How to pay financial assistance to an employee: for family, treatment, retirement

By decision of the employer's management, financial assistance is paid to the employee . At the same time, private employers do not have the obligation financially support employees in difficult situations (it may be a little different in state-owned companies and government agencies). Some socially oriented businessmen help and provide financial assistance to employees, while in other companies these payments are not provided at all. In this article, we will consider situations when at work they provide financial assistance to an employee (employee) in 2021.

Sources of regulation of financial assistance in connection with marriage

Among the sources of legal regulation of financial assistance paid in connection with the registration of a marriage relationship by an employee, which determine the type of this payment, the procedure and conditions for its provision, the procedure for its taxation and the accrual of insurance payments on it, the following can be distinguished:

• Labor Code (Articles 40, 41, 129, etc.), which defines this payment as an additional social guarantee upon the occurrence of a certain event (marriage), not related to the employee’s fulfillment of any plans, tasks, volumes of work, etc. ;
• Tax Code (Articles 209, 210, 217, 421, 422), which determines the procedure for taxation of this payment, the procedure for calculating mandatory insurance contributions on it and cases when financial assistance is not subject to tax and contributions;
• local acts of organizations defining the conditions and procedure for providing such assistance;
• acts of judicial authorities.

If an employee needs help financially

Many employers provide financial support to employees from time to time. Let's find out how financial assistance is processed, what is taxed and whether it is reflected in tax accounting under the simplified tax system

Financial assistance is paid to employees at the request of the employer and upon the occurrence of certain events: weddings, birth of a child, death of a relative, etc.

In other words, it is the head of the organization or individual entrepreneur who decides when, to whom and in what amount it is due. Financial assistance refers to non-production payments, is one-time in nature and is not related to the employee’s performance of work duties.

Documenting

To receive financial assistance, an employee must write an application and indicate in it the event in connection with which he expects to receive it. Documents confirming the existence of special circumstances are attached to it.

Having received the application, the manager makes a decision on payment or non-payment of financial assistance. If the answer is positive, an order to issue assistance is issued based on the application. There is no unified form of the order, so it is drawn up arbitrarily. The mandatory details of this order are the amount of money due to the employee and the deadline for its payment.

Samples of the application and order are presented in Fig. 1 and 2.

Some organizations pay financial assistance to employees using retained earnings from previous years. Let us remind you that only the general meeting of founders, participants and shareholders has the right to distribute it, including the payment of assistance (subclause 3, clause 3, article 91 and subclause 4, clause 1, article 103 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

Therefore, the decision on the distribution of profits for the payment of financial assistance (directly to some employee or by creating a fund for the payment of assistance) is made by the general meeting of participants or shareholders, and it is reflected in the minutes of the meeting.

Personal income tax

According to paragraph 5 of Article 346.11 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, “simplified people” are not exempt from performing the duties of tax agents. Is it necessary to calculate and withhold personal income tax on material assistance? The amount of assistance not exceeding 4,000 rubles is not subject to personal income tax. for the tax period (clause 28 of article 217 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). But you will have to pay tax on the excess in the general manner. Please note: this applies even to cases where financial support is provided to former employees who left due to disability or age retirement.

Also, financial assistance paid to:

- in connection with a natural disaster or other emergency, as well as citizens - family members of persons who died as a result of these events, in order to compensate for the material damage caused or harm to their health;

- family members of a deceased employee or retired former employee;

- an employee or former employee who has retired due to the death of a member of his family;

- employees (parents, adoptive parents and guardians) during the first year after the birth (adoption) of a child, but not more than 50,000 rubles. for each child.

- citizens affected by terrorist acts in Russia, and family members of persons killed as a result of such actions.

Until 2010, the period for providing financial support in connection with the birth (adoption) of a child was unlimited. That is, whenever a payment is made that does not exceed 50,000 rubles, it is not subject to personal income tax. Now personal income tax is not withheld only from payments made within a year after birth (adoption). Such changes were introduced by Federal Law No. 213-FZ of July 24, 2009.

However, this is not all innovation. As already mentioned, personal income tax is not assessed on financial assistance issued to family members of a deceased employee or to an employee in connection with the death of a member of his family. From this year, personal income tax is also not levied on assistance paid to a former employee who retired due to the death of a member of his family or to members of his family in connection with his death (Federal Law of July 19, 2009 No. 202-FZ).

Here it is necessary to clarify who is recognized as family members. According to Article 2 of the RF IC, these include spouses, parents, children, adoptive parents and adopted children. Therefore, other relatives are not them. The Ministry of Finance adheres to the same position (letter dated 08/03/2006 No. 03-05-01-04/234).

But judicial practice on this issue is contradictory. Thus, the courts have repeatedly indicated that the family is considered as a single whole, which means that it includes both the husband’s parents and the wife’s parents.

Therefore, financial assistance provided in connection with the death of a father-in-law, mother-in-law, father-in-law or mother-in-law should not be subject to personal income tax (resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Moscow District dated September 29, 2008 No. KA-A40/6198-08-O, Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Far Eastern District dated February 15, 2005 No. F03 -A37/04-2/4191 and FAS of the Ural District dated March 29, 2005 No. F09-1057/05-AK). However, it is unlikely that regulatory authorities will agree with these arguments, so we do not recommend being guided by them.

In addition, there is a court ruling containing the opposite point of view (resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Moscow District dated December 30, 2005 No. KA-A40/13252-05).

Example 1

Vostok LLC uses the simplified tax system. In April 2010, driver V.P. Malysheva’s sister died. The HR department received an application from him for financial assistance. The manager issued an order to pay V.P. Malyshev 8,000 rubles. No other financial assistance was provided to the employee in 2010. In what amount should personal income tax be withheld and transferred, provided that standard and other tax deductions of V.P. Malyshev is not entitled to money in April?

Personal income tax is not charged on financial assistance paid to an employee in connection with the death of a member of his family (clause 8 of Article 217 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). However, as we found out, the Family Code does not classify sisters as family members, so in this case, personal income tax must be calculated in the general manner.

The amount is not taxed if it is less than or equal to 4,000 rubles. for the tax period (clause 28 of article 217 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Personal income tax is paid on the excess. Thus, the accountant of Vostok LLC had to withhold and transfer personal income tax in the amount of 520 rubles. [(RUB 8,000 – RUB 4,000) × 13%]. The driver will be given 7,480 rubles. (8000 rub. – 520 rub.).

Insurance contributions to extra-budgetary funds

According to paragraph 1 of Article 7 of the Federal Law of July 24, 2009 No. 212-FZ (hereinafter referred to as Law No. 212-FZ), the object of taxation with insurance premiums is payments and other remunerations accrued in favor of citizens under labor, civil law, copyright and other similar agreements . Does this mean that if the payment of financial assistance is not provided for in the employment contract, there is no need to pay contributions?

Logically, yes. However, it will be quite difficult to prove that he is right to the regulatory authorities, or to an accountant who has not accrued contributions from financial assistance in favor of the person with whom the employment contract was concluded. And most likely the dispute will have to be resolved in court. But there is no arbitration practice on this issue yet. So for those who do not want to argue, it is better to still charge contributions. The amount of financial assistance not exceeding 4,000 rubles is not subject to contributions. (Subclause 11, Clause 1, Article 9 of Law No. 212-FZ). From an amount above 4000 rubles. contributions are calculated.

In addition, insurance premiums are not charged for financial assistance paid (subclause 3, clause 1, article 9 of Law No. 212-FZ):

— citizens in connection with a natural disaster or other emergency in order to compensate for material damage caused to them or harm to their health; — citizens affected by terrorist attacks on the territory of the Russian Federation; - to an employee in connection with the death of a member of his family; - to an employee (parent, adoptive parent and guardian) during the first year after the birth (adoption) of a child, but not more than 50,000 rubles. for each child.

Contributions for insurance against industrial accidents and occupational diseases

The list of payments for which insurance premiums are not charged to the Federal Social Insurance Fund of Russia was approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated July 7, 1999 No. 765 (hereinafter referred to as the List). According to paragraphs 7 and 8 of the List, financial assistance provided to:

— employees in connection with emergency circumstances in order to compensate for harm caused to the health and property of citizens, on the basis of decisions of state authorities and local governments, foreign states, as well as governmental and non-governmental intergovernmental organizations; - employees in connection with a natural disaster, fire, theft of property, or injury that befell them; - in connection with the death of an employee or his close relatives.

At the same time, relatives in a direct ascending and descending line (parents, children, grandparents, grandchildren), as well as full and half brothers and sisters are recognized as close (Article 14 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation). As you can see, the term “close relatives” is much broader than the term “family members”. Therefore, when calculating personal income tax and insurance premiums, you need to be very careful.

For example, financial assistance provided to an employee in connection with the death of a grandmother is not subject to contributions in case of injury. However, if its amount is more than 4,000 rubles, personal income tax and insurance contributions to the Pension Fund, Social Insurance Fund, TFOMS and FFOMS are charged on the excess.

Types of financial assistance not specified in paragraphs 7 and 8 of the List must be included in the base for calculating contributions for insurance against industrial accidents and occupational diseases. This is what the regulatory authorities think (letters from the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated October 18, 2007 No. 02-13/07-10008, dated October 10, 2007 No. 02-13/07-9665 and the Federal Tax Service of Russia for Moscow dated September 14, 2006 No. 18-11/ [ email protected] ), as well as some judges (decrees of the FAS East Siberian District dated April 24, 2008 No. A33-8071/07-F02-1640/08, FAS Moscow District dated October 13, 2008 No. KA-A40/9447-08 and FAS Northwestern District dated December 15, 2008 No. A44-2062/2008), and it’s hard to disagree with them.

However, there is also an opposite opinion. Insurance premiums are calculated for wages (income) of employees, as well as for remuneration under civil contracts (clause 3 of the Rules for the accrual, accounting and expenditure of funds for the implementation of compulsory social insurance against industrial accidents and occupational diseases, approved by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated 02.03 .2000 No. 184). On this basis, some judges come to the conclusion that any one-time financial assistance (for marriage registration, birth of a child, anniversary, etc.) not specified in an employment or collective agreement is not related to wages and should not be subject to contributions (rulings FAS of the East Siberian District dated 02/03/2009 No. A58-3247/08-0327-F02-76/09 and the West Siberian District dated 07/27/2009 No. F04-3501/2009(11928-A27-41)).

However, we do not recommend being guided by these arguments. The position of the regulatory authorities is different, which means that you will have to defend your case in court. And arbitration practice, as we see, is both positive and negative.

Tax accounting

Organizations and individual entrepreneurs using the simplified tax system with the object of taxation being income minus expenses, take into account expenses from the list of paragraph 1 of Article 346.16 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Subclause 6, in particular, indicates labor costs. These include payments listed in Article 255 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation (clause 2 of Article 346.16 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). There is no financial assistance among them. At the same time, the article contains paragraph 25, which talks about other payments provided for in the employment contract, but in this case it is not suitable. The amounts allocated by the employer are not included in the remuneration system and are not stimulating or rewarding in nature. These expenses cannot be called justified, since they are not aimed at generating income, therefore, the conditions necessary for accounting for expenses (clause 1 of Article 252 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation) are not met. Therefore, paid financial assistance is not taken into account in expenses under the simplified tax system. By the way, under the general regime the situation is similar: reducing the income tax base for issued material assistance is also not allowed (Clause 23, Article 270 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

If financial assistance is not included in the list of non-taxable payments, then insurance contributions to extra-budgetary funds are charged for an amount exceeding 4,000 rubles. And, despite the fact that the material assistance itself is not included in expenses, the contributions transferred from it will reduce the tax base on the basis of subparagraph 7 of paragraph 1 of Article 346.16 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, since they were paid in accordance with the law.

Example 2

Tornado LLC applies the simplified tax system with the object of taxation being income minus expenses. The director, having received a statement from Secretary I.E. in April 2010. Golubkina, issued an order to provide the employee with financial assistance in connection with the registration of marriage in the amount of 10,000 rubles. Golubkina is not entitled to standard or other tax deductions. When calculating contributions for insurance against industrial accidents and occupational diseases, the organization adheres to the point of view of the regulatory authorities. We will reflect the payment in tax accounting.

Since the material assistance paid is not related to the wage system, it cannot be taken into account in expenses that reduce the base for the single tax under the simplified tax system. However, it must be subject to personal income tax, pension contributions and contributions in case of injury (assume the insurance rate is 0.2%).

Personal income tax and pension contributions are calculated on amounts exceeding 4,000 rubles. The tax will be 780 rubles. [(10,000 rubles – 4000 rubles) × × 13%], and contributions - 840 rubles. [(RUB 10,000 – RUB 4,000) × 14%]. Contributions in case of injury will be 20 rubles. (RUB 10,000 × × 0.2%). After paying insurance premiums (let's say it was May 5, 2010), they can be taken into account as expenses. Personal income tax is withheld from payments to the employee, but since the material assistance itself is not an expense, the tax amount will not be either. The completed fragment of the Income and Expense Accounting Book is presented in the table.

Note that profit for distribution is determined according to accounting data, so an organization that wants to pay financial assistance to employees at the expense of profits from previous years will have to keep accounting records in full

Rice. 1. Sample application for financial assistance

General Director of Coral LLC A.N. Romanov from accountant Shmeleva N.E.

Statement

In connection with the birth of a child in my family on April 2, 2010 (Dmitry Petrovich Shmelev), I ask you to provide me with financial assistance.

Attachment: copy of the child's birth certificate

Shmeleva May 11, 2010

Rice. 2. Sample order for financial assistance

Order No. 23-K

Moscow May 11, 2010

About payment of financial assistance

According to paragraph 21 of the collective agreement

I ORDER

provide one-time financial assistance to accountant Shmeleva N.E. in the amount of 40,000 (Forty thousand) rubles in connection with the birth of a child. Payments must be made from the cash desk before May 17, 2010.

Reasons:

1) statement by Shmeleva N.E. requesting financial assistance; 2) a copy of the child’s birth certificate.

General Director Romanov A.N. Romanov

Amounts not subject to personal income tax are stated in paragraph 8 of Article 217 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

The terms of family law contained in the Tax Code are used in the meaning in which they are used in this branch of law (clause 1 of article 11 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation)

According to the Ministry of Health and Social Development (see letter dated March 23, 2010 No. 647-19), payments not specified in the employment contract are subject to insurance contributions

On a note. Financial assistance and average earnings

To calculate government benefits, an accountant has to calculate average earnings. It includes all payments and rewards in favor of the employee, which are taken into account in the base for calculating insurance premiums (clause 2 of article 14 of the Federal Law of December 29, 2006 No. 255-FZ). It turns out that if, for example, financial assistance in connection with registering a marriage is allocated in the amount of 10,000 rubles, then it will only be included in the average earnings in part - in the amount of 6,000 rubles. According to subparagraph 11 of paragraph 1 of Article 9 of Law No. 212-FZ, financial assistance, the amount of which does not exceed 4,000 rubles, is not subject to insurance contributions.

But when calculating average earnings for other cases provided for by the Labor Code (for example, accrual of vacation pay), they are guided by the Regulations on the specifics of the procedure for calculating average wages, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated December 24, 2007 No. 922. In accordance with paragraph 3 of this document, when determining average earnings do not take into account payments not related to wages, including financial assistance

Brothers and sisters who have only one common parent are considered half-siblings.

According to paragraph 2 of Article 346.16, only expenses that meet the criteria of paragraph 1 of Article 252 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation are accepted for accounting under the simplified tax system.

Table. Fragment of filling out the Income and Expense Book of Tornado LLC for the second quarter of 2010

In 2010, “simplified” workers do not pay social insurance contributions in case of temporary disability and in connection with maternity (subclause 2, paragraph 2, article 57 of Law No. 212-FZ)
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Court practice

So, for example, by the ruling of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated November 3, 2017 N 309-KG17-15716, the resolution of the Arbitration Court of the Volga-Vyatka District dated October 14, 2019 N F01-4899/2019, the applicant’s request to cancel the act of the Pension Fund body on additional accrual of insurance benefits was satisfied. contributions (and resulting penalties and fines) on the basis that financial assistance during marriage registration was not remuneration for the employee, since it did not depend on working conditions.

A similar position is set out in the resolution of the Seventh Arbitration Court of Appeal dated July 25, 2017 No. 07AP-5424/2017 in case No. A27-6618/2017, the resolution of the Fifteenth Arbitration Court of Appeal dated September 2, 2016 No. 15AP-8331/2016 in case No. A53-33784/ 2015 and other judicial acts. Thus, extensive judicial practice has developed that makes it possible to unambiguously regulate the issue of calculating insurance premiums for this payment, as well as classifying such payment as a type of income that is not included in wages.

Alimony payments and their forms

Usually this refers to money that must be paid to people in need, either voluntarily or based on a court decision.

The main regulatory act that regulates their calculation and payment is the Family Code of the Russian Federation. By virtue of its provisions, maintenance funds are collected (section 5 of the RF IC):

• judicially;
• voluntarily, when the parties have entered into an agreement, which is certified by a notary. A notarized agreement has the force of a writ of execution (Article 100 of the RF IC).

Financial assistance for a wedding: when is it issued, how to get it

Assistance to an employee for a wedding due to the fact that it is not part of the salary and is not mandatory, by virtue of Art. 8 and 40 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation must be enshrined in the internal legal acts of the enterprise (which also includes the collective agreement between representatives of the employer and the work collective). The detailed procedure for making such payment should be regulated in the specified documents.

However, in any case, receiving financial assistance is of an application nature, therefore a person getting married and having an employment relationship with this organization must write an application addressed to its management. It should indicate:

• date of registration of marriage;
• details of the document (certificate) confirming the creation of a family;
• the requested amount (if it is set in a fixed amount and does not depend on the will of the employer);
• a list of attached documents (including a copy of the marriage certificate);
• date of preparation and signature of the applicant.

Based on the application (if a positive decision is made), the employer must issue an appropriate order, which, among other things, must indicate all the information that allows defining this payment as financial assistance for the wedding (details of the marriage certificate are required).

What is maternal assistance

Providing financial assistance to an employee is a monetary payment or support in kind (products, clothing and other property).

legally established anywhere in which cases financial assistance is paid to an employee. In practice, medical assistance is provided when a certain situation occurs for an employee. Typically, an approximate set of such situations is fixed in the employer’s local regulations.

Our experts have prepared an article for you, from which you will learn in detail what financial assistance “Material assistance” is.

Each company independently decides in what cases it is worth providing financial support to its employees. Large and medium-sized companies approve the Regulations on the payment of financial assistance. It helps to remove most of the questions that arise when the right to financial assistance arises, and also normalizes document flow.

You can get acquainted with the sample and main points when forming such a provision in the article “What should be the Regulation on financial assistance: sample”.

Taxation of financial assistance in connection with a wedding

Individuals on the basis of Art. 207 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation are required to pay tax on any income. At the same time, in Art. 217 lists exceptions that are not subject to the obligation to pay this tax. Due to the specifics of this payment (namely its basis - marriage), it falls under clause 28 of Art. 217 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, which regulates the issue of exemption from personal income tax on income received in the form of financial assistance from the employer. Based on this norm, tax is not payable only if the amount of financial assistance does not exceed 4,000 rubles.

ConsultantPlus experts have prepared step-by-step instructions for calculating personal income tax with financial assistance in various situations:

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If the amount of such assistance exceeds the established limits during one reporting period (equal to one calendar year in accordance with Article 216 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation), then the amount up to 4,000 rubles inclusive will not be subject to income tax, and the amount exceeding this amount will be subject to personal income tax.

For the employee, this tax must be calculated and transferred by his employer on the basis of Art. 226 Tax Code of the Russian Federation. This means that the employee must receive the amount of financial assistance in his hands minus income tax.

Procedure for payment of financial assistance

Above we reviewed step-by-step instructions for receiving a financial payment. The company may approve in its regulations or other local act a different procedure for paying financial assistance. For example:

• supporting documents are submitted to a special commission or trade union;
• To submit an application to the director of the company, the preliminary approval of the immediate supervisor, head of the human resources department or financial director is required;
• Instead of an application, you can use a memo form.

In addition, it is possible to deviate from the approved rules for the payment of financial assistance when the initiator of the provision of support is the employer or the immediate supervisor of the employee who needs help. In this case, the boss writes a memo addressed to the head of the company, in which he asks to provide financial assistance to the subordinate employee and indicates the circumstances. In this case, supporting documents can be provided later - when the employee goes to work and can bring them himself.

It is worth considering that:

• the director may refuse to pay financial assistance due to lack of funds;
• the boss may consider the reason disrespectful if the employee does not document that he has a difficult situation that requires support.

If you have any doubts about the correct posting of financial assistance entries into accounting accounts, we recommend checking this in our article “How to reflect financial assistance in accounting: entries.”

Results

Financial assistance to an employee upon marriage can be provided by the employer as an additional social guarantee and enshrined in a local legal act or collective agreement.
Its amount can be any, but in accordance with tax legislation, only 4,000 rubles per reporting period are not subject to income tax. You can find more complete information on the topic in ConsultantPlus. Free trial access to the system for 2 days.

Contents of the order issued by management

If the request of the employee who wrote the application for financial assistance is approved, a special decree is issued. The document can be prepared on a special form or plain paper. Authorized persons are responsible for writing. The order contains the following information:

• order number;
• Name;
• date of writing;
• document text.

At the end, the manager’s full name and signature are placed. .