Loss carryover rules

Loss carryover rules
 Losses acquired by the company in previous years can be recognized as specific expenses in the following tax periods. It would be bad if we did not note that the mechanism for such a transfer is provided for by the Tax Code.

In other words, in subsequent tax periods the company has the right to reduce the tax base by the amount of the tax loss (full or part thereof) acquired in previous years (Article 283 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

This is certainly one of the most effective legal ways to reduce a company's tax burden Accountants in Walsall. Note that this is not a privilege that is provided to the "chosen few", but a universal right. It is also possible that virtually all companies use it. It would be bad if we did not note that, therefore, at first we will consider the general rules for the transfer of losses to the future.

Please note: only tax loss can be carried forward, not accounting loss. After all, the extreme may, to put it mildly, include expenses that are not taken into account in taxation of profits.

Transfer rules

It is necessary to carry forward losses in accordance with certain rules. Imagine one fact that we list them.

1. And it is not even necessary to say that the loss can be postponed for less than 10 years. It can be taken into account in any tax period during these 10 years. It goes without saying that the loss that has not been carried over to the next year can be transferred to the next one of the remaining 9 years, as it were (clause 2 of article 283 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

2. Losses are repaid in the order of priority of their occurrence by years. The first to write off the loss that was acquired earlier. Newly acquired losses need to be included in the tax base after the past is eventually settled. Few people know that if the company, therefore, refused to write off the earliest loss, it has the right to begin to recognize the most recent loss (clauses 2, 3 of Art. 283 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

3. Everyone has known for a long time that it is possible to carry forward losses not in every tax period, but with interruptions. With all this, the period of time during which it is possible to reduce the tax base should not be more than the established 10 years. I would like to emphasize that the losses not written off in this period remain unpaid (paragraph 3, clause 2, article 283 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

4. Losses can be recognized both based on the results of the tax period and on the basis of the reporting periods, if profit is made in them (Letter of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation of June 1, 2006 N 03-03-04 / 1/492).

5. The amount of the loss to be carried forward is not limited - you can transfer the entire amount of the loss or its part.

6. And it is not even necessary to say that the company does not have the right, in the end, to carry forward losses for those periods when it did not conduct activities (Letter of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation of February 8, 2007 N 03-07-11 / 13 ).

Please note: to pay off certain specific losses, you can use only profit from certain types of company activities:
- for losses from the activities of service industries and farms - profit from this same activity (Article 275.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation);
- for losses on operations with securities, which seem to be circulating on the organized securities market, - profit from operations with such securities (Article 280 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation);
- for losses on operations with securities that are not traded on the organized securities market - profit from operations with the same securities (Article 280 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation);
- for losses on operations with financial instruments of forward transactions that are not traded on the organized market - profit from such operations (Article 304 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation);
- for losses from transactions on the assignment or assignment of the right to claim - in a special procedure established by Art. 279 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

All of these rules, as it were, give broad capabilities to reduce the tax base at the expense of "old" losses. But it should be kept in mind that by reducing the tax base "to zero", you can displease the tax inspectorate. It should be noted that for her the unprofitableness of the company, after all, is the main aspect for selection for on-site inspection.

It is better not to tease the inspectors and, in general, to leave at least a small profit to taxation.

Example. Everyone knows that by the end of 2008, Aktiv CJSC incurred a loss on its core activities in the amount of 600,000 rubles.
In subsequent years, the company made a profit:

- in 2009 - 350,000 rubles;
- in 2010 - 250,000 rubles;
- in 2011 - 150,000 rubles.

Taking into account the tax policy of the office, the accountant disposed of this loss and transferred:

- for 2009 - 300,000 rubles;
- for 2010 - 200,000 rubles;
- for 2011 - 100,000 rubles.

Thus, at the beginning of 2012 in the accounting of "Asset", the loss of 2008 will be written off one hundred percent. For the period from 2009 to 2011, the company transferred the loss so that the profit in the amount of RUB 50,000 remained taxable.