Any state is interested in receiving taxes on time and in full. Respectable citizens and companies quite agree that taxes must be paid, but in practice, not everyone is in a hurry to transfer part of their income to the budget. That is why the institution of tax agents arose, which are legal intermediaries between taxpayers and fiscal authorities on the collection and transfer of taxes.
Tax agents, as an intermediate link in the link between taxpayers and the state, have certain rights, powers and responsibilities. The mechanism of their actions is regulated by the norms of Article 24 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. In particular, it says that a tax agent is a person who is charged with calculating the tax, withholding it from the taxpayer and transferring the amount received to the budget of the Russian Federation.
What taxes are collected by tax agents?
The Tax Code contains a list of taxes that can be collected by tax agents. The main tax, which is almost completely administered in this way, is the personal income tax or personal income tax. In addition, all organizations that are payers of income and value added taxes also act as tax agents.
Who can act as a tax agent?
Both an individual and an organization can be a tax agent. For example, an individual entrepreneur with hired employees and a company in which employees work under employment contracts or contracts of a civil nature are tax agents for personal income tax. This means that all employers, when paying their employees income, are obliged to calculate the amounts of personal income tax, withhold them from citizens and transfer them to the budget accounts of the corresponding level.
The role of tax agents is often played by banks, which, according to the current legislation, withhold tax on income from their clients on income from deposits and operations with securities. Tax agents are notaries in private practice and lawyers with their own offices. They charge their clients a government fee for legally significant acts. Then the amounts of withheld tax and state duty are also transferred to the budget.
What are the rights and responsibilities of a tax agent?
Tax agents are granted by the state the same rights as taxpayers. The duties of tax agents include:
- correctly and timely calculate, withhold and pay taxes to the budget;
- inform tax authorities in writing about the impossibility of withholding tax, and about the amount of not withheld tax;
- keep analytical records of accrued and paid income, including in the context of taxpayers;
- transfer to the tax authority documents confirming the completeness and correctness of the calculation and payment of taxes;
- ensure the safety of the above documents for 4 years.
