We have developed a convenient online service to check yourself and your counterparty on the website of the tax service. You can check the counterparty by TIN, power of attorney, registration certificate, financial statements, etc.
Why do companies need to check themselves and the counterparty
Tax officials are especially careful to monitor how well the company checked its counterparties before entering into transactions with them. If inspectors believe that the company has not exercised due diligence, they can remove expenses, VAT deductions, or even invalidate transactions. To avoid this, check yourself and the counterparty.
How can an accountant work under the new rules? Since 2017, a record number of amendments have come into force. In the next issue of the Russian Tax Courier magazine, we will publish a large table of changes with detailed expert advice on how to profitably apply innovations in practice. as a gift, you will get access to online services, the regulatory framework and encyclopedias on all reporting forms with examples and ready-made samples. Make sure to subscribe
How to check yourself and the counterparty: follow the step-by-step instructions
Counterparty due diligence is a set of steps that help you make sure that transactions with a potential or existing partner will not lead to adverse tax consequences. So, let's start checking step by step.
Step #1. Extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities.
First of all, you need to check the counterparty on the website of the tax service at nalog.ru. In the electronic services section, go to the "Business risks: check yourself and the counterparty" service. Here you can find information about the state registration of legal entities, individual entrepreneurs, peasant (farm) enterprises.
The service allows you to exercise due diligence when choosing a counterparty (supplier, contractor), provides information on state registration of legal entities, individual entrepreneurs, peasant (farm) enterprises, allows you to search for information in the register of disqualified persons.
What does the service show?
The Service contains information about mass registration addresses; information about persons in respect of whom the fact of impossibility of participation in the organization has been established in court, information about legal entities who are absent at their legal address.
The service generates the search result in a table. When the counterparty, for example, is liquidated, the column “Date of termination of activity” will be filled in the table. Then download the full extract. The service presents it as a PDF file. The extract shows why the inspectors excluded the company from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities. It is important.
After all, if the counterparty is reorganized, its debts will be transferred to the successor. This means that there is no reason to recognize income and expenses. Another thing is if the counterparty himself made the decision to liquidate or was declared bankrupt. Then the company must take into account accounts payable in income, and the hung debts of counterparties have the right to include in expenses.
To confirm the liquidation of a counterparty, order an electronic statement with an enhanced qualified electronic signature. It's also free. An electronic statement with an enhanced signature is equivalent to a paper document with a tax stamp (letter of the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia dated 06.27.16 No. D28i-1629 and information letter of the Bank of Russia dated 01.20.16 No. IN-015-55/3).
You can search for a person of interest by legal entities and individual entrepreneurs.
How to check a legal entity?
Legal entities search by OGRN / TIN or the name of the legal entity.
How to check a sole trader?
If you are looking for an individual entrepreneur, drive in the OGRNIP / TIN or full name and region of residence.
Electronic extracts from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities are not reliable
Document: letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated 02.09.16 No. ED-3-14/4045@
Consequences: it became more difficult to check the counterparty
For companies that want to make sure that a counterparty is reliable, it is now risky to rely on an electronic extract for it from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities. So, even if the tax authorities made an entry in the register about the unreliability of information on the counterparty, this information is not yet available in the electronic statement. The Federal Tax Service informed about this in a letter dated 02.09.16 No. ED-3-14/4045@.
The tax authorities have the right to make an entry about the unreliability of information in the register if the audit shows that the information in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities is not true (paragraph 6 of article 11 of the Federal Law of 08.08.01 No. 129-FZ). But first, the inspectors will offer the company to correct the data in the registry. Organizations will have 30 days to do so. If the company does not submit new data about itself, the inspectors will make a note in the register. And the directors of the company will be fined under part 4 of article 14.25 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (decision of the magistrate of the judicial district No. 1 of the Alekseevsky district and the city of Alekseevka, Belgorod region dated 08/06/14 No. 5-472 / 2014). In addition, the director of such a company or a member will not be able to register a new organization for three years afterwards.
For counterparties of organizations for which the Unified State Register of Legal Entities has an entry about the inaccuracy of information, such an entry carries increased tax risks. Inspectors can remove tax expenses or refuse to deduct VAT. Therefore, if the company is facing a major transaction, request an extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities for a potential counterparty in paper form.
The Federal Tax Service claims that it will soon finalize its electronic services. Then a record of the unreliability of the information will be indicated in the column "additional information" of the electronic statement.
Step #2. Checking the counterparty by TIN: valid TIN of legal entities
One of the most important stages of checking your partner is checking the counterparty by TIN. In a separate branch on the tax website, check the TIN of the partner and make sure that it is valid. For example, as reported on the official website of the tax authorities nalog.ru, as of 06/08/2016, 1,702,145 valid TINs of legal entities were registered in the database of the Federal Tax Service of Russia for the city of Moscow.
How to check the TIN?
Select your region on the website of the tax service. Next, enter the TIN in the empty field and click "Search".
Step #3. Invalid Certificates
In total, as of May 12, 2016, 3,599,823 invalid certificates were registered in the database of the Federal Tax Service of Russia for the city of Moscow
How to check evidence?
Ideal wording for online verification of counterparties
Companies prefer to check their counterparties for risks through the online services of the tax authorities. It's fast and free. But now judges are increasingly deciding that one check through the website of the Federal Tax Service is not enough. In their opinion, it is necessary to use other publicly available information that can be found free of charge on the Internet (decree of the Eleventh Arbitration Court of Appeal dated February 27, 2015 No. A72-5803 / 2014). Moreover, the judges themselves now often give tips on where to get the data for verification.
Step number 4. Checking the counterparty by TIN: invalid TIN of individuals
In a separate service on the website of the tax service, anyone can check the counterparty by TIN. This verification of the counterparty by TIN is carried out on the basis of invalid TINs. For example, as of June 8, 2016, 3,797,733 invalid TINs of individuals were registered in the database of the Federal Tax Service of Russia for the city of Moscow.
How to do a TIN check?
Select your region on the tax website, and then start checking with the information that you have: TIN, inspection code, or the period when the TIN was invalidated.
Step number 5. Checking the counterparty by TIN: invalid TIN of legal entities
Checking the counterparty by TIN also includes such a stage as checking whether the partner's TIN is included in the database of invalid TINs. For example, according to information on the official website nalog.ru, as of June 8, 2016, 1,111,000 invalid TINs of legal entities were registered in the database of the Federal Tax Service of Russia for the city of Moscow.
How to do a TIN check?
Select your region on the tax website. Then enter the TIN, KPP or the period when the TIN is invalidated. It is not necessary to enter all data at the same time.
Step number 6. Checking foreign counterparties
The FTS website has a new electronic service through which a company can check a foreign counterparty. This is an additional opportunity to check the reliability of a business partner. Previously, companies could check online only Russian counterparties in the Business Risks: Check Yourself and Counterparty section.
The service gives access to the information of the state register of accredited branches, representative offices of foreign legal entities (clause 11, article 21 of the Federal Law of 09.07.99 No. 160-FZ). The company will be able to find out the full name of the branch or representative office and its address, as well as the date when the state number of the accreditation record was assigned or the date of its termination.
To check a foreign counterparty, go to the website of the tax authorities nalog.ru and go to the "Electronic Services" section (on the right on the main page of the site). Select "Register of accredited branches, representative offices of foreign legal entities (RAFP)". The service is free and the database is open source. To check, enter one of the search options:
- TIN / KPP;
- Name;
— state accreditation record number (NZA).
It is more reliable and faster to search for a counterparty by TIN. This is a mandatory requisite, the checkpoint is optional. When only the name is known, you can refine the search and select the region in which the counterparty is located. Fill in the required fields with an asterisk in the search card, enter the numbers from the picture and click on the search.
A list of branches and representative offices of foreign companies that fit the specified parameters will appear on the screen. To save detailed company information to your computer in PDF format, click the icon on the right. The extract will also contain data on the types of activities of the foreign counterparty, the number of employees, information about the manager, details of certificates, etc.
Check even those counterparties from which accountants buy household goods
Who won the dispute: inspection
Details of the judicial act: decision of the Arbitration Court of the North Caucasus District dated May 23, 2016 No. А53-5042/2015
Asking price: 269 thousand rubles
The organization gave employees money against the report to pay for parking and purchase household supplies. The accountants prepared advance reports and applied cashier's checks to them.
During the audit, the tax authorities found that non-existent TINs were indicated on the checks, and the sellers themselves were not registered in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities. The auditors considered the transactions fictitious and excluded the cost of household goods and parking from tax expenses. And the employees were charged additional personal income tax.
The court upheld the inspectors. The company issued money to accountants for three years. But during this time she never checked the suppliers, at least according to the database of the Federal Tax Service of Russia. The organization did not show due diligence when choosing counterparties. Therefore, it bears all the risks that arise when working with an unscrupulous supplier (clause 10 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated 12.10.06 No. 53).
Judicial practice on similar disputes
Previously, the courts allowed the company to take into account expenses, even if the hotel receipt contains a fictitious TIN (decisions of the Arbitration Court of the Ural District dated 08.28.15 No. F09-5678 / 15 and the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the North-Western District dated 11.15.12 No. A52-1635 / 2012). After all, the employer cannot check the hotel in advance, because he does not know where the seconded employees will stay.
Step number 7. Nine Useful Websites for Checking a Counterparty Online
We've compiled nine more official sites here that you should check out:
Checking the power of attorney with the representative of the counterparty
On the Internet, you can check whether the power of attorney from the representative of the counterparty has been revoked. The website of the Federal Notarial Chamber www.notariat.ru contains a database of revoked powers of attorney. It includes only those powers of attorney that have been certified by notaries. The database is also available at http://reestrdover.ru/. It is advisable to use it for a comprehensive check of the counterparty before concluding an agreement.
The base is not in the public domain. It can only be used to check whether a specific power of attorney has been canceled. To do this, you need to know at least one of the following details of the power of attorney:
- date of certification by a notary;
- registry number.
This information is indicated on the search page. The result is displayed in the form of a table (see screenshot below). It additionally reflects:
— information about the notary who certified the power of attorney;
— the date and time when the information about the cancellation of the power of attorney was entered into the unified information system of the notary.
If the power of attorney is not revoked, at the end of the search, a message appears: “Total 0 records found. Refine your search terms.
The presence in the database of a power of attorney presented by a representative of the counterparty is an alarming sign. After all, this person does not have the authority to conclude a transaction or perform other actions on behalf of the counterparty. If the organization nevertheless concludes a deal with him, there is a high risk that it will subsequently be recognized as invalid (clause 1 of article 166 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). For example, at the suit of the company on behalf of which the representative acted.
Another possible scenario is that the tax authorities will consider this counterparty a one-day business. Especially if there are other signs of dishonesty. As a result, they will refuse the organization to deduct "input" VAT and account for expenses on transactions with this counterparty.
Checking the counterparty for financial statements
An unscrupulous counterparty may not only not pay for the delivery, but also become a reason for additional taxes. You can assess the reliability of potential partners in major contracts if you analyze their financial statements for the past year. Companies are required to submit it to the inspection and statistical office (subclause 5, clause 1, article 23 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and clause 1, article 18 of the Federal Law of December 24, 2011 No. 402-FZ “On Accounting”) in free access.
How to get the financial statements of the counterparty
Request from counterparty.
Since the financial statements are not a commercial secret (clause 11, article 13 of the Federal Law of December 24, 2011 No. 402-FZ), a refusal to provide it should alert. The disadvantage of this option is that the counterparty can issue a falsified balance in order to appear in a favorable light. After all, it is not difficult to forge a mark on the receipt of data by the tax authorities on a photocopy of the balance sheet.
Obtain from Rosstat on the Multistat portal.
The address of the service is www.multistat.ru → Online information resources of the GMC Rosstat → Enterprises and organizations. But the information will be paid (at the time of signing the issue - 398 rubles). In addition, reporting falls into this database with a delay. At the time of this writing, the Multistat website indicated that the system was updated on June 11 and contains reports for 2005-2014.
Get on the portal of public services.
Portal address — beta.gosuslugi.ru → Popular services → All popular services → All services (by departments) → Federal State Statistics Service > Receipt by interested users of data from annual accounting (financial) statements.
The portal operates with the same database as Multistat, so there are delays in uploading data. But here reporting is provided free of charge and a few minutes after the request
First stage. Compare the dynamics of indicators over several years
An analysis of reports for two or three years in a row will reveal trends in the activities of a potential counterparty. There are many indicators. We have listed the most informative in the table below.
EXAMPLE.
Kompaniya LLC plans to conclude a large supply agreement with a new buyer, Kontragent LLC. Analyzing the financial statements of the future partner, the company revealed a two-fold decrease in the profitability ratio of sales from 2014 to 2015. The management of LLC "Company" decided to conclude an agreement with the counterparty for a smaller amount.
The references of the tax authorities to the low profitability of counterparties most often do not find support in court. An example of this is the definition of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Urals District of December 20, 2013 No. F09-13580 / 13. But there are decisions in favor of the inspectors (decree of the Arbitration Court of the North Caucasus District of December 14, 2015 No. F08-9113 / 2015). Therefore, it is safer to analyze the dynamics of the coefficients, at least for the suppliers with whom the company plans to conclude large contracts.
The counterparty is like a one-day. What argument of the tax authorities is the last straw in the dispute
If the supplier has signs of a one-day business, the tax authorities consider transactions with him to be fictitious. As a result, the buyer suffers. The inspectors refuse to deduct VAT and account for the costs of these transactions. We are talking about such typical signs of one-day:
— there are no fixed assets and other property on the balance sheet of the counterparty, without which it is impossible to fulfill the obligations under the transaction;
- there is one person on the staff, usually the general director, who is also the chief accountant and the only founder;
- the supplier does not have expenses for current activities - for paying utilities, rent, communication services, paying salaries;
- the counterparty is registered at the address of mass registration, there is neither an office nor employees for it;
- the supplier does not submit reports to the inspection or delivers with zero or minimal turnover;
- he does not pay taxes and insurance contributions to funds or pays meager amounts.
Many courts reject the arguments of the tax authorities and cancel additional charges if the buyer has proved the reality of the transaction. After all, even a respectable company can have such signs. For example, in order to provide consulting services, it is not necessary to have a staff of 200 people and production equipment worth 40 million rubles.
But if the controllers find something else dubious in the transactions, the courts agree with them. From recent judicial practice, we chose arguments that turned out to be the last straw that swayed the arbitrators in favor of the tax authorities. Let's see how to avoid the same mistakes and avoid additional charges in the article
The lion's share of refusals to deduct "input" VAT and recognize transaction costs falls on unfair counterparties (NCs). Insufficient verification of a future business partner, especially in a major transaction, may threaten not only the risk of non-fulfillment of obligations under the contract, but also the claims of regulatory authorities for declared deductions and expenses on profit. You can protect yourself by carefully checking your partner in all possible ways. At the moment there are more than 17 of them.
Almost every company at least once in its life has faced a refusal to deduct value added tax and recognize income expenses due to an unscrupulous counterparty. Tax authorities recognize transactions with such persons as dubious, expenses unconfirmed and overstated, and tax benefits unjustified. A partner who at the conclusion of the transaction seemed reliable and quite real is subsequently recognized by the tax authorities as a “one-day” or “transit company”. A reasonable question arises, how to check the counterparty before an important transaction and prove to the tax authority the exercise of due diligence and caution. There are several ways that can be divided into 5 groups:
- Electronic verification services (FTS, FAS, FMS FSSP, RNP, etc.);
- Requests to state bodies (tax inspections);
- Provision of a package of documents from a partner in the transaction;
- Personal meeting with the counterparty (his representative)
- Survey of companies and individual entrepreneurs who cooperated with this supplier/contractor/executor/seller;
- Studying the website of the company / individual entrepreneur and reviews about it on the Internet
How to threaten an organization with cooperation with an unverified partner
- Material losses, broken deals, "tarnished" reputation
- Refusal to deduct (reduce) VAT;
- Additional charge of value added tax;
- Refusal to recognize as justified expenses for the purpose of taxation of profits and to reduce the tax base for the disputed person;
- Additional accrual of income tax (NP);
- Bringing to tax responsibility for non-payment of amounts of VAT, NP;
- Accrual of fines, penalties
- Appointment of an on-site tax audit (GNP)
Interaction with a dubious company (entrepreneur) may be the basis for the appointment of GNP. This right is granted to regulatory authorities by clause 12 of the Concept for on-site inspections:
This paragraph involves the use of tax evasion schemes, tax minimization. The use of "one-day firms" is one such scheme. It consists in reducing the tax burden on VAT and profits, illegal reimbursement of value added tax from the budget, unreasonable recognition of expenses on profits. Therefore, interaction with unverified companies (IP) recognized by the tax authorities as unscrupulous, “one-day” threatens the taxpayer with an on-site audit. The main document that guides the regulatory authorities in this situation is the Decree of the FAS Plenum No. 53. It defines the main criteria for a person to exercise due diligence and caution (DOIO).
It should be noted that at the moment there is no clear list of actions, the commission of which will be an unambiguous confirmation of the manifestation of PPI. Even when carrying out all the methods of verification listed below, the tax authority may recognize the counterparty as unfair, and the tax benefit unreasonable.
The reason is that at the moment taxpayers do not have the rights that are granted to state bodies, in particular: interrogating the heads and founders of disputable counterparties, inquiries to banks and inspections at the place of registration, requesting documents and much more. But using all possible ways to check a trading partner is more likely to save you from the risk of adverse consequences.
Electronic resources for checking the counterparty
Using the websites of official government agencies, you can get basic information about a future business partner, find out if a legal entity is in the process of bankruptcy, making changes to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, whether the main persons of the company are disqualified, check the accuracy of the basic data of the legal entity and much more.
Website of the Federal Tax Service
It should be noted that a disqualified person does not have the right to sign documents on behalf of the company, so it is advisable to use this search when concluding large transactions.
If the counterparty is not available at the registration address, this is very often another sign of the taxpayer's bad faith, which is referred to by the tax authorities during the audit.
To find out if the organization is a plaintiff or a defendant, you can refer to the filing cabinet of arbitration cases.
When checking information using Internet resources, it is necessary to save screenshots of checks to confirm the fact of PMO in the event of claims from the tax authorities.
Obtaining an extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities
One of the main ways to check the legal capacity of an organization before concluding contracts is to obtain an extract from the state register. The performance of this action, even in the absence of other evidence, may serve as a basis for confirming the fact of the manifestation of PPI when choosing a business partner. There are two ways to get an extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities:
- Through the tax authority;
- Through an electronic request on the website of the Federal Tax Service
To obtain an extract in paper form, you must pay for the services for its submission in the amount of:
- 200 rub. - the deadline for receipt is five days from the date of receipt by the tax authority of the request;
- 400r. - urgent statement, the term of receipt of which is 1 day.
It is also necessary to make a request for the submission of this extract. It is compiled in any form. It must contain the name, TIN, PSRN of your organization and counterparty, postal (e-mail) address and telephone number of the applicant.
To receive an electronic statement, you must have a personal account of the taxpayer or be registered on the website of the Federal Tax Service.
An extract in electronic form is provided free of charge, has an EDS and is equivalent to a paper one.
Obtaining a package of documents from a future partner
A sign of conscientiousness and caution when choosing a business partner will be the fact of requesting the last package of necessary documents, including:
- Charter;
- Certificate of state registration;
- Certificate of registration with the tax authority;
- Decision on the election (appointment) of the head of the legal entity;
- License or certificate of admission to certain types of work (SRO)
You can check the license on the site corresponding to the type of work. The validity of the data of the SRO certificate - on the website of the self-regulatory organization, as well as by requesting an extract from the register of SRO members.
It should be noted that these documents must be valid not only at the time of conclusion of the contracts, but also at the date of recognition of expenses.
- Documents confirming the authority of persons entitled to act without a power of attorney.
Such documents are: a copy of the passport of such a person, a copy of the order for employment, a copy of the minutes of the general meeting of founders, a copy of a bank card, a power of attorney, if such a person is not the head of the organization.
Copies must be certified by the seal and signature of the relevant person.
It is also desirable to verify the signatures in the passport and bank card.
You can verify the authenticity of the identity document on the FMS website.
You can also request from the organization additionally:
- Statement of the status of settlements with the budget;
- Letters of recommendation from companies that cooperated with this legal entity;
- Certificate of cost and quantity of fixed assets;
- On the availability of labor resources;
- Balance sheets and income statements
- Business partner website and reviews
- It is also worth carefully studying the company's website, if it contains the TIN and certificate numbers, compare them with the documents received on purpose. You also need to carefully check the reviews about the organization on the Internet.
Personal meeting with the CEO
Before concluding a deal, a major contract, it is better to meet with the director or manager in person. Very often, transactions carried out "in absentia" and by mail raise doubts with the tax authorities and, as a rule, justified.
In conclusion, it should be noted that all of the above checks of the counterparty, even in the aggregate, cannot serve as 100% confirmation that the organization will turn out to be a bona fide taxpayer, but they will help confirm the fact of the manifestation of DPI when choosing a party to the contract. As a rule, even if the tax authorities refuse to deduct and recognize expenses for a disputed legal entity, the courts take the side of bona fide taxpayers if they have documents confirming the manifestation of DPI.
You can also get acquainted with these and other ways of checking legal entities in the following video:
Summing up the above, we will briefly reflect the ways to check the future partner for reliability:
- Through Internet resources (website of the Federal Tax Service, FMS, FAS, FSSP, Registers of unscrupulous suppliers and information about the facts of the activities of legal entities);
- Request for a package of documents;
- Obtaining an extract from the state register;
- Checking the company's website and reviews;
- Personal meeting with the head of the organization
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Statistics give us a not very pleasant fact: a deal with every 20 organization usually ends in losses just because the counterparty company did not check it for reliability. How to study the reputation of the company and come to honest cooperation? Let's try to figure it out.
When should contractors be checked?
Verification of counterparties is usually carried out either by experienced businessmen or experienced lawyers. Do you know why? Because they have already understood that you need to work only with trustworthy companies and, moreover, only you are responsible for checking this trustworthiness.
In order to avoid unpleasant situations when working with a counterparty, it is customary to “drive” new partners through a whole list of checks. Moreover, there are a number of cases when such checks are required:
- If you decide to work with a new partner for the first time. Checking will help to avoid possible errors.
- If you are aware that the potential counterparty is a new company that has recently registered. Of course, a new company in itself cannot bear risks, however, working with it is still as good as it can be.
- If you know that a potential counterparty is not very flattering. Of course, no one has canceled the evil tongues of competition, but still the old proverb says "trust, but verify."
- If a potential counterparty works exclusively on prepaid basis. By checking the company for reliability, you can protect yourself from underdelivery of goods, or from the provision of low-quality services.
Company verification is a separate service that many organizations provide, however, with due skill and free time, you can do it yourself.
The relevance of the company due diligence for different business areas should not be questioned. Even in such a seemingly undeniably reliable activity as leasing, there are not entirely honest “players”.
What information can be obtained about a potential partner
So, let's look at what kind of information you can get about a company using simple Internet access. The easiest way is to go to the website of the tax service and use the search to find all the information you need there, or use the services of third-party resources, which, by the way, are sometimes paid.
Checking the TIN
The first thing that characterizes a company as a company that really works and works honestly is the TIN. If you have an organization's TIN, then you can easily check how real it is. TIN, or individual tax number, is a cipher built according to a special algorithm. If the company took it out of their heads, then checking by this number through any service convenient for you will not give any result.
The easiest way to check the TIN is to use the verification service on the website of the tax service (more on this at the end of the article).
We request a certificate of state registration
Requesting a certificate of registration is a sure way to find out how real the activities of a potential counterparty are. In this way, we will find out whether the company actually exists, that is, whether it is accounted for by the Federal Tax Service as a taxpayer.
Of course, the presence of evidence does not yet tell us that the company is very trustworthy. Maybe she just stopped her activities, or maybe she does not submit reports, or even a tax debtor.
You can request a copy of the state registration certificate directly from the company, or again use the services of third-party resources.
We receive an extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities / EGRIP
If you can get a fresh statement for the counterparty from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities / EGRIP, then this means that the organization is still afloat. Moreover, the extract contains all the necessary information to verify the honesty of the organization: its owner, place of registration, licenses and other data.
The extract can be downloaded on the official website of the tax service of the Russian Federation (which is much easier) or requested from a potential partner. If you need a certified extract from the register, you can apply for it at any branch of the Tax Service of Russia.
Analyzing financial statements
An excellent tool for analyzing an organization is the analysis of its financial statements. Request a balance sheet from the counterparty, or use third-party services.
With the help of the balance, you can check several types of data at once:
- the company successfully closes quarters and submits reports;
- the company conducts business;
- What assets does the firm own?
The company's assets are, first of all, its authorized and other types of capital and liabilities. If the company has practically no assets, then this is an occasion for you to think about whether it is worth linking your business with it.
Also, if you know that you are planning a major deal with a company, and its assets or turnover are very small compared to the amount of the deal, then this is also a reason to think: most likely it hides part of the income, which also does not show it on the positive side.
Based on the balance sheet, you can make a full-fledged financial analysis, which can not only demonstrate the vector of the company's development, but also understand how stable it is on its feet. If you need a reliable partner, then this is one of the main indicators.
We check the registration address for "mass character"
What do you know about bulk registration address? Most likely nothing. However, this is one of the most basic features of the so-called one-day firms. If you are afraid that your counterparty may turn out to be just such a company, then just check it at the address.
This can be done on the tax service website at service.nalog.ru/addrfind.do.
Most companies are registered at one address, however, in fact, they are located in a completely different one. We also advise you to check the actual address of the company's location - whether the partner's office actually exists and what it is like. If you have not previously worked with this partner and the amount of the planned transaction is high, then such a check will not be superfluous.
Checking tax arrears and reporting
If you doubt that your counterparty is playing fair, just in case, ask the Federal Tax Service for information on the payment of taxes by this company.
What is it for? Everything is simple. If the case between you and your counterparty comes to arbitration, then your appeal to the Federal Tax Service for additional information will be a huge plus. In order to record the fact of the appeal, the request must be submitted personally, and the office of the Federal Tax Service must mark the receipt of the request (or send the request by registered mail with notification).
Knowing his TIN, you can conduct such a verification of the counterparty on the website of the tax service - service.nalog.ru/zd.do.
Given that this online service is working in test mode, you need to understand that the information received cannot be considered 100% reliable.
Government contracts
Government contracts are a great way to check all the details about a prospective partner. Contracting companies for such transactions are selected very strictly. So, for example, a firm that has debts cannot be a contractor. If a company sometimes concludes government contracts, then this is an indicator of its reliability and a stable position in the market.
You can check the company for participation in public procurement on the website zakupki.gov.ru, or on other electronic trading platforms.
People Data
What kind of people are we talking about in this case? First of all, about the management and founders. So, along with mass registration, there is such a thing as "mass leader". If a person is a director in several companies at once, then you have every reason to believe that a potential counterparty is a one-day business.
In addition to the fact that you will see how many companies a person manages, you will also have access to data on all the companies that he previously managed. If you become aware that many of the firms run by a person went bankrupt, then this is a reason to think: most likely, you are dealing with an unscrupulous company, which may not be tomorrow.
It will not be superfluous to check whether the head is listed in the register of disqualified persons. You can do this on the website of the tax service - service.nalog.ru/disqualified.do.
Checking the organization by TIN on the website of the Tax Service of Russia
Let's try to figure out how to find and check a counterparty by TIN on the website of the tax service. To do this, follow the link egrul.nalog.ru, or open the main page of the resource and in the "Electronic Services" section select "Business risks: check yourself and the counterparty".
You already know by what parameters you can check a company through the resource of the tax service of the Russian Federation, so now we will consider the most frequent of the necessary checks - checking by TIN.
For example, we will check the TIN of PJSC GAZPROM. Do not forget that in addition to checking legal entities, verification of individual entrepreneurs is also available there.
As you can see, everything is extremely simple. We enter the individual tax number in the required window and enter the captcha to confirm that we are not a robot.
The result is pleasing: the tax office immediately provides the address of the company's location, its OGRN, TIN, KPP, as well as the date the OGRN was assigned:
conclusions
To avoid misunderstandings when working with a new counterparty, it is necessary to check it for reliability. Such a check can be easily carried out on the official website of the tax service of Russia or use other services.
Based on the results of the audit, conclusions can be drawn - whether to start cooperation with a new company, or whether it is necessary to cut off all ties right now.
Video - why it is important to check counterparties before concluding a deal:
Entrepreneurship is always a risk. Including the risk associated with a lack of information about partners (buyers, suppliers, contractors), especially about their financial condition and business reputation.
Even a deal that is well thought out in terms of ensuring the fulfillment of obligations, if it is concluded with a fraudster, can result in large material losses.
You can verify the reliability of a partner, partially protect yourself from unscrupulous performers and customers, using the electronic online service posted on the nalog.ru website, “Check yourself and the counterparty”.
Ask the counterparty for its constituent documents, TIN, or main state registration number. The service "Business risks: check yourself and the counterparty" nalog.ru by TIN or PSRN will provide more accurate information about any legal entity, individual entrepreneur or peasant (farmer) economy. The fact is that there can be several companies with an identical name and entrepreneurs with the same surname, name and patronymic, even in one region.
Follow the link. When forming each request, you need to enter the code from the picture. Using the site's capabilities, generate an up-to-date extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities or Individual Entrepreneurs (EGRLE or EGRIP). From it you will learn when and where the company is registered, who are its founders, the head. Get information about the types of economic activity of the enterprise, available licenses, if the activity is licensed.
In order not to lose profits or even be prosecuted for participating in corruption schemes and money laundering, before entering into an agreement, collect and analyze information about your counterparty.
With the help of the information posted on the page "Check if your business is at risk?" make sure that the potential partner meets the criteria listed below.
- The organization is active, and it is not threatened with exclusion from the register of legal entities by decision of the tax inspectorate.
- The types of activities necessary for the execution of the contract are included in the list of OKVED organizations or entrepreneurs, there are all necessary permits and licenses.
- The future partner is not in the process of liquidation or reorganization.
- The head of the firm is not included in the register of disqualified persons, and disqualified persons are not included in the executive bodies of the organization.
- The leader or founder is not a "mass" leader or founder. Such information is especially important if it turns out that one of the controlled firms is in a state of bankruptcy or is a defendant for a significant amount.
- The firm is not registered at the address of the mass registration of legal entities. By itself, registration, for example, at an address in a business center, is not yet an alarming factor. But you should pay attention to this if there are other signs of a “one-day company”.
- The legal entity is not included in the list of tax arrears and has not submitted tax returns for more than a year. However, it is not yet possible to obtain such information regarding individual entrepreneurs.
Check yourself and the counterparty - "nalog.ru" official website
Already from June 1, 2019, it will be possible to check yourself and the counterparty in even more detail. nalog.ru - the official website of the Federal Tax Service using the online service “Business risks: check yourself and your counterparty / Check if your business is at risk?” will provide access to data that was previously considered private. You can find out the following information about a business partner:
- The amount of income and expenses for the year according to financial statements.
- Information about the number of employees.
- The special tax regime applied by the organization (simplified system (STS), single tax on imputed income (UTII), etc.).
- Amounts of arrears on taxes, fees, insurance premiums, debts on penalties, fines.
- The amount of taxes and fees paid for the year.
In turn, your counterparty will have at its disposal similar information about your company.
How to use this information?
According to the data for the previous year on income and expenses, the number of employees, taxes and fees paid, it is possible to determine the scale of the organization's activities and compare it with the volume of the contract being concluded. Is it realistic that a company that has received a couple of million rubles of revenue in a year, having 1 person on staff (most likely a director), is able to fulfill a construction contract of 500 million.
Overdue debt to the tax office can lead to blocking of accounts in all banks. It can also be a signal of indiscipline and optional partner, or that he has financial difficulties.
tax.ru. Check the counterparty by TIN, and not fall for the bait of "great schemers"
Government agencies constantly publish on their websites open information at their disposal, thereby enabling business partners to study each other.
The services of the site of the Federal Tax Service nalog.ru - counterparty check reveal the basic data about the counterparty described above.
The official website of the Federal Bailiff Service fssprus.ru allows you to obtain information about open enforcement proceedings using the "Data Bank of Enforcement Proceedings" service.
With the help of the “Card Index of Arbitration Cases” service, posted on the website of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation arbitr.ru, you can obtain data on the participation of a potential partner in litigation.
Study your counterparties, use these and other available sources of information. Thus, you protect yourself from cooperation with unscrupulous partners, reduce tax, financial risks, risks of loss of business reputation.
