How to write a letter to a supplier for a refund

In the contract for the delivery of products, a separate clause stipulates the transfer of an advance payment or the full cost of the products. Otherwise, the supplier's risks increase.

Prepayment guarantees the protection of the rights of both parties:

• Supplier in timely payment;
• Buyer in timely delivery.

However, a situation may occur when, after transferring an advance payment, an unscrupulous supplier refuses to fulfill the terms of the contract. Non-delivery of products occurs in contractual relations, both between enterprises and between a company and an individual. Therefore, the question of how to get a refund for goods not delivered is of interest to every conscientious buyer.

How to get money back

There may be various reasons why you need to return the money, for example:

• excessive transfer of funds;
• erroneous transfer;
• termination or modification of the terms of the contract.

To return money if you have overpaid or get it back due to the return of a low-quality product, you must send a request to the supplier. This may be a letter for a refund due to the refusal of the goods or due to an error in the transfer of funds.

Registration of identified deficiencies in the delivered goods

To return a product with identified defects, you must draw up a report that includes the following requirements:

1. Date and place of acceptance, which was carried out by the commission;
2. Composition of the commission (last name, first name, patronymic and position of each member of the commission);
3. Details of documents regulating relations, for example, an agreement, an invoice;
4. A list of goods containing defects in quality, shape, size, assortment or other characteristics that are the reason for return to the supplier, replacement or additional before delivery;
5. An expert opinion is drawn up, if necessary, for an objective assessment of quality discrepancies, which are not visually determined, but require special knowledge and training;
6. Requirements are presented to the seller in the form that is more acceptable to the buyer, taking into account the legislation of the Russian Federation;
7. The document is certified by the signatures and comments of the commission members on this issue.

How to make a requirement

There is no unified form for such a letter. An application for a refund is drawn up in free form, on company letterhead, which indicates:

• bank details where the excess transferred funds will be received;
• the reasons why the money was transferred incorrectly or an overpayment occurred;
• transaction details: agreement, payment order, amount;
• expected date of receipt of funds;
• signature and transcript of the full name of the responsible person - the head of the organization.

Application template

Application for overpayment

Application for return of advance payment

In order to resolve disagreements with the supplier, we recommend attaching a settlement reconciliation report to the letter.

Sample reconciliation report

When drawing up a request and a reconciliation report, be sure to make a reference to the contract.

Is it possible to force the violator to fulfill his obligations?

There are two options to force the seller to deliver the goods. If the product belongs to the category of individually defined things or is a thing that has generic characteristics.

1. An individually defined thing is a one-of-a-kind thing that has characteristics that are different from things that are similar to it.
   This category includes registered things (apartment, yacht, plane, etc.); items of cultural and historical value (paintings, antiques, etc.). If the buyer can prove that the seller, who did not deliver the goods, actually has an individually defined item in stock, he has the right to force the delivery of such goods (Article 463 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).
2. A thing that has generic characteristics is an object that can be replaced by another object of the same kind. This category includes: sand, spare parts, building materials, etc. in this case, it does not make sense how exclusive the product is - what is important is that it was not registered and it does not carry any value.

Reflection of transactions in accounting

Let's consider the procedure for recording transactions in accounting accounts on the part of all participants in the transaction:

When erroneous payments are returned, reverse accounting entries are made.

Nuances of accounting under the simplified tax system

Often, the supplier has disagreements with the tax authorities about the taxation of excess revenue. The fact is that the tax base is formed upon payment, i.e., at the time the money is received, income arises.

In case of erroneous or excessive transfer of payments, the amounts received are not taken into account when generating taxable income (clause 1 of Article 346.15 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Until the circumstances are clarified, these funds do not fall under the definition of income from sales or non-operating income (Articles 249, 250 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

The above does not apply to advances returned due to termination or change in the terms of the contract. At the time of receipt of the prepayment, the taxpayer has an obligation to increase income. When collecting advances received from buyers for the refunded amount, the income of the period in which the funds were returned is reduced (clause 1 of Article 346.17 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Direction of claim

After the claim has been drawn up, the applicant (whether an individual or a representative of the customer organization) must send it to the supplier.

It is important to note that along with the application for the return of the prepayment, the supplier is also sent copies of all documents confirming the legality of sending the application, according to the list of attachments.

If the claim is sent in person, it is advisable to prepare two copies, one of which remains with the recipient, and the second is returned to the applicant with an appropriate receipt stamp affixed by an authorized employee of the supplier organization.

The claim can also be sent by registered mail, and the applicant is notified of its delivery, which, in turn, is also a guarantee that the claim will be received by the responsible employees of the supplier organization.

Payment return period

Erroneously or excessively transferred payments are returned within seven days from the date the creditor submits a demand for its fulfillment (clause 2 of Article 314 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

In cases of unlawful withholding of funds and evasion of their collection, interest is charged on the amount of the debt in accordance with the rules set out in clause 1 of Art. 395 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and clause 5 of the Review of the practice of considering disputes related to the application of rules on unjust enrichment (Information letter of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation No. 49 dated 01/11/2000).

Similar appeals for calculating interest are applied upon termination of a contract for the supply of goods (clauses 3–4 of Article 487 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

To avoid paying interest for using someone else’s money, pay attention to the date of the document and fulfill your obligations no later than seven days.

A different legal situation arises in the event of the return of the advance upon termination or modification of the work contract. The organization that received the advance payment began to carry out the work. In this case, the contractor must prove that at the time of receipt of the notice of termination of the contract, part of it has already been completed. If this condition is met, the contractor retains part of the established price in proportion to the part of the work performed before receiving notice of the customer’s refusal to fulfill the contract, and compensates for losses caused by termination of the contract (Article 717 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

Is it possible to return a defective product?

The discrepancy between the transferred material assets gives the recipient the full right to return them to the supplier.
Our website contains articles about the return of books, diapers and strollers, building materials and plumbing fixtures, shoes and clothing, cosmetics, dishes, and weapons.

Reasons

One of the grounds for returning received material assets is their non-compliance with quality requirements . That is, existing defects or shortcomings prevent the full use of what is obtained. In such cases, the rules of Article 518 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation are applicable.

The recipient is given the right to present to the other party the demands provided for in Article 475 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. One of them is the opportunity to refuse to fulfill the concluded contract and receive back the money spent. That is, the goods are actually returned to the supplier.

Registration procedure

The procedure for returning low-quality products to an unscrupulous party involves filing a claim, ensuring the safety of the goods and completing documents for transferring what was received to the supplier, if he agrees. If the latter does not agree with the requirements, then an examination will be required and a report will be drawn up.

Complaint

According to the rules of Article 483 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the interested party is obliged to notify the other party of the non-compliance of the quality transferred with the requirements .

The document is drawn up in an arbitrary manner, since the law does not approve a standard complaint form.

The text must indicate the following:

1. Supplier's name and address. You can provide information about its manager.
2. Recipient details – name, address, contact phone number.
3. Information about the delivered product – name, type, completeness.
4. Grounds for delivery – date and number of the concluded contract.
5. Total transaction value.
6. Date of actual transfer.
7. Description of identified deficiencies.
8. Request for return.
9. List of attached documents.
10. Date and signature of the initiator's representative.

The claim must be accompanied by a copy of the concluded contract and documents for the supplied products.

We do not recommend completing the documents yourself. Save time - contact our lawyers by phone:

8 (800) 350-14-90

Failure to comply with this rule allows the supplier to partially or completely not satisfy the initiator's requirements . The refusal will be legal if the absence of a complaint made it impossible to fulfill the claim, or the costs were incommensurate with those that the supplier would have incurred if he had been promptly informed about the existing defect.

Storage

Even if the recipient intends to return a defective delivery, he undertakes to ensure the safety of the goods before delivery.
In turn, the supplier must remove the returned property, which was accepted for safekeeping, within a reasonable time. Such a period is usually agreed upon by the parties and included in the terms of the contract. If the supplier does not dispose of the goods within the established period, the recipient not only has the right to return it, but also to sell it. In such cases, all associated costs are reimbursed by the dishonest party. The proceeds from the sale are transferred to the supplier, less what is due to the recipient .

If the recipient does not accept the goods without legal grounds, the supplier may send him a demand for payment.

How to properly draw up papers if there are no objections?

The supplier’s agreement to satisfy the requirements of the interested party involves the execution of certain documents, which will be the basis for the return of what was received. These are a statement of identified deficiencies and a return invoice.

Report on identified deficiencies

The report on identified deficiencies is confirmation of the presence of defects in the transferred material assets . The specified document can be drawn up in the TORG-2 form, in accordance with the Resolution of the State Statistics Committee of the Russian Federation dated December 25, 1998 No. 132 “On approval of unified forms of primary accounting documentation for recording trade operations.”

The act must indicate the following:

1. Recipient's name and address.
2. Date and number of the act.
3. The basis for its design. This is a directive or order from the recipient's manager.
4. Reason for receiving the goods. This is a contract.
5. Type and completeness of the supplied products.
6. A detailed description of the identified deficiencies.
7. Information about the supplier, carrier and manufacturer.
8. Signatures of persons who took part in the execution of the act.

The document is drawn up by members of the commission and an expert . Such persons are appointed from among the specialists of the receiving organization.

A representative of the supplier must be present when drawing up the report. For each batch of products that is transferred according to one document, a separate act is drawn up. The document is drawn up in four copies, one each for the recipient, supplier, manufacturer and carrier.

We do not recommend completing the documents yourself. Save time - contact our lawyers by phone:

8 (800) 350-14-90

Packing list

The consignment note in form TORG-12 is the document on the basis of which material assets are returned to the supplier. As in the case of the act, the specified document can be drawn up in accordance with the Resolution of the State Statistics Committee of the Russian Federation dated December 25, 1998 No. 132 “On approval of unified forms of primary accounting documentation for recording trade operations.”

In order to correctly draw up a TN, you need to know how to do it. The invoice states :

1. Information about the supplier, carrier, recipient.
2. The basis for the operation is a concluded contract, complaint, act.
3. Name, type, completeness and volume of returned material assets.

The invoice is signed by the manager and chief accountant of the recipient and certified with a seal. The fact of receipt of the goods is confirmed by the signature of the supplier's representative .

We do not recommend completing the documents yourself. Save time - contact our lawyers by phone:

8 (800) 350-14-90

If there are any objections

If the supplier refuses to satisfy the request or ignores the complaint, the goods can be returned. It is important to know what documents are drawn up in this case. It is necessary to draw up and send a written claim to the unscrupulous party, as well as appoint and conduct an examination. The supplier must be invited to participate in the last procedure.

Drawing up a letter of claim

The letter of claim is drawn up in any order . The text of the document must indicate:

1. Information about the supplier - name, address, manager information.
2. Recipient information – name, address, contact phone number.
3. The basis for the supply of products is a contract, invoices.
4. Description of the product – type, volume, completeness.
5. Information about identified deficiencies.
6. Initiator's requirements. In this case it will be a return of the goods.
7. Deadline for responding to a complaint. As a rule, this is ten days from the date of receipt of the letter.
8. List of attached documents.
9. Date and signature of the initiator's representative.

The claim for defective products is made in two copies. The document can be delivered personally by the recipient, sent by mail or via the Internet.

We do not recommend completing the documents yourself. Save time - contact our lawyers by phone:

8 (800) 350-14-90

Invitation to examination

After this, it is necessary to carry out an examination of the supplied products to ensure that they comply with quality requirements. A representative of the supplier should be invited to participate in such a procedure . The notice must be in writing and sent to the other party by mail, online, or in person. The letter must indicate the date, place and grounds for the examination.

How to conduct an examination and draw up a report on the identified deficiencies?

The examination is carried out by organizations or individual entrepreneurs licensed to provide services of this nature. To carry out the procedure, test samples are taken from the batch of delivered products. The results of the examination are reflected in the conclusion.

The document must include:

1. Date and place of compilation.
2. Name and address of the expert organization.
3. Information about the product being checked.
4. The nature of the identified deficiencies.
5. Possible reasons for their occurrence.
6. Expert signature.

We do not recommend completing the documents yourself. Save time - contact our lawyers by phone:

8 (800) 350-14-90

Based on the conclusion, a report on the identified deficiencies is drawn up.

Attention ! If the act is drawn up unilaterally, then it is applicable as confirmation of the existence of a marriage only within the framework of the terms of the concluded agreement. Otherwise, the act will not be evidence.

Differences in the delivery of defective products before and after acceptance

The procedure for returning a defective product before it has been accepted is quite simple. You just need to cross out the corresponding items from the invoice.

These actions are performed only in the presence of a representative of the supplier, for example, a freight forwarder . The latter must sign the invoice and pick up the low-quality products.

The return process will be somewhat different in the case where the goods have actually been accepted or cannot be returned immediately, for example, the products arrived from another region or the carrier was not the supplier himself, but an intermediary.

In such cases, despite the presence of a defect, it will be necessary to accept material assets according to the invoice, draw up a certificate of discrepancy in quantity and quality, and place the received goods under safekeeping. After this, you need to draw up and send a letter of claim to the unscrupulous supplier.

Responsibility

The supplier's responsibility is expressed in the costs associated with satisfying the recipient's requirements . They relate to reimbursement of costs associated with eliminating defects, as well as reducing the cost of goods. The terms of the contract may provide for the payment of a penalty for each day of failure to fulfill the obligation to accept defective products.