Refund of Excessively Collected Taxes

Taxation is the basis for the formation of budgets at various levels, and therefore, when doing business, interaction with tax authorities becomes an obligatory and inevitable part of business.

Excessive recovery of funds by the tax inspections is quite common. There can be many reasons for the excessive collection of tax payments. This situation arises due to errors made by tax inspectors when calculating, for example, the taxable base or when the tax rate is incorrectly applied. Therefore, it’s necessary to understand all the intricacies of calculating taxes in order to avoid or minimize the occurrence of a situation where taxes are excessively collected.

To resolve the situation on the issue of excessively collected funds by the tax authorities, the legislation provides for a rule that allows you to return such funds. This possibility is regulated by paragraph 5 of Article 79 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, which states that the amount of overcharged tax is subject to refund with interest accrued on it within one month from the date of receipt of a written application from the taxpayer for the refund of the amount of overcharged tax. At the same time, interest on the amount of excessively collected tax is accrued from the day following the day of collection until the day of actual return. At the same time, the refund of the amount of overpaid tax is carried out to the taxpayer's account opened with the bank, indicated by him in the application for the refund of the amount of overpaid tax.

The refund of overcharged funds is carried out on the basis of a decision made by the tax authority within 10 days from the date of submission of the relevant application by the taxpayer. It is important to note that an application for the refund of the amount of overcharged tax can be submitted by the taxpayer to the tax authority within 3 years from the date when the taxpayer became aware of the fact of the excessive tax collection from him. At the same time, the tax authority has an obligation, according to which, in case of establishing the fact of excessively collected tax, it is obliged to inform the taxpayer about it within 10 days from the date of establishing such a fact. However, in practice, the tax authorities very rarely inform taxpayers about the existence of the fact of excessively collected tax. Therefore, it is important for entrepreneurs to independently track the amounts of tax payments that are subject to accrual and payment to the budgets of various levels, so that if an excessively collected tax is discovered, they can independently send an application for the return of such an amount. The forms of documents for interaction with the tax authorities on the issue of the return of excessively collected funds by the tax authorities are reflected in the order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated February 14, 2017 No. ММВ-7-8 / 182@ “On approval of the forms of documents used by tax authorities and taxpayers when offsetting and returning amounts of overpaid (collected) taxes, fees, insurance premiums, penalties, fines”.

At the same time, it is also important to note that the decision on the return of excessively collected funds is made by the tax authority, despite the fact that earlier, until 2019, the entrepreneur had the opportunity to address such an issue directly to the judicial authorities. However, the legislator decided that, as a rule, there is no need for a taxpayer to apply to the judicial authorities to resolve this issue, with the exception of cases where a dispute arises with the tax authority, for example, over the amount of excessively collected tax. Taking into account the norms of legislation regulating this area of interaction between entrepreneurs and tax authorities, before applying to the court for resolution of a dispute that has arisen, it is necessary to obtain an official refusal or a decision from the tax authority, which will reflect the specific amount of overcharged tax with which the taxpayer does not agree and only then apply to the judiciary. In this case, the decision on the amount of excessively collected tax payments is made by the court, and only after establishing the specific amount required for a refund, the tax authorities send an order to the territorial body of the Federal Treasury for the refund to the taxpayer.

It is also necessary to know one more rule of law that regulates the excessive collection of funds by the tax authorities, according to which, if the taxpayer has arrears on other taxes, fees, insurance premiums, debts on penalties for taxes, fees, insurance premiums and fines subject to collection, the return to the taxpayer of the amount of overcharged tax is made only after this amount is offset against the specified arrears (debts).

In order to properly interact with the tax authorities, entrepreneurs often decide to engage a qualified lawyer who has not only legal knowledge, but also practical experience in such interaction. The participation of a competent lawyer allows to reduce the time of interaction with the tax authorities, allows the entrepreneur not to participate in the consideration of cases by the tax authority and minimizes the risks of obtaining a negative decision of the tax authority, and, if necessary, the court, on the issue of excessively collected funds.

Legal services

1. Legal advice on issues of excessively collected funds by tax inspections
2. Analysis of information on the issue of excessively collected funds by tax inspections
3. Preparation of documents for the return of funds from the budget and their submission to the tax authorities
4. Accompanying clients on issues of refunding funds from the budget, including representation in tax inspections