The current economic situation in the country contributed to the development of special measures of anti-crisis support of business entities by the Government of the Russian Federation starting from February 24, 2022. In addition to extending the deadlines for tax payments, the RF Government has been authorized to introduce additional grounds and new conditions for deferment (installment payment) of taxes for other categories of taxpayers (under Federal Law No 52-FZ of 09.03.2022).

On general grounds, to change the deadline for payment of taxes for a year or more (in terms of payment to the federal budget) is possible by submitting an application for deferment of tax payments calculated for the years 2021-2022. Taxpayers are often denied this procedure, despite the transparency of the procedure for its submission. Firstly, the grounds for its application are strictly regulated, not every taxpayer can get it. Secondly, in the absence of documented fulfillment of the taxpayer's obligation to pay taxes and interest, the procedure will most likely be denied.

In order to obtain a deferral, we recommend that you send a written explanation to the tax authority to initiate the tax deferral procedure with a description of the grounds indicating the need for this procedure before preparing the documents. This information letter will allow you to notify the tax authority and coordinate the procedure for obtaining a deferral at the stage of preparation of documents. For example, if there are preconditions for the emergence of the threat of bankruptcy of the company with a steady decline in consumer demand and rising production costs it is necessary to provide a calculation of financial indicators, indicating a deterioration in the degree of solvency of current liabilities, the current liquidity ratio on the basis of accounting statements. It is also possible to provide a detailed analysis of the dynamics of the company's expenses since the last financial statements, indicate the decline in revenues and the decline in the financial independence of the company. According to the Methodology from 26.06.2019 № 382 for the analysis of the company's liquidity, the annual accounting statements submitted to the tax authority for the completed accounting period or interim statements for the completed accounting period of not less than 3 months are used.

If the solvency ratio is more than 3 months and the current liquidity ratio is less than 1, tax deferral is applicable, but this procedure is applicable to the amount of taxes not exceeding the value of net assets of the company, which is also calculated on the basis of interim statements. In obtaining deferment due to the seasonal nature of the company's activities, the procedure is a little simpler, as the document justifying the need for deferment can be developed by the company itself.

Since the taxpayer must provide documentary evidence of the tax payment obligation in order to obtain a deferment at the request of the tax authority, we recommend that the information letter outline the procedure for securing a guarantee for the payment of taxes within the claimed period of the deferment. Such security may be a bank guarantee, a surety bond or a pledge. The tax authority may additionally request documents on the property that may be the subject of pledge, and the taxpayer will also need to conduct an independent examination of the market value of the property.

When securing obligations to pay taxes by providing a bank guarantee, in addition to the cost of the taxpayer to pay interest on the deferment and penalties, in addition there will be a need to pay a fee to the bank for the bank guarantee. In any case, the choice of method of securing its tax liabilities depends on the value of the company's assets and in general on the procedure for obtaining a particular type of security.

After checking that the conditions are met and agreeing on the procedure for obtaining a deferral with the tax authority, an application for a deferral with a written obligation to repay the debt must be submitted in the form of the order of the Federal Tax Service of Russia from 16.12.2016 № MMV-7-8/683@.

The tax authority is obliged to consider the application for deferral within 30 working days from the date of receipt of the documents.