sale under the contract, when granting a discount, the tax base of the period in which the sale took place must be adjusted.

T. VASILIEVA,

Attorney at law, member of the expert council of ACG "Interexpertiza"

Many companies are eager to provide customers with discounts. But if the discount is more than 20% of the starting price, the tax office may wonder if you have applied Art. 40 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and whether you are transferring the goods on economically unjustified conditions or even free of charge. If a violation is found, taxes will be calculated in a new way. The same article 40 of the code will help to protect yourself from the claims of the tax authorities, if you use it correctly.

Ilya Pozdnyakov,

head of sales department, Moscow

• How to make discounts to avoid tax claims
• Discounts for individuals
• Discounts legal entities
• Types of discounts

In this article I will try to tell you in detail, how to make discounts right to tax office did not suspect you of dishonesty, as well as how to use article 40 of the Tax Code to your advantage.

Our company produces highly specialized goods. It is important to say about this at the very beginning, since marketing strategy an enterprise that deals with consumer goods and a manufacturer of products aimed at a narrow circle of buyers is significantly different. For example, mobile phones as a mass commodity, they very quickly fall in price and are pushed out of the market by more progressive counterparts, which makes it necessary to arrange sales with a large discount.

Best article of the month

We surveyed businessmen and found out what modern tactics help to increase the average check and frequency of purchases. regular customers... We have published tips and practical cases in the article.

Also in the article you will find three tools to determine the needs of customers and increase the average check. With these methods, employees always fulfill the up-sale plan.

In our case, the rate of innovation is not so high, the demand is limited and does not experience strong modifications. Therefore, our marketing policy is more focused on ensuring the loyalty of old customers and attracting new large customers.

How to correctly make discounts according to the law

In Art. 40 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation states that the tax authorities have the right to check the correctness of the application of prices for transactions when there is a deviation of more than 20% upward or downward from the price level. To minimize risk, price changes need to be justified. That is, it is necessary to draw up a document in which all price policy company (selling price of goods), the dependence of the price on various factors is indicated - the volume of sale, the order and term of payment, the importance of the client for the company. This document is the regulation on marketing policy. Thanks to him, the organization can set virtually any price for goods or services.

Division of counterparties

To systematize the provision of discounts, I divided all contractors into three conditional groups - an individual, a corporate client, a dealer. Individuals are private clients who purchase products for personal use. Legal entities working in a production similar to mine are corporate clients. Dealers include legal entities and individual entrepreneurs that carry out retail or wholesale individuals and legal entities and have conditions for warehouse storage, as well as distribution channels. Such structuring of counterparties allowed me, firstly, to share the responsibilities of managers, secondly, to simplify my task in drawing up a regulation on marketing policy, and thirdly, to provide each group of counterparties with their own discount conditions. To make sure that employees adhere to the adopted policy, I make sure to acquaint them with the regulation on the marketing policy in general and with the rules on how to make discounts to a certain group of customers in particular.

Discounts for individuals

The next step was to determine the amount of discounts and the conditions for their provision for different categories of clients.

For new clients, the criterion was the size of the account. When ordering for an amount from 10,000 to 50,000 rubles. the discount will be 10%, from 50,000 to 80,000 rubles. - 15%, from 80,000 to 150,000 rubles. - 20%, from 150,000 to 200,000 rubles. - 25%.

Discounts of different sizes can be set for the same volume of goods. It depends on the payment scheme: whether the client has made an advance payment or is working on deferred payment terms. Another factor affecting the size of the discount is the urgency of delivery (operational or planned) and the type of shipment (self-pickup or our delivery).

Let me give you an example. He turned to us new client, placed a large order (invoice amount - 200,000 rubles). According to the marketing policy of the company, he is entitled to a 25% discount. But the client installed as soon as possible performance of work - three days. Here the clause of the provision on allowances already comes into force (this will be discussed below). To fulfill the order, we have suspended serial production. It would seem that there is no need to make a discount. But the client is new, he needs to be encouraged, and we leave a discount, but not 25, but 10%. Thus, we maintain customer loyalty and do not violate Art. 40 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

Discount for legal entities

A different scheme for regular customers, they receive a 40% discount regardless of the invoice amount. This is fixed in the regulation, however, with a certain agreement on the production time and delivery conditions, the discount can be canceled. If the clause of the provisions on allowances comes into force (this will be discussed below), the amount of the check may generally be increased.

A similar scheme for providing discounts is designed for individuals (new customers) and corporate customers (regular customers). A separate clause of the regulation is devoted to working with dealers.

Dealer discount

Dealers are separate group, which plays an important role in increasing the recognition and popularity of the company's brand in new regions. Corporate clients-manufacturers, for example, furniture can increase sales on their own, but not critically, not several times. But a well-motivated dealer can increase sales by an order of magnitude. A dealer is, as a rule, a trading organization that can open new points retail, conclude an agreement with a new plant. This means that the dealer needs to be interested in selling and promoting my products, to offer him exceptional conditions.

In the regulation on marketing policy, in the "Dealers" section, the first item I wrote down was a 40% discount regardless of the invoice amount. With such a discount, the dealer can safely work with individuals and corporate clients on my terms, that is, to build a system of discounts depending on the amount of the invoice. At the same time, 40% is the initial discount for the dealer and it is equal to the discount for a regular corporate client. Thus, on the one hand, I offer dealers good conditions for cooperation, on the other hand, new dealers will not be able to compete with me as a manufacturer and win over my regular customers.

I am interested in the constant increase in the volume of orders. The regulation states: if the dealer monthly increases the purchase volume and reaches the average monthly invoice amount of 500,000 rubles. and more, the discount can be increased up to 45%; if the dealer has reached an average monthly purchase amount of 1.5 million rubles. and more, the discount can be increased up to 50%.

There is no definition of "discount" in the legislation on taxes and fees. In accordance with the customs of business turnover, a discount is usually understood as a decrease by the seller of the previously declared value of the goods. It is usually provided to a buyer who has fulfilled the conditions set by the seller.

How to make discounts in non-standard situations

In business, you need to be prepared for anything. Dumping from competitors, the emergence of new similar products, the need to bring products to a new region. To stay afloat, you need to quickly manage discounts. This is another clause in the marketing policy statement.

I indicated that in addition to all the conditions for granting discounts and the appointment of surcharges, factors such as the promotion of a new product to the market, the promotion of the company's products to new sales markets, consumer demand for manufactured products, seasonal demand for products, lack of orders or excessive workload, dumping should be taken into account. on the part of manufacturers of similar goods.

In this case, it is not necessary to indicate the exact amount of the discount, since you do not know what can happen in a given period of time. For example, in 2007, 70% of the population did not know that in 2008 there would be a banking crisis.

How to justify a discount

1. Seasonal or other fluctuations in consumer demand for goods (works, services)
2. Loss of quality or other consumer properties of goods
3. Expiration (approaching the expiration date) of the shelf life or sale of goods
4. Marketing policy, including when promoting new products to the markets that have no analogues, as well as when promoting goods (works, services) to new markets
5. Implementation of prototypes and samples of goods in order to familiarize consumers with them

Source: clause 3 of Art. 40 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation as amended by Federal Law of 09.07.1999 No. 154

About allowances

Marketing policy should take into account not only discounts and promotions, but also price increases. In Art. 40 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation clearly states that the tax authority may have questions if the price deviates by more than 20% in the direction of not only lowering, but also increasing.

We have a rather specific product, not related to widespread consumption, focused on a narrow circle of customers. The second feature: in addition to serial products manufactured at the enterprise, we work with non-standard orders. This allows you to keep the designers in good shape, plus an exclusive product always costs more (compare, for example, the price of a serial car and a hand-assembled car). The markups can vary from 10 to 100%, therefore, in the regulation on the company's marketing policy, I described in detail in which cases which rates are applied.

The first case is the production of non-standard products, when changes are made to the design of a serial product. For example, a product is made of a material atypical for this type of product, according to the customer's drawings (sketches), the size exceeds the standard, etc.

The second case is the execution of the order as soon as possible (we have from one to seven working days).

And third: in order to fulfill the client's order, the company is forced to resort to the help of firms - manufacturers of similar products (ordering a batch of goods, consultations on the design of the product). If expensive material is used in the manufacture of a non-standard product, we have the right to establish a surcharge based on its cost and the price of components.

How to protect your discounts

I understand that when applying large discounts there is a risk of displeasure with the tax authorities ( table 2). However, another thing is also obvious: when using a well-written regulation on marketing policy and systematizing marketing campaigns, you will have much more chances to defend your interests than a company that, although it refrains from large-scale sales promotion campaigns, uses discounts uncontrollably and haphazardly. I will support my opinion with the provisions of the law: in accordance with the Tax Code Russian Federation(Ch. 1, Art. 3, Clause 7) "all irreparable doubts, contradictions and ambiguities in the acts of legislation on taxes and fees are interpreted in favor of the taxpayer (payer of fees)." Therefore, I believe that our task is to act clearly and thoughtfully, and the task of the tax authority is to prove that we are acting to our own detriment. And it will be very difficult for them to do this if your marketing policy is correctly formulated.

Table 1. Types of applied discounts