In the course of their work, employees use telephones. And many companies pay for their mobile phone costs. But when calculating income tax, the question arises: how much to write off expenses for telephone conversations... Should we separate personal calls from business calls, and how to do it correctly? How to reflect in the accounting the costs of telephones and SIM cards?

How to determine the amount of expenses for mobile communications?

There are two ways to determine the cost of communication services for employees.

The main way is to detail negotiations, i.e. consideration of all calls that were made from a telephone number, and isolation of service calls from them.

The second way is based on the first. First, you detail all telephone calls from a given number in order to know the specific amount that the employee spends on service calls, and then limit the costs, i.e. give an employee a certain amount every month for telephone conversations. Transfer of funds to telephone number can be done without the participation of the employee himself: by transferring funds from the employer's current account to the telecom operator.

Any of these methods should be focused on some kind of economically sound document. And for this it is necessary in the company to develop rules for the use of office mobile phones. This will make it easier for the manager to control the employee's calls. The rules need to take into account the following principles:

1. An employee can use telephone conversations only within the framework of his official duties.

2. Phone calls should be limited, the limit is set by the head of the company in a certain amount.

3. When using office phones for personal purposes, an employee is obliged to return the amount for personal negotiations to the company on the basis of Article 232 of the Labor Code by deducting it from his earnings or to the company's cash desk.

4. These rules apply to employees using office phone numbers.

These rules are signed by the person in charge of telephone services in the company and the chief accountant, and certified by the signature of the manager and the seal.

Advantages and disadvantages of negotiating granularity.

The advantage of detailing conversations is that the manager can track employee and personal calls and see how employees are using their time. In addition, the validity of such expenses is easy to prove to tax authorities, who require a detailed report.

But there are situations when it is difficult to separate business calls from personal calls, for example, when the employee's relatives buy the company's products and the employee has to spend time talking with them. In addition, to detail the costs, an extract from the telecom operator is required, when ordering which additional funds are required.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Limiting.

The advantage of limiting is that the company can optimize its mobile communication costs, i.e. you can plan a budget if you know the amount of your expenses in advance.

The disadvantages of caps are that the employee may not have enough money for negotiations and he will have to pay for them out of his own pocket. In addition, it will be necessary to carry out periodic indexation of the limit in connection with the increase in tariffs, seasonality of work, etc. And this is an additional cost.

How to account for expenses if an employee negotiated for personal purposes at the expense of the company?

If the phone is a business phone, it is registered to the company, respectively, all invoices will be issued to the company and paid by it in full. And this does not depend on whether the conversations were personal or official.

But what about personal conversations? Here, all operations for recording the costs of mobile communications depend on whether the employee reimburses the costs of telephone calls or not. The way of accounting for expenses does not matter here.

Now let's talk about reimbursing the cost of mobile communications.

The employee reimburses the costs of mobile communications.

When an employee reimburses the expenses for personal negotiations, the amount paid by him is included in the company's non-operating income. At the same time, the same amount must be included in other expenses of the company (subparagraph 25 of paragraph 1 of article 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

If the employee does not reimburse the costs for personal calls.

If the employee does not reimburse the employer for personal telephone calls, then this amount cannot be taken into account when calculating income tax. These expenses will not be economically justified and will have nothing to do with the company's activities.

Let's consider the case with an example.

Example 1. The OSNO company takes into account the costs of mobile communications.

In June 2013, Alpha LLC entered into an agreement for the provision of mobile communication services with the operator, having determined a 100% prepayment in the conditions. The organization has three subscriber numbers that are used by Chief Accountant, CFO, and Senior Manager. The method for determining costs and incomes at Alpha LLC is the accrual method. In June, the accountant transferred 6,500 rubles in advance for mobile services. We do the wiring

D-t 60 K-t 51 = 6500 - transfer of funds for mobile communications

In July 2013, an invoice was issued for mobile services for July in the amount of 6254 rubles. (including VAT 954 rubles). When detailing the numbers, personal conversations were not identified. We do the wiring:

D-t 26 K-t 60 = 5300 rubles (6254-954) - the cost of service negotiations for July 2013 is taken into account
D-t 19 K-t 60 = 954 rubles - input VAT for mobile communications
D-t 68 K-t 19 = 954 rubles - input VAT is deducted

What documents can be used to confirm the costs of telephone calls on a mobile phone?

In order to avoid problems with the tax office, when writing off the costs of mobile communications, the company must have the following documents:

Rules for the use of office mobile phones;

List of employees who can use office mobile numbers.

Both of these documents are approved by the head.

Job description or a clause in the employment contract, which states that the employee has a cell phone to work.

Mobile operator contract, detailed monthly bills.

If an employee uses a personal SIM card, a copy of his contract with the operator, details of his account and an application for reimbursement of mobile communication costs are required.

How to take into account the cost of the phones themselves and the cost of corporate SIM cards?

Occupational necessity sometimes requires the employer to purchase corporate SIM cards and telephones. Is it possible to write off such expenses in the cost price? It is possible, and there are no problems here.

The corporate SIM card belongs to the organization, not individual employee... The company itself concludes an agreement with the telecom operator, and then transfers the SIM card to the employee on the basis of the deed of transfer. The owner of the SIM card is the employer.

Expenses for the purchase of corporate SIM cards must be attributed to other expenses (subparagraph 25 of paragraph 1 of article 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Basically, these are the costs of the cost of the SIM card itself. Typically, the service for providing a number and connecting to the network is free of charge. In addition, cash, for which SIM cards were bought, are usually immediately credited to the subscriber's account. In this case, these costs need to be taken into account as money is spent (subparagraphs 3 of paragraph 7 of article 272, paragraphs 1, 2 of article 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

If the owner of the telephone is a company, the telephone is corporate. Accordingly, it is put on the balance sheet. Due to the low cost (up to 40,000 rubles), telephones are accounted for as part of material costs and are written off to the cost as a whole.

If an employee uses a personal phone, is he entitled to compensation?

Consider a situation when an employee uses his SIM card for work or uses his personal cell phone. Either the SIM card and the telephone itself are owned by the employee.

When using personal property for business purposes, the employee is entitled to financial compensation(Article 188 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). The amount of compensation and methods of its payment are not stipulated in the law. Therefore, the amount of compensation can be any at the discretion of the management. Only in this case it is necessary to issue an order on the procedure for paying compensation for the use of personal cell phones for business purposes. This compensation is included in full with the composition of other expenses (subparagraph 25 of paragraph 1 of Article 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Is it possible to take into account the cost of additional communication services?

Operators often provide additional communication services for their subscribers (international roaming, standby and call forwarding, voice mail, caller ID, and others). When determining the base for income tax, these expenses can be written off as others (subparagraph 25 of paragraph 1 of article 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Documents that can be used to confirm such expenses - invoices, acts, etc. In addition, it is necessary to prove the economic feasibility of such expenses. Here you need to be guided job responsibilities... Or, like by analogy with mobile communications: draw up an order for use additional services contacts and a list of persons entitled to do so. You can enter data into the employment contracts of employees and prescribe the necessary items in job descriptions.

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On any commercial enterprise mobile communication is used, especially if it comes about the traveling nature of the work - the bosses call the employees, the employees themselves call back to the clients, and so on. The problems of expenses for cellular communication are solved at companies in different ways - somewhere employees receive a phone with a SIM card for the entire period of implementation labor activity, somewhere employees pay for the communication themselves, and then they are paid compensation for mobile communication.

How employees of an enterprise can be provided with communication means

The employer, at its discretion, provides its employees with cellular communications in one of the following ways:

  1. He buys mobile phones, enters into an agreement with a telecom operator and issues SIM-cards from him, and the employee uses the device within the limits approved by the authorities.
  2. Compensates an employee using a personal phone for the costs of paying for the services of a cellular operator. The costs also include the depreciation of the employee's personal property.
  3. Offers the employee to conclude a lease agreement for his personal phone for the needs of the company.

The conditions for using the employee's personal phone in the process of work can be spelled out in the employment contract, and the amount of compensation can also be indicated there. IN job description rules should be prescribed according to which the employee will use corporate communications.

What documents confirm the costs of mobile communications

In order for an employee to be able to guarantee himself reimbursement of the costs of mobile communications, it is necessary to ensure that all the documents listed below are available. Otherwise, the employer will have the right to refuse payment, and the law will be on his side. The following papers will be needed from the documents:

  • an employment contract, which says about the employer's obligation to reimburse the employee's expenses for cellular communications (or an annex to employment contract- this makes it easier to change the conditions for making payments in the future when the cost of services of mobile operators changes);
  • an order of the employee's superiors on the mandatory reimbursement of the employee's expenses for mobile communications;
  • an agreement with a mobile operator for the provision of communication services;
  • detailing of calls from the attendant mobile operator;
  • a statement by the employee that he has incurred certain expenses for mobile communications for business purposes;
  • employee report on all calls from mobile phone(you must specify information about the interlocutor, the time of the call, its duration and cost).

How the employer confirms the costs incurred for reimbursement of mobile communications to employees

Not only the employee, but also the employer is obliged to take care of the documents that would help justify his expenses for the payment of compensation for mobile communications to the tax office. To prove that he has suffered reasonable losses, the employer should:

  • draw up a local act, which would list all positions of employees for whose work cellular communication is required;
  • approve the procedure for using corporate cellular communications.

Both the rules for using the connection and the local normative act can be included in the collective agreement as annexes to it.

How mobile compensation is calculated

If an employee uses a personal mobile phone for business purposes and uses an unlimited communication service, the employer pays him a fixed amount of compensation every month.

Unlimited tariffs are not beneficial for company owners, since they involve making calls exclusively within the region of residence of the service user. If the employer needs an employee to call clients or partners in other cities, additional costs will have to be borne. Therefore, it is advisable for employers to choose tariffs with per-second billing and low rates for long-distance communication.

The most common way to reimburse the cost of cellular communication is to pay for the actually paid time for communication on a mobile according to the tariffs of the telecom operator. To do this, the employer requires the employee to provide him at the end of each month with a report detailing the calls made by the employee and their cost.

In matters of payment of compensation for mobile communications, you must remember the following points:

  1. Before agreeing on the use of an employee's personal mobile phone and receiving compensation for expenses, the employer is obliged to require the employee to provide a document that would prove that he is the owner of the phone.
  2. The employer may not withhold personal income tax from compensation amounts if he pre-sets restrictions on the use of mobile communications. In the future, it is allowed to increase the limits.
  3. If an employee exceeds the limits set by the employer for the use of mobile communications, he receives compensation only for costs that fit within the agreed limits - the rest of the costs are reimbursed from the employee's personal money. If, on the contrary, the employee received compensation in larger size than required, the balance is carried over to the next month.

Read also the article ⇒ About the inclusion of compensation for mobile communications in the text of the collective agreement or other local act of the enterprise

Typical mistakes

Error: The employee demands from the manager to reimburse his expenses for mobile communications, while their relationship is formalized within the framework of a civil law contract.

Is it possible to take into the costs of reducing income tax reimbursement (compensation) for cellular communications and will this payment be the income of employees for calculating taxes on wages... The employee concludes the contract with the telecom operator independently, the SIM card and phone belong to the employee. The detailing will not be provided by employees. We have drawn up an order on the limit for positions, an additional agreement to the employment contract and with an indication in the charter of the enterprise on the reimbursement of cellular communications

To provide employees with mobile communications, you can reimburse employees for the cost of calls for business purposes from their personal mobile phone. Personal income tax and insurance premiums are not subject to such compensation. When calculating income tax, compensation for expenses for paying for office calls from a personal phone can be included in other expenses. In this case, these costs must be economically justified and documented. The list of documents confirming the production nature of telephone conversations is not defined by law. Controlling agencies recommend confirming the production nature of telephone conversations with the following documents:

by orders of the head of the organization on the approval of the list of employees who use personal phones for the performance of their duties;

written agreements on the use of personal phones by employees;

detailed invoices of mobile operators;

job descriptions, which say in what duties an employee can use mobile communications;

statements of employees for reimbursement of expenses for payment of office negotiations from personal phones;

copies of documents confirming that the phone number used belongs to the employee.

In the absence of detailed conversations, it is possible controversial issues from the tax authorities on the legality and validity of such expenses. Moreover, there is a positive arbitrage practice in favor of taxpayers. In any case, if there is no detail of calls, in the internal documents of the organization, stipulate the duty of employees to draw up reports on service calls made within a month from a personal mobile phone.

The rationale for this position is given below in the materials of the Glavbukh System

To provide an employee with mobile communications, an organization can not only connect to a mobile operator itself, but also compensate employees for the cost of calls from their personal mobile phone.

Types of payments

When using his own mobile phone, an employee has the right to receive two types of payments:

reimbursement of the cost of service calls. *

contributions to compulsory pension (social, medical) insurance (sub. "and" clause 2, part 1 of article 9 of the Law of July 24, 2009 No. 212-FZ, letter of the Ministry of Health and Social Development of Russia dated August 6, 2010 No. 2538-19 );

contributions for insurance against accidents and occupational diseases (paragraph 10, sub. 2, paragraph 1, article 20.2 of the Law of July 24, 1998 No. 125-FZ). *

OSNO: income tax

When calculating income tax, include the compensation of expenses for payment of office negotiations from a personal phone in the list of other expenses (). Expenses must be economically justified and documented (clause 1 of article 252 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). *

If the organization uses the accrual method, then the tax base can be reduced as the employees receive applications and documents confirming the cost of service negotiations (subparagraph 3 of paragraph 7 of article 272 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). If the organization uses the cash method, write off the expenses only after the actual payment of compensation (clause 3 of article 273 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

OSNO: documentary evidence

Situation: what documents confirm the production nature of the employee's mobile phone calls. The organization reimburses employees for the cost of calls from their personal mobile phone

The list of documents confirming the production nature of telephone conversations is not defined by law. Despite this, the courts are inclined to believe that the organization is obliged to prove the connection between the costs of paying for communication services with its production activities(see, for example, resolutions of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Moscow District of January 19, 2009 No. KA-A40 / 12732-08, of the West Siberian District of May 4, 2005 No. F04-2733 / 2005 (10928-A27-40) and Vostochno -Siberian District of May 27, 2005 No. A58-1983 / 03-F02-2300 / 05-C1).

The chief accountant advises: there are arguments that allow organizations to take into account the costs of paying for mobile services in taxation without detailed invoices. They are as follows.

The Tax Code of the Russian Federation does not contain a list of mandatory documents that can be used to confirm the costs incurred. Moreover, the fact of expenses can be confirmed by any document, even indirectly indicating this (clause 1 of article 252 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Neither tax legislation, nor legislation on communications, nor legislation on accounting contain requirements for mandatory decryption of the negotiations performed, obtaining detailed invoices and drawing up a report for each call. In addition, the content of the negotiations constitutes a legally protected communication secret (). This means that the organization is not obliged to confirm the production orientation of these expenses by detailing the accounts.

In the course of its business, any company uses mobile communications. In some cases, we are talking about the so-called corporate tariffs, when employees are given a phone with a SIM card for the duration of their work, in some cases the employee is forced to pay for the communication with his own money, and the employer will compensate for all costs. In this article, we will analyze both options in detail.

Legislator's position

In Art. 164 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the legislator determines that monetary compensation is paid by the employer when covering the costs incurred by the employee as a result of the performance of his official duties.

In Art. 188 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation says that such compensation consists of three terms:

  • use of things;
  • depreciation of property;
  • expenses related to the use of property.

In this case, the amount of compensation, as a rule, is determined by agreement of the parties. This issue should be covered either in the text of the employment contract, or in an additional agreement to it.

However, Art. 41 and 45 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation establish a requirement according to which questions about compensation for mobile communications should be included in the text of the collective agreement or in another local act of the enterprise.

The employer has the right to establish a fixed amount of payments or tie its value to any indicators. In this case, all amounts must be economically justified and supported by appropriate documents.

The expense is documented by the following documents:

  • by order of the head of the enterprise, in accordance with which the employee is compensated for mobile communications;
  • a statement by the employee, in which he informs about the costs he has committed;
  • the employee's report on the calls made by him at work, indicating the person to whom the call was made, the time and price of the call;
  • detailing calls from a telecom operator;
  • an employment contract, the text of which includes the obligation for the employer to pay compensation for mobile communications;
  • an agreement on the provision of communication services by a mobile operator.

The Federal Arbitration Court of the Central District in its resolution No. A35-8471-2009 dated June 24, 2011 ruled that the employer has the right to:

  • determine the amount of payments and the procedure for their appointment;
  • clarify the terms of reimbursement of expenses for mobile communications;
  • approve local acts that will contain the justification for payments.

We draw your attention to the fact that reimbursement of the costs of mobile communications by the employer is mandatory only if an employment contract is concluded between him and the employee. When formalizing relations within the framework of a civil law agreement, the provisions of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation do not apply to them.

Organizational expenses for the purchase of mobile phones

After purchasing mobile phones for the needs of the organization, the accounting department must arrange the posting of expenses in the manner prescribed by law, taking into account the fact that the cost of the purchased products will gradually decrease. The accounting department must spend expenses that are aimed at the purchase of cell phones and SIM cards for them, according to article PBU 6/01. At the same time, they can be attributed to the balance of the organization either to ordinary or to other expenses. The algorithm for "crediting" the purchase to the organization's account will also depend on its value. For example, telephones, the price of which is over 40,000 rubles. will be classified as fixed assets. Therefore, in this case, depreciation charges will be charged on them, which should cover all the costs of maintaining the phones in working order. If the price of telephones is less than 40,000 rubles, then they are included in the composition of material costs. All funds that were spent on the purchase of mobile phones must be confirmed by appropriate checks, receipts.

To confirm the grounds for compensation, which relate to all expenses for using mobile communications, the head of the enterprise must perform a number of actions:

  • to approve by local act a list of positions in which it is assumed the need for the operational use of mobile communications;
  • develop rules for using corporate mobile communications.

Moreover, such acts can be included as annexes to the collective agreement.

Providing employees with communication means

Providing employees with mobile communications by the employer can take place in several ways:

  1. The employer buys mobile phones, draws up SIM cards, the employee uses them within the established limits.
  2. Reimburses the employee for the costs of using a personal mobile, including the depreciation of property.
  3. Concludes a telephone lease agreement with the employee.

In this case, the employer can include in the text of the employment contract the conditions for the use of a personal mobile phone and determine the amount of compensation. In addition, the text of the job description may include provisions on the procedure for using corporate communications.

Tax issues

Art. 209 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation specifies that all incomes received by individuals in the process of employment must be taxable. In this case, the employer acts as a tax agent, who “collects” personal income tax from employees. The employer must calculate the amount of tax in accordance with the costs incurred.

Art. 252 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, expenses incurred for mobile communications must be confirmed by the following documents:

  • payment orders;
  • agreements with organizations (for example, on the purchase of a SIM card);
  • correspondence with a telecom operator, etc.

At the same time, tax inspectors are not entitled to request some documents from the employer. This is, first of all, about detailing the account, decrypting calls. The legislator attributes these moments to the secrecy of correspondence.

All expenses of the employer to pay for mobile services, in accordance with Art. 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation when calculating the tax on the profit of an organization, should be attributed to the number of other expenses. At the same time, all compensation payments that are made to employees for using their personal mobile phones should not be taxed.

The amount of compensation for mobile communications to employees

In order to clarify the amount of payments to an employee who uses a personal phone and a SIM card to resolve work issues, the employer and the employee negotiate as a result of which the amount of payments is determined. Further, this information is included in the text of the employment contract, which is signed by the parties. If necessary, if labor Relations have already begun, you can sign an additional agreement to the contract, in which all the necessary points are clarified.

In cases where the payment of compensations for the use of an employee's mobile device is not an isolated one, you can prescribe all the information in the collective agreement, namely, the procedure for use and the formula for calculating the amount of compensation. An agreement on the payment of compensation may subsequently be signed with the employee to clarify its amount.

In addition, we recommend that the employer in the job description of the employee register information on the use of personal mobile communications in the interests of the organization, as well as measures of responsibility for the exhaustion of the communication limit. This is necessary so that later the employee does not consider that his rights have been violated, since he did not know about the communication limit and the consequences of its termination.

To pay compensation, the employer must issue an appropriate order, which will determine the amount, terms and procedure for the transfer. The employee gets acquainted with the order under the signature. This document is required for accounting and, subsequently, for the tax office as evidence of the cost of mobile communications.

How is the compensation amount calculated?

In some cases, an employee can use an unlimited tariff, the cost of which does not change. In this case, the employer transfers a fixed amount to the employee on a monthly basis. However, such tariffs are inconvenient for the employer, since the monthly limit includes only calls within the region. Long distance connections have to be paid additionally. Therefore, it is advisable for the employer to connect a tariff in which there is per-second billing and prices for long-distance calls are reduced.

The second option is for the employee to provide details of calls at the end of the month and clarify the amount for each call. In this case, the employer pays for the actually agreed time at the operator's rates.

The employer, when using an employee's mobile phone in the interests of the organization, must request from him documents confirming the ownership of the purchased phone.

If the employer sets limits on telephone conversations during the year, and documents them, then he may be exempted from paying personal income tax in respect of them. In this case, if necessary, the limit can be increased.

If the employee was paid an excessive amount of compensation, then the balance can be carried over to next month... But in a situation where an employee goes beyond the monthly limit, he must reimburse expenses at his own expense. This condition must also be communicated to the employee by including him in the text of the employment contract.

Thus, the employer can organize the provision of mobile communications to employees either by providing corporate communications and a mobile phone, or through reimbursement of expenses for the use of personal property by the latter.

To answer the question, the following documents and regulations were used:

  • Tax Code of the Russian Federation (Tax Code of the Russian Federation);
  • Labor Code of the Russian Federation (Labor Code of the Russian Federation);
  • Letter of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation of December 23, 2009 No. 03-04-07-01 / 387;
  • Letter of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation of June 17, 2009 N 03-04-06-01 / 138;
  • Letter from the Office of the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation for Moscow dated January 21, 2008 No. 28-11 / 4115;
  • Letter of the Office of the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation in Moscow dated September 18, 2007 No. 18-11 / 3 / [email protected];
  • Resolution of the Federal Arbitration Court of the Central District of June 24, 2011 in case No. A35-8471 / 2009;
  • Resolution of the Federal Arbitration Court of the North Caucasus District of 06/18/2009 in case N A53-14011 / 2008-C5-14.

    • Based on the information provided, we consider it necessary to report:

    The use of a personal telephone in the interests of the employer is possible in two ways: using the device directly, as well as incurring the costs of mobile communications by employees caused by negotiations in the framework of work.

    The legislator in Art. 164 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation defines compensation as monetary payments that are established to reimburse the employee for expenses incurred by him in order to fulfill his labor duties or related to labor duties. According to Art. 188 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, if an employee, with the knowledge of the employer, uses the property belonging to the employee (vehicles, any equipment, other technical means, materials), the employee is paid compensation for the use and depreciation of these things and reimbursed the costs associated with the use of such things. The employee is entitled to compensation if the mentioned things are used in the interests of the employer. Thus, compensation to employees for the use of telephones for business purposes, as well as the costs of paying for calls in the interests of the service, is not an opportunity, but a necessity. Those. the specified compensation is the employer's responsibility.

    In accordance with Art. 188 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the amount of compensation is determined by agreement of the parties to the employment contract (employee and employer), made in writing. According to Art. 11 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the norms of labor legislation and other acts containing labor law norms do not apply to persons working under a civil law contract. It follows from this that for the employer to have the obligation to reimburse the employee for his telephone use and the costs of mobile communications, an employment contract must be concluded between the employer and the employee, and the amount of compensation is determined either in the employment contract itself or in another bilateral agreement. Compensation issues can also be settled in a collective agreement or agreement (Articles 41, 45 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

    The above position is set forth, inter alia, in the clarifications given by the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation in a letter dated December 23, 2009 No. 03-04-07-01 / 387, a letter dated June 17, 2009 No. 03-04-06-01 / 138 ... With these conclusions according to the Office of the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation in Moscow, which indicated this in a letter dated 21.01.2008 No. 28-11 / 4115, a letter dated 18.09.2007, No. 18-11 / 3 / [email protected]

    According to Art. 209 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation income individuals who are tax residents of the Russian Federation are subject to personal income tax. In accordance with Art. 24 and 226, the employing organization is a tax agent for personal income tax and is obliged to calculate, withhold and pay it to the budget. However, according to sub. 3 tbsp. 217 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, compensation to an employee in connection with the use of a mobile phone in the interests of the service, as well as compensation for cellular communication costs, is not subject to personal income tax.

    The Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation, the Office of the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation for Moscow in their letters emphasize that these compensations must be economically justified. Due to the fact that tax, as well as labor legislation does not contain requirements or documents that must confirm the validity of the amount of compensation, the courts provide the employer with the right to independently determine the procedure for compensating employees for expenses for used mobile phones and expenses for mobile communications and a list of documents, confirming such expenses (resolution of the Federal Arbitration Court of the Central District of June 24, 2011 in case No. A35-8471 / 2009).

    Based on the foregoing, the approximate composition of documents for compensating employees for mobile phones used for work needs and reimbursing mobile communications costs is as follows:

  • The presence of an employment contract, job description or other document from which it follows that the employee must use a mobile phone to properly perform his job function. It is unlikely that an excavator needs a mobile phone. However, if the employer believes that the use of a mobile phone by an employee will have economical effect for the organization, then some justification can be set out in the order for the organization.
  • A written agreement between the employee and the employer stating the amount of compensation. The amount of compensation for the use of the telephone handset must be determined either in a fixed amount or as a percentage of the price of the telephone. Since the employee has the right to compensation in connection with the use of his property, it is necessary to confirm the fact that the phone belongs to the employee, for which it is advisable for the organization to have copies of documents on the employee's purchase of the phone. If we are talking about reimbursement of expenses for mobile communications, a written agreement is not necessary, since the amount of expenses is determined based on the accounts of the telecom operator In this case, an order for the organization will be sufficient, which indicates which of the employees is entitled to compensation for mobile communications costs and within what limits (resolution of the Federal Arbitration Court of the North Caucasian District of 06/18/2009 in case No. A53-14011 / 2008 -C5-14).

    • The amount of compensation, as indicated above, is determined either on the basis of a written agreement with the employee, or (in the case of reimbursement of expenses for mobile communications) - on the basis of the operator's invoices. If the tariff is unlimited, you can pay for its full cost. If the amount depends on the time of calls, it is advisable to determine the cost of calls for work based on the details of the invoice provided by the employee.

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