Income is under lock and key, but expenses are at random

Marketing is an important part of modern business, and a successful manager must be able to use it effectively. There are different areas of marketing like SMM, digital, and target. Companies spend a lot of money to promote their products, works, and services on the market. Marketing services can cost up to 700,000 rubles each month. 

From the standpoint of tax regulation, such costs can be considered when determining the tax base for income tax, but only if they are economically justified and documented. However, the regulatory authority is increasingly concerned with the costs of marketing services. The problem is that they do not produce any tangible results, making it difficult to demonstrate their reality. But it's possible. The main goal is to create a package of closing documents. As an added bonus, you will be able to reduce your tax burden on legal grounds. Nice, isn't it? 

Recently, while preparing a legal opinion on the possibility of accounting for marketing service costs, we determined such a package of documents for a regular client. At the same time, the situation was complicated by the fact that the relevant services are provided not only by a third-party counterparty, but also by an interdependent individual. This draws the attention of the regulatory authority to the taxpayer's receipt of an unjustified tax benefit. 

We began by analyzing a variety of judicial practices. This allowed us to identify the key requirements imposed by tax authorities and judicial bodies on closing documents. 

“The next question on the agenda was how correctly the terms of the contract for the provision of marketing services were drafted,” lawyer Anna Kalacheva notes. “After all, the potential claims of the regulatory authority are dependent on the accuracy and correctness of the wording. After establishing all the contentious points and incorporating them into the conclusion, the client made the final decision on whether to change the terms of the contract.” 

The next stage of the project was the creation of the main closing document, the act of services rendered. The primary goal was to ensure that it fully reflects all the information, because it is precisely based on the results of the act assessment, the determination of the nature of the services, the actual performers, and the time spent. So tax officials should have no doubts about the reality of the transaction, and, as a result, the legality of accounting for the relevant costs. 

This could have been the end of the story, but not in our case. In addition to the conclusion and a sample of the closing document, the act, we have developed proposals for demonstrating that the cost of marketing services provided to interdependent persons is in line with market prices. If the project is completed, the recommendations are followed, and all documents are properly executed, our client will be eligible for annual legitimate tax savings of approximately 1,750,000 rubles.