How to write off employees' meals for tax accounting. Meals for employees: the most profitable option

In order for labor productivity to be high, it is necessary to create good conditions for staff. One of their components is the possibility of eating at work. In some cases, the law provides for the employer’s obligation to provide certain categories of employees with food; in other cases, he does this voluntarily, on his own initiative.

It is possible to organize meals for employees different ways. You can order lunches from special organizations or arrange your own dining room. Regardless of how this is done, it is necessary to ensure that these expenses are correctly reflected in the accounting accounts. In this article we will look at how free meals are organized for employees, how accounting (postings) and taxation are carried out.

Mandatory free meals

The employer is obliged to provide free meals to certain groups of employees (Article 222 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). This applies to workers engaged in hazardous work. They are given milk and other food products according to the standards established by the Russian government. With the consent of the employee, upon his written application, it is allowed to replace products in kind with a cash equivalent, if this is reflected in the labor or collective agreement.

The issuance of free products in an organization must be supported by documents. There is no single form for this, and therefore it is recommended that the enterprise develop it independently and reflect it in accounting policy. The main condition is that the document must contain everything necessary details specified in the Law “On Accounting”.

Free meals for employees at the initiative of the employer

An employer, on its own initiative, may provide free meals to employees. The law grants him this right, subject to the correct documentation, registration and taxation.

Required documents:

• collective agreement (contract). It should clearly state the employer's action. For example, “the employer undertakes to provide free food”;
• contract of employment. It must contain a link to the clause of the collective agreement containing the employer’s obligation to organize free lunches;
• an order to provide free meals to employees;
• a time sheet to determine how many employees actually worked at the enterprise in the current month, and were not on vacation, on a business trip, and received free food;
• daily menu compiled according to established requirements.

Methods of catering

The following options for organizing free meals for employees are possible:

• provision of food by specialized third-party organizations to the office;
• arrangement of a cafe or canteen on the employer’s premises;
• meals for employees in the canteen of a catering company;
• Buffet;
• financial compensation.

The reflection in the accounting accounts of transactions for the provision of free meals to employees is different and depends on the way in which it is organized.

Accounting for mandatory milk distribution and therapeutic and preventive nutrition

The law obliges the employer to provide employees performing hazardous work with milk or special food. At the same time, you need to pay attention to the fact that the norms will be to provide one thing - either milk or food. Both are only available to certain categories, the list of which is determined by regulations of the Ministry of Health and Social Development.

If milk or food is provided within the established standards, then this amount is not charged:

• personal income tax;
• mandatory contributions to pension and health insurance.

The harmfulness of working conditions must be confirmed by special certification, which is carried out at least once every 5 years.

For example, if a workplace assessment was carried out in January 2011 and, based on its results, the harmfulness of work was established, then the distribution of milk to employees engaged in this work is not subject to personal income tax until January 2016. Also, VAT is not charged on compensation amounts. If in January 2016 a new certification of workplaces did not confirm harmful conditions, then from this period the cost of milk issued is subject to taxation in general procedure, since such an employer initiative is not legally required compensation.

Special food and milk are taken into account as material inventories on . They are accounted for actual cost. When issued, they are subject to debit from account 10.

Accounting for free meals at the initiative of the employer

Accounting for free meals for employees at the initiative of the employer depends on the method of its organization.

If meals are organized by the employer in his own canteen, then all expenses associated with this are preliminarily collected in account 29 “Service production and households.” The procedure for recording transactions related to free meals depends on whether the organization will charge VAT or not.

If a decision is made to pay VAT, then the provision of food must be reflected in accounting as a sale. Otherwise, you can immediately write off these expenses to account 70, without taking them into account on accounts 10 and 41. And if free food is not reflected in the labor or collective agreement, then such expenses are taken into account on account 91.

For example, an enterprise, under the terms of a collective agreement, provides employees with free lunches. Lunches will be supplied by the catering company. One lunch costs 236 rubles, including 18% VAT - 36 rubles. The number of lunches each day is determined by the number of employees present at the workplace. There are 10 people on staff, all of whom expressed a desire for free food. In the reporting month, 200 lunches were provided. The enterprise will record the provision of food as a sale.

In accounting, these expenses will be shown as follows:

Taxation on free meals for employees

Free food and personal income tax

Free meals provided in accordance with an employment agreement at the initiative of the employer are the employee’s income, a non-monetary expression of his salary. This is the same income as renting an apartment or issuing part of the product in goods. This feature must be taken into account when determining the amount of personal income tax. Since personal income tax is an individual tax, this means that the employer has the obligation to individually record this type of income for each employee. All of them must be supported by documents (food coupons, lunch records).

Free food and VAT

Regarding the need to charge VAT, the issue remains controversial to this day. On the one hand, tax authorities insist on the obligation to pay VAT on such transactions and regard this as a gratuitous transfer of goods and materials. But economic entities do not agree with this and believe that meals for employees are organized in accordance with the employment agreement and are a production activity, so VAT is not necessary. It should be noted that in this case the company will not be able to offset input VAT on purchased food products. Therefore, it will be more profitable and convenient to charge VAT.

Free food and income tax

If lunches are provided to employees without payment, then the employer does not make a profit since there is no income. He only has expenses. When calculating income tax, these costs are allowed to be taken into account only when:

• free meals are specified in the collective agreement. If this condition is not met, even the presence of an order from the head of the enterprise to allocate it to employees cannot become the basis for recognizing these costs as expenses;
• the employer keeps personalized records of these costs.

Free food and payment of unified social tax

Costs for free lunches are equalized with wage costs in kind and are subject to UST. Contributions are calculated on them Pension Fund and other mandatory similar deductions. To determine the tax base, VAT should be added to lunch expenses. But when meals are organized as a buffet, and personal cost accounting is not maintained by the employer, then they are not included in the payroll and do not need to be taxed.

Answers to pressing questions

Question No. 1. Can the costs of organizing a buffet for the company's employees be included as income tax expenses?

Answer. No, these costs are not recognized as expenses, since the employer will not be able to confirm with documents which employee ate how much. But, if he keeps individual records of these costs, then they are allowed to be classified as income tax expenses. The Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation has proposed a method for distributing them in equal parts to each employee. It is important to confirm with documents the fact of his presence at the workplace.

Question No. 2. Free lunches are provided by the employer by order of the director. This employer's obligation is not reflected in the collective agreement. What taxes should be charged on these transactions?

Answer. The only payment is personal income tax. VAT is not deductible, and expenses do not change the amount of income tax.

Question No. 3. When an employer compensates for lunches with money, which is stipulated in the collective agreement, what tax obligations does he have?

Answer. It does not matter whether lunches or monetary compensation are provided, the main thing is whether this is reflected in the collective agreement. Since this is reflected in our case, monetary compensation is equal to salary and is included in costs. In this case, there is no obligation to pay VAT, but it is necessary to accrue personal income tax and payments to extra-budgetary funds.

Question No. 4. What tax obligations do the employer have when compensating for lunches with money, when the only document regulating this is the director’s order?

Answer. In this situation, the cost of compensating lunches will not reduce profits. VAT must be charged, and the employer has the right to offset input tax. If compensation is issued to an employee, then it becomes necessary to calculate personal income tax and insurance premiums.

Question No. 5. Employees are bought water, tea, coffee and sugar for their office. What taxes need to be taken into account?

Answer. Since it is impossible to accurately calculate how much tea and coffee a specific employee will drink, this means that these expenses cannot be personalized. Therefore, personal income tax is not charged. But do not forget about VAT, since this operation is equivalent to the gratuitous transfer of inventory items.

Question No. 6. Is the cost of lunches received by an employee per month limited by law?

Answer. Yes, the cost of all free lunches provided to an employee should not be more than 20% of his monthly salary.

Question No. 7. Is it possible to take into account the cost of drinking water in the office when determining the amount of income tax?

Answer. Yes, they are allowed to be taken into account when determining income tax. The same applies to VAT. Drinking water is a worker’s income in kind, so it is recommended to provide the possibility of personalized consumption accounting (dispense water in small bottles) and charge personal income tax.

Expertise of the article: Yu.V. Volkova, Legal Consulting Service GARANT, professional accountant-expert

The company has several options for providing employees with free lunches. We will talk about what taxes, depending on the chosen option, should be levied on the cost of food and how to organize this process more rationally from a tax point of view.

Let's consider the taxation and accounting of free food depending on the chosen method of its provision.

Taxes and accounting

The procedure for reflecting food-related expenses in accounting and tax accounting depends on whether this condition is stipulated in the employment (collective) agreement. If so, then, in accordance with the law, the cost of food for employees can be taken into account when taxing profits (1). Moreover, for tax authorities it is enough to this condition was included in only one of these agreements (2). Financiers insist that the norms of the collective agreement must be duplicated in the employment contracts of each employee (3). Please note: the order or instruction of the manager to provide employees with free meals is not a basis for including related costs in tax expenses.

So, both the financial department (4) and the tax service (5) fully agree that the cost of free food is taken into account as part of tax expenses, provided that it is provided for by current legislation or labor (collective) agreements. As for accounting, such costs relate to expenses for ordinary activities, on the basis of which the cost of production is formed (6). If such food is not provided for either by law or by labor (collective) agreements, in accounting, food costs are included in other expenses (7).

Please note that UST and pension contributions will have to be added to the cost of food. Indeed, when determining the social tax base, any payments and rewards are taken into account, regardless of the form in which they are made (8), including full or partial payment for food. And the base for insurance premiums corresponds to the base for Unified Social Tax (9). If the company does not include food costs as part of tax expenses, there is no need to pay a single social tax and contributions to the Pension Fund (10).

However, in any case, personal income tax will have to be withheld from the cost of food (a number of articles in the journal “Actual Accounting” No. 2, 2008 were devoted to the nuances of calculating and withholding personal income tax). The fact is that when determining the base for this tax, they take into account all income that a citizen received both in cash and in kind or the right to dispose of which he has acquired, as well as income in the form of material benefits (11). At the same time, income in kind, in particular, includes full or partial payment for food (12).

The issue related to VAT deserves special attention. Thus, some tax inspectors are convinced that a company that organizes meals for employees sells goods (services) free of charge and therefore must charge VAT on the cost of meals. You can argue with controllers. After all, if the provision of free lunches is provided for in labor and (or) collective agreements, then labor relations take place, not civil law relations. Consequently, it is impossible to talk about a sales transaction, therefore the object of VAT taxation does not arise. In addition, the company itself does not provide any services, but only pays for them.

We would like to warn you that you may have to defend this position in court. However, the likelihood of winning is supported by the fact that the arbitrators have confirmed the validity of the above approach more than once (13).

In our opinion, in order to avoid a conflict with the tax authorities, when providing employees with free meals on the basis of an employment (collective) agreement, there is no need to charge VAT, but it is also not worth deducting VAT on purchased meals, since it will be difficult to prove that they were used for VAT purposes. activities.

Example

The company orders lunch for its employees externally. They buy lunches 22 times a month, the cost of each is 120 rubles. The company employs 30 people.

Let’s compare the organization’s tax burden, taking into account whether the provision of free meals is included in the employment contract with the employee. Let's determine which option is more profitable in terms of tax savings.

So, the total amount spent on all lunches will be:

30 people × 120 rub. × 22 days = 79,200 rub.

UST from this amount (without applying regression):

79,200 rub. × 26% = RUB 20,592

See table below.

As can be seen from the example, including the cost of food for employees as part of tax expenses leads to tax savings in the amount of 3,358 rubles compared to the option when expenses are not taken into account when taxing profits.

D.Yu. Grigorenko, adviser to the state civil service of the Russian Federation, II class

In relation to the recognition of labor costs, one must be guided by the provisions of Article 255 Tax Code, which reflects that these include any types of expenses incurred in favor of the employee, provided for by labor and (or) collective agreements. In addition, paragraph 25 of Article 270 of the Tax Code determines that when calculating tax base income tax does not take into account expenses in the form of the cost of free food, unless it is provided for in employment agreements (contracts) and (or) collective agreements.

Thus, if free food is provided for in labor or collective agreements, then the costs of such food are taken into account for profit tax purposes, regardless of how this process is organized. However, in the case of a buffet, certain problems arise with confirming the amount of food expenses for a particular employee. In fact, the organization is not able to document such expenses. This means that, despite the fact that the legislation allows you to take into account the cost of food on a buffet basis, it is very problematic to practically use this norm.

In one of the letters, the financial department explains how to determine the tax base of each employee for personal income tax when he receives income in kind (14) in the form of payment for food. The cost of these services is calculated based on prices determined in the manner prescribed by Article 40 of the Tax Code. It is proposed to calculate the income of each employee on the basis of the total cost of the food provided and data from the time sheet or other similar documents.

But are the demands of financiers so indisputable in this case? After all, the tax base for calculating personal income tax must be determined for each individual separately. To do this, you need to know exactly which of the workers received food and for what amount. In the absence of documentary evidence of income received by employees in the form of free lunches, as well as in the absence of control over employees’ visits to the canteen, calculating the tax base becomes almost impossible. Back in 1999, judges of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation indicated that an employee’s income in the form of a material benefit should be included in the database according to income tax, only if the amount of income can be determined in relation to a specific person (15). The same principle applies to UST and pension contributions. And judges, guided by this position of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation, can take the side of the taxpayer (16).

In one of the recent arbitration cases, the court found that the company provided food on a buffet basis, that is, “workers received food in an amount determined not by society, but independently.” Since the inspection did not provide evidence of consumption of the products by a specific person, the court sided with the company. The decision of the controllers that the organization should have withheld and transferred personal income tax on the amount of food expenses was recognized as unlawful (17).

It must be said that recently specialists from the Russian Ministry of Finance issued a very useful letter for organizations, which deals with determining the tax base for personal income tax (18). Although it talks about corporate holidays, it directly relates to the situation in question. It’s no secret that the main expense item at such events is all kinds of snacks and drinks. So, the commentary says that the organization must take all possible measures to assess and take into account the economic benefits received by individuals at such a holiday. What if there is no opportunity to personalize and evaluate the economic benefits received by each employee? Then there is no taxable income.

Let's summarize. Of course, if you do not withhold personal income tax from the costs of free meals for employees, this is fraught with certain tax risks. After all, inspectors may accuse the company of being able to determine the income of each employee, but not doing so. However, let’s say you have correctly documented free food, you can justify the reasons why you use the chosen method of providing it. In addition, you can prove that you really could not determine the income of each employee. Then victory in a possible trial will most likely be yours.

Own dining room

Now let's talk about free meals for employees, organized in the company's own canteen.

Previously, disagreements arose between inspectors and companies about which canteen expenses could be taken into account when taxing profits and whether canteens should be classified as service industries and farms. These disputes escalated into litigation, most of which were resolved in favor of the organizations. For example, in one of the decisions (19), the arbitrators indicated that the canteen provided services only to employees of this company. The expenses incurred by the canteen consisted of remuneration of employees and salary accruals, expenses for the purchase of products, repair and maintenance of fixed assets, expenses for fuel and lubricants, for electricity and heat supply to the premises. And in accordance with the Tax Code (20), these costs reduce the income tax base.

Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated April 23, 2008 No. 03-03-06/1/291

<...>if an organization, which includes divisions carrying out activities related to the use of facilities of service industries and farms, takes into account the costs of maintaining the premises of public catering facilities serving labor collectives on the basis of subclause 48 of clause 1 of Article 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, then the tax base for the above activities should not be determined separately from the tax base for other types of activities.

How to avoid being imputed

Another sharp corner- the position that the financial department has repeatedly highlighted in its letters regarding canteens with a customer service area of ​​less than 150 square meters (23). In this case, according to financiers, the organization’s activities are subject to transfer to the payment of UTII (An article on this topic was published in the journal “Actual Accounting” No. 3, 2008).

This opinion is based on the norm of the Tax Code, which states that UTII can be applied to business activities in the provision of public catering services carried out through facilities with a customer service area of ​​no more than 150 square meters (24). Regarding the fact that payment for canteen services is carried out at the expense of the organization, officials believe that the source of financing is not considered as a criterion for taxing the provision of catering services by UTII in Chapter 26.3 of the Tax Code. This means that the issue of applying the imputed regime does not depend on the income received from these services.

But what then to do with the rule that determines that UTII can be applied specifically to certain types of business activities? (25) According to civil law, this is an independent activity carried out at one’s own risk, aimed at the systematic receipt of profit by persons registered in this capacity in established by law okay(26). In our case, feeding employees does not provide for the enterprise to make a profit.

A.A. Arutyunov, lawyer, doctor of legal sciences

The position of the Russian Ministry of Finance, reflected in letters No. 03-11-04/3/101 dated March 2, 2006 and No. 03-11-04/03/505 dated December 19, 2007, is far from indisputable. They indicate that the organization’s activities in providing food services, which are fully paid for from the organization’s funds, are subject to transfer to the payment of UTII. The counterthesis is simple. If an organization provides food for its employees at its own expense (and only!), then such activity is not aimed at systematically generating profit and therefore is not entrepreneurial (see Article 2 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). The situation changes if, in addition to its employees, the organization also provides food services to other persons. It seems that in such cases, depending on the area of ​​the service hall, the taxation system in the form of UTII may or may not be applied.

1 clause 25 art. 270 Tax Code of the Russian Federation

2 letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia for Moscow dated 02.10.2007 No. 20-12/093536

3 letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 03.03.2005 No. 03-03-01-04/1/87

4 letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated November 18, 2005 No. 03-03-04/1/344

5 letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated September 12, 2005 No. 04-1-03/644@

6 pp. 5, 9 PBU 10/99, approved. by order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 05/06/1999 No. 33n

7 clause 12 PBU 10/99

8 clause 1 art. 237 Tax Code of the Russian Federation

9 paragraph 2 art. 10 Federal Law of December 15, 2001 No. 167-FZ

10 clause 3 art. 236 Tax Code of the Russian Federation

11 clause 1 art. 210 Tax Code of the Russian Federation

12 subp. 2 p. 2 art. 211 Tax Code of the Russian Federation

13 Post. FAS North-West District dated September 26, 2005 No. A44-1500/2005-15, FAS North-West Region dated June 23, 2006 No. F08-2701/2006-1114A

14 letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated June 19, 2007 No. 03-11-04/2/167

15 clause 8 of the Information Letter of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated June 21, 1999 No. 42

16 Post. FAS MO dated February 28, 2006 No. KA-A40/558-06

17 Post. FAS NWO dated 02/21/2008 No. A56-30516/2006

18 letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated April 15, 2008 No. 03-04-06-01/86

19 Post. FAS MO dated October 24, 2005 No. KA-A40/10143-05

20 clause 1 art. 254, art. 255, Art. 260, sub. 1 and 48 paragraph 1 art. 264 Tax Code of the Russian Federation

The organization pays lunches for employees. Currently, the provision for payment of lunches is not established in employment contracts, as well as in the collective agreement. The organization, on the basis of an agreement, pays for food for the catering organization. The workers are not athletes or volunteers, and are not engaged in seasonal field work.
Do I need to withhold personal income tax and any other taxes from the cost of lunches? Can the cost of meals be taken into account for income tax purposes? Is the cost of lunch subject to insurance premiums?

Having considered the issue, we came to the following conclusion:
When an organization pays for meals for employees, there is a risk that the tax authority will charge VAT on the amount of such payment.
For personal income tax purposes, employer payments for meals are considered employee income in kind.
If payment for food is not provided for in employment contracts and (or) a collective agreement, then these expenses are not taken into account for profit tax purposes.
Payments for employee meals are subject to insurance contributions.

Rationale for the conclusion:

The financial and tax departments, on the basis of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, in some of their letters insist on charging VAT on the cost of free lunches provided to employees (see, for example, the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 07/08/2014 N 03-07-11/33013, dated 02/11/2014 N, dated 08/27/2012 N, dated 07/05/2007 N, Federal Tax Service for Moscow dated 11/27/2013 N, dated 03/03/2010 N). A similar conclusion was made in the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Volga-Vyatka District dated March 28, 2014 N F01-89/14. In this case, tax amounts presented to the employer by public catering organizations are accepted for deduction in the manner and under the conditions determined by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.
At the same time, an argument in favor of not charging VAT can be the fact that the relationship between the employee and the employer regarding the provision of food is established on the basis of an employment contract, and not a civil law contract, therefore implementation in the understanding of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation does not arise. Arbitration practice supports this position (see, for example, the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated June 11, 2008 N 7333/08, the Sixth Arbitration Court of Appeal dated March 12, 2015 N 06AP-392/15, the FAS Moscow District dated April 6, 2012 N in case N A40-65744 /2011, Federal Antimonopoly Service of the West Siberian District dated 06/03/2010 N A03-12730/2009). However, in this case, VAT amounts, if presented by a catering organization, are not accepted for deduction, since meals are not used in transactions subject to VAT.
It should also be taken into account that in this case, the employing organization does not independently provide food services, but actually acts as an intermediary between employees and the catering organization. In a similar situation, in the resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the West Siberian District dated September 15, 2008 N F04-5056/2008 (10064-A75-25), it was concluded that there was no object subject to VAT.
However, taking into account the above letters from official bodies, it cannot be ruled out that inspectors will seek to charge additional VAT on the amount of food.

Personal income tax

When determining the tax base for personal income tax, all income of the taxpayer received by him both in cash and in kind or the right to dispose of which he has acquired is taken into account (Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
Income that is not subject to personal income tax (exempt from taxation) is listed in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.
However, the norms provided for by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation do not apply in this case.
The Tax Code of the Russian Federation does not provide for exemption from personal income tax for food payments made by the employer in accordance with collective and (or) labor agreements. Therefore, regardless of whether the payment for food for employees is provided for by labor and (or) collective agreement or not, the income of employees in the form of payment for food is subject to personal income tax.
Thus, income received by a taxpayer in kind includes, in particular, payment (in whole or in part) for it by organizations for goods (work, services) or property rights, including utilities, food, recreation, training in the interests of the taxpayer (Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
Consequently, when the employer pays for food for employees, they receive income in kind.
According to the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, when a taxpayer receives income from an organization in kind, the tax base is determined as the cost of goods (work, services), calculated on the basis of their prices, determined in a manner similar to that provided for by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. At the same time, the cost of such goods (work, services) includes the corresponding amount of VAT and excise taxes and excludes partial payment by the taxpayer of the cost of goods received by him, work performed for him, services rendered to him.
When paying income in kind, the calculated amount of personal income tax is withheld by the tax agent at the expense of any income paid by the tax agent to the taxpayer in cash. In this case, the withheld tax amount cannot exceed 50% of the amount of income paid in cash (Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
If employees compensate the organization for food expenses in full, then, in our opinion, they will not have taxable income in the sense of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

Income tax

Insurance premiums

The object of taxation with insurance premiums is payments and other remuneration in favor of individuals, subject to mandatory social insurance in accordance with federal laws on specific types compulsory social insurance (Tax Code of the Russian Federation):
- within labor relations and under civil law contracts, the subject of which is the performance of work, the provision of services;
- under copyright contracts in favor of the authors of works;
- under agreements on the alienation of the exclusive right to works of science, literature, art, publishing license agreements, license agreements on granting the right to use works of science, literature, art, including remunerations accrued by organizations for managing rights on a collective basis in favor of the authors of works according to agreements concluded with users.
The list of amounts not subject to insurance premiums for payers making payments in favor of individuals is established by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and is exhaustive.
On the basis of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, all types of compensation payments established by the legislation of the Russian Federation, legislative acts of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, decisions of representative bodies of local self-government (within the limits of the norms established in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation), related, in particular, are not subject to insurance premiums:
- with free provision of residential premises, payment for residential premises and utilities, food and products, fuel or appropriate monetary compensation;
- with payment, in particular, of the cost of food received by athletes and employees of physical education and sports organizations for the training process and participation in sports competitions, as well as sports judges for participation in sports competitions.
Since payment for food in your case is not provided for by law, the corresponding amounts are not subject to the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and are subject to insurance contributions. Moreover, insurance premiums are charged on payments to employees and in kind.
By virtue of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, when making payments and other remuneration in kind in the form of goods (work, services), other property, the base for calculating insurance premiums is determined as the cost of these goods (work, services), other property, calculated on the basis of their prices determined in a manner similar to that provided for by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. At the same time, the cost of such goods (work, services) includes the corresponding amount of VAT and excise taxes and excludes partial payment by an individual of the cost of goods received by him, work performed for him, services rendered to him.
Consequently, by analogy with personal income tax, if employees compensate the organization for food costs in full, then the object of taxation with insurance premiums does not arise.

Prepared answer:
Expert of the Legal Consulting Service GARANT
auditor, member of RSA Kirill Zavyalov

The answer has passed quality control

The material was prepared on the basis of individual written consultation provided as part of the Legal Consulting service.

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  The company paid employees for food, and kept records for each employee personally. The fund equated this to salary, but the courts, starting with the appellate court, expressed disagreement. The same fate applies to the fine reimbursed to the employee for traffic violations. 1250

• 21.12.18

  The additional assessment of contributions for 26 million rubles turned out to be illegal: the courts attributed the additional payments to “social benefits” and not to wages. 751

• 30.11.18

  The Ministry of Finance answered the question about accounting for profit tax purposes of expenses associated with the use of service industries and farms. According to subparagraph 48 of paragraph 1 of Article 264 of the Tax Code, other expenses associated with production and sales include taxpayer expenses associated with the maintenance of catering facilities serving labor collectives (including depreciation, repair costs, lighting, heating, water supply,... 1100

• 30.11.18

  On accounting for income tax purposes of expenses associated with the use of service industries and farms 758

• 13.11.18

  An on-site inspection of the Pension Fund found that the joint-stock company for several years did not include compensation for food payments to employees in the taxable base. The fund pointed out to the company the need to pay contributions, but the joint-stock company did not respond properly. As a result of the repeated inspection, the Pension Fund recorded an arrears in the amount of over 4 million rubles and made a decision to collect it, imposing a fine of 20%. The company challenged this in court (case No. A41-59188/2017), and the courts... 1141

• 19.09.18

  The Ministry of Finance indicated that income received by an individual in kind, in particular, includes payment (in whole or in part) for it by organizations for goods (work, services), including food. In general, the cost of food paid by an organization for individuals is subject to personal income tax. The organization is recognized as a tax agent, which is obliged to keep records of income received from it by individuals during the tax period, and take all possible measures to... 2018

• 19.09.18

  About personal income tax when paying for food for employees at a corporate event 1436

• 20.08.18

  In letter dated July 23, 2018 No. 03-03-07/51494, the Ministry of Finance indicated that the list of labor costs established by Article 255 of the Tax Code is not closed. In addition, according to paragraph 4 of Article 255 of the Tax Code, labor costs include, in particular, the cost of food and products provided free of charge in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation, as well as other expenses stipulated by the labor and (or) collective agreement. At the same time, paragraph 25 of Article 270 of the Tax Code... 1 2704

• 20.08.18

  On taking into account in income tax expenses the cost of food provided to employees of the organization 1399

• 16.08.18

  The company took into account losses in connection with the maintenance of the canteen, in which not only company employees ate. Based on the results of the on-site inspection, the Federal Tax Service assessed additional income tax, penalties and fines. Article 275.1 of the Tax Code obliges taxpayers conducting activities related to the use of facilities of service industries and farms to determine the tax base for it separately from the tax base for other types of activities. The company believes... 1072

• 29.06.18

  The ruling of the Supreme Court judge in case No. A07-608/2017, which we talked about earlier, has been published. Based on the collective agreement, the company paid employees a food subsidy in the amount of no more than 5 thousand rubles per month and no more than 150 rubles per working day per person. The FSS believes that since the subsidy is provided for by local regulations legal acts the policyholder, the cost of such food is subject to contributions. In addition, the controversial subsidy... 1828

• 21.06.18

  On the non-taxation of personal income tax on reimbursement of expenses for meals for volunteers within established limits 1059

• 15.06.18

  In a recent letter, the Federal Tax Service expressed its opinion on the issue of withholding personal income tax and calculating insurance premiums from the amount of compensation for employee meals. The point of view of the tax department is shared by the Ministry of Finance: personal income tax and contributions must be calculated from compensation for the cost of food for employees. At the same time, there is judicial practice where arbitrators have concluded that taxation of such compensation is not always justified. 9664

• 13.06.18

  In a letter dated May 17, 2018 N 03-04-06/33350, the Ministry of Finance voiced its position on the issue of taxation of personal income tax and insurance contributions on the cost of food provided to employees in the form of a buffet. According to subparagraph 1 of paragraph 2 of Article 211 of the Tax Code, income in kind, in particular, includes payment (in whole or in part) for an individual by organizations for goods (work, services), including food. The tax base is defined as the value of these goods... 3729

• 12.06.18

  On the payment of contributions and personal income tax when organizing meals for employees in the form of a buffet 2894

• 23.05.18

  By letter dated May 16, 2018 N BS-4-11/9257@, the Federal Tax Service sent a letter from the Ministry of Finance dated May 10, 2018 N 03-04-07/31223 about personal income tax and insurance contributions with monthly compensation by the organization of employee food expenses on the basis of a collective agreement. The list of income not subject to personal income tax is contained in Article 217 of the Tax Code, the department recalled. Article 217 of the Tax Code does not contain provisions providing for exemption from personal income tax for reimbursement of food expenses to employees, so... 1606

• 23.05.18

  On personal income tax and contributions from monthly compensation of employees’ food expenses based on a collective agreement 2000

• 17.05.18

  On personal income tax taxation of the cost of food provided by the organization to seasonal employees 842

• 12.04.18

  The company hired highly qualified foreign specialists. These citizens were not tax residents of the Russian Federation. In 2012, the company compensated them for meals in the corporate canteen, the cost of travel and baggage on vacation for employees and their families, and expenses for settling into a new place of residence. When paying these incomes, the company withheld personal income tax at a rate of 13%. During the on-site inspection, the Federal Tax Service decided that... 989

• 29.03.18

  The company entered into an agreement with the entrepreneur to provide meals for employees. Workers ate using coupons; catering services were accepted by the company using registers that indicated information about the number of coupons, their value and the total amount of sales for which ready-made meals were sold. The company included the cost of food monthly in indirect expenses. Based on the results of the on-site inspection, the Federal Tax Service found that... 2467

• 29.03.18

  In letter dated March 13, 2018 No. 03-15-06/15287, the Ministry of Finance considered the situation when an employer pays monthly compensation to employees for the cost of food based on a collective agreement. The payment amount is determined based on a fixed amount for each working day. Based on the third paragraph of subparagraph 2 of paragraph 1 of Article 422 of the Tax Code, all types of compensation payments established by law (within the limits of norms) related, in... 1251

• 28.03.18

  On contributions and personal income tax for monthly payment of compensation to employees for food expenses on the basis of a collective agreement 976

• 12.03.18

  In a letter dated 02/05/18 No. 03-15-06/6579, the Ministry of Finance spoke about personal income tax and insurance premiums when paying for food for employees on the basis of a local act. Income received by an individual taxpayer in kind, in particular, includes payment (in whole or in part) for goods (work, services) by organizations, including food. When receiving income in kind, the tax base is determined as the cost of goods received (work,... 1181

• 07.03.18

  On personal income tax and insurance contributions when paying for employees’ meals on the basis of a local act 2620

• 14.02.18

  The company, on the basis of a collective agreement, paid employees a subsidy for food from its own funds in the amount of no more than 5 thousand rubles per month and no more than 150 rubles per working day per person. Based on the results of the on-site inspection, the FSS indicated the need to include the subsidy in the base for calculating contributions, and assessed additional contributions, penalties and fines. According to the fund, the subsidy cannot be regarded as a social benefit, since it is directly related to... 1991

• 08.02.18

  The company took into account the losses of the canteen located on its territory. Based on the results of the on-site inspection, the Federal Tax Service Inspectorate assessed additional income tax, penalties and fines, pointing to Article 275.1 of the Tax Code - the tax base for service industries and farms is determined separately from the main industries. At the same time, service industries include those that sell goods both to their employees and to third parties. According to testimony, the dining room... 882

• 22.11.17

  In a letter dated October 23, 2017 No. 03-15-06/69405, the Ministry of Finance spoke about insurance premiums and VAT when crediting employees with plastic smart cards for food in third-party organizations, if such amounts are provided for in collective and labor agreements in a fixed amount. All types of compensation payments established by law (within the limits of the norms), related, in particular, to payment for food or... 1538

• 22.11.17

  About insurance premiums and VAT when crediting employees with plastic smart cards for food in third-party organizations 920

• 01.11.17

  The company, based on the director’s order, provided employees with free accommodation and food. Based on the results of the on-site inspection, the Pension Fund assessed additional insurance premiums, penalties and a fine, indicating that the provision of free food and accommodation to employees was reflected in the pay slips and pay slips, which indicates that these remunerations are part of the remuneration. In addition, they are provided for in the employment contract. Court... 5209

• 06.10.17

  The organization pays lunches for employees. Currently, the provision for payment of lunches is not established in employment contracts, as well as in the collective agreement. The organization, on the basis of an agreement, pays for food for the catering organization. The workers are not athletes or volunteers, and are not engaged in seasonal field work. Do I need to withhold personal income tax and any other taxes from the cost of lunches? Can the cost of meals be taken into account for income tax purposes? Is the cost of lunch subject to insurance premiums? 5386

• 18.09.17

  Based on the collective agreement, for the period from March 2013 to December 2013, the company provided workers engaged in field work with free food. Based on the results of the on-site inspection, the Pension Fund management assessed additional insurance premiums, penalties and fines, indicating that the base was underestimated due to failure to take into account the cost of food provided to employees. The court of first instance, the appeal and the district court (case No. A51-10641/2016) recognized the decision as legal... 1095

• 11.09.17

  In a letter dated 08/10/17 No. 03-15-06/51340, the Ministry of Finance recalled that in accordance with paragraph 3 of Article 217 of the Tax Code, all types of compensation payments established by law (within the limits of norms) related, in particular, to the performance by an individual labor responsibilities. There are no restrictions on the amounts of field allowance exempt from personal income tax. Thus, if the work of an organization’s employees takes place in the field... 1922

• 11.09.17

  On personal income tax and contributions from payments to field workers; about accounting for simplified tax system for expenses for the specified payments 1927

• 18.04.17

  In 2012-2013, two types of activities were carried out in the company canteen - selling food through the buffet and providing employees with hot meals. According to the deck agreement, food was provided at the rate of 90 rubles (in 2012) and 55 rubles (in 2013) for eight hours worked. The company withheld from employees' salaries the cost of food, which exceeded the amount of compensation, but did not include it in the tax base for income tax and... 4316

• 27.01.17

  In a letter dated January 16, 2017 No. 03-04-06/1220, the Ministry of Finance considered the request of the organization that “sheltered” the student for practical training. There was no employment contract concluded with him. The internship takes place in a department whose work involves hazardous working conditions. Based on the order, the student is given milk free of charge according to the standards established for employees. In addition, the organization provides free meals in its own canteen for both workers, ... 1152

• 27.01.17

  In letter dated 01/09/17 No. 03-03-06/1/80065, the Ministry of Finance clarified taxation issues when providing meals to employees. On the basis of Article 255 of the Tax Code, the taxpayer’s expenses for wages include any accruals to employees, including in kind, provided for by the norms of the legislation of the Russian Federation, labor agreements (contracts) and (or) collective agreements. By virtue of paragraph 4 of Article 255 of the Tax Code, labor costs... 3777

• 27.01.17

  About personal income tax when paying for catering for employees 2386

• 27.01.17

  On accounting for the cost of food provided to employees for income tax purposes 2198

• 13.12.16

  In a letter dated November 16, 2016 No. 03-04-12/67082, the Ministry of Finance, answering the question about the formation of the taxable base, recalled that the list of payments to individuals not subject to contribution, given in Article 9 of Law 212-FZ, is exhaustive. the federal law dated 07/03/2016 N 243-FZ comes into force on January 1, 2017 and supplements the Tax Code with a new Section XI “Insurance contributions to Russian Federation". Law 212-FZ loses force from the specified date. ... 3202

• 01.12.16

  The company, on the basis of a collective agreement, organized preferential meals for its employees engaged in agricultural work. For this purpose, an agreement was concluded with a catering company. Payment for food was made in the same amount for all employees engaged in agricultural work, regardless of their position. Based on the results of the on-site inspection, the Pension Fund accrued additional contributions for the cost of subsidized meals, penalties and a fine, indicating... 2416

• 21.11.16

  A contract was concluded between LLC (customer) and JSC (contractor) for the provision of consulting services on the organization of a general management system, as well as in the field of information technology. According to the contract, the costs of sending specialists are borne by the customer. These costs included, but were not limited to, food and lodging. The services were provided, paid for, and the LLC declared a deduction in the VAT return. Based on the results of the desk audit... 941

• 17.10.16

  The company took into account expenses as part of wages the cost of food provided to workers in kind. Based on the results of the on-site inspection, the Federal Tax Service assessed additional income tax, penalties and a fine to the company and held the company liable under Part 3 of Article 120 of the Tax Code (for gross violation of accounting rules) in the amount of 40 thousand rubles. The company included in expenses the VAT amounts invoiced by the company providing catering services... 2734

• 14.09.16

  The company, based on a collective agreement, provided employees with free food. Expenses for maintaining the canteen, including the purchase of food, were made from net profit and were not included in expenses when calculating income tax. Based on the results of the on-site inspection, the Federal Tax Service assessed additional income tax, penalties and a fine, recognizing the canteen as a service industry. According to testimony from employees of the company and other firms... 1361

• 08.09.16

  In a letter dated 08/25/16 No. 03-07-11/49599, the Ministry of Finance spoke about VAT when providing coffee, tea, sugar and other related products to visitors and employees of the organization in publicly accessible areas of the office. Sales transactions are recognized as the object of VAT taxation. In accordance with paragraph 1 of Article 39 of the Tax Code, sales are recognized as the transfer on a reimbursable basis of ownership of goods, the results of work performed by one person for... 1625

• 08.09.16

  About VAT when providing products to visitors and employees of the organization in publicly accessible office areas 1719

• 31.08.16

  The regulations on remuneration of the company's employees provide for the provision of free food to employees if they have financial and technical capabilities. To confirm the fact that such expenses were incurred by the company, acts on the write-off of goods and account cards 91.2 “Other expenses: Meals for employees” were presented. The company took into account food costs when calculating income tax, and also declared a deduction from the cost of food in the tax return for... 2647

• 24.08.16

  In a letter dated July 25, 2016 No. 03-03-06/1/43376, the Ministry of Finance spoke about accounting for income tax purposes the costs of maintaining a canteen listed on the organization’s balance sheet. According to subparagraph 48 of paragraph 1 of Article 264 of the Tax Code, other expenses associated with production and sales include the costs of maintaining public catering facilities serving labor collectives (including the amount of accrued depreciation, costs of repairing premises,... 1661

• 24.08.16

  On accounting for income tax purposes the costs of maintaining a canteen listed on the organization’s balance sheet 1084

• 18.08.16

  In letter dated July 19, 2016 No. 03-04-06/42359, the Ministry of Finance spoke about taxation issues in connection with payments to shift workers. If the presence of a collection point is determined by production necessity, the specifics of the organization’s work, if upon arrival at the collection point the employee actually begins to perform his job duties, subject to the internal labor regulations, the employer pays for the employees’ travel from the collection point to... 1938

• 17.08.16

  About personal income tax and income tax when attracting workers to work on a rotational basis 1004

• 21.07.16

  The ruling of the Supreme Court judge in case A44-3214/2015, which we wrote about earlier, has been published. The company entered into an agreement with the supplier to organize meals for employees in the canteen in the form of a buffet and took into account the costs as expenses when calculating income tax. Based on the results of the on-site inspection, the Federal Tax Service assessed additional income tax, penalties and a fine to the company, indicating that catering for employees is not provided for by collective and labor... 2204

• 21.07.16

  If you (as an employer) pay/are going to pay for food for your employees, then it will be very useful for you to learn about changes in this area. 8196

• 30.06.16

  The organization, in accordance with the collective agreement, compensates employees for paying for lunch in the canteen located on the territory of the organization at the rate of 150 rubles. for each working day, but not more than the cost of lunch. At the end of the month, employees submit a report with receipts attached to it. Compensation is paid at the beginning of the next month based on the results of the previous month in accordance with the employee report. How to fill out lines 100, 110, 120 of the calculation in form 6-NDFL? 11950

• 14.06.16

  The company, in accordance with the labor and collective agreement and the regulations on the rotation method of work, provided its “rotation” workers with three free meals a day. Based on the results of the on-site inspection, the Federal Tax Service recognized such meals as employee income received in kind, referring to subparagraph 1 of paragraph 2 of Article 211 of the Tax Code, and assessed additional personal income tax, penalties and a fine. The courts of three instances (case No. A05-13582/2014) recognized the decision of the inspectorate... 1 3635

• 30.05.16

  In letter dated 05/06/16 No. 03-04-05/26361, the Ministry of Finance indicated that income received by a taxpayer in kind, in particular, includes payment (in whole or in part) for it by organizations for goods (works, services), including nutrition. In this case, the tax base is defined as the cost of these goods (works, services), calculated on the basis of their prices, determined in a manner similar to that provided for in Article 105.3 of the Tax Code. So the cost... 5 5631

• 30.05.16

  On personal income tax taxation of the cost of food provided to employees of the organization 3171

• 23.05.16

  The company (agent), on the basis of agency agreements concluded with employees, purchased food products, some of which were subsequently subjected to heat treatment for cooking. Subsequently, ready-made meals were handed over to company employees (working on a rotational basis) in boiler stations, with subsequent deduction from wages of the cost of products at the purchase price, excluding transportation costs, expenses for... 3518

• 29.04.16

  The company's collective agreement stipulates the employer's obligation to provide workers engaged in agricultural production with hot meals at preferential prices. The cost of lunch for workers was 30 rubles, for non-workers – 200 rubles. The company kept analytical records of lunches for each employee to calculate personal income tax, while the difference in the cost of food was not included in labor costs and in the base for calculating... 1556

• 06.04.16

  In a letter dated March 21, 2016 No. 03-04-05/15542, the Ministry of Finance spoke about personal income tax on the cost of food provided to employees of the organization. When an organization pays for meals for its employees, these persons can receive income in kind, and the organization must serve as a tax agent. For these purposes, the organization must take all possible measures to assess and take into account the economic benefits (income) received by employees. Together with... 2666

• 06.04.16

  On personal income tax assessment of the cost of meals provided to employees, with or without the possibility of personalization 2419

• 04.04.16

  The company was engaged in geological exploration, geophysical and geochemical work in the field of subsoil study. Some of the work was performed at sites located in the field, by company employees outside their place of permanent residence and without returning home every day. At the same time, the company, on the basis of a collective agreement, provided them with food, which is confirmed by invoices, invoice requirements, commodity reports, statements... 3393

• 04.03.16

  LLC "A" (customer) entered into an agreement with LLC "K" (supplier) for the delivery of food and the organization of meals for employees in the canteen in the form of a buffet. Based on the results of the on-site inspection, the Federal Tax Service assessed additional income tax, VAT, penalties and a fine to the company, since the collective and employment agreements do not contain any indication of the organization of catering. The tax authorities recognized these expenses as not related to production activities. Courts of first instance and... 2208

• 08.02.16

  The company was engaged in the extraction of ores and sands precious metals(gold, silver and platinum group metals) using a rotational work method. The regulations on the company's rotational work method stipulate that workers living in rotational camps are provided with transport, trade and consumer services, as well as three hot meals daily. This responsibility was enshrined in a collective agreement. To do this, the company... 1859

• 02.02.16

  LLC “A” (customer) entered into an agreement with LLC “K” (contractor) for the provision of food delivery services for employees, took these expenses into account when calculating income tax in other expenses and declared a deduction in the VAT return. The regulations on remuneration of workers stipulate that the employer organizes the delivery of food, and the employee pays for it independently. Based on the results of the on-site tax audit of LLC “A”, the inspectorate assessed additional... 1561

• 22.10.15

  In a letter dated 09.10.15 No. 03-03-06/57885, the Ministry of Finance considered the organization’s question about its right to write off expenses reimbursed by it for paying for food for employees on a one-day business trip, after which employees bring checks to pay for the cost of food (that is, if they have supporting documents) . In accordance with Article 168 of the Labor Code, in the event of being sent on a business trip, the employer is obliged to reimburse the employee: travel expenses;... 1963

• 20.10.15

  On accounting for profit tax purposes of expenses for paying the cost of food for employees on a one-day business trip 2362

• 29.09.15

  In a letter dated 09/07/15 No. 03-04-06/51326, the Ministry of Finance indicated that when an organization purchases food (tea, coffee, etc.) for its employees, these persons can receive income in kind, and the organization must perform the functions of a tax agent. For these purposes, it must take all possible measures to assess and take into account the economic benefits (income) received by employees. At the same time, if when employees consume food... 3 4517

• 05.08.15

  The company, on its own initiative, based on the orders of the manager, made payments for food to its employees at the expense of net profit. These payments were not specified in employment contracts concluded with employees, did not depend on the performance of a particular employee, and were of a social nature. Based on the results of the on-site inspection, the FSS assessed additional insurance premiums, penalties and a fine to the company, deciding that these payments should be included in... 19 5638

• 02.07.15

  In a letter dated 06/11/15 No. 03-07-11/33827, the Ministry of Finance indicated that when food products are provided free of charge to employees, the personification of which is not carried out, the object of VAT taxation and the right to deduct the tax charged on these goods does not arise. For income tax purposes, other expenses associated with production and sales include, in particular, expenses for providing normal conditions labor and technical measures... 3 6115

• 02.07.15

  On the calculation of income tax and VAT when providing employees with food products free of charge (including tea, coffee, sugar) 5035

• 24.06.15

  During a camera meeting, tax officials can interrogate witnesses and request documents from contractors of the 2nd, 3rd, and so on levels. Partial compensation for employee meals is not subject to contributions. The AS VVO provided clarification on these and other issues (including contracting in construction). 1350

• 05.06.15

  The company provided its employees with free food on the basis of employment contracts in accordance with internal administrative documents. Catering was organized through contracts with third-party specialized organizations. If an employee refused to eat, no cash payment was provided. Free food was due to production necessity to increase efficiency... 3 3950

• 16.04.15

  The company organized free meals for employees by concluding service agreements with relevant organizations. The disputed payments were not specified in the employment contracts. Payment for food was made from the company's net profit. Based on the results of the on-site inspection, the Pension Fund assessed additional insurance premiums, penalties and fines, deciding that the cost of food provided to employees free of charge is recognized as income received in kind.... 3661

• 02.04.15

  LLC "A" entered into agreements with other companies to provide catering services to employees. At the same time, the provision of food to the employees of LLC “A” was provided for by the collective agreement to provide them with social protection and create proper (normal) working conditions. The company, on the basis of orders, partially compensated employees for food (at the rate of 100-125 rubles per day per employee) - charged the specified amount towards salaries and then... 4273

• 26.03.15

  The company, in its request to the Ministry of Finance, indicated that it was implementing measures to ensure normal working conditions. These include sanitary, medical and preventive services for workers, and other measures to ensure safe conditions and labor protection. In particular, the employer provides employees with free food products in accordance with the list approved in the local act (tea, coffee, sugar, sandwiches, etc.). Food... 1 4586

• 25.03.15

  About VAT and income tax when providing employees with free food on a buffet basis 3728

• 27.01.15

  The organization has the right, on its own initiative, to provide employees with food. But such care for employees can backfire on the company. In some cases, tax officials may find fault with expenses and charge additional VAT and personal income tax. 6767

• 14.01.15

  In a letter dated December 1, 2014 No. 03-03-06/1/61204, the Ministry of Finance recalled that, by virtue of paragraph 4 of Article 255 of the Tax Code, labor costs include the cost of food and products provided free of charge in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation, as well as other expenses provided for by the labor and (or) collective agreement. At the same time, paragraph 25 of Article 270 of the Tax Code establishes that for profit tax purposes expenses in the form of compensation for increases in prices are not taken into account... 2656

• 14.01.15

  On taking into account in labor costs the cost of free or reduced-price meals for employees 2868

• 26.12.14

  In 2010-2012, the company provided its employees with food during the spring field and harvesting periods. Workers partially paid for the meals they received at a reduced cost. Based on the results of the on-site inspection, the Pension Fund decided that the part of the cost of food not paid by employees is recognized as income received in kind, and assessed additional insurance premiums, penalties and a fine. The courts of three instances (case No. A64-1219/2014) recognized the decision... 1997

• 11.11.14

  By letter dated October 31, 2014 No. GD-4-3/22546@, the Federal Tax Service sent out to lower authorities the explanations of the Ministry of Finance dated October 16, 2014 No. 03-07-15/52270, also posting them on the Federal Tax Service website in the section mandatory for use by tax authorities. The agency pointed to paragraph 12 of the resolution of the plenum of the Supreme Arbitration Court of May 30, 2014 No. 33. Transactions involving the free provision by the taxpayer of the provided services to its employees are not subject to VAT taxation... 2992

• 10.11.14

  On VAT on the transfer of food products to employees purchased in accordance with the collective agreement 1903

• 09.09.14

  In a letter dated July 8, 2014 N 03-07-11/33013, the Ministry of Finance recalled that the gratuitous transfer of ownership of goods, the results of work performed, or the provision of services is recognized as a sale. Thus, the provision of free meals (lunches) by an organization to the organization’s employees is subject to VAT taxation, the department believes. ... 2271

• 08.09.14

  Provision of free meals (lunches) by an organization to employees is subject to VAT 2547

• 27.08.14

  If the canteen serves exclusively employees of the enterprise, then the costs of its maintenance can be taken into account as part of other expenses associated with production and sales. The Russian Ministry of Finance recalled this in letter dated June 27, 2014 No. 03-03-06/1/30947. By general rule, organizations that include objects of service industries and farms (OPH), determine the income tax base in relation to the activities of such objects separately from... 2140

• 25.08.14

  Free transfer workers' lunches are subject to value added tax. This opinion was expressed by the Russian Ministry of Finance in letter dated 07/08/14 No. 03-07-11/33013. Officials refer to the provision of paragraph 1 of Article 146 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, which states that the objects of VAT taxation are transactions for the sale of goods (work, services). And the sale includes, inter alia, the transfer of ownership of goods free of charge... 1953

• 23.07.14

  The company paid the cost of food for its employees. During the on-site inspection, the Pension Fund added additional insurance premiums to the amount of food expenses. The controversial payments are not stipulated in either labor or collective agreements - employees eat for free at the initiative of the employer. The courts of first and appeal instances (case No. A60-22299/2013) recognized the fund’s decision as lawful, since the disputed expenses are reflected individually for each employee.... 2724

• 10.06.14

  In accordance with concluded employment contracts, the company compensates traveling workers for the cost of food. Is it necessary to charge insurance premiums for such payments? The Ministry of Labor in its letter dated March 11, 2014 No. 17-3/B-100 said that it is necessary. As a general rule, compensations that are established by law and related to the work activities of employees are not subject to insurance premiums (paragraph “and” subparagraph 2, paragraph 1, article 9 of the Federal Law of... 2566

• 14.05.14

  When calculating income tax, the procedure for recognizing expenses for maintaining a canteen of an enterprise depends on who the canteen serves. 5953

• 15.04.14

  In accordance with concluded employment contracts, the organization compensates its traveling workers for the cost of food. Is it necessary to charge insurance premiums for such payments? Yes, it is necessary, according to the Ministry of Labor (letter dated March 11, 2014 No. 17-3/B-100). As is known, the object of taxation with insurance premiums is, in particular, payments and other remuneration that organizations make in favor of individuals. This is stated in article 7... 1773

• 11.04.14

  In a letter dated March 11, 2014 No. 17-3/B-100, the Ministry of Labor expressed its opinion on the imposition of contributions for compensation for food to employees whose permanent work is of a traveling nature or occurs on the road or on a rotational basis. The Ministry of Labor indicated that payment by catering services for such workers is not provided for either by Article 302 of the Labor Code “Guarantees and compensation for persons working on a rotational basis”, or by Article 168.1 “Reimbursement of expenses associated with... 2245

• 11.04.14

  About contributions from reimbursement of food expenses if the employee has a traveling nature of work or works on a rotational basis 3492

• 10.04.14

  On taxation when providing free milk to employees engaged in work with hazardous working conditions 3289

• 21.03.14

  The Russian Ministry of Finance, in letter No. 03-04-05/5487 dated February 11, 2014, indicated that the cost of free lunches provided to employees should be included in the VAT tax base. In this case, the tax amounts presented on such goods are subject to deduction in the generally established manner. ... 2043

• 13.03.14

  The courts agreed with the actions of the tax authorities, who assessed additional personal income tax and income tax on episodes of expenditure of company funds by the chief accountant. In addition, it turned out that the bonuses paid for March 8 and Russia Day were not provided for by local acts, which means that these bonuses should not be included in the expenses. The reporting based on the dismissed employee also did not evoke understanding from either the tax authorities or the courts, and VAT deductions must be confirmed on time, the judges noted. 3672

• 12.03.14

  To calculate insurance premiums, it is necessary that the income was received by the employee, individualized and not related to social benefits. These conditions are not met if employees are paid for food through the issuance of coupons. Employees will be able to use them to pay at public catering organizations, to which the company will transfer payments based on coupons. 4441

• 12.03.14

  In letter dated 02/11/14 No. 03-04-05/5487, the Ministry of Finance clarified taxation issues in the case when an organization provides food to its employees free of charge for preparing their own lunches. Income in the form of material benefits for employees is subject to personal income tax if it is possible to estimate the monetary equivalent of the material benefit received by each taxpayer, that is, if the income can be personified. If products are purchased at... 2843

• 12.03.14

  On taxation of the cost of food purchased by an organization for its employees 3244

• 07.02.14

  As a general rule, the cost of free meals provided to employees of an organization must be included in the tax base for value added tax. But there are exceptions to this rule. Details are in the recently published letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia for Moscow dated November 27, 2013 No. 16-15/123500. As is known, the object of VAT taxation is, among other things, operations involving the sale of goods (works, services) in the territory of the Russian Federation. About... 1938

• 12.11.13

  On the procedure for accounting for the costs of maintaining a canteen for employees, including service workers and third parties 3873

• 31.10.13

  The company paid for the food of its employees by concluding a contract for the provision of services with an individual entrepreneur. Based on the results of an on-site inspection for 2010, the Pension Fund Management assessed additional insurance premiums, as well as penalties and a fine, considering that payment for food services was not unlawfully included in the taxable base for insurance premiums. The disputed payments were not specified either in the employment contract or in the collective agreement. That is, the workers ate for free on the initiative... 3022

• 20.09.13

  Providing food for representatives of other companies who arrived for business negotiations, the organization asked itself the question: is it necessary to charge VAT on such expenses? The financiers replied that it was not necessary. 3008

• 31.07.13

  The tax office carried out on-site inspection companies for three years - 2008-2010. The company applied the general regime and UTII for organizing meals for employees. Tax and accounting were handled by two third-party firms. The cost of their services turned out to be not distributed across the two taxation systems (while when combining UTII and SST, either separate accounting or distribution of indirect costs in proportion to income across the two systems is necessary).... 33 5374

• 22.07.13

  The collective agreement stipulates that employees are given food coupons and they are due for each day that the employee is at the enterprise. The organization additionally issued coupons for the time spent on vacation, sick leave, or on a business trip. These expenses are not provided for in the collective agreement and are illegally excluded from taxable profit. The Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Volga District came to a similar conclusion (resolution dated July 11, 2013 No. A55-26978/2012). ... 1472

• 10.07.13

  The organization carries out construction on the territory of the Russian Federation. The planned construction period is three years. The construction workers are Chinese citizens temporarily staying in the Russian Federation with work visas from 9 to 12 months. During the entire period of validity of the visas, workers live in temporary structures on construction site. The organization is interested in whether this is considered a shift work and whether the amounts paid for the cost are subject to personal income tax... 4967

• 10.07.13

  On the non-taxation of personal income tax on amounts paid by the organization for accommodation and meals for workers involved in work on a rotational basis 3470

The company incurs expenses for food for employees; under what items should transactions be written off?

Accounting for food costs depends on whether the company will organize its own catering division, or will buy lunches for employees from specialized organizations. The taxability of food expenses for employees is determined by whether this food is covered by the provisions of the employment or collective agreement. To choose the most optimal option, you should consider the taxation procedure in each situation.

Meals for employees are provided for in the labor (collective) agreement

Income tax

Paragraph 25 of Article 270 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation establishes that expenses not taken into account for the purposes of income tax when determining the tax base include expenses in the form of compensation for the increase in the cost of food in canteens, buffets or dispensaries or its provision at preferential prices or free of charge (for with the exception of special meals for certain categories of employees in cases provided for by current legislation, and with the exception of cases where free or reduced-price meals are provided for in labor agreements (contracts) and (or) collective agreements).

In addition, Article 255 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation determines that the taxpayer’s expenses for wages include any accruals to employees in cash and (or) in kind, incentive accruals and allowances, compensation accruals related to work hours or working conditions, bonuses and one-time incentives accruals, expenses associated with the maintenance of these employees, provided for by the norms of the legislation of the Russian Federation, employment agreements (contracts) and (or) collective agreements.

In connection with the above, the income tax base for food expenses will be reduced only if payment for food is provided for in the labor (collective) agreement.

To reflect in tax accounting transactions related to the organization of meals for employees in a manufacturing company or in a company providing services performing work, it is necessary to take into account separately the cost of free meals for production personnel and for administrative and management specialists. After all, the cost of food, on the basis of Article 255 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, is classified as labor costs, and these, in turn, can be classified as direct or indirect costs. According to Article 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, expenses for remuneration of production workers form direct expenses, part of which at the end of the reporting (tax) period, according to Article 319 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, is not written off to determine the tax base for the purpose of calculating income tax, but relates to work in progress. And the cost of remuneration of the administrative and managerial apparatus is indirect costs, which are not classified as work in progress and are written off to form the income tax base in full at the end of the reporting (tax) period.

Unified social tax

In accordance with paragraph 1 of Article 236 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the object of taxation for taxpayers specified in paragraph 2 and 3 of paragraph 1 of paragraph 1 of Article 235 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation is recognized as payments and other remuneration accrued by taxpayers in favor of individuals for labor and civil law contracts, the subject of which is the performance of work, provision of services (except for remunerations paid individual entrepreneurs), as well as under copyright agreements.

According to clause 3 of Article 236 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, payments and remuneration (regardless of the form in which they are made) are not recognized as an object of taxation if for taxpayer organizations such payments are not classified as expenses that reduce the tax base for corporate income tax in the current reporting (tax) period.

Thus, the cost of food, which, according to the terms of the employment contract concluded between the administration and employees, is paid by the organization, a single social tax taxed in the manner established by clause 1 of Article 237 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, since these expenses relate to labor costs, that is, expenses that reduce the tax base for income tax.

In accordance with the Federal Law of July 24, 1998 No. 125-FZ “On compulsory social insurance against accidents at work and occupational diseases,” the organization charges contributions for compulsory social insurance from the salaries (including in the form of providing free food) of employees accidents at work and occupational diseases (insurance premiums).

In addition, according to clause 2 of Article 10 of the Federal Law of December 15, 2001 No. 167-FZ “On Compulsory Pension Insurance in the Russian Federation”, the object of taxation of insurance contributions for compulsory pension insurance and the basis for calculating these insurance contributions are the object of taxation and the tax base according to the unified social tax established by Chapter 24 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Tariffs of insurance contributions for compulsory pension insurance are given in Articles 22, 33 of the specified Federal Law.
The amount of the unified social tax (the amount of the advance payment under the unified social tax) payable to the federal budget is reduced by the amount of accrued contributions to compulsory pension insurance (a tax deduction is made). In this case, the amount tax deduction cannot exceed the amount of the unified social tax (the amount of the advance payment under the unified social tax) payable to the federal budget accrued for the same period (clause 2 of article 243 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Meals for employees are not provided for in the labor (collective) agreement

Income tax

As stated above, paragraph 25 of Article 270 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation establishes that expenses not taken into account for the purposes of income tax when determining the tax base include expenses in the form of free meals provided (except for cases where free or reduced-price meals are provided for in employment contracts (contracts) and (or) collective agreements).

In accordance with the explanations contained in section 5.2 “Payroll expenses” and 5.6 “Expenses not taken into account for tax purposes” Methodological recommendations according to the application of Chapter 25 "Organizational Profit Tax" of Part Two of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, approved by Order of the Ministry of Taxes of Russia of December 20, 2002 N BG-3-02/729, social payments in favor of the employee are not taken into account for profit tax purposes, regardless of whether they are paid in accordance with the order of the head of the organization or in accordance with the collective agreement.

Unified social tax

According to clause 3 of Article 236 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, payments and remuneration (regardless of the form in which they are made) are not recognized as an object of taxation if for taxpayer organizations such payments are not classified as expenses that reduce the tax base for corporate income tax in the current reporting (tax) period. Since free lunches are provided to employees by order of the manager, and not in accordance with the terms of employment contracts, their cost is not subject to taxation under the Unified Social Tax.

Accordingly, the organization does not calculate insurance contributions for compulsory pension insurance from the cost of free lunches (Clause 2, Article 10 of the Federal Law of December 15, 2001 No. 167-FZ “On Compulsory Pension Insurance in the Russian Federation”).

Personal income tax

In all of the above cases, on the basis of clause 1 of Article 210 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the cost of food is taken into account when determining the tax base for personal income tax (NDFL). When a taxpayer receives income from organizations in kind in the form of goods (work, services), other property, the tax base is determined as the cost of these goods (work, services), other property, calculated on the basis of their prices, determined in a manner similar to that provided for in Art. 40 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, taking into account VAT, excise taxes and sales tax (clause 1 of Article 211 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Based on clause 1 of Article 226 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the organization from which the taxpayer received income is obliged to calculate, withhold from the taxpayer and pay the amount of personal income tax. The organization is obliged to withhold the accrued amount of tax from the employee’s income upon actual payment at the expense of any Money paid by the organization to the employee. In this case, the withheld amount of tax cannot exceed 50% of the payment amount (clause 4 of Article 226 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

In the case under consideration, the deduction of accrued personal income tax is reflected in the accounting records by an entry in the debit of account 70 “Settlements with personnel for wages” in correspondence with the credit of account 68.

Taxation of the income in question is carried out according to tax rate 13% (clause 1 of Article 224 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). The accrual of income tax amounts is reflected in form N 1-NDFL " Tax card on accounting of income and personal income tax", approved by Order of the Ministry of Taxes and Taxes of Russia dated 01.11.2000 N BG-3-08/379 "On approval of reporting forms for personal income tax".

It should be noted that there is a different procedure for taxing food expenses with personal income tax and unified social tax in the event that it is not possible to determine the amount of food consumed by each employee (for example, in the case when the employees’ meals are organized in the form of a buffet).

Buffet catering

In accordance with Articles 210, 211, 237, paragraph 4 of Article 243 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, as well as paragraph 2 of Article 10, paragraph 3 of Article 24 of the Federal Law of December 15, 2001 No. 167-FZ “On compulsory pension insurance in the Russian Federation" (as amended on December 31, 2002), these taxes (contributions) are targeted taxes (contributions) due to the fact that they are calculated separately in relation to the income (payments) received by each specific employee of the organization. In this case, it is impossible to establish exactly what amount of income (payment) was received by each person who eats free food at the expense of the organization. Therefore, payment by an organization of the cost of free lunches provided to employees cannot be considered as the income of these employees. In addition, Chapters 23 and 24 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, as well as Federal Law No. 167-FZ dated December 15, 2001, do not provide for the procedure in which the income of a particular person is determined in such situations.

A similar point of view was stated in paragraph 8 of the Information Letter of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated June 21, 1999 No. 42 in relation to the calculation of income tax.

The organization buys lunches for employees from a specialized organization

If the provision of free food to employees is provided for by an employment (collective) agreement, then the cost of food is part of the payment for their labor made in kind; in accounting, the cost of the provided free food is reflected in a manner similar to the calculation and payment of wages.

In accordance with the Chart of Accounts, account 70 “Settlements with personnel for wages” is intended to summarize information on settlements with employees of an organization for wages (for all types of wages, bonuses, benefits, pensions for working pensioners and other payments). The credit of account 70 reflects the amounts of wages due to employees in correspondence with the accounts of production costs (selling expenses) and other sources. The debit of account 70 “Settlements with personnel for wages” reflects the paid amounts of wages, bonuses, benefits, pensions, etc., as well as the amount of accrued taxes, payments under executive documents and other deductions. Analytical accounting for account 70 is maintained for each employee.

In accounting, the amount of accrued UST is an expense for ordinary activities (clause 5 of PBU 10/99). The accrual of the UST is reflected in the credit of account 69 “Calculations for social insurance and security” in correspondence with the debit of the production cost accounts.

A different accounting procedure is provided if payment for meals is made on the basis of the Manager’s Order and is not provided for by an employment (collective) agreement.

For accounting purposes, the organization’s expenses for providing employees with free meals not provided for by the collective agreement are non-operating expenses in accordance with clause 12 of the Accounting Regulations “Organization Expenses” PBU 10/99, approved by Order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated May 6, 1999 No. 33n.

According to the Chart of Accounts, these expenses in this case are reflected in the debit of account 91 “Other income and expenses”, subaccount 91-2 “Other expenses”, in correspondence with the credit of account 60 “Settlements with suppliers and contractors”.

Considering that, according to paragraph 2 of paragraph 1 of Article 146 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, operations for the transfer of goods on the territory of the Russian Federation (performance of work, provision of services) for one’s own needs, expenses for which are not deductible when calculating corporate income tax, are recognized as an object taxation of VAT, the allocation of this tax for subsequent offset is necessary. Therefore, despite the non-commercial nature of the analyzed transactions, “input” VAT is allocated on account 19 and is subsequently subject to offset from the tax amounts transferred to the budget.

Payment for services provided by a public catering organization under a contract is reflected in the debit of account 60 “Settlements with suppliers and contractors” and the credit of account 51 “Settlement accounts”.

Expenses that form the accounting profit of the reporting period and are excluded from the calculation of the tax base for income tax for both the reporting period and subsequent reporting periods, in accordance with the Accounting Regulations “Accounting for income tax calculations” PBU 18/02, approved by Order of the Ministry of Finance Russia dated November 19, 2002 No. 114n, are recognized as a permanent difference (clause 4 of PBU 18/02).

According to clause 6 of PBU 18/02, permanent differences of the reporting period are reflected in accounting separately (in the analytical accounting of the corresponding account of assets and liabilities in the assessment of which the permanent difference arose), in this case in the analytical accounting of account 91, subaccount 91-2 .

The occurrence of a permanent difference leads to the formation of a permanent tax liability, which is the amount of tax that increases tax payments for income tax in reporting period(clause 7 of PBU 18/02).

A permanent tax liability is defined as the product of a permanent difference that arose in the reporting period and the profit tax rate established by the legislation of the Russian Federation on taxes and fees and effective for reporting date(24% according to paragraph 1 of Article 284 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

According to clause 7 of PBU 18/02 and the Instructions for using the Chart of Accounts, permanent tax liabilities are reflected in accounting as the debit of account 99 “Profits and Losses” (for example, subaccount 99-2 “Permanent tax liability”) in correspondence with the credit of account 68 “ Calculations for taxes and fees."

Compensation for food costs for employees

In addition to the above, consider the case when employees are simply compensated for the cost of food.

To summarize information on all types of settlements with employees of the organization, except for settlements for wages and settlements with accountable persons, the Chart of Accounts uses account 73 “Settlements with personnel for other transactions.” Payment of compensation from the cash desk is reflected in the debit of account 73 in correspondence with account 50 “Cash”.

To reflect non-operating expenses, the Instructions for using the Chart of Accounts provide account 91 “Other income and expenses”, subaccount 91-2 “Other expenses”.

Let’s say that employees of Chaika LLC are compensated for the cost of lunch in the amount of 800 rubles. per month. The organization's accountant will make the following entries in accounting.

Canteen on the balance sheet of the organization

To summarize information about the costs of a canteen organization on the balance sheet using the Chart of Accounts for financial accounting - economic activity organizations approved by Order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated October 31, 2000 No. 94n, account 29 “Servicing industries and farms” is intended.

Direct expenses associated directly with the production of canteen products are reflected in the debit of account 29 “Service production and farms” in correspondence with the credit of accounts for inventory accounting, settlements with employees for wages, etc.

The credit of account 29 “Service production and facilities” reflects the amount of the actual cost of completed production finished products. These amounts are written off from account 29 “Service production and farms” to the debit of the accounts for accounting for finished products, sales, etc.

Based on materials from: pravcons.ru