The costs that are taken when calculating income tax should be economically justified, as well as documented. Expenses that are intended for cars are no exception. However, if, in addition to official purposes, vehicles are used for personal needs or personal transport is used for official purposes, difficulties may arise with tax accounting. For example, questions may concern how to write off gasoline to the director’s personal car. Let's talk about this in our article.
Private car for official purposes
The current legislation does not contain separate provisions on how the use of a personal car for official purposes is regulated. But this possibility is enshrined in Art. 188 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. Currently, there are several ways to write off gasoline to the director’s personal car. These include the following:
- Compensation. The use of vehicles in this case is recorded in local acts. This may also be indicated in an employment contract or collective agreement. At the same time, procedural procedures are minimized, and the employer can flexibly regulate the labor process. However, paying director compensation for using a personal car makes it less secure.
- Rent. To reduce actual costs, as well as optimizing the accounting of all expenses, rent can be used. Moreover, the company, in fact, rents a vehicle without a driver, and the employee is already driving a company car, that is, on the company's balance sheet. The contract may provide for a full reimbursement scheme for the car. But this method also has disadvantages.
- Loan. With a gratuitous loan, it is also possible to use a personal car for official purposes. In this case, the employee does not receive remuneration for the provision of the vehicle directly, but the total tax burden, as well as rental payments, will be reduced. In this case, the car is drawn up at the company's balance sheet.
- GPC agreement. Sometimes it is advisable to conclude a GPC agreement with the driver for the provision of services for the transport of goods or passengers. This method has a number of advantages and disadvantages.
Car rent
Renting a personal car in order to subsequently use it for official purposes is a common practice.This method provides the employee with a high level of guarantee of the safety of their car, provides additional remuneration and puts the vehicle on the balance sheet of the company, which greatly simplifies reporting.
But in the use of renting a personal car, directors also note shortcomings. These include the following:
- You have to pay personal income tax on rent.
- It is necessary to draw up an insurance contract again.
- Additionally, you need to conclude a lease.
Details of this issue are disclosed in Art. 643 Civil Code.
Director's personal car
Other methods may be used to write off gasoline to the director’s personal car. He is not exempted from the obligation to issue submarines, as well as to arrange business trips and other official trips properly. But in practice, this requirement is not always fulfilled.
If any problems arise, the director can always explain the trip with personal goals, not workers. Then, in order to accuse him of violating the law, the investigating authorities will have to prove that the trip directly performed work functions.
The director of the LLC, being both the founder, has the right to use all the methods described above for car registration. This is possible due to the fact that he also acts as an individual - that is, he is a director, employee, and representative of a legal entity.
Let's consider in detail how to write off gasoline to the director’s personal car. Moreover, we assume that it is on the balance sheet of the enterprise.
Waybill Concept
It (in short - PL) refers to the primary document, where the mileage is recorded. Based on it, fuel consumption is determined. Companies for which transport is the main activity, use the form of a waybill with the details specified in section 2 of the order of the Ministry of Transport No. 152. If the company needs a car to fulfill its management and production functions, then the list can be developed in accordance with the Law “On Accounting accounting ”No. 402-FZ.
Companies often use submarines approved by Decree of the Goskomstat of the Russian Federation No. 78 back in 1997. It contains various forms of submarines based on the type of vehicle, for example, form 3 is for a passenger car and form 4 is for a truck.
Submarines are registered in a special journal. Their accounting is interconnected taking into account fuels and lubricants. If the company is not motor transport, then sheets are drawn up when it is necessary to confirm the validity of expenses, for example, 1 time per week or 1 time per month. This can be judged on the basis of a letter from the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation No. 03-03-04 / 1/327 or Resolution of the FAS BBO No. A38-4082 / 2008-17-282-17-282.
If the director uses a personal car for official purposes or, conversely, an official car for personal purposes, it is especially important to properly arrange the submarine. It depends on whether the accounting of expenses for fuels and lubricants will be carried out when calculating income tax. In order to be safe in case of inspections and not make mistakes, you need to consider different nuances.
Convenient version of the document
Writing off gasoline at the enterprise is not immediately carried out in tax accounting. The cost of purchased fuel is not included in the costs either when paying in advance, or during refueling and the corresponding debit of money from the fuel card. The fact is that refueling on a check of a gas station terminal only confirms its purchase, but does not serve as proof of intended use. The main document that confirms the consumption of fuels and lubricants is the waybill. With its help, the operation of transport and the work of the driver are taken into account and controlled. Without it, transportation of people, baggage and cargo is prohibited.
It should contain the following information:
- Name and number.
- Data about the validity period.
- Information about the owner of the vehicle.
- Data about the car.
- Data about the driver.
Unified forms of documents approved by the State Statistics Committee of Russia should be used only by companies whose main activity is related to road transport. At other enterprises, you can apply a form developed independently. In this case, the form is approved by means of its application to the accounting policies of the company and includes all the details specified above.
How to write off gasoline on waybills? They do not need to enter the route of the vehicle. This is especially important in cases where the car is used for both official and personal purposes. These findings are confirmed by practice in court.
Example No. 1: about the absence of certain data in the submarine
For the reader, one of the decisions of the FAS SZO taken in favor of the enterprise may be interesting. The point is as follows.
The tax inspectorate indicated that the submarine and the reports on the expenditures of fuels and lubricants, which the company compiled every month, do not contain data on the route for official cars, as well as the number of flights and driver’s license numbers. Nothing was said about the period of departure and return of the car to the garage, speedometer data, gasoline residues and its consumption for each day.
In support of costs, the company submitted the following documents: operating instructions for official cars, orders on the procedure for their use, statements on petrol coupons, accounting registers, submarines. Having examined the case materials and the evidence presented, the court ruled that any evidence, including circumstantial evidence, is accepted to determine the basis of income tax. The information contained in the submarine (in particular, car mileage, gas mileage, its remaining in the tank) in conjunction with other papers confirm the economic feasibility of the costs.
Example No. 2: about the lack of a route in the submarine
A similar decision was made by the FAS MO, when the tax authorities wanted to prove that if the submarine did not contain information about the route, then the document does not confirm the cost of buying fuel and lubricants. The circumstances of the case were as follows.
When substantiating the costs, the company provided initial documents stating that the fuel was received from suppliers and about the volume of gas stations. In addition, payment orders were submitted, as well as the norms of expenses, which were approved by order of the authorities, submarines, which contained all the necessary details (confirming the mileage), information about fuel consumption, documents for writing off gasoline, duly executed.
Having examined the case file, the court concluded that the tax authorities did not prove the unreasonableness of the costs. The lack of information about the route does not serve as a basis for refusing to confirm expenses.
Thus, companies may well include gas costs in tax expenses based on securities that confirm the fact of gasoline purchase, as well as independently developed form of submarines, even if it does not have a route. In addition, the submarine can be issued for any period - from 1 day to 1 month.
If it does not follow from other documents that the trip was of a non-production nature (for example, on the basis of a written order from the director), the company can take these expenses into account when calculating income tax, even if the trip was for personal purposes.
Disadvantages of a unified submarine
When using the unified submarine form, the point “Place of departure and destination”, as well as the other details of this form, must be filled out, since you cannot delete any details. Therefore, it will be necessary to additionally check that the addresses that will allow tax officials to consider that the director used the company car for personal purposes were not indicated among the destinations and departure points.
If the route information is not given or the departure or destination points to the non-production nature of the trip, the company will not be able to accept the cost of gasoline. Moreover, in this situation, the employee has income in kind (the cost of gasoline), from which the company must calculate and transfer personal income tax to the budget, as well as pay insurance premiums. Accepted VAT may also be considered unreasonable by tax authorities.
Write off fuel rate
It is important to consider that fuel costs are standardized. Despite the fact that the Tax Code of the Russian Federation does not impose restrictions on the accounting of costs for gasoline when calculating tax, the relevant standards are indicated in the Methodological Recommendations “Fuel and Oil Consumption Rates for Motor Vehicles”. They should be used not only by trucking companies, but also those that operate vehicles. They are taken into account in taxation.
Therefore, so that there are no complaints about the amount of fuel consumed, when writing off gasoline without waybills, you need to take into account the actual costs with the established norms and try not to exceed them. For those vehicles for which the relevant costs are not approved, the company should be guided by technical documents or information provided by the vehicle manufacturer.
At the same time, the company has the right to set its own consumption rates for gasoline, taking into account seasonal allowances. The period and amount of accrual of premiums is carried out on the basis of the relevant order of local authorities, and in its absence - by personal order of the head. In the latter case, a reference is made to the order of the Ministry of Transport, the makes of the cars are registered and restrictions are calculated. This takes into account the transport conditions, the technical condition of the car, as well as the degree of its load.
Writing off gasoline on business trips
In accordance with Art. 166 of the Labor Code, a business trip means an employee’s trip by order of the management for the necessary period in order to fulfill a business assignment outside of a permanent job. Traveling is not recognized on business trips. So, business trips are not trips for drivers who carry out freight transportation.
During a business trip, including when the director uses a personal car for official purposes, he is compensated for travel expenses, rental housing and additional expenses (per diem and other expenses that are incurred with the permission of the employer). This is stated in Art. 168 Labor Code of the Russian Federation. Reimbursements are made on the basis of the Instruction of the USSR, Goskomtrud and the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions No. 62 “On official business trips within the USSR”. However, this document does not provide for the payment of fuel. But its cost can be included in travel expenses.
Confirmation of the purchase of gasoline during the director’s business trip on a private car is a submarine. Based on its data, the cost and amount of gasoline that was used up during a business trip are determined. After his return, the employee should submit documents on the purchase of fuel along with an advance report. These are cashier's checks and gas station reports on gasoline. According to paragraphs. 5 p. 7 Article 272 of the Tax Code, in tax accounting fuel costs are recognized on the day the report is approved.
Conclusion
In many companies, fuels and lubricants is a significant cost item. At the same time, accountants have to keep a record of fuel and lubricants and justify these costs. The use of submarines is one of the ways to determine the number of fuel and lubricants used. Using a submarine, it is possible not only to confirm the production need for costs, but also to indicate the distance traveled, as well as determine the parameters for calculating fuel and lubricants.
Writing off gasoline to the director’s personal car can be carried out in various ways. The most common are compensation and rent. Each of the methods has its advantages and disadvantages.Therefore, in specific cases, a choice is made in favor of a particular method, taking into account the existing circumstances.
