Tell me, please. Is it possible for the accounting policy to provide for all expenses of an enterprise for profit tax purposes to be classified as direct, without indirect ones?

An enterprise’s costs cannot be attributed only to direct ones, without indirect ones. In tax accounting, an organization's expenses for production and sales are divided into two groups: direct and indirect. This procedure is established by paragraph 1 of Article 318 and the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

The rationale for this position is given below in the materials of the Glavbukh System

In tax accounting, an organization’s expenses for production and sales are divided into two groups:

straight;
indirect.

The organization must establish the exact list of direct costs associated with production and sales independently (clause 1 of Article 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Develop such a list and consolidate it in your accounting policies for tax purposes. The formation of a list of direct costs must be economically justified. Costs must be distributed taking into account the characteristics of the technological process and industry specifics. At the same time, only those expenses that cannot be classified as direct for objective reasons can be recognized as indirect. For example, the costs of raw materials and materials that are included in the unit cost of production are always direct and cannot be classified as indirect costs. Similar clarifications are contained in the letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated February 24, 2011 No. KE-4-3/2952. The validity of this conclusion is confirmed by arbitration practice (see, for example, the ruling of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated May 13, 2010 No. VAS-5306/10, the resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Ural District dated February 25, 2010 No. F09-799/10-S3).

When determining the list of direct expenses for tax accounting, an organization can use a similar list that it uses in accounting (letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated May 30, 2012 No. 03-03-06/1/283).

Costs that relate to direct expenses are included in the tax base as products are sold (work is performed), in the cost of which they are taken into account (paragraph 2, clause 2, article 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Indirect costs should be taken into account in the costs of the period when they were incurred (clause 2 of Article 318, clause 1 of Article 272 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

The organization provides services

Organizations that provide services can distribute expenses into direct and indirect in the same order as production ones.* They should also create a list of direct expenses and consolidate it in their accounting policies. However, there is a significant difference between the rules for recognizing expenses for manufacturing organizations and for organizations that specialize in providing services.

For tax purposes, a service is recognized as an activity whose results do not have material expression and are sold and consumed in the process of its implementation (clause 5 of Article 38 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). In this regard, organizations providing services (for example, audit companies) are not required to distribute direct costs between the costs of the current tax (reporting) period and the cost of services not accepted by customers at the end of this period (paragraph 3, paragraph 2, article 318 of the Tax Code RF, letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated June 15, 2011 No. 03-03-06/1/348). They have the right to recognize all expenses incurred (both direct and indirect) in the current tax (reporting) period. In this case, such a procedure for accounting for direct costs must be established in the accounting policy ().

Trade Organization

For trade organizations, the list of direct expenses is fixed. It is listed in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Direct costs include:*

purchase price of goods. The organization has the right to determine the procedure for its formation independently. Thus, the purchase price of goods can include expenses associated with the acquisition of goods. These are, for example, warehouse, insurance and other costs paid by another organization. Fix the selected option in your accounting policy for tax purposes;
costs associated with the delivery of goods to the organization’s warehouse (if they are not included in the purchase price).

All other costs of trading organizations, except for non-operating ones, are classified as indirect costs (paragraph 3 of Article 320 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Elena Popova, State Advisor to the Tax Service of the Russian Federation, 1st rank

Tax accounting

Taxpayers using the accrual method, when determining the costs of production and sales of the reporting (tax) period, divide all costs incurred during this period into direct and indirect.

Direct costs are subject to distribution between work in progress, unsold and finished products (works, services) sold in the reporting (tax) period. In other words, direct expenses relate to the expenses of the current period as products, works, and services are sold, in the cost of which they are taken into account.

The principles of distribution are established in Art. 319 Tax Code of the Russian Federation. The taxpayer determines the specific procedure for distributing direct costs for work in progress and finished products (work performed, services rendered) in tax accounting policy . This procedure cannot be changed during 2 tax periods.

Organizations providing services has the right write off direct expenses fully in the current reporting (tax) period without distribution. This right must be enshrined in tax accounting policy .

General direct costs that cannot be attributed directly to a specific type of product (work, service) are distributed among them in the manner established in tax accounting policy .

Indirect expenses are recognized for profit tax purposes in the reporting (tax) period in which they are incurred.

According to paragraph 1 of Art. 318 Tax Code of the Russian Federation as part of direct expenses can be included, in particular:

1) material costs:

Raw materials, basic and auxiliary materials;

Components;

Purchased semi-finished products;

2) remuneration of workers of main and auxiliary production, shop personnel;

3) social contributions for the remuneration of the above-mentioned employees;

4) depreciation of fixed assets used in the production of products, works, and services.

List of direct expenses the taxpayer establishes independently tax accounting policy .

Costs associated with production and sales that are not included in direct costs are classified as indirect.

When forming the composition of direct expenses in tax accounting, the taxpayer can take into account the list of direct expenses associated with the production and sale of goods (performance of work, provision of services), used for accounting purposes. According to the Ministry of Finance, this is precisely what will ensure compliance with the requirements of Art. Art. 252, 318 and 319, according to which the taxpayer’s choice regarding expenses that form the cost of manufactured and sold products in tax accounting must be economically justified (letter dated December 29, 2011 No. 07-02-06/260).

Accounting

In accounting, the cost of finished products can be determined in one of the following ways (set in ):

1. At production cost, when the cost includes:

General production expenses (Debit 25 Credit 02, 10, 23, 69, 70);

General expenses (Debit 26 Credit 02, 10, 23, 69, 70).

The formation of the cost of finished products is reflected in the following transactions:

Debit 20 Credit 25 – general production (shop) expenses are written off to the main production (the method of distribution by type of product/production is established in accounting policy );

Debit 20 Credit 26 – general business expenses are written off to the main production (the method of distribution by type of product/production is established in accounting policy );

Debit 43 Credit 20 – the cost of finished products has been formed.

In accounting, expenses recorded on balance sheet account 20 are called direct, and on balance sheet accounts 25 and 26 - overhead. If an organization keeps accounting and tax records of finished products in the same way, then for tax purposes the direct expenses will be those recorded in accounts 20, 25 and 26, that is, direct and overhead in accounting.

The cost of products sold (sold) is reflected by entries (by type of product): Debit 90.2 Credit 43.

2. At reduced (truncated) production cost, when the cost includes:

Direct expenses (Debit 20 Credit 10, 21, 28, 69, 70);

General production expenses (Debit 25 Credit 02, 10, 23, 69, 70).

In this case, the cost of finished products produced in the reporting month is formed by the following entries: Debit 20 Credit 25 and Debit 43 Credit 20.

Cost of products sold (sold): Debit 90.2 Credit 43.

General business (administrative) expenses are written off to the cost of sales: Debit 90.2 Credit 26.

To bring accounting and tax accounting closer together, the list of direct expenses in tax accounting policy should include:

Direct expenses related to main production (account 20);

Overhead expenses related to general production expenses (account 25).

Indirect expenses for profit tax purposes will include administrative expenses recorded on account 26.

An organization's expenses represent a decrease in economic benefits due to the disposal of assets. The latter may be cash or other property. Expenses of an organization are also the occurrence of obligations, which leads to a decrease in the capital of the enterprise (except for the reduction of deposits by decision of the founders).

Classification

Depending on sales (production) volumes, variable and fixed costs are distinguished. The first ones change in proportion to the number of products manufactured, services provided, and work performed. Fixed costs exist regardless of production volume. This category includes some taxes, security payments, depreciation, rental payments, management salaries, and so on. Costs may be overhead or indirect. This classification is carried out according to the connection between costs and the technological process. Depending on the level of aggregation, costs can be single element or complex. There are also direct and indirect production costs.

Tax Code of the Russian Federation

In Art. 271-273 ch. 25 for entities paying income tax, two options are provided for determining income and costs:

Accrual method. It is considered universal and can be used in all cases.
This option is convenient in some cases, but has its limitations.

According to clause 1 of the Tax Code, payers using the accrual method are required to divide costs into indirect and direct. This is due to different conditions for their recognition in tax reporting. Let's take a closer look at what indirect costs are and what applies to them.

general characteristics

Refers to the tax (reporting) period as goods/work/services are sold. They are included in the cost of products under Art. 319 NK. Indirect costs are determined in a different way. What does this mean? They represent a set of costs related to the technological process that are not economically feasible or cannot be attributed directly to certain types of products. The distribution of indirect expenses is carried out in full in the same tax period in which they arose. This means that even if there was no sale, these costs reduce taxable profit for a given time period.

Indirect costs: what are they?

These costs are divided into two main categories:

General economic. They are not directly related to the technological cycle of the enterprise. Accounting for indirect expenses in this case is carried out according to the account. 26. Such costs relate to the management of the technological process.
General production. These include general workshop costs for maintenance, organization and management of the technological process. Accounting entries are made to the account. 25.

Costs of operation and maintenance of equipment

They represent indirect costs. What does this mean? This category includes costs for:

General shop costs

These indirect costs relate to process control. These include costs associated with:

Preparation and organization of production operations.
Contents of the management staff of technological departments.
Depreciation of structures, buildings, production equipment.
Ensuring normal working conditions.
Maintenance and repair of structures, equipment, buildings.
Training and career guidance of personnel.

General expenses

Labor costs. We are talking, in particular, about recruitment, selection, training of managers, training, and retraining for advanced training.
Technological management costs.
Payment for services received from external organizations.
Production management expenses.
Maintenance of buildings, equipment, structures.
Costs for managing supply, procurement, financial and sales activities.
Mandatory taxes, fees, deductions and payments according to the procedure prescribed by law.

A specific feature of general business costs is that they are unchanged within the scale base. They can be corrected by governing decisions. The degree of their coverage can be changed by the volume of sales.

Scale base

In management analysis, it should be understood as a specific interval of sales/production volume, within which costs have a clearly defined behavior. For example, an enterprise has a machine park of 10 units at its disposal. 1 million products are produced annually. Depreciation on fixed assets is 500 thousand rubles. Management decided to double production volume. For this purpose, an additional 10 machines were put into operation. The scale base up to this point was 0-1 million products. After increasing the machine park, it became 1-2 million.

Overhead and basic costs

This classification is carried out according to the purpose of costs. Overheads are expenses related to the management of an enterprise. The main costs are resources of all types. These are, in particular:

Objects of labor in the form of basic materials, raw materials, purchased semi-finished products.
Depreciation of fixed assets.
Salaries of workers involved in the technological (main) process.

These costs arise from the production of products. These expenses form a significant part of the costs in any enterprise. Overhead costs arise during the implementation of management functions. In their purpose, role and nature, they differ significantly from production tasks. Such costs usually relate to the organization of the enterprise's activities. They are included in accounting entries using the cost transfer method.

Cost sharing procedure

Determining which costs are indirect and which are direct depends on the specifics of the enterprise's activities. In particular, the company can:

For trading enterprises, the distribution of indirect costs and direct costs is carried out regardless of the method of determining income tax. As mentioned above, this can be an accrual method or a cash calculation option. Direct costs include:

Costs for delivering products to the consumer's warehouse, if they are not included in the price of the product.
The cost of purchasing products sold during the tax period.

Direct costs are included in the calculation as products are sold. All other expenses, with the exception of non-operating expenses, are classified as indirect. These costs reduce sales income for the current month. Direct costs are written off as purchased items are sold, in the cost of which they are included. Indirect expenses are taken into account when calculating income tax.

Enterprises engaged in the production of goods

For manufacturing companies, the list of direct costs is established in Art. 318, paragraph 1 of the Tax Code. This category includes costs for:

Purchase of materials and raw materials used in the production of products or performance of work, components used during installation, semi-finished products subject to additional processing.
Salaries of employees involved in the technological process, calculation of contributions for compulsory (medical and social) insurance and against occupational diseases and accidents.
Depreciation of fixed assets involved in the production of goods.

All other expenses, except non-operating expenses, are classified as indirect.

Enterprises providing services

For such companies, the division into direct and indirect costs can be carried out in the same way as for production. However, there is a significant difference in the rules for recognizing costs by one or the other. A service should be understood as an activity whose result does not have material expression. It is realized and consumed in the course of implementation. In this regard, companies providing services are not required to distribute direct costs between the expenses of the current period and the price of services that were not accepted by customers at the end of the period. This was stated in the Letter of the Ministry of Finance dated June 15, 2011. Such enterprises can recognize all expenses (both indirect and direct) in the current period. This procedure must be enshrined in the company’s financial policy.

No profit

If no income was received during the reporting period, then the company can recognize only indirect expenses. Direct costs included in the balance of unsold products cannot be used in profit calculations. If the company has not sold anything, then, accordingly, it has no direct costs. As for indirect expenses, they are not tied to the revenue received and cannot be taken into account in the current period. At the same time, if a specific cost does not generate direct income, this does not mean that it is unreasonable. It is enough that it is necessary to carry out the activity, the result of which will be the profit received. Indirect costs, therefore, can be taken into account in reducing the tax base even when the revenue has not yet been received. This refers to income in the current period.

1C: indirect costs

Methods for determining costs in tax documentation are described in the appropriate register. The user must independently indicate the list of direct costs. Everything that is not indicated in this register is interpreted by the program as indirect costs. The company approves direct costs in its financial policy. Thus, it is advisable to register the list through the appropriate tab. To do this, go to "Income Tax". Then you need to click on “Specify the list (list) of direct costs.” If the information register does not contain entries, the program will offer to make them automatically. Each item in it is presented as a condition for recognizing direct costs. The actual division of costs in tax reporting is carried out at the end of the month by a regulatory document that closes the accounting accounts (26, 25, 23, 20).

Stages of cost recognition in the program

Let's consider how the document closing the accounting accounts will be “reasoned” in order to divide expenses into indirect or direct. Simplified, the following stages can be distinguished:

For the current period (for example, March 2012) for an enterprise in the "Posting Journal" register, the document searches for all records of a certain type.
Among the found items, those whose date is no earlier than in the register template “Methods for determining indirect and direct costs in tax accounting” are selected for subsequent analysis.
If the “Division” attribute is not specified in the template, then records specified in any division are considered.
Failure to complete a “Cost Item” does not mean that any such items will be considered. Only those that have the value “Other costs” in the “Type of expense” line are taken into account.

If the entry in the financial statements satisfies the above conditions, the amount will be classified as direct costs. If an expense is discovered in accounting for which there is no suitable template in the register, then in the accounting system it will be recognized as indirect. His program will debit the corresponding subaccount. sch. 90.08.

Important point

It should be understood that until the closing date of the month, the enterprise’s costs for production are not divided. According to the settings of the chart of accounts, they are reflected as costs at the time of recording a business transaction in accounting and tax accounting. Besides this, there is another important point. You should understand under what specific settings certain postings appear in the control unit and control unit. The state of the “direct costing method” checkbox will affect the preparation of entries exclusively in accounting when closing the month. This position does not concern NU in any way. In tax accounting, costs are either cost or written off depending on their nature. Direct costs are transferred at the end of the month to the debit of the account. 90.02.1, which records revenue from activities with the main taxation system. Indirect expenses are directly charged to the debit of the account. 90.08.1.

Conclusion

The exact list of direct costs related to sales and production is determined by the enterprise independently. This list should be included in the company's financial policy. The distribution of costs is carried out taking into account the specifics of the industry and the technological process. The formation of a list of costs must have an economic justification. Indirect costs can only be recognized as those that cannot be classified as direct costs for objective reasons. For example, the costs of materials and raw materials are included in the cost of products. Such costs are always direct and cannot be indirect.

The Tax Code gave organizations the right to independently decide which expenses are classified as direct and which as indirect. However, the law provides only an approximate list of direct costs. Obviously, from the point of view of tax optimization, it is beneficial for the taxpayer to narrow the list of costs related to direct expenses. However, this approach may lead to tax risks.

The taxpayer has the right to independently determine the list of direct expenses

In accordance with paragraph 1 of Art. 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, production and sales expenses incurred during the reporting (tax) period are divided into.
To direct expenses may include, in particular:
- material costs determined in accordance with paragraphs. 1 and 4 paragraphs 1 art. 254 Tax Code of the Russian Federation;
- expenses for remuneration of personnel involved in the production of goods, performance of work, provision of services, as well as expenses for compulsory pension insurance, used to finance the insurance and funded parts of the labor pension, for compulsory social insurance in case of temporary disability and in connection with maternity , compulsory medical insurance, compulsory social insurance against industrial accidents and occupational diseases, accrued on the specified amounts of labor costs;
- the amount of accrued depreciation on fixed assets used in the production of goods, works, and services.
To indirect expenses include all other amounts of expenses, with the exception of non-operating expenses determined in accordance with Art. 265 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, carried out by the taxpayer during the reporting (tax) period.
In paragraph 1 of Art. 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation states that the taxpayer has the right to independently determine the list of direct costs associated with the production of goods (performance of work, provision of services), securing his choice.
Thus, the taxpayer has the right to independently determine the list of direct expenses, fixing it in the accounting policy. Chapter 25 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation does not contain provisions limiting the taxpayer in attributing certain expenses to production and sales, incl. expenses in the form of insurance premiums, direct or indirect expenses. This is indicated in the Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated May 25, 2010 N 03-03-06/2/101.
In this case, the taxpayer can use for profit tax purposes the list of direct expenses approved in accounting. In accordance with paragraph 3 of Art. 1 of the Federal Law of November 21, 1996 N 129-FZ "On Accounting" one of the main tasks of accounting is the formation of complete and reliable information about the activities of the organization and its property status, necessary for internal users of accounting statements - managers, founders, participants and owners of property organizations, as well as external investors, creditors and other users of financial statements.
Thus, according to financiers, when forming the composition of direct expenses in tax accounting, the taxpayer can take into account the list of direct expenses associated with the production and sale of goods (performance of work, provision of services), used for accounting purposes. This conclusion was made in Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated December 19, 2011 N 03-03-06/1/834.

The taxpayer does not have the right to arbitrarily narrow the list of direct expenses

It should be noted that the organization does not have the right to artificially reduce the list of direct costs. When assigning expenses to one or another group (type), one should proceed from their nature. Thus, the court found that in the accounting policy the taxpayer classified as direct expenses the wages of personnel involved in the production of finished products (works, services), the amount of unified social tax and the costs of compulsory pension insurance used to finance the insurance and funded part of the labor pension accrued for amounts related to direct labor costs.
The organization has not approved the mechanism for distributing direct expenses using economically justified indicators for tax accounting purposes.
For accounting purposes, the order-by-order method of accounting for production costs is used to group production costs, calculate product costs and generate production results.
For the purpose of maintaining tax and accounting records, the organization has defined various methods for allocating production costs. At the same time, for accounting purposes, expenses are recorded on the basis of primary accounting documents, and for tax purposes, expenses are written off in an arbitrary manner (irrespective of the relevant accounting documents). At the same time, the organization’s choice of method for distributing direct and indirect costs must be justified by the technological process and be economically justified.
Types of material costs are named in paragraphs. 1 and 4 paragraphs 1 art. 254 Tax Code of the Russian Federation.
Firstly, these are the costs of purchasing raw materials and (or) materials used in the production of goods (performance of work, provision of services) and (or) forming their basis or being a necessary component in the production of goods (performance of work, provision of services).
Secondly, these are the costs of purchasing components that undergo installation and (or) semi-finished products that undergo additional processing from the taxpayer.
This list (wages, depreciation, raw materials, components and semi-finished products) can be narrowed or expanded by the organization at its discretion. There are no restrictions. However, according to the requirements of Art. 252 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the taxpayer’s decision must be justified and depends primarily on the type of activity being carried out.
Taking into account the above, the court found that the company unlawfully narrowed the provisions given in paragraph 1 of Art. 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, a list of direct expenses, excluding from direct expenses the costs of the enterprise for the acquisition of raw materials and materials used in the production of products (performance of work, provision of services) and (or) forming their basis or being a necessary component in the production of products (performance of work, provision of services) services), without any economic justification.
Thus, materials and purchased components, the cost of which is written off as the cost of orders for the main production, are directly included in the composition of the manufactured product, forming its basis, or are a necessary component in the manufacture of products, i.e. should be classified as direct expenses and subject to income tax. These conclusions were made in the Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Ural District dated May 6, 2010 N F09-3091/10-C3 in case N A71-12937/2009-A25.
A similar position is given in another court verdict. In particular, the court found that the taxpayer unlawfully narrowed the provisions given in paragraph 1 of Art. 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, a list of direct expenses, excluding the material costs of the enterprise from direct expenses for profit tax purposes without any economic justification.
Thus, materials and purchased components, the cost of which is written off as the cost of orders for the main production, are part of the manufactured product, forming its basis, or are a necessary component in the manufacture of products.
Consequently, the specified types of costs for materials are direct costs, because they can be attributed directly to the product being manufactured, the work being performed, and they cannot be attributed for the purposes of Ch. 25 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation to indirect costs (Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Ural District dated February 25, 2010 N F09-799/10-C3 in case N A71-8082/2009-A5).
So, while providing the taxpayer with the opportunity to independently determine the accounting policy, including the formation of the composition of direct expenses, the Tax Code of the Russian Federation does not consider this process as depending solely on the will of the taxpayer. On the contrary, these standards classify direct costs as costs directly related to the production of goods (performance of work, provision of services). Attention is drawn to this in the Determination of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated May 13, 2010 N VAS-5306/10 in case No. A71-8082/2009.
From the norms of Art. Art. 252, 318, 319 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, it follows that the taxpayer’s choice regarding expenses that form the cost of manufactured and sold products in tax accounting must be economically justified (Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated December 29, 2011 N 07-02-06/260).

Lists of direct and indirect expenses should be fixed in the accounting policy

The Ministry of Finance of Russia emphasized that the taxpayer has the right to independently determine a justified list of direct expenses associated with the production of goods (performance of work, provision of services), which relate to the expenses of the current reporting (tax) period, as products, works, and services are sold (Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated November 29, 2011 N 03-03-06/1/785).
The list of direct expenses provided for in paragraph 1 of Art. 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation is not closed, but includes types of direct expenses that can be taken into account by all organizations that are payers of corporate income tax.
At the same time, on the basis of para. 10 p. 1 art. 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the taxpayer has the right in his accounting policy for tax purposes to determine, along with those provided for in paragraph 1 of Art. 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and other direct expenses associated with the production of goods (performance of work, provision of services), which, taking into account the specific type of activity of the taxpayer, can also be considered as direct expenses when calculating corporate income tax.
Lists of direct and indirect expenses must be determined in the accounting policy for tax purposes. Without this, it will be problematic for the organization to justify classifying certain expenses as indirect. To illustrate this, consider the following example from the practice of arbitration courts.
During the audit, the tax inspectorate found that the company, for profit tax purposes, as part of expenses associated with production and sales, took into account as indirect expenses the costs of compulsory pension insurance, used to finance the insurance and funded parts of the labor pension, subject to inclusion in direct expenses.
The court found that the procedure for accepting expenses for compulsory pension insurance for tax purposes by an enterprise has not been determined. In its accounting policy, the company established that direct costs are determined by it in accordance with Art. 318 Tax Code of the Russian Federation. A special procedure for the distribution of costs between direct and indirect expenses and a specific list of direct expenses are not defined in the accounting policy.
Based on the foregoing, the court concluded that the controversial costs of compulsory pension insurance, used to finance the insurance and funded parts of the labor pension, the enterprise should have taken into account as part of direct expenses (Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Volga-Vyatka District dated November 20, 2009 in case No. A82-7247 /2008-99).

Features of accounting for wages and salaries

Expenses for remuneration of personnel involved in the production of goods, performance of work, provision of services are included in the approximate list of direct expenses (clause 1 of Article 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
At the same time, the taxpayer has the right to classify expenses for remuneration of employees of the management apparatus as indirect expenses. This is confirmed by judicial practice. Thus, according to the inspectorate, the taxpayer unreasonably included in expenses the costs of maintaining production personnel.
The court found erroneous the conclusions of the tax authority regarding the classification of management personnel (chief engineer, head of technical department, site manager, head of the estimate and contract department) as production personnel.
In accordance with paragraph 1 of Art. 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, direct costs to be distributed between work in progress and completed work include the cost of remunerating personnel involved in the process of performing work, i.e. blue-collar professions that are not on the taxpayer's staff.
All other labor costs relate to indirect costs, which, in accordance with clause 2 of Art. 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation in full relate to expenses of the current reporting (tax) period.
The arbitration court concluded that the taxpayer rightfully included in full the expenses for the purposes of profit taxation in the composition of expenses for remuneration of personnel (Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Volga District dated January 29, 2009 in case No. A55-8550/2008).
As practice shows, some organizations classify labor costs for personnel involved in the production process as indirect costs. This approach is associated with high tax risks. Let us illustrate this with the following example from arbitration practice.
The Tax Inspectorate found it unlawful for the taxpayer to include expenses for remuneration of personnel involved in the production process of goods, including the amounts of the unified social tax and expenses for compulsory pension insurance accrued on these amounts, as part of indirect expenses.
The enterprise, taking advantage of the right granted to it, in its accounting policy classified labor costs, unified social tax and insurance contributions for compulsory pension insurance as indirect expenses.
Meanwhile, the right to independently determine the list of expenses when choosing the distribution of direct and indirect expenses simultaneously requires the enterprise to justify the decision based on the specifics of the taxpayer’s activities and the technological process, and such distribution must be economically justified.
The taxpayer produces and sells alcoholic products. Since the technological process of producing alcoholic products is impossible without the workers who are involved in its production, the arbitration court indicated that the costs of paying personnel involved in the production process are attributed directly to the manufactured products.
At the same time, the court correctly noted that an organization has the right, for tax purposes, to classify the costs of remuneration of personnel involved in the production process of goods as indirect costs only if there is no real possibility of classifying these costs as direct costs, using economically justified indicators.
Considering that the enterprise did not provide evidence that there was no real possibility of classifying these costs as direct costs, as well as no economic justification for classifying them as indirect costs, the court came to the conclusion that such costs were unlawfully excluded from direct costs without any economic justification.
Article 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation cannot be interpreted as allowing the taxpayer to independently and without any justification decide the issue of classifying incurred costs as indirect or direct costs. By providing the taxpayer with the opportunity to independently determine the accounting policy, including the formation of the composition of direct expenses, the Tax Code of the Russian Federation does not consider this process as depending solely on the will of the taxpayer. On the contrary, these standards classify as direct expenses costs directly related to the production of goods (performance of work, provision of services) (Definition of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated May 13, 2010 N VAS-5306/10). The position of the court is reflected in the Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the West Siberian District dated April 23, 2012 in case No. A27-7287/2011.
At the same time, in another situation, the taxpayer was able to confirm the legality of classifying labor costs as indirect expenses. Thus, the tax authority decided that the organization’s actions to attribute direct expenses on wages and deductions for the unified social tax to expenses of the current period in full (as indirect expenses) without taking into account the sale of products in the cost of which they are taken into account are unlawful. The inspectorate considered that the costs of paying employees, regardless of their job responsibilities, are in any case included in the cost of production, i.e. are direct costs; in this case, it is not necessary to determine the share of participation of each employee in the production of a separate batch of goods.
However, the court came to the conclusion that the enterprise correctly and justifiably accounted for the disputed expenses as indirect expenses. This accounting procedure does not contradict Art. Art. 318, 319 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the company’s accounting policy. The taxpayer provided a reasoned justification for the need for such accounting of expenses.
The enterprise included in indirect expenses (tax accounting) the wages of employees employed in the main production; deductions from the salaries of such employees; the amount of depreciation of fixed assets not directly involved in the production process (shop buildings, buildings containing production equipment, workplaces - tables).
The taxpayer, by virtue of Art. Art. 254, 318 and 319 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation provide the right to exclude certain costs from the list of direct costs with the provision of appropriate justification.
When assigning expenses to a particular group (type), one should proceed from their nature, and the taxpayer has the right to classify material costs as indirect costs in the absence of a real possibility of classifying them as direct costs, using economically justified indicators. The organization’s choice of method for distributing direct and indirect costs must be technologically sound and economically justified.
In the case under consideration, the taxpayer provided the appropriate justification.
According to the position of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation (Resolution dated February 24, 2004 N 3-P) and the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation (Resolutions dated February 26, 2008 N 11542/07 and dated December 9, 2008 N 9520/08), business entities independently choose ways to achieve results from entrepreneurial activity .
The enterprise indicated that due to the production specifics of the enterprise, workers are forced to constantly move within the structural unit, therefore they cannot be strictly tied to work on any one equipment or to the production of a certain type of product.
Therefore, it is impossible to determine the share of the wages of a specific employee (group of employees) in the cost of each specific sold batch of products. The technological cycle of manufacturing a product sometimes lasts several months; a large number of employees from several departments are involved in its production, and the wages of each employee are calculated based on their fulfillment of the standard (plan) in the reporting period.
At the same time, the employee’s fulfillment of production standards is only part of a long process of product production, when the completion of one stage is the basis for the beginning of each subsequent operation in the chain until the release of the finished product. Additional payments to employees (payment for vacations, preferential hours for teenagers, breaks from work for nursing mothers, time spent performing state and public duties, medical examinations) also cannot be reliably correlated with the production process.
With regard to fixed assets (depreciation amount), namely the buildings of workshops, buildings in which equipment is located, workplaces (desks), the enterprise explained that the area of workshops is occupied by equipment no more than 30 - 50%, and therefore the operation of these fixed assets funds does not directly affect the production of products by the enterprise - in contrast to fixed assets directly used in production (presses, furnaces, machines, equipment, mills, drying drums), depreciation for which is classified as direct expenses.
The court found the procedure used by the taxpayer for calculating indirect expenses to comply with the requirements of the provisions of Chapter. 25 Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Taking into account the peculiarities of the enterprise’s production process, the court recognized the proven need to take into account as indirect expenses the wages of workers involved in the main production, deductions from it, and depreciation on fixed assets not directly involved in the production process. These conclusions were made in the Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the North-Western District dated March 30, 2012 in case No. A44-1866/2011.

Accounting for the cost of purchasing licenses

As practice shows, the taxpayer has the right to include the costs of purchasing licenses as indirect expenses. For example, the taxpayer included the full cost of a license for retail trade in alcoholic beverages, which is valid for five years, as non-operating expenses.
The inspectorate considered that the cost of paying the fee and the cost of paying the state duty should reduce the accounting profit evenly over the period of validity of the license. The court found that in the taxpayer's accounting policy, the costs of acquiring a license are indirect. According to paragraph 2 of Art. 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the amount of indirect costs for production and sales incurred in the reporting (tax) period is fully included in the expenses of the current reporting (tax) period.
The date of non-operating and other expenses is the date of accrual of taxes (fees) for expenses in the form of amounts of taxes (advance payments for taxes), fees and other obligatory payments (clause 1, clause 7, article 272 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
Moreover, in accordance with paragraph 1 of Art. 272 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, expenses accepted for tax purposes are recognized as such in the reporting (tax) period to which they relate, regardless of the time of actual payment of funds and (or) other forms of payment and are determined taking into account Art. Art. 318 - 320 Tax Code of the Russian Federation. In this regard, the court found justified the one-time attribution of the disputed expenses to the cost of production (Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Moscow District dated December 20, 2011 in case No. A41-2253/11). A similar approach to resolving the issue under consideration can be seen in another court verdict. The tax inspectorate excluded from expenses that reduce the amount of sales revenue the costs of obtaining a license valid for five years and the costs of issuing a certificate of conformity issued for three years.
At the same time, the inspection came to the conclusion that the taxpayer included certification costs as a lump sum as a violation of Art. 264 Tax Code of the Russian Federation. However, the court noted that according to paragraph 1 of Art. 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the costs of acquiring licenses and the costs of product certification are indirect costs subject to in accordance with clause 2 of Art. 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation is included in full as expenses of the current (reporting, tax) period. The position of the court is given in the Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Central District dated February 15, 2012 in case No. A35-1939/2010.

Accounting for R&D expenses

Tax authorities believe that work and services under a contract for the performance of research and development work are associated with the acquisition of raw materials, materials and components for the main production and their processing into shipped products, and should be taken into account as part of direct expenses. Meanwhile, the courts have a different opinion. For example, in the Resolution of the Ninth Arbitration Court of Appeal dated June 30, 2011 N 09AP-12855/2011-AK, 09AP-13309/2011-AK, the court came to the conclusion that the organization rightfully included in the indirect costs of paying for the work of co-executors under contracts concluded in within the framework of development work. The court recognized that expenses under contracts, the subject of which is the performance of work, do not apply to direct material costs.
In another situation, the tax inspectorate considered it unreasonable to include in indirect expenses the costs of paying for the services of third-party organizations, which form the basis and are a necessary component in the performance of work and provision of services related to unshipped products (based on orders). However, the court declared the inspectorate's decision invalid, since the work under the R&D contract is scientific research carried out to study the practical application of low-frequency chemical lasers. Work under the contract for the implementation of R&D is the experimental design development of a new liquid-fuel rocket engine, in which the taxpayer acts as a co-executor receiving government funding. In the course of these works, as necessary, prototype engines were assembled to test them on a special stand in order to study the operational characteristics of components and assemblies of the designed engine. These works were carried out in stages as government funding was allocated and were in no way connected with the acquisition of raw materials, materials and components for the main production and their processing into shipped products. As a result, the court concluded that the taxpayer had no grounds for classifying the disputed expenses as direct rather than indirect (Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Moscow District dated December 29, 2011 in case No. A40-120210/10-116-467).
It can be recommended that when determining the list of direct expenses in the accounting policy, one should be guided by the approximate list of direct expenses in paragraph 1 of Art. 318 Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

For organizations that use the accrual method of income tax, expenses associated with production and sales are divided into:

direct costs;
indirect costs (Article 253 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, paragraph 1 of Article 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

The list of non-operating expenses is given in Art. 265 Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

In accordance with the Tax Code, all expenses that are taken into account when calculating income tax and that are not direct or non-operating are considered indirect expenses associated with production and sales.

Why is it necessary to separate direct and indirect costs?

The distribution of expenses into direct and indirect is important from the point of view of taking them into account when calculating the tax base for income tax. If direct costs are distributed between sold and unsold products, work in progress balances at the end of the month, then indirect costs are recognized as expenses of the reporting period and are fully included in expenses that are taken into account when taxing profits.

Indirect income tax expenses: list

Indirect costs include, for example:

material costs. These may include materials used to package goods; purchased equipment and workwear; expenses for the purchase of fuel and water used for technological purposes; purchased production services;
depreciation of fixed assets for general production and general economic purposes;
expenses for remuneration of employees, except for those employed in the production process, as well as contributions to extra-budgetary funds from these expenses;
expenses for compulsory and voluntary insurance;
other expenses associated with production and sales (Article 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Other expenses include, in particular, amounts of taxes and fees (for example, property tax and transport tax), certification costs, rental payments, business travel expenses, legal, information and consulting services, advertising expenses, etc.

Are transport costs direct or indirect?

In trade organizations, indirect costs include all costs associated with production and sales, except:

the cost of purchasing goods sold in the reporting period;
transportation costs for delivering goods to the organization's warehouse (if they are not included in the purchase price of goods).

To bring accounting and tax accounting closer together in trade organizations, it is advisable to formulate the cost of purchased goods taking into account all actual costs associated with their purchase, including delivery costs to the organization’s warehouse. This procedure, provided for in clause 6 of PBU 5/01, is also permitted by the Tax Code (clause 3, clause 1, article 268 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). The organization only needs to consolidate this in its accounting policies.

If the organization does not take into account the costs of delivering goods to its warehouse in their cost, then such transport costs should be distributed between sold and unsold goods according to.

Transportation costs for delivering goods to customers' warehouses are always included in the indirect costs of the current month.