Prospects for optimizing the taxation system of freight forwarding services operations

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to formulate proposals for improving the mechanisms of calculating tax liabilities during the implementation of intermediary activities in the field of international and domestic freight transportation by eliminating the existing methodological contradictions of the current legislation. During the research, a complex of general scientific and special methods of cognition of economic processes was applied. Systems and structural analysis were used to study the regulatory and legal framework, while the method of comparison was applied to contrast the civil law and fiscal interpretation of the tax base of forwarders. The method of abstraction and modeling was involved to assess the tax consequences of the work of logistics enterprises under various taxation regimes. The main discrepancies between the norms of private law and the rules of fiscal administration, which cause an unreasonable increase in the financial burden on the enterprises of the industry, were identified and structured. It was established that the lack of a legislative definition of transit funds causes their erroneous inclusion in the total volume of the forwarder's income, which significantly limits the possibilities of applying the simplified taxation system by small business entities. The mechanisms of the emergence of artificial cash gaps during settlements with counterparties due to the operation of the first event rule in the indirect tax administration system were investigated. It was found that the algorithms of the automated tax risk monitoring system do not take into account the intermediary nature of the work of transport operators, as a result of which the change in service codes during the resale of freight is recognized as fictitious activity and leads to massive suspension of tax invoice registration. Additionally, the impact of unrealized exchange differences on transit foreign currency accounts on the profitability indicators of controlled operations was evaluated. The necessity of normative consolidation of the status of a qualified forwarder to prevent the suspension of registration of tax documents of conscientious market participants was substantiated. An effective algorithm for excluding transit financial flows from the calculation of the tax base for income tax and single tax was proposed, which will allow balancing the structure of the working capital of companies. The expediency of revising the rules for administering taxes in terms of applying a zero rate to the entire complex of services for the organization of international cargo delivery was proved. We expect that the implementation of these initiatives will contribute to the release of financial resources of enterprises and increase their business activity.