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- Payment is not red: tax authorities will check trucking companies for financial frauds
Payment is not red: tax authorities will check trucking companies for financial frauds
The Federal Tax Service will check transportation and logistics companies for tax payments. This request was made to the Federal Service by public activists. Financial violations by "gray" carriers have approached 920 billion rubles in a year, according to market participants. Popular frauds include paying wages in envelopes, illegal VAT refunds, and avoiding payment in the Platon system. Road carriers believe that the inspections will not help to whitewash the industry, and hope for a reduction in VAT rates and insurance payments.
What violations have been recorded by road carriers?
Participants of the road transportation market, the AvtoGruzEx association and the Public Consumer Initiative (PCI) told Izvestia about financial frauds of transport and logistics companies (TLC), which could lead to underpayment of about 920 billion rubles of tax and insurance payments for the year. The violations include issuing money in envelopes, understatement of insurance premiums, VAT write-offs and unregistered processing, the Public Consumer Initiative (PCI) said.
- The results of the research we conducted in November 2024 show that the issuance of "gray" salaries is practiced by more than 50% of TLCs, - Oleg Pavlov, chairman of OPI, told Izvestia. - We have sent a letter to the Federal Tax Service (FTS) with a request to conduct inspections.
Among the violations typical for TLC, the letter also names improper execution of labor contracts, lack of mandatory medical examinations and overtime accounting, and ignoring accidents at work.
The information is confirmed by AvtoGruzEx, an association of road carriers and forwarders. According to its data, more than 60% of such companies in Russia reduce tax payments for salaries and to optimize costs.
- As a rule, "gray" carriers pay tax and insurance contributions only from the minimum wage, and the rest is spent unofficially," Vadim Filatov, president of AvtoGruzEx, told Izvestia. - This leads to the development of unfair competition in the industry, dumping and reduction of tariffs by 15-20% of the market level.
Market participants, members of AvtoGruzEx, have estimated that tax losses due to "gray" wages in the industry have reached 300 billion rubles, which was announced during a meeting in late November with First Deputy Minister of Transport Valentin Ivanov.
- Carriers often do not employ employees or underestimate the official salary level," ITECO President Evgeny Babaev told Izvestia. - Medium and large companies use a split scheme, when drivers are employed as SMEs (small and medium-sized business organizations) and use a benefit in the form of a 50% discount on social tax.
This is easily verified by two criteria - the ratio of the number of employees of the company to the transport in possession, as well as the level of average wages in the organization (bona fide carriers have at least five minimum wages), says a market participant.
The central office of the Federal Tax Service, after learning of the OPI appeal, instructed regional departments to organize inspections in the industry. As of the end of December 2024, the Sverdlovsk and Nizhny Novgorod FTS departments began to carry out these activities, follows from the responses of regional departments to the OPI. Izvestia has familiarized itself with the documents.
According to AvtoGruzEx, in addition to "gray" salaries, VAT refund frauds are widespread.
- One of the most popular models is the acquisition of "paper" VAT, when a company supposedly pays for services/goods of "counterparties", but in practice does not acquire anything, - added Vadim Filatov.
Unscrupulous carriers create two legal entities: one under the general taxation system, the other under the simplified one. On the basis of the first one all expenses with VAT are incurred, and on the second one - the rest, thus obtaining a high level of value added tax reimbursement, says the market participant.
- About 80% of carriers are exempt from VAT, working on the simplified system or patent, but customers still reimburse it through intermediaries (freight forwarders), - said Evgeny Babaev. - It is difficult for the Federal Tax Service to promptly identify such schemes.
According to ITECO, due to illegal VAT reimbursement in the industry, budget losses may approach 500 billion rubles a year. Avoidance of toll payment in the Platon system leads to losses of 120 billion rubles a year. Drivers bypass toll collection points, hide license plates, use "jammers" of on-board GLONASS devices, said Vadim Filatov. Often it's more profitable for them to pay a fine of 5 thousand rubles than to refuse special devices, he added.
"Izvestia" sent requests to the Federal Tax Service, the Ministry of Transport. The Ministry of Finance replied that these issues are in the competence of the Federal Tax Service.
How to solve the problem of underpayment of taxes by road carriers
According to ITECO data, the share of expenses on the labor payment fund (LPF) and taxes is 35-40% of the cost of transportation services. It is not surprising that some carriers reduce costs at their expense.
- Inspections of parent organizations that artificially underestimate profitability and tax base can reveal "gray" schemes," said Anton Kuznetsov, Deputy Chief Accountant of ILC. - But it is not clear how to identify counterparties if they do not have direct contracts with clients.
According to FM Logistic in Russia, truck owners have a common practice of paying for labor with fuel. They overestimate the norms of diesel consumption or turn a blind eye to its "overburning".
- It is not uncommon to convert part of the trucking cost into liters and transfer it to a fuel card," Eduard Mironov, Director of Procurement for Transportation Services of this company, told Izvestia. - Unfortunately, incoming controls do not always reveal these violations.
- We believe that it is possible to fight the "gray" transportation market by reducing the VAT rate at least to the level when the economic sense in fraud is lost, i.e. to bring it to 10%, - said Evgeny Babaev. - Reducing the rate will not only not lead to a loss of the budget, but will contribute to its replenishment by eliminating illegal VAT refunds.
AvtoGruzEx Association sees the solution to the problem in the digitalization of the industry.
- In the register of carriers it is necessary to specify the parameters of companies that help to assess their integrity," says Vadim Filatov. - These are the ratio of payroll to the number of employees, VAT-deductible expenses in relation to revenue and the number of employees in relation to the vehicle fleet.
- To whiten the market, it would not be superfluous to increase fines for non-payment of tolls under the "Platon" system up to 30 thousand rubles and equalize them with fines for non-payment of roads of "Avtodor", - believes Evgeny Babaev.
It would not hurt to introduce the practice of using an electronic bill of lading and reduce the rate of insurance premiums to 15% (50% discount) if the average salary exceeds five minimum wages, he added.
