Agents, principals and online booking offices in between

If a law is adopted in Russia, this does not mean that it works. If the law seems to work, this does not mean that everything will be the same in six months. Therefore, it is better to prepare for each law purely as a student or in Russian - at the very last moment or even a little later. It has long been known: hurry up - you make people laugh. But in the case of the 54th law, it was not those who needed it that hastened, but not the people who laughed, but the state, and especially the cash oligarchs. By the way, some of these representatives can really be called people with a stretch.

It will be about one Internet company. We will not personify it, conditionally calling it something in a taunting manner - “Eh-stretch-soul-into-accordion-companion”, for example. This is a collective image. There are thousands of similar companies and entrepreneurs in Russia. The first half of 2017 was the same for everyone.

Online checkout and selection

So, in March, in “Eh-stretch-soul-in-accordion-companie” (ERDGK), the horse still did not roll. In April, he lay down a bit and turned on his side. In May, he still harnessed to the fullest. And with the horse and the lawyer. And he began to plow and look for the best deals on the online box office.

In the same May, Atol.Online finally entered the market with the first of its kind concrete proposal for renting a cash desk as a service. Almost immediately, ERDGK (not to be confused with Erdogan and RDGK-10 - both examples of gas pressure) stopped at Atol. But decency for the sake of studying competitors. Moreover, every competitor, whoever you take, offers were more profitable. But all was missing something.

Starrus, a cash-as-a-service solution similar to Atoll, was slightly cheaper, but became available only in July, after Law 54 was enacted. Iretail did not achieve the possibility of a bezelless device, that is, they apparently did not expect a clean online business then. Maybe now that has changed. Cashier24.Online - darling partners - were the most attractive and cheap, but they started too late. And they did not offer the same online rental box office. Just buy the bar and install yourself next to the computer. And toil with maintenance. There were still numerous intermediaries integrated all as one with Atol.

Therefore, no matter how I wanted to go to the expensive and important Atoll, but I had to. Yes, to fork out for several cash desks, although ERDGK is not such a big company, one would be quite enough in terms of turnover.

Decided, tested with grief in half and connected. July was approaching. A week before him, the Ministry of Finance encouraged everyone to postpone the execution of the sentence for persons released on parole (Already issued a contract). In ERDGK, and at the same time throughout the country, they breathed a sigh of relief and went on vacation. But that was after the first of July. And there was a day before ...

Online box office and drawbar

I must say that in April and May the company consulted with the local tax office. I asked how she should be, which of the clients and in which case should connect online cash desks, and who not. There was only one answer - according to the law, every entrepreneur is obliged to use cash registers in settlements. Here everyone has to connect. And all this in a pleasant female voice. That is, if the company owner of the marketplace works with the entrepreneur, then the cash register must be connected by both the company and the entrepreneur. How in this case to separate payments from buyers, it was not clear. That is, each double operation must go through two cash desks? Principal seller and agent company (did they work with clients under the classic agency agreement)? No one gave a clear answer to these questions in the tax, because for them the FZ-54 was also a surprise.

Around this time, alarming positive news about the course of preparation for the law skipped: “More than half of entrepreneurs have already acquired online cash registers, and for the other half they are lacking due to the lack of fiscal drives, which have already produced 2 times more, than cash registers, but it’s not clear where they went into the hands of speculators, that is, us. In this regard, the preliminary results of the transition under Law-54 can be called not only satisfactory, but also optimistic, although one third of entrepreneurs will not have time to switch to online ticket offices by July 1 and will be fined, despite the delay. ” Something like this, if seasoned with vinaigrette.

July was approaching. On June 30, ERDGK decided to clarify whether the position of the local taxation on the issue of double cash has not changed. Just in case - you never know - even the thought of a tax can be fleeting. And a miracle! A pleasant female, but now brutally sounding voice said: if ERDGK is an agent under an agent agreement, then it should accept payments for goods through its cash desk. The principal entrepreneur who sells goods through this company is absolutely not obliged to connect the cash register.

And a couple of weeks later, an explanatory letter of the Ministry of Finance just under the agency agreement reached the mere mortals . By date it was published on June 26, but appeared on the Internet only in the middle of July. According to this letter, the almost official tax position is as follows:

In a transaction made by an agent with a third party on its own behalf and at the expense of the principal, the agent acquires rights and becomes obligated, even if the principal was named in the transaction or entered into a direct relationship with the third party to execute the transaction.
Considering the above, when selling goods by the agent, KKT is applied without fail.
However, in accordance with the above clause in a transaction made by an agent with a third party on behalf of and at the expense of the principal, rights and obligations arise directly with the principal. In this case, the CCP is applied by the principal.

Why is the position “almost” official?

Because the letter is explanatory in nature and does not entail the emergence of legal norms. That the tax right there also indicates, hinting in general at absolute democracy in Russia (fantastic!):

... the sent opinion of the Department is of an informational and explanatory nature regarding the application of the legislation of the Russian Federation and does not prevent it from being guided by the norms of the law in an understanding different from the interpretation set forth in this letter.

In fact, this means that if you have a different understanding of Law-54, then the tax authorities will have to explain it in court in the event of specific disagreements. Since for employees, the tax opinion of management is more than a regulatory nature. Rather, even a servile regulatory character. And they will defend this very opinion.

All would be nothing - this is even great news for customers. After all, you don’t have to put fifty dollars on your cash desk. Yes, only ERDGK, like the state, strongly advised customers to connect their online cashier by July 1. And there were among them, including the most conscious, who went and did as the law commands. And besides, several solutions for various cash desks have already been implemented on the ERDGK Internet site - why, one wonders, is there such a turn from July 1, and only one of them is enough? I had to rush to withdraw the offer and apologize, explaining the advantages of the new option. And also change the integration option to the appropriate one.

Just think for a moment. If in one company there are so many business clients who bought an unnecessary cash register, how many are there all over the country? And why did this option become widely available and almost officially allowed right before the first of July?

Online booking offices and life uncertainty

At the same time, similar options began to appear on the network with an agency agreement from little-known, but gaining popularity on service forums . Because the desire to still get away from the expensive law-54 is understandable. And at the moment there are several indisputable options to avoid connecting online cash registers:

1. They have already said about the agency agreement (not to confuse relations with a paying agent with it - this is another story and even the law - 161). Briefly, the scheme looks like this: entrepreneur -> agency contract -> platform-agent -> cash desk -> buyer.
2. Through an invoice system using the example of the NEXTPAY service . It is widely discussed and criticized as well. The bottom line is to rid the seller of such an important element as the time of payment. That is, the seller invoices, the buyer pays it through the bank in any way, the check is not needed, because the moment of payment to the seller is not known. Soon, this scheme promises to be declared illegal.
3. Work with courier services. This is a private version of the first. Only here all types of delivery are excluded, except courier. And with the delivery service is already an agency agreement. And the moment of payment is postponed at the time of delivery.
4. And yet, the most popular, judging by the criticism of the law, is “To sink to the bottom in Bruges (Gdov, Rzhev, Mtsensk, Lensk ...)”. And the most risky. But half of the country lives just like that. Only if offline conducting shadow business is relatively simple, then online entrepreneurship with each re-sub-subsubscription of Roskomnadzor is becoming more difficult.

Now in “Eh-stretch-soul-in-accordion-companion” everything seems to be fine. Customers are still asking what the catch is and why they don’t need to connect an online cash register? They do not believe their happiness. Does not believe and ERDGK. And the option with integration into the cash register system of each client still holds in reserve. Because in December, the Ministry of Finance promised to formulate amendments to law-54. He is waiting for the ERDGK in December and is tormented by simple complex questions: who in this situation is most funny? And how much have the powers that have been welded up by sucking in unnecessary devices, expensive flash drives, FN-ok, and also speculation by law?

And the answer arises, though out of place, but, so to speak, rhetorical, not requiring further questions: “This is Russia. Business".