Tax risks: their role and significance in the taxation process. Tax risks What are tax risks

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This article provides the main classifications of tax risks that exist for enterprises and ways to solve them. The consequences of tax risks can be positive, neutral or negative. At the same time, financial risk management should be based on certain principles. Tax risks are of great importance in the financial management system, because tax relations are an important factor determining their outcome. The main techniques for managing tax risks are avoiding risk, reducing risk, and accepting risk. In the financial activities of an enterprise, the tax risk management system should be an independent system. In the financial activities of an enterprise, tax risk management presupposes the possibility of purposefully reducing the likelihood of risks occurring and minimizing the negative consequences associated with the taxation process, and the effectiveness of the organization of risk management largely depends on the classification of risk.

tax risk

minimizing tax risk

consequences of tax risks

financial activity of the enterprise

neutralization mechanisms

1. Kuzmicheva I. A., Flick E. G. Automation of accounting work of tax authorities // Territory of new opportunities. Bulletin of Vladivostok State University of Economics and Service. – 2010. – No. 5. – p.67-72.

2. Tax Code of the Russian Federation: (as of April 21, 2014) / [Electronic resource] / ConsultantPlus. – 2014.

3. Directories of the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) [Electronic resource] / Access mode: www.kadis.ru/gosorg.

4. Official website of the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation [Electronic resource]/Access mode: www.r42.nalog.ru/pv/42_risk/.

5. Official website of the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia [Electronic resource] / Access mode: www.economy.gov.ru/minec/main.

According to the generally accepted classification, tax risks include certain types of financial risks that are elements of the financial and economic activities of an enterprise. In this case, if an organization is engaged in any type of activity, there is always a risk that accompanies its current activities. A definition of tax risk is found in educational, regulatory and regulatory sources. This is an objective opportunity for the taxpayer to incur financial losses associated with the procedure for calculating, paying and optimizing taxes and other non-tax payments.

In the modern realities of a market economy, the role of managing tax risks of an organization is growing, since the consequence of such risks is additional costs in the form of penalties, which reduce the financial result of the enterprise.

The consequences of tax risks can be: positive, negative and neutral.

The consequences of tax risks are considered positive when the taxpayer receives a high result as a result of his activities. The taxpayer can obtain such a result with the help of tax management, managing taxes and anticipating changes in the country’s tax policy, and can calculate and increase their tax risks.

The consequences of tax risks can be negative if the increase in tax risks has a negative side, which can result in harmful economic consequences for society and the state. Reducing tax risks through conscientious economic behavior, the taxpayer tries to compare everything so that the planned results of his activities coincide with those actually obtained.

The goal of entrepreneurship, in a competitive environment, is to obtain maximum income at minimum costs. In order to make this goal a reality, it is necessary to compare the amount of capital invested in production activities with the tax risks and financial results of this activity, then the enterprise will receive maximum income without spending very large amounts of money.

1. disclosure of theoretical and practical foundations of financial risk management;
2. minimizing tax risks of an enterprise and ways to solve it;
3. consideration of general methods and indicators used to assess economic risks.

To achieve these goals, it is necessary to solve the following tasks:

• consider the economic essence and existing classification of financial risks;
• principles of financial and tax risk management;
• policy for managing financial and tax risks of the enterprise;
• mechanisms for neutralizing financial risks.

The relevance of this topic is that at present, an important element of the effectiveness of the financial and economic activity of an enterprise is an understanding of the essence of tax risks, therefore, tax risk management is considered the main component of financial management and financial policy of an enterprise.

The financial activity of an enterprise is accompanied by various types of risks that affect the results of this activity, as well as the level of financial security. These risks play a major role in the “risk portfolio” and form a special group of financial risks of the enterprise. A portfolio is a tool that ensures stability of income with minimal risk.

Financial risks are characterized by great diversity and require a certain classification. In the financial activities of an enterprise, credit risk takes place only when providing commodity or consumer loans to customers. Such enterprises that conduct foreign economic activity, import raw materials and supplies, and export finished products are subject to currency risks. In this case, there is a shortfall in the expected income due to the foreign exchange rate. Investment risk characterizes the possibility of financial losses that may arise during the investment activities of an enterprise. A decrease in the level of liquidity of current assets reduces the risk of insolvency of the enterprise. Price risk incurs financial losses for an enterprise associated with unfavorable changes in price indices for assets. The risk of reducing the financial stability of an enterprise is characterized by an excessive share of borrowed funds. Deposit risk is associated with an incorrect assessment and unsuccessful choice of a commercial bank to carry out deposit operations of an enterprise.

According to the nature of the financial consequences, all risks are divided into: risk entailing economic losses and risk entailing lost profits. The financial consequences of a risk that entails economic losses will always be only negative; there is the possibility of loss of income or capital. The risk entailing lost profits considers a situation when an enterprise cannot carry out a planned financial transaction for any reason.

According to the characterized object, the following groups of financial risks are distinguished:

1. risk of an individual financial transaction. This risk characterizes all types of financial risks belonging to a certain financial transaction;
2. the risk of various types of financial activities (for example, as the risk of investment or foreign exchange activities of an enterprise);
3. the risk of the financial activities of the entire enterprise in general. This is a complex of various types of risks, which is determined by the specifics of the organizational and legal form of its activities, the composition of assets and the capital structure.

Based on complexity, simple and complex financial risks are distinguished. Simple financial risk characterizes a type of financial risk that is not divided into separate subtypes. An example of such a risk is inflation risk. Complex financial risk defines the type of financial risk, which consists of a set of its subtypes. An example of complex financial risk is investment risk.

Based on the totality of the instruments under study, financial risks are divided into the following groups:

1. individual financial risk;
2. portfolio financial risk.

Individual financial risk characterizes the total risk associated with individual financial instruments. Portfolio financial risk characterizes the risk belonging to the entire complex of single-function financial instruments.

Based on the nature of their manifestation over time, they distinguish between permanent financial risk and temporary financial risk. Constant financial risk is associated with the action of constant factors and is characteristic of the entire period of financial activity. Temporary financial risk arises at individual stages of a financial transaction and is continuous.

Financial risk management is based on certain principles, the main of which are:

1. Awareness of risk taking. An enterprise engaged in a certain type of activity must understand the essence of the work and consciously take risks if it hopes to receive income from its activities.
2. Manageability of accepted risks. Risks need to be managed regardless of the objective and subjective nature of financial risks, therefore the portfolio should include only those risks that are easy to neutralize during the management process, therefore it will be easier to create conditions for ensuring income stability with minimal risk.
3. Commensurability of the level of risks taken with the level of profitability of the operations performed. By comparing the degree of risks with the level of profitability of operations, an enterprise can accept only those risks, the degree of influence of which is considered adequate to the amount of profitability that the enterprise expects.
4. Comparability of the level of accepted risks with the possible losses of the enterprise. The enterprise must compare the level of risks taken with the losses of the enterprise. When an enterprise carries out a certain operation, it is necessary to achieve such a result that the size of the enterprise’s financial losses corresponds to the share of capital that is saved to cover it in a critical situation.
5. Taking into account the time factor in risk management. An enterprise should take into account the degree of time involved in risk management; the longer the operation takes place, the greater will be the size of the financial risks associated with it.
6. Taking into account the enterprise strategy in the risk management process. The financial risk management system should be based on general criteria and approaches that are developed by the entrepreneur himself. If an entrepreneur wants to get a good result from his activities, then he needs to focus and direct all his efforts on certain types of risks that will give him the maximum benefit.
7. Taking into account the possibility of risk transfer. The acceptance of a number of financial risks is incompatible with the enterprise’s ability to mitigate their negative consequences. Thus, the need to carry out any operation that carries risk may be prescribed by the requirements of the strategy and direction of economic activity.

Based on the principles that have been reviewed at the enterprise, a financial risk management policy is created. With the help of this policy, neutralization measures are developed to eliminate the threat of risk and its negative consequences associated with the implementation of various aspects of economic activity.

From the totality of financial risks, tax risks can be distinguished:

1. tax control risks;
2. risks of increased tax burden;
3. risks of criminal prosecution.

Tax control risks depend on the level of activity of the taxpayer in relation to tax reduction. For a law-abiding taxpayer, the risks of tax control are small and lead to the possibility of tax authorities detecting tax accounting errors. For a taxpayer who takes active steps to minimize taxes, these risks increase. The risks of increasing the tax burden belong to economic projects of a long-term nature, for example, new enterprises and real estate investments. Such risks include the abolition of tax benefits and an increase in tax rates.

Taxpayers may experience significant financial losses within the framework of criminal prosecution for committing any offenses. When conducting a tax audit, for managers of the largest enterprises, there is a possibility of being subject to criminal proceedings; this probability is close to 100%.

Tax risks are of great importance in the financial management system, because tax relations are an important factor determining their outcome. Tax risk is understood as the danger for the subject of tax legal relations to incur financial losses that are associated with the taxation process; therefore, for the taxpayer, the increase in tax costs consists of a decrease in property potential and a decrease in the ability to solve problems that face the future. For the state, tax risk represents a decrease in budget revenues as a result of changes in tax rates and tax policy.

The main characteristics of tax risk are:

1. is an integral component of financial risk;
2. associated with inaccuracy of economic and legal information;
3. covers all participants in tax legal relations (taxpayers, tax agents and other entities representing the interests of the state);
4. is negative for all participants in tax legal relations.

Tax risk management is a set of techniques and methods that allow you to predict the occurrence of dangerous events and apply effective actions to minimize negative consequences.

Managing tax risks of an enterprise is a special area of ​​economic activity that requires deep knowledge in the field of tax, administrative, civil and criminal law, methods for optimizing business decisions and analyzing business activities.

The main techniques for managing tax risk can be identified: risk avoidance, risk reduction, risk acceptance.

In the financial activities of an enterprise, risk avoidance is a refusal to carry out a project associated with risk and makes it possible to completely avoid any uncertainties. It must be remembered that this principle presupposes a complete renunciation of profit. The principle of risk reduction means reducing the likelihood and volume of losses. Accepting risk means that all or some part of the risk remains the responsibility of the entrepreneur, and in this situation the entrepreneur must decide to cover possible losses at his own expense.

In addition, there are other classifications of tax risks:

In the financial activities of an enterprise, tax evasion is associated with illegal actions. Methods of tax evasion are divided into criminal and non-criminal. The actions of taxpayers are non-criminal if they are associated with tax evasion through violation of civil and tax laws, and with incorrect writing of transactions in tax and accounting records. Criminal actions are associated with violations of tax and criminal law.

The main role in the system of methods for managing financial risks of an enterprise belongs to internal neutralization mechanisms. Internal mechanisms for neutralizing financial risks represent a system of methods for minimizing negative consequences.

The advantage of using internal mechanisms to neutralize financial risks is the high degree of alternativeness of management decisions made, one of two, independent of other business entities.

Internal neutralization mechanisms include:

1. risk avoidance;
2. limiting risk concentration;
3. hedging;
4. diversification;
5. transferrisk;
6. self-insurance

In the financial activities of an enterprise, risk avoidance is characterized as the development of strategic and tactical decisions of an internal nature, which completely eliminates a specific type of financial risk.

Also, internal neutralization mechanisms include limiting the concentration of risk. Typically, this mechanism applies to those types that go beyond the acceptable level for financial transactions carried out in an area of ​​catastrophic or critical risk.

Hedging is a neutralization mechanism associated with transactions with derivative securities that helps to effectively reduce financial losses.

The operating principle of the diversification mechanism is based on sharing risks, which prevents risks from increasing. In the financial activities of an enterprise, the diversification mechanism is used to mitigate the negative financial consequences of special types of risks.

The financial risk transfer mechanism is based on the transfer or transfer of individual financial transactions to its business partners. Partners are sent exactly that part of the risks for which they have a greater opportunity to mitigate the negative consequences of financial risks.

The enterprise retains part of its financial resources and allows it to overcome the negative financial consequences of those financial transactions in which these risks are associated with the actions of counterparties; this is the mechanism of self-insurance of financial risks.

Currently, tax risk is an objective reality that every subject of economic and legal relations faces. This risk carries a material financial result in the form of income or loss, which must be assessed for the normal operation of the enterprise.

The tax risk management system should be built on the basis of appropriate principles, work in accordance with the available capabilities of modern risk management methods, do everything to develop the infrastructure, create conditions for the normal functioning of production and control risks at all levels of the financial activity of the enterprise.

Understanding the nature of risk helps you make the right decision regarding tax risk management and choose the most effective ways to reduce economic losses.

Increasing the efficiency of tax risk management is an important aspect in the financial activities of an enterprise, since it allows reducing the growth of additional tax charges based on the results of audits, which can become especially painful for companies that have problems with liquidity.

Currently, tax risks greatly influence the development and economic security of the state as a whole, therefore the work of tax authorities must be of better quality in order to ensure the fullness of the federal, regional and local budgets.

In the financial activities of an enterprise, the tax risk management system should be an independent system.

In the financial activities of an enterprise, tax risk management presupposes the possibility of purposefully reducing the likelihood of risks occurring and minimizing the negative consequences associated with the taxation process, and the effectiveness of the organization of risk management largely depends on the classification of risk.

Bibliographic link

Zamula E.V., Kuzmicheva I.A. TAX RISKS OF THE ENTERPRISE AND WAYS TO MINIMIZE THEM // International Journal of Applied and Fundamental Research. – 2014. – No. 8-3. – P. 118-122;
URL: https://applied-research.ru/ru/article/view?id=5762 (access date: 09/18/2019). We bring to your attention magazines published by the publishing house "Academy of Natural Sciences"

In the process of conducting business, entrepreneurs quite often face all sorts of risks, on which success in business often depends. Such a strategy may well be justified, since fierce competition conditions require the timely introduction of new ideas and technologies. When deciding to take such a step, an entrepreneur must adequately assess the degree of risk and be able to manage it.

Nature of risk

The concept of tax risk can be considered from two positions: the entrepreneur and the tax inspectorate. On the one hand, businessmen may find themselves in a difficult situation caused by an increase in the tax rate or a reduction in certain benefits, and on the other hand, regulatory authorities risk not receiving the required amount to the budget due to a tightening of the regime and changes in tax policy.

Businessmen have learned to identify many tax risk factors in advance. In this regard, problems arise in most cases due to uncertainty or insufficient knowledge of the legislation. The ability to correctly calculate the situation many steps ahead significantly mitigates the consequences and allows you to protect yourself from troubles in advance.

The first step towards risk management

Quite often, Russian businessmen do not pay due attention to the tax system; as a result, the planned business tactics turn out to be unprofitable due to excessive tax deductions. It can be especially offensive to discover such a nuisance after a transaction has been completed, and the tax authorities themselves may report negative consequences.

Naturally, in such a situation, they begin to look for who is to blame for the current situation and think about how to now correct the consequences of tax risks. The answer in such a situation is obvious. Instead of blaming your accountant, CFO, or tax advisor for getting your calculations wrong, or hoping that the consequences won't be as severe, the best thing to do is learn to manage risk. But to do this, you need to correctly understand the nature of the critical situation, as well as its scale.

How not to miss the moment when a tax risk arises

Oddly enough, you need to look for the cause of the problem not at the moment when the tax risk led to arrears in payments, but much earlier, when the deal was at the development stage. By using competent tax planning, negative consequences can be avoided in 90% of cases. A policy of aggressive business conduct, based on the elimination of competition in any way, is incompatible with a rational reduction

The modern one is structured in such a way that in the process of financial activity, some create risks, while others predict them. Companies that are just starting to develop their business should be most actively in contact with tax inspectors. In practice, such parties prefer to remain at different poles. For example, there are often situations when an accountant finds out about a completed transaction quite late, and it is not possible to change anything. In connection with this situation, many reputable companies create special structural divisions that are obliged to calculate all the possibilities of tax risk.

Types of tax risks and reasons for their occurrence

If we consider negative consequences from the point of view of their occurrence, then the risks can be divided into separate groups.

Russian legislation quite often has an ambiguous interpretation, which some businessmen take advantage of. In pursuit of making a profit, business leaders are trying to tilt the essence of a controversial regulatory document in their favor, and therefore they automatically fall into the risk zone, as they are trying to reduce the tax burden. In such a situation, extreme caution and good knowledge of the regulatory framework are required.

It is quite a shame when tax risk arises due to inconsistency of the management apparatus. The accounting structure and managers do not have the opportunity to discuss the planned transaction in advance, as a result of which the entire business suffers.

Ambiguous interpretation of the law and documented violations

The risk of negative tax consequences is most likely when concluding unusual contractual relationships, the financial mechanism of which is not fully thought out.

Financial tax risks often arise due to poor-quality documentation or its absence. According to statistics, the bulk of additional tax payments occurred due to the lack of paper confirmation of the transaction. This happens because managers, having received money, do not attach due importance to the formalization of their appearance.

Portfolio and external risks

So-called portfolio risks carry a hidden danger, especially if the company has a large network of branches or subsidiaries. The situation can become threatening when individual risks combine into one. At first glance, the negative situation that has developed in a single branch may seem trivial, but when such problems begin to become widespread, it becomes quite difficult for the company to neutralize the consequences.

Legislation, litigation, changes in management - all these facts relate to external risks. Regional peculiarities of taxation may aggravate the situation, since in our country some tax rates are set at the local level. And if the company conducts foreign trade, then tax accounting becomes even more complicated.

Who should manage risks

There is no doubt that risks can and should be managed. To find the right solutions and ways out of the crisis in modern business, professional consulting firms are being created. To manage tax risk, there are a number of techniques and methods that allow you to predict the likelihood of an undesirable event occurring.

Economic activity in the field of risk management is quite specific in nature and requires professionals in their field to have deep knowledge in the field of taxation, civil and criminal law. The main goal when solving tax problems is to find the optimal combination of income and possible risk. This formula is especially important when implementing highly profitable projects, since it is known that the higher the income, the greater the risk.

Golden rules of risk

As in any other area, risk management is subject to certain rules, compliance with which leads to a positive result:

• You can't risk a lot to get a relatively small gain.
• You always need to clearly understand the consequences of your actions.
• In business you can never bet more than you have.

These economic constants are quite enough to keep the business within the limits. Compliance with such principles gives rise to basic techniques for preventing risky situations. In other words, risk can be avoided, accepted or reduced.

Avoiding risk is the preferred technique. It is based on a complete refusal to complete a transaction if negative consequences are detected. But abandoning the planned business model also means loss of profit. So, eliminating the tax risk, you need to balance it with other losses. In addition, refusing one risky activity can lead to a chain of other negative consequences.

Acceptance of tax consequences may be full or partial. In this case, the businessman is obliged to answer with his own assets for all the consequences that arise as a result of this or that operation.

Reducing tax risks is the most labor-intensive and at the same time effective way to solve difficult economic situations.

Tax evasion

In our country, tax evasion is an illegal act, for which various penalties are provided. The consequences of deliberate evasion of tax obligations can be divided into criminal and non-criminal actions.

Violation of tax and legal legislation, incorrect accounting, underestimation of the real value of goods, arithmetic errors made when calculating taxes are non-criminal actions depending on the amount of the crime.

Methods leading to disastrous results

The leader among all illegal tax evasion schemes is hidden implementation.

This is the simplest, and at the same time criminal method, based on failure to post part of the proceeds to accounting and tax accounts. Concealment of income can be carried out by violating the regime for using cash register systems, unreliably reflecting contractual payments and exceeding the limit of cash mutual settlements between legal entities. When using these methods, tax accounting is carried out using deliberately false data.

In accordance with criminal law, such “optimization” of taxes, depending on the amount of damage caused, is punishable by deprivation of the opportunity to conduct one or another commercial activity. Also, perpetrators can be arrested for up to six months and imprisoned for up to three years.

Legal tax optimization

Legal is based on certain principles that are observed in the relationship between merchants and regulatory authorities:

• Taxes must be paid in accordance with established legislation.
• Charges must be paid no later than the last day of the due date.
• The organization has the right to charge minimum taxes without violating the law.

Legitimate optimization of tax payments must be separated from deliberate evasion. In order not to cross this line, the company must organize professional planning and control. The tax risks of an agreement concluded with a partner must be assessed and optimized in a timely manner. Every manager should be well aware of the degree of responsibility that will be assigned to him in case of violation of the law.

Tax risks are the risks of tax consequences unfavorable for an enterprise, which include, but are not limited to:

appointment of a tax audit;

various additional charges (taxes, penalties, fines) made by the tax service on the basis of both desk and field tax audits;

suspension of bank account transactions.

It is worth noting that in addition to the concept of “tax risks” there is the concept of “tax benefit”, that is, according to paragraph 1 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated October 12, 2006 No. 53, “a decrease in the amount of tax liability due, in particular, to a decrease in the tax base, receiving a tax deduction, tax benefit, applying a lower tax rate, as well as obtaining the right to a refund (offset) or refund of tax from the budget.”

Thus, in a number of cases, tax authorities may express doubts about the validity of a tax benefit, which is, in fact, another tax risk.

Order No. ММ-3-06/333@ dated May 30, 2007 (as amended on May 10, 2012 No. ММВ-7-2/297@) established a publicly available list of criteria, using which enterprises can independently assess tax risks.

Let's consider the financial and economic operations (actions) of an enterprise that tax authorities classify as operations with a high tax risk due to the possibility of obtaining unjustified tax benefits:

Lack of due diligence in choosing counterparties

"Rent" of personnel

Transfer pricing (TP).

It is also worth noting that the State Duma adopted in the third reading bill No. 529775-6 on unjustified tax benefits. The bill has already been submitted to the Federation Council. The Tax Code of the Russian Federation is supplemented by Article 54.1 “Limits for the exercise of rights by calculation”, which will prohibit the taxpayer from reducing the tax base and (or) the amount of tax payable as a result of distortion of information about the facts of economic life (the totality of such facts), about objects of taxation.

An enterprise’s work with suppliers is often subject to particularly close attention from tax authorities. Recently, identifying unjustified tax benefits in transactions with counterparties has become, perhaps, the key task of tax specialists.

Let us note that the joint Letter of the Ministry of Finance and the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated March 23, 2017 No. ED-5-9/547@ discusses such signs of due diligence as:

the presence of personal contacts with the counterparty’s managers when discussing delivery terms and signing contracts;

availability of documents confirming the authority of the counterparty’s managers, as well as copies of passports or other identification documents;

availability of information about the actual location of the counterparty, its production, retail premises, warehouses or office;

availability of information about sources of information about the counterparty (both publicly available and, for example, recommendations of third parties) and so on.

The presence of the following signs indicates a high degree of risk of classifying the counterparty as “problematic”, which means that transactions with it may be considered questionable and subject to particularly careful verification:

the absence of obvious evidence that the counterparty is able to fulfill the terms of the contract, taking into account the timing of its implementation, as well as evidence that the counterparty has the necessary resources;

growth of debt without stopping the supply of goods, work, or provision of services;

lack of real actions to collect debt – if any;

issuing loans without collateral;

lack of economic justification for the feasibility of the transaction, etc.

During inspections of an enterprise, tax authorities may request:

documents recording the results of search, monitoring and selection of counterparties;

business correspondence with a counterparty;

other documents that determine the choice of counterparty.

In the absence of supporting documents, the counterparty may be recognized as controlled by the taxpayer, which will lead to tax risks of additional taxes on transactions with it.

On this issue, there is a significant number of lawsuits between tax authorities and enterprises, with conclusions not always in favor of the latter.

Registration of employees as individual entrepreneurs with the corresponding conclusion of civil law contracts with them

A common case of current practice is that the employer registers employees as individual entrepreneurs (IP) and concludes with them, instead of labor contracts, civil contracts for the provision of paid services. The occurrence of a tax benefit (avoidance of the obligations of a tax agent for personal income tax and a reduction in the amount of insurance premiums) in this case is beyond doubt.

When such schemes are identified, tax authorities reclassify civil law relations as labor relations, proposing appropriate adjustments for personal income tax.

As for arbitration practice, it is ambiguous in such disputes.

Use of offshore companies and offshore schemes

The use of offshore schemes for transferring funds attracts the attention of tax authorities, and if there are offshore companies among the company's counterparties, tax risks increase significantly.

Application of business splitting schemes

In the event of division (“fragmentation”) of a business, if the tax authorities recognize such division as formal, tax risks arise.

And although the “fragmentation” of a business in itself is not contrary to the law, division for the purpose of obtaining a tax benefit, which is not considered an independent business purpose, is considered unlawful. However, disputes on this issue do not subside, although tax authorities often manage to find evidence of the absence of an economic need for separation.

In this case, the following signs are considered:

separation from one enterprise of other controlled companies that will operate on other more preferential tax systems;

the enterprises will be related entities;

there is no business feasibility of such division;

the actual organization of the business did not change after the separation, etc.

It is worth noting, however, that there are legal disputes regarding this type of risk, which are not always resolved in favor of the taxpayer (for example, Letter of the Federal Tax Service dated January 19, 2016 No. SSA-4-7/465@).

"Rent" of personnel

Tax risks may arise when leasing personnel if there is no need to attract employees, or if there is no necessary documentary evidence of their participation. Tax risk in this case increases if:

whether the same employees were involved both under the employment contract and under the personnel contract;

in fact, the recruited employees, in terms of their qualifications and experience, correspond to the parameters laid down in the personnel employment agreement;

the documentation available in the organization makes it possible to confirm the real participation of employees received for “lease” in the activities of the organization;

the costs of leasing personnel are commensurate with the payments that would be made in the case of formalizing an employment relationship.

Transfer pricing (TP)

Previously, the Tax Code of the Russian Federation contained only one article devoted to what is now called “Transfer pricing” - Art. 40. It contained a definition of transactions between interdependent companies in which the parties can independently increase or decrease the prices of transactions (for the purpose of minimizing taxes).

Subsequently, the tax authorities decided on the need to bring such transactions into line with world practice - the International Transfer Pricing Regulations. This is how Ch. 14.1 Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

Transfer pricing is the process of pricing between companies that are or can be considered interdependent. Transfer prices allow the total profit of a group of individuals to be redistributed in favor of individuals located in states with lower taxes, and therefore lead to unjustified tax benefits.

On the issue of transfer pricing, judicial practice in Russia is ambiguous. Often, tax authorities apply rules to prevent unjustified tax benefits and use transfer pricing tools even in cases where transactions are not formally subject to transfer pricing regulation, for example, domestic transactions that do not exceed the “threshold” established by law of one billion rubles.

The signs of receiving an unjustified tax benefit discussed in this article do not exhaust all the diversity in the changing dynamics of interpretations of legislation by tax authorities. At the same time, most of the significant tax risks are listed, knowledge of which will help in making business decisions.

From these positions, the most correct definition of financial risks is given by S. A. Filin: “Financial risks arise in connection with the movement of financial flows under conditions of uncertainty and represent the likelihood (threat) of adverse financial consequences in the form of loss of income or capital, danger potential loss of financial resources (money) or shortfall in profit (income) compared to the forecast option and/or the opposite - the likelihood of receiving additional benefit (income) as a result of an economic entity carrying out its financial activities under conditions of uncertainty.”

In our opinion, the most complete composition of financial risk is given by I. A. Blank (Fig. 1.1).

Risk of financial decline		Risk of insolvency		Investment risk
owl sustainability
Other types of risks				Inflation risk
		Types of financial
Tax risk				Interest rate risk

Rice. 1.1. Types of financial risks (by )

The advantage of this gradation is the identification of tax risks as a component of financial risks. Tax risks have a monetary value and entail increased costs. The bulk of tax risks can be directly assessed in monetary terms. Only tax risks associated with criminal liability can be considered non-financial. At the same time, organizations as legal entities cannot be subjects of criminal relations, thus, this type of risk cannot be fully extended to the taxpayer organization.

So, risk is a type of uncertainty regarding the results of a subject achieving the goals of certain operations, allowing for the existence of a negative option for the subject. In relation to tax planning, risk should be considered as a type of uncertainty regarding the results of the company achieving the goals of the tax plan.

ning. Risks, including those that must be taken into account during tax planning, must be classified according to a number of criteria in order to create the basis for the effective application of appropriate risk management methods and techniques. The system of classification characteristics of risks makes it possible to give a comprehensive description and identify the essential characteristics of a specific risk, including tax. In particular, based on the reasons for their occurrence, tax risks are a component of financial risks included in the group of commercial risks. At the same time, financial risks are risks arising in connection with the movement of financial flows under conditions of uncertainty.

1.2. Concept and classification of tax risks

Tax risks are of significant importance in the financial management system, since tax relations mediate most financial transactions, and therefore are an important factor determining their effectiveness. From the author’s point of view, the criteria for assessing the quality of decisions made in the field of impact on the parameters of taxation of business entities within the framework of financial management should be not only maximizing the financial result and/or cash flow in order to strengthen the financial condition and increase the market value of the organization, but also minimizing the risks of such impact . This point of view can also be seen in the work of D. N. Tikhonov and L. G. Lipnik, who, speaking about the choice of a model of economic behavior related to the payment of taxes, and referring to the experience of Russian enterprises, name two factors that determine it: efficiency and risks .

Moreover, due to the impact of tax risk, the value of the financial result and cash flow during tax planning can only be calculated approximately, and in the case of significant deviations, this may lead to the adoption of economically ineffective management decisions in the field of tax management. Thus, the purpose of assessing tax risks is to reduce the uncertainty of information used to influence the taxation parameters of a business entity.

As shown above, it seems appropriate to consider tax risks as a type of financial risks, since during tax planning, as a result of the application of certain tax schemes, risks of financial losses arise. At the same time, the calculation of uncertainty that arises in the course of solving tax planning problems becomes particularly relevant, since some of the developed tax schemes that allow optimizing the existing model

taxation, are designed to minimize financial risk. The absence of an established terminological apparatus for tax risk in the specialized literature makes it advisable to consider different points of view on the definition of the tax risk under consideration.

I. A. Blank and T. A. Kozenkova consider only the external component of tax risk, dividing it into the following types:

− the risk of introducing new tax payments;

− the risk of an increase in current tax payment rates;

− the risk of changes in the conditions and timing of tax payments;

− risk of tax benefits being cancelled.

T. A. Kozenkova connects tax risks with changes in the country’s tax policy, the establishment of new forms of taxation, changes in rates, the introduction of new taxes and duties, the abolition of tax benefits, etc. It appears that this approach is unduly narrow. The source of tax risk can be not only external, but also a number of internal factors.

S. A. Filin interprets tax risk somewhat more broadly, taking into account such an internal source of risk as tax errors: “Tax risk is the probability (threat) of losses that an economic entity may incur due to an unfavorable change in tax legislation in the process of financial activity or as a result of tax errors made when calculating tax payments." However, from our point of view, limiting internal factors only to tax errors is also not correct.

V. N. Evstigneev defines tax risk through the expression of an assessment of “the possibility of adverse consequences for a particular taxpayer arising in the field of tax planning”; however, it limits tax risks only to losses that represent tax sanctions: “Tax risk... is possible additional tax charges, fines, penalties and other sanctions from tax authorities if they conduct an on-site documentary audit.”

IN in the definition of D.N. Tikhonov and L.G. Lipnik, this restriction is absent and the possibility of the existence of financial losses of a different kind than penalties is implied: “Tax risk is the opportunity for a taxpayer to incur financial and other losses associated with the process of paying and optimizing taxes, expressed in monetary terms."

IN At the same time, some tax risks are more appropriately classified not as pure, but as speculative risks, since their consequences can manifest themselves not only in the form of losses, but also in the form of positive results. For example, legislative easing of the conditions for taxation of business entities entails a reduction in the tax burden, an increase

profit and cash flow. The use of tax optimization schemes is accompanied by the risk of some losses, but is directly aimed at a positive result.

From the author’s point of view, tax risk should be understood as the danger for the subject of tax legal relations to incur financial (and other) losses associated with the taxation process due to negative deviations for this subject from the future states assumed by him, based on the current rules of law, based on which they make decisions in the present, or the possibility of obtaining additional benefits (income) as a result of positive deviations.

It should be noted that not only taxpayers, but also other subjects of tax legal relations are exposed to tax risks. If for taxpayers an increase in the level of tax burden or financial losses associated with violation of tax legislation lead to a decrease in financial resources and property potential, then, for example, for the state the tax risk consists of a decrease in tax receipts as a source of budget formation.

In order to take adequate measures to manage tax risks, it is primarily of interest to identify and assess tax risks with negative consequences. In a formalized form, the definition of risk with negative consequences in tax planning can be presented as follows.

Let F be the target function that determines the result of tax planning; F cool – the value of the objective function expected by the company; ∆F – area of ​​uncertainty regarding the values ​​of the objective function. The area of ​​uncertainty is the set of all values ​​that cannot be excluded as possible based on available information.

The risk of losses in tax planning (∆pF) is a set of values ​​of the objective function that belong to the area of ​​uncertainty regarding the values ​​of this function, and which for the company are worse than the expected value:

pF = ( F F F< Fож } .

The presence of target risks (∆pF) is a consequence of the presence of factor risks (∆pХ). Thus, the presence of risk (∆pF) is due to the existence of a region of uncertainty regarding the value of the vector of variables X of the function F(X):

pX = ( X X F(X) pF) .

In turn, the vector of variables X can be a function of other variables: X = X (Y), etc. Thus, we can talk about the presence of factor risks of the first, second and subsequent levels.

The identified cause-and-effect relationships can form the basis for the classification of risks in tax planning, in which each risk corresponds to a certain level of hierarchy.

Based on the concepts of target and factor risks in tax planning and applying the logical modeling method, tax risks can be classified according to the following criteria (Fig. 1.2):

1. For entities bearing tax risks: tax risks of the state

gifts, taxpayers, tax agents, related parties. The risk of taxpayers can be detailed into the risk of legal entities and individuals.

2. According to the factors determining financial risks (sources of

niknoveniya): external and internal (Fig. 1.3). For the state, external risks are caused by the effect of international treaties in the field of taxation, changes in tax conditions in offshore zones

And etc.; internal - by the activities of legislative and executive authorities performing the functions of the state in the taxation process, as well as taxpayers. For a business entity, the source of external risks is, in particular, changes by the state in taxation conditions:

− introduction of new types of taxes and fees; − change in the level of current tax rates;

− change in the procedure for determining tax bases; − cancellation of granted tax benefits;

− changing the terms and conditions of tax payments;

– the use by the state of ways to reduce the ability of companies to minimize tax payments. We are talking about the doctrines of “substance over form” and “business purpose”, as well as filling gaps in tax law. In particular, a transaction can be reclassified in accordance with its essence if it is proven that its form does not correspond to the nature of the relations actually existing between the parties to the agreement. Under the business purpose doctrine, a transaction that creates a tax advantage can be recharacterized if it fails to achieve a business purpose. The implementation of these doctrines is based on the provisions of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, which provide for the nullity of imaginary (committed without the intention of creating corresponding legal consequences) and feigned (committed to cover up another transaction) transactions. The rules of the transaction that the parties actually intended when making it apply to a sham transaction. Thus, if the court proves that transactions, the implementation of which creates tax advantages, are imaginary or sham, the company will suffer direct financial losses in the form of additional taxes, as well as the application of penalties for violations of tax laws.

by subjects bearing risks

by factors determining risks (sources of occurrence)

by time of occurrence

Tax risks

state risks
				by object
tax risks				connections with others
				types of risks
		risks of legal entities
taxpayers
		risks for individuals
interdependent
				consequences
internal

existing			in size
			possible
	Rice. 1.2. Classification of tax risks

risk of lost profits

risk of loss of material and other

values

insolvency risk

investment risk, etc.

tax control risks

risks of increased tax burden

risks of criminal prosecution

of a gov't nature

acceptable

critical

catastrophic

Factors determining risks (sources of occurrence)

		internal

for the state

validity of international treaties in the field of taxation

changes in tax conditions in offshore zones, etc.

for a business entity

introduction of new types of taxes and fees

change in the level of current tax rates

change in the procedure for determining taxable persons

abolition of tax benefits

changing the terms and conditions of tax payment

the use by the state of ways to reduce the ability of companies to minimize taxes

for the state

activities of legislative and executive authorities performing state functions in the taxation process

activities of taxpayers

for a business entity

mistakes in tax planning

negative changes in economic and financial activities

double reading of tax legislation

tax errors

Rice. 1.3. Sources of tax risk

IN Among the internal tax risk factors, the following can be identified:

− mistakes made during tax planning; − negative changes in economic and financial activities; − double reading of tax legislation; − human factor (tax errors).

IN number of negative changes in economic and financial activities that are factors in the emergence of tax risk can be named as follows:

− violation of contractual relations affecting the calculation and payment of taxes;

− failure to fulfill the plan; − participation in court proceedings;

− insolvency of the entity, the consequences of which may include losses in the form of penalties, seizure of accounts and property, and bankruptcy.

Tax errors that arise in the financial activities of an organization can be divided into several groups:

1) absence or incorrect execution of primary documents;

2) errors caused by incorrect interpretation of tax legislation, insufficient qualifications of performers and lack of control by management:

− incorrect determination of the tax base; − incorrect differentiation of income and expenses by period; − incorrect application of tax benefits; − incorrect determination of the tax rate;

3) untimely response to changes in the taxation system;

4) arithmetic (counting) errors;

5) late submission of reporting documentation to the tax authorities;

6) late payment of taxes due to the financial insolvency of the entity or due to the forgetfulness of the performers.

2. By object of connection with other types of risks : risk of lost profits

dy, risk of loss of tangible and intangible assets, risk of insolvency, investment, etc.

3. By type of consequences for business entities: tax risks

control, risks of increasing the tax burden, risks of criminal prosecution of a tax nature. Tax control risks can be divided into risks of regular and custom tax control. The latter are related to control initiated by law enforcement agencies within the framework of a “political order”, relate to force majeure circumstances and cannot be assessed accurately enough. The risks of increasing the tax burden are divided into risks of growth of tax bases and rates due to changes in the methodology for calculating taxes, as well as risks

increase in tax bases due to expansion of activity volumes. The risks of criminal prosecution can only be indirectly assessed in terms of the consequences associated with the inability to continue the activities of managing a taxpayer entity by persons subject to criminal prosecution. Note that risks classified by type of consequences are discussed in the work. However, the authors of the work outline only the reasons for the occurrence of these risks, without addressing the issue of their direct assessment.

4. According to the magnitude of possible losses: permissible, critical and ka-

catastrophic risks. Critical losses pose a threat to the solvency of the organization, catastrophic losses pose a threat to the existence of the taxpayer organization.

5. By time of occurrence: future and existing risks. There are existing risks of tax sanctions for past periods, reports for which are submitted to the tax authorities. Future risks are associated with the organization’s activities in the current and upcoming tax periods, reporting on which will be submitted to the tax authorities in the future.

So, tax risk should be understood as the danger for an entity to incur financial losses as a result of tax legal relations due to negative deviations from the expected states of the future, based on which it makes decisions in the present, or the possibility of receiving additional benefits (income) as a result of positive deviations. From a mathematical point of view, the risk of losses in tax planning (∆pF) is the set of values ​​of the objective function that belong to the area of ​​uncertainty regarding the values ​​of this function, and which for the company are worse than the expected value. The presence of target risks (∆pF) is a consequence of the presence of factor risks (∆pХ). Thus, the presence of risk (∆pF) is due to the existence of a region of uncertainty regarding the value of the vector of variables X of the function F(X). In turn, the vector of variables X can be a function of other variables: X = X (Y), etc. Thus, you can

talk about the presence of factor risks of the first, second and subsequent levels.

Risk management is based on an assessment of their significance; therefore, at the next stage of the study, it seems appropriate to explore methodological approaches to risk assessment, as well as adapt them to assess risks in tax planning.

2. PRINCIPLES, METHODOLOGY FOR IDENTIFYING AND METHODS FOR ASSESSING TAX RISKS

2.1. Principles for identifying and assessing tax risks

One of the main rules of financial and economic activity says: “Do not avoid risk, but anticipate it, trying to reduce it to the lowest possible level,” and for this it is necessary to properly manage risks, including tax risks. To do this, it is necessary to determine the key principles that should guide the implementation of activities aimed at identifying, assessing and reducing tax risks. These include the following.

1. The principle of cost adequacy.The cost of the implemented risk reduction scheme should not exceed the amount of possible losses resulting from tax risks.

The acceptable ratio of the costs of the created scheme and its maintenance to the amount of tax savings expressed as risk has an individual threshold, which may depend on the degree of risk associated with the scheme and on psychological factors. In practice, this threshold is 50-90% of the size of the risks being reduced.

2. The principle of legal compliance.Tax optimization scheme

government risks must be, undoubtedly, legitimate in relation to both domestic and international legislation.

This principle is sometimes also called the “least resistance” tactic. Its essence lies in the inadmissibility of constructing tax risk reduction schemes based on conflicts or “gaps” in regulations. In cases where certain provisions of the law are controversial and can be interpreted both in favor of the taxpayer and in favor of the state, there is either the likelihood of future litigation, or the need to finalize the scheme, or incur costs associated with informal payments to controllers, and etc.

3. The principle of confidentiality. Access to information about actual

the purpose and consequences of the transactions carried out should be limited as much as possible.

In practice, this means that, firstly, individual performers and structural units participating in the overall chain of risk optimization should not imagine the whole picture, but can only be guided by certain local instructions. Secondly, officials and owners should avoid giving orders and storing general plans using means of personal identification (handwriting, signatures, seals, etc.).

Compliance with the principle of confidentiality is fraught with the possibility of losing complete control over all links participating in the scheme. One of the features of most tax reduction structures