The shelf life of accounting tax reporting during the reorganization. Shelf life of accounting documents in the organization

Perhaps not a single day in the organization is complete without the preparation of documents. Letters, contracts, orders, statements - this is the array of documentation that every organization grows around. Do I need to keep all the documents? If necessary, where and for how long?

Three groups

All rules for storing documents arising in the process of the organization, can be divided into three large groups. The first will include the rules established by tax legislation. Accordingly, they apply to documents required for the calculation and payment of taxes and fees. The second group will include personnel documents. And in the third - accounting documents and documents on economic activities. Let's consider them all in order.

Tax documents

The general rule for storing tax documents is established in subparagraph 8 of paragraph 1 of Article 23 of the Tax Code. It says that the taxpayer must keep accounting documents and other documents necessary for calculating and paying taxes for four years. The same deadline is set for documents confirming the payment of tax. Moreover, the Tax Code does not contain a special procedure for calculating this four-year period. So, four years should be counted from the day following the preparation of the document. And they will expire on the corresponding date and month, which will come in 4 years (Art. 6.1. Tax Code).

There are two exceptions to the four-year shelf life. The first concerns taxpayers applying tax benefits. They will have to keep documents confirming the right to benefits during the entire period of application of the benefits. Indeed, during a desk audit, the inspection has the right to request such documents (Clause 6, Article 88 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). But even at the end of the application of benefits in a hurry with the destruction of documents is not worth it. After all, there is also a field audit, which can be carried out in the three previous years (paragraph 4 of Article 89 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Hence the conclusion: documents on the rights to benefits must be stored for three years after the end of the period in which the organization ceased to apply the benefit.

The second exception relates to depreciable property. Since the costs are written off over a certain period, all this time the organization will have to keep documents confirming the initial cost of such property, as well as depreciation calculated and taken into account in expenses. Well, of course, do not forget about the possibility of an on-site inspection.

Given its depth, we conclude that documents on depreciable property can be destroyed no earlier than three years after the end of the period in which depreciation is stopped.

Violation of the terms of storage of tax documents in addition to the additional charge of taxes with interest may result in fines. So, according to Article 120 of the Tax Code, the lack of primary documents, invoices, accounting registers is a gross violation of the rules for accounting for income and expenses and objects of taxation. And this entails a fine in the amount of 5,000 rubles. up to 15 000 rub. If this violation led to an underestimation of the tax base, then the fine will amount to 10% of the amount of unpaid tax, but not less than 15,000 rubles.

HR documents

We now turn to personnel documents. Here, storage periods are determined by archival legislation. This is, in particular, the List of typical management documents generated in the activities of organizations, indicating storage periods (approved by the Federal Archives on 10/06/2000). Summarizing the information contained in this List allows you to derive the following storage rules for personnel documents.
  Documents with which the legislation relates the provision of any payments or benefits are kept for at least 75 years. It is this period that is set for personal cards, personal files, employment contracts, lists of workers employed under harmful working conditions, etc. Perhaps the only exception to this will be an unclaimed work book, which must be kept “for only 50 years”.

For other documents, the terms are much shorter. So, liability contracts are kept for 5 years. The same amount should be kept of information on training employees in safety measures, orders for establishing reduced working hours, transfers. Also, a five-year period is set for orders on business trips, awards.

Documents on accounting of working hours and labor discipline can be stored even less: 3 years. And for a time sheet, the term is generally reduced to 1 year. Also, vacation schedules and documents for employees who are denied employment are stored throughout the year.
Please note that unlike the Tax Code, the List clarifies that the calculation of the storage period of documents is made from January 1 of the year following the year of the end of their paperwork (paragraph 2.9).

Failure to comply with the requirements for the storage of personnel documents may result in a fine for the organization under art. 13.20 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (300-500 rubles for failure to comply with the requirements for the storage of documents), and negative consequences in the form of inspections of the State Labor Inspectorate, Pension Fund, or in the form of a court decision on the reinstatement of an employee at work. So do not rush to get rid of personnel documents!

Accounting and business documents

In theory, the storage periods for accounting documents should be established in the Law on Accounting. But this Law, although it contains an entire article on the storage of documents (Article 17), provides very scarce information on this subject. So, the law requires at least five years to keep primary accounting documents, accounting registers and financial statements. At the same time, it is specifically stipulated that with regard to the work plan of accounts and other accounting policy documents, this period shall be considered from the year following the one in which these documents were used for the preparation of financial statements for the last time.

Otherwise, the Law on Accounting refers organizations to archival legislation. And to be more precise, then to the already mentioned List of typical management documents generated in the activities of organizations, indicating storage periods. It shows the storage periods of almost all possible documents that may be formed in the organization. Moreover, with regard to accounting documents, all terms in the List are exactly five years. There is so much need to keep accounting statements (both annual and quarterly), all kinds of business contracts, primary and cash documents, acceptance certificates, etc. Moreover, these dates are counted from January 1 of the year following the year the document is discontinued (paragraph 2.9 Guidelines for the application of the List).

Another feature of the storage of accounting documents is that the legislation clearly spells out where and how to save such documentation. And also responsible persons and the procedure for access to securities are established.
So, according to paragraph 6.2 of the Regulation on documents and document management in accounting (approved by the Ministry of Finance of the USSR 07.29.83 No. 105), primary documents, accounting registers, accounting reports and balances can be stored either in the organization’s archive or in bookkeeping in special rooms or lockers . A strict reporting forms should be stored in safes, metal cabinets or special rooms to ensure their safety.

Responsible for the safety of documents is the chief accountant. It is he who has the right to decide on the issuance of such documents to employees of structural divisions of the enterprise.

As for liability for failure to comply with the rules for storing accounting documents, it can be both administrative and tax. Indeed, as mentioned above, the lack of primary documents, accounting registers is a gross violation of the rules for accounting for income, expenses, objects of taxation and entails a fine in the amount of 5,000 to 15,000 rubles. (Article 120 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

In this case, an administrative fine can be imposed both for violation of archival requirements for the storage of documents (Article 13.20 of the Code of Administrative Offenses - 300-500 rubles), and for gross violation of accounting rules if, due to the lack of documents, the accounting statements are distorted (Article 15.11 of the Code of Administrative Offenses) - 2-3 thousand rubles.).

Any accountant knows that all primary documents need to be stored for a certain period of time. In large companies, there are special archives for storing folders with accounting documents. With the advent of electronic document management, a certain part of documents can not be printed, but stored electronically. Regardless of the chosen method of storage of primary documentation, you need to work in accordance with the deadlines established by law. We will talk about them below.

General information on the storage periods of primary documents is contained in Federal Law dated December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ. This part of the legislative act states that the primary must be stored for at least five years. The term may be longer - and what exactly is the storage period for a particular document, prompts the Order of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation. This document has a table with the periods of storage of primary accounting documents, tax registers, personnel documents and other documentation. The table shows 1,003 positions with terms by type of document.

The shelf life of primary documents in accounting in 2017 did not change.

Do not confuse the storage periods of primary documents with the storage periods of tax accounting documents. For example, an invoice is a tax document, and it can be stored for only four years (paragraph 8, paragraph 1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Keep in mind that the shelf life of primary documents in accounting is not counted from the date the document was compiled, but from the beginning of the new reporting year (letter from the RF Ministry of Finance).

For example, the invoice was drawn up on 08.24.2017. According to the rules, the minimum shelf life is five years. This means that such an invoice cannot be destroyed before 01/01/2023.

The shelf life of some documents depends on the fact of the audit. For example, expense reports need to be stored for five years. If the tax authorities did not check them during this period, the period will increase (Order of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation of August 25, 2010 No. 558).

The maximum storage period is set for personnel documents (orders, cards for employees), various salary documents. Such documents must be kept for at least 75 years.

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Terms of storage of electronic documents

The law states that the primary may be issued in paper form and in electronic form (part 5 of the Federal Law dated December 6, 2011 No. 402-ФЗ). If the electronic document is executed in compliance with the law, the same storage periods apply to it as for the paper version.

There is no single program for storing documents in electronic form. So, payment orders can be stored in the client-bank banking system. Primary documents, such as invoices, UPD, acts, can be stored in the accounting program or service through which electronic document management takes place. Also, the storage of electronic documents is possible in a special electronic archive or in the cloud. Electronic documents can be stored in different ways; the chief accountant's task is to ensure their safety and readability even after years.

So to summarize. To the question of what is the minimum storage period for primary accounting documents established by law, we can safely answer - five years. The storage periods of electronic documents can be calculated by the storage periods of paper documents. These dates coincide. The selected method of storing documents must be reflected in the accounting policy.

“Listen, let's throw it all away,” the director told me, pointing to a rack filled with boxes of documents 7 years ago. And I answered him: “It's not so simple, sometimes the shelf life of documents in an organization is several tens of years.” The director believed me, and our native waste paper continued to gather dust on the shelves of the archive. Until the next time, when the question arises of purchasing a new rack, then we’ll sort through and leave only those documents whose storage period in the organization has not really expired.

How long should the documentation be kept?

The need to store documents is indicated by the Federal Law of 22.10.2004 N 125-ФЗ "On Archival Affairs in the Russian Federation". In addition, there are three lists that approve the storage period for documents in the archive for public and private legal entities in various fields of activity. The documentation of the joint-stock companies should be stored in accordance with the Regulation on the procedure and terms of storage of documents of joint-stock companies, approved Resolution of the FCSM of the Russian Federation of 07.16.2003 N 03-33 / ps.

Specific periods for storing documentation

The shortest shelf life is 1 year, the maximum is 75 years. I will not name them by name for each document, of which there are a lot. In addition to the deadlines set for common documents, such as personnel, financial, accounting, tax and electronic document management, the organization has its own document storage periods for specialized papers in various fields of industry, medicine, security. Consider the periods during which should be kept the most common securities that exist in any organization.

  Retention Periods for Common Documents

The following document storage periods at the enterprise begin at the end of the reporting year, or the year in which the papers were executed. Constituent documents, licenses, patents, transaction passports are not subject to destruction and must be stored permanently.

Personnel documents:

• staffing tables - constantly;
• confirming the accident - 45 years;
• confirming the occurrence of an occupational disease - 75 years;
• personal record of the employee - 75 years;
• all documents relating to the activities of the employee under special working conditions - 75 years.

Financial documents:

• having information on the calculation and payment of taxes - 4 years;
• confirming expenses incurred in connection with the training of the employee - during the entire training period, plus another 1 year, and at least four years;
• confirming the amount of losses transferred to the future - during the entire period until the tax base is reduced by the transferred loss;
• confirming calculations for insurance contributions to extra-budgetary funds - 6 years;
• eDS certificates must be kept for another 5 years after the end of the year in which the certificate expired;
• the calculation adopted in the FSS via electronic communication channels made in the form of 4-FSS and a receipt on its receipt - 5 years;
• accounting documents disclosing accounting and reporting - 5 years;
• cash receipts, cashier-operator's magazines, fiscal memory drives, electronic control tapes, other forms confirming cash payments - 5 years;
• passport version of the CCP - for the entire period while the passport is valid.

How to rake paper debris?

Over time, a huge amount of various documentation accumulates in the organization. In order not to get bogged down in papers, it is necessary to create a commission (usually consisting of three people), which would conduct an examination on the subject of value and sort the papers into the following categories, depending on how long documents are stored in the organization for them:

• subject to permanent storage in the archives of a state entity;
• documents that must be stored for more than 10 years in the archive of a legal entity;
• which must be temporarily stored for no more than 10 years in the unit’s archive;
• papers permitted for destruction upon expiration of the storage period.

Document Destruction Procedure

Upon destruction of documents, an act is drawn up. There is no standardized form for such acts; it is drawn up in a free form, fixed by order of the head. It should indicate not only the name and all the details of the organization, but also, usually in the form of a table, the names of documents (files), the period when they were created, the number of sheets or, if the volume of the file under one name is large, the number of volumes . In the same act, you can add the columns of the invoice for the transfer and reception of documents for destruction.

For accounting, tax, personnel and other documents different storage periods. If you do not have the documents requested by the Inspectorate of the Federal Tax Service, the inspectors will charge taxes with penalties and write a fine.

Attention! You can download the table of documents storage periods in 2019 for free at the link:

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Document retention periods

The storage periods for accounting and tax documents, the procedure for their destruction and liability for violation of storage and destruction are fixed by law. The basic rules are spelled out in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, Order of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation of August 25, 2010 No. 558 and two federal laws. These are the laws of October 22, 2004 No. 125-ФЗ “On Archival Affairs in the Russian Federation” and of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ “On Accounting”. It’s better not to break them. This link provides a list of the most important documents that should be in any company \u003e\u003e\u003e.

Table. Document storage periods in 2019

Document	How much to store
Accounting documents
Purchasing and Sales Documents (contract, invoice, act, consignment note TORG-12, UPD, power of attorney, reconciliation act)	5 years
Waybill
Bank Documents (statements, payment orders, checkbook)	5 years
Cash documents (cash book, expense report, FFP, receipt for cash settlement)
OS Inventory Card	5 years  after OS retirement
Accounting policy	5 years
Accounting information
Orders for core activities	Before company closure
Accounting Register (account turnover, SAL, general ledger)	5 years
Financial statements (balance sheet, statement of financial performance, statement of changes in equity, cash flows and other forms) and IFRS reports	Before company closure
Audit report	Before company closure
Tax Documents
Tax accounting registers	5 years
Tax reporting (tax return, calculation of advance payments, calculation of insurance premiums, certificates of 2-NDFL with the registry, calculation of 6-NDFL and other reports to the IFTS)
Electronic tax return receipt
Description of attachment and notification of receipt when sending a document to the Federal Tax Service Inspectorate by mail
Invoice	4 years
Books of purchases and sales with additional sheets	4 years
Book accounting income and expenses KUDiR on the simplified tax system	Before company closure
Act of reconciliation with IFTS
Document on loss and amount of reduction of tax base	during the tax base reduction period  amount of previously received losses
Insurance Contribution Documents
Contribution Payments	6 years
Calculation of 4-FSS	Quarterly - 5 years  from the date of acceptance of the report to the social insurance fund Annual - before company closure
Information SZV-M	6 years
Annual accountability in the FIU (SZV-STAZH, ODV-1 and a receipt on their sending to the FIU)	Before company closure
Document on sending a report to the fund (receipt of receipt of the report in electronic form, an inventory of the attachment and notification of receipt when sending the document by mail)	Store with report
HR documents
The original document of the employee (work book)	On demand by an employee  (but not more than 50 years, and if an employee is registered before 2003, then not more than 75 years)
Personal card and copies of employee documents *	- 50 years, by an employee registered since 2003 and later; - 75 years, for an employee registered before 2003.
Employment contract and additions to it
HR orders
Time sheet
Sick leave and calculation on it	5 years
Worker vacation schedule	1 year  after use
Staffing	Before company closure

* To store copies of the employee’s documents, it is better to have the written consent of this employee to process his personal data. This will help to avoid disputes with supervisors and a fine.

What to do if the documents have expired?

Expired documents are subject to destruction. To destroy documents, draw up an act in which write down the name and number of cases with documents that it is time to destroy. This act must be signed by a special commission, the composition of which the director general will approve in his order.

Penalty for missing documents

For the lack of primary documents, invoices and tax registers, employees of the Federal Tax Service Inspectorate can fine an LLC for an amount of 10,000 to 30,000 rubles(Article 120 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation), including those applying under the Tax Code of the simplified tax system.

In addition, without documents confirming business transactions, the auditors will remove expenses on profit (or single tax) and VAT deductions. Or they will calculate the amount of tax payable by the settlement method (subparagraph 1, paragraph 7, article 31 of the Tax Code).

• tax documents (documents required for calculating taxes and insurance premiums)
• accounting documents (including personnel).

Duration of storage of documents required for the calculation of taxes and insurance premiums

In accordance with paragraphs. 8 p. 1 art. 23 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, taxpayers are required for four years to ensure the safety of accounting and tax accounting data and other documents necessary for calculating and paying taxes, including documents confirming the receipt of income, expenses (for organizations and individual entrepreneurs), as well as payment ( withholding) taxes.

A similar requirement is established by paragraphs. 5 p. 3 Art. 24 of the Tax Code for tax agents who are required to ensure the safety of documents required for calculating, withholding and transferring taxes for four years. It should be noted that in addition to paying VAT and income tax for foreign legal entities, tax agents, in particular, are employers who calculate and pay personal income tax.

When transferring losses to the future for tax purposes, profit in accordance with paragraph 4 of Art. 283 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, taxpayers are required to keep documents confirming the amount of loss incurred for the entire period when it reduces the tax base of the current tax period by the amount of previously received losses.

In accordance with paragraphs. 6 p. 2 Article 28 of the Federal Law of July 24, 2009 No. 212-ФЗ “On insurance contributions to the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation, the Social Insurance Fund of the Russian Federation, the Federal Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund” (as amended on June 7, 2013) payers of insurance contributions are required ensure for six years the safety of documents confirming the calculation and payment of insurance premiums.

Shelf life of accounting documents

In accordance with Art. 29 of the Federal Law of December 6, 2011 N 402-ФЗ "On Accounting" (as amended on June 28, 2013) (hereinafter Law No. 402-FZ):

• primary accounting documents
• accounting registers
• accounting (financial) statements are subject to storage by the economic entity for the periods established in accordance with the rules of the organization of state archiving, but not less than five years after the reporting year,
• accounting policy documents
• business entity standards
• other documents related to the organization and maintenance of accounting, including the means of reproducing electronic documents (i.e. electronic databases), as well as the authentication of electronic signatures, must be stored by the economic entity for at least five years after the year in which they were used for the preparation of accounting (financial) statements for the last time.

The rules for organizing state archival affairs are regulated by the Federal Law of October 22, 2004 No. 125-ФЗ “On Archival Affairs in the Russian Federation” (as amended on February 11, 2013) (hereinafter Law No. 125-ФЗ).

Here are the storage periods for individual documents:

• Accounting (financial) statements (balance sheets, reports on financial results, reports on the target use of funds, appendices to them, etc.):

a) consolidated annual (consolidated), - is stored permanently (hereinafter - post. (in organizations that are not sources of acquisition of state and municipal archives - at least 10 years)).

b) annual - post.

c) quarterly - 5 years, in the absence of an annual - post.

• Accounting (financial) statements in accordance with IFRS or other standards - post.
• Deed of transfer, separation, liquidation balance sheets; explanatory notes to them - post.
• Accounting policy documents (working chart of accounts, forms of primary accounting documents, etc.) - 5 years.
• Accounting registers, primary accounting documents and annexes to them, which recorded the fact of a business transaction and were the basis for accounting records (cash documents and books, bank documents, bank check book roots, warrants, time sheets, bank notices and transfer requirements, acceptance certificates , delivery, write-off of property and materials, receipts, waybills and advance reports, correspondence, etc.) - 5 years, subject to verification (audit).
• Invoices - 4 years.
• Certificate of registration with the tax authorities - post.
• Documents (calculations, summaries, certificates, tables, information, correspondence) about the calculated and transferred taxes to the budgets of all levels, extra-budgetary funds, debts on them. Tax returns (calculations) of legal entities for all types of taxes - 5 years.
• Registers of information on personal income, dividend payouts - 75 years.
• Books on accounting of income and expenses of organizations and individual entrepreneurs using a simplified taxation system - post.

The procedure for storing accounting and tax documents

In accordance with paragraph 3 of Art. 29 of Law N 402-ФЗ, an economic entity must provide safe storage conditions for accounting documents and their protection against changes. According to paragraph 2 of Art. 13 of Law No. 125-FZ, organizations and citizens are entitled to create archives in order to store archival documents formed in the course of their activities.

To organize the archive, a separate room should be allocated, equipped with special shelves (shelves) or wardrobes. If there are windows in the archive room, they should be closed or blinds installed, otherwise the documents will not be able to be protected from exposure to light, and therefore their fading cannot be ruled out. It is advisable to equip the windows of the first or ground floor with metal bars, in addition, it is better to install a metal door in the archive. Such measures will prevent unauthorized entry into the archive premises.

According to the basic rules of the work of the archives of organizations, approved by the decision of the Collegium of the Federal Archives on February 6, 2002, the following documents are compiled in the archive of the organization based on the results of the examination of the value of documents: temporary (over 10 years) storage; by personnel; as well as acts on the allocation to destruction of cases not subject to storage. Cases with expired storage periods are included in the allotment for destruction and are subject to destruction.

It should be noted that the organization can use the services of a specialized archival company to store documents.

Responsibility for improper storage of accounting and tax documents

Responsibility for failure to comply with the rules for storage of documents can be administrative, tax and criminal.

According to Art. 15.11 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (hereinafter the Code of Administrative Offenses) violation of the order and terms of storage of accounting documents entails the imposition of an administrative fine on officials in the amount of from 2,000 to 3,000 rubles.

According to Art. 13.20 Administrative Code violation of the rules of storage, acquisition, accounting or use of archival documents (including the destruction of documents without observing the terms of their storage) entails a warning or an administrative fine on citizens in the amount of from 100 to 300 rubles .; for officials - from 300 to 500 rubles.

The absence of primary documents, invoices, and accounting registers is a tax offense. Responsibility for it is provided for in Article 120 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation “Gross violation of the rules for accounting for income and expenses and objects of taxation”. A gross violation of the rules for accounting for income and expenses and objects of taxation is understood as the absence of primary documents, invoices, accounting or tax accounting registers. If these acts are committed within one tax period, a fine of 10,000 rubles. If they are committed within more than one tax period, a fine of 30,000 rubles. The same acts, if they entailed an underestimation of the tax base, shall entail the collection of a fine of 20% of the amount of unpaid tax, but not less than 40,000 rubles.

In cases of abduction, destruction, damage or concealment of official documents, stamps or seals made out of mercenary or other personal interest, criminal liability may arise in accordance with paragraph 1 of Art. 325 of the Criminal Code - a fine of up to 200,000 rubles. or in the amount of the convicted person’s salary (other income) for a period of up to 18 months, or compulsory labor for up to 480 hours, or correctional labor for up to 2 years, or forced labor for up to 1 year, or arrest for up to 4 months or imprisonment for up to 1 year.