Corporate property tax. The best ways to optimize.

The property tax of organizations often makes up most of the tax burden. Its size depends on the book value of fixed assets and increases after each acquisition of new assets, as well as their modernization. Therefore, for many enterprises it is rather difficult to observe the term of payment of property tax and transfer huge payments to the budget without damaging the business.

Legislation provides taxpayers with a number of opportunities to optimize this tax, taking advantage of which, each company will be able to significantly reduce the tax burden.

1. Method of calculating depreciation.

Accountants, as a rule, use the linear method, which is much simpler than the others and avoids the appearance of differences in accounting and tax accounting. But from the point of view of tax optimization, he loses to all the rest. At a factor of 2, in most cases, the most advantageous method is the reduced residue. Therefore, in order to reduce the property tax of organizations, it is necessary to calculate the depreciation by each of the four available methods and stop at a more suitable one. Of course, the linear method should be abandoned only if there is a significant difference in the calculations.

2. "Simplified".

In most cases, it is unprofitable for large enterprises to apply a simplified regime, in spite of the fact that it allows not to pay tax on property of organizations. To solve this problem, special "simplified" firms are opening up, acquiring assets on their own and leasing them to the main legal entity. You can also decorate objects with entrepreneurs. They are not payers of the property tax on transport and equipment, and, subject to the application of "simplified tax" or UTII, they do not transfer the tax on immovable property leased. It is worth noting that it is inexpedient to sell assets already owned by the enterprise, since it will have to pay a fairly large VAT. Thus, the auxiliary structure should be organized before the purchase of expensive fixed assets.

3. Leasing.

Many companies buy fixed assets on credit. To optimize the property tax of organizations, it is worth considering the option of concluding a leasing deal, which has significant advantages over a bank loan. The possibility of accounting for the object on the balance sheet of the lessor company exempts the enterprise from transferring the tax for the entire term of the contract. If at the time of transfer of ownership of the asset, depreciation will be fully charged, then the obligation to pay it will not come at all. If the object is not self-deprecated, then it is recorded at a residual value, which is substantially less than its original price. Assignment of the fixed asset to the balance of the lessee allows using the accelerated depreciation coefficient 3. This privilege extends to those objects that were initially accounted for by the lessor and taken to the balance at the residual value after the expiration of the contract.

4. Revaluation.

Each enterprise owns a large number of movable objects, the cost of which is constantly decreasing. Obsolete or significantly falling in the price of assets can be reassessed with the help of expertise and reduce the amount of property tax. It should be noted that tax accounting will be maintained without changes, only the value of fixed assets will be reduced, reflected in the balance sheet. This procedure is carried out once a year for groups of homogeneous fixed assets. This means that all objects belonging to a certain category, for example, cars, must participate in it. One of them can not be overstated, and the cost of the others can be kept the same. The choice of groups is carried out by the enterprise independently depending on economic expediency. So, if the price has fallen significantly on transport, and on real estate, on the contrary, it has increased, then only cars need to be reassessed, and buildings should be accounted for in the same manner.

There are also other ways to optimize the property tax, such as transferring assets to firms that have incentives; To branches located in regions with a lower tax rate or to offshore zones, but they are not suitable for each enterprise.