When deciding on cooperation with a company or individual entrepreneur, the question constantly arises of the Counterparty's reliability and honesty. This applies to the situation when an individual orders a product or service, as well as the situation when a legal entity begins cooperation with a new Provider / Partner / Client.

When making a payment (prepayment) for goods or services, it must be clearly understood that the Supplier will fulfill all its obligations, deliver the goods or render the service clearly and on time.

It is important to check the Counterparty and choose reliable companies to eliminate the possible risks of the supply of low-quality goods, lack of warranty service.

For Legal Entities, verification of the Counterparty is the main action to prevent financial and tax risks. The Federal Tax Service strongly recommends checking Counterparties and exercising Due Diligence using all available open and legal sources of information. The easiest way to check the Counterparty is to obtain an extract from the register / USRIP on the tax website. To obtain more complete information, it is recommended to use the counterparty verification service HonestBusiness.

On the CHARITYBUSINESS portal, you can check for free the Counterparty of the legal entity or individual entrepreneur according to information from official open sources (Federal Tax Service, ROSSTAT, etc.)

The data on the portal is updated daily and synchronized with the nalog.ru service of the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation *.

For a free check of the Counterparty by TIN / BIN / Full name / Name, use the search line:

To do this, enter the company TIN or BIN in the search line.

If you do not have the exact details, just enter the name of the company. If the name is common and a list appears upon your request, it is advisable to clarify the request:
   . enter the name of the company + the name of the director (for example: TECHPROM IVANOV)
   . or: company name + its location (for example: TECHPROM MOSCOW)
   . or all parameters at once (for example: TECHPROM IVANOV MOSCOW)

Brief Counterparty Verification algorithm (how to determine a reliable Counterparty using HonestBusiness.RF):

1. The organization must exist, its status must be Active.
2. The company should not be in special registers of the tax service (FTS), otherwise a red inscription will appear in the card under the name of the company. For instance:
   There is no connection with the legal entity in the jur. address (according to the Federal Tax Service).
3. Companies with a business life of less than a year have increased risks (determined by the date of registration). According to statistics, every 3rd company ceases operations during the first year.
4. The company must be located at the registration address. The company should not have a mass registration address. How many companies are still registered at this address is indicated in the card under the address. Bulk addresses are often used by unscrupulous or one-day companies.
5. The activities of the company must coincide in meaning with the real activities of the company.
6. The head (director) of the company. In case you know who is the head of the company, check this data. There are times when companies are formalized as nominee leaders, i.e. persons not participating in the activity. This is one of the main signs of unscrupulous companies.
7. Check the number of employees. A company that does not have its own employees and the material and technical base may not fulfill its obligations.
8. Check for extrabudgetary funds. Without registration, for example, with the FIU, a company cannot transfer funds to the Pension Fund.
9. The authorized capital of the company. The minimum in the Russian Federation is 10,000 rubles. The more authorized capital, the less risk when working with the Counterparty.
10. It is worth paying attention also to the Financial indicators (does not apply to companies that exist for less than a year). We draw attention to the articles: “Net profit (loss)” - a loss-making company may have financial problems. The article “Fixed assets” shows the ownership of the company Property.
11. Particular attention should be paid to the data of the Arbitration Court (a separate tab in the card of a Legal Entity or an Individual Entrepreneur on the CHEST BUSINESS portal). The presence of legal cases of non-fulfillment of obligations and claims for the recovery of funds against the audited Organization, indicates the unreliability of the Counterparty.
12. Check FSSP data. The presence of enforcement proceedings indicates the forced collection of funds from the audited company.

We wish you to work with trustworthy, honest Counterparties!
  Convenient, comfortable work when checking Counterparties on the portal!
  Your HonestBusiness.RF.

* The Unified State Register of Legal Entities / USRIP data are open and are provided on the basis of clause 1 of article 6 of Federal Law dated 08.08.2001 No. 129-ФЗ “On State Registration of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs”: Information and documents contained in state registers are open and public, with the exception of information, access to which is limited, namely information on documents proving the identity of an individual. On the site CHESTOUS BUSINESS.RF, you can check the Counterparty for free and show Due Diligence. All instructions and requirements presented on the site CHESTOUS BIZNES.RF are not binding and are advisory in nature. Recommendations are given for a possible reduction in economic risks. When concluding transactions, taxpayers must first of all take into account the provisions of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. By virtue of the principle of freedom of economic activity, the taxpayer carries out entrepreneurial activities independently at his own risk. The administration of the site EXCHANGEBUSINESS.RF is not responsible for possible economic losses / cases of lost income and does not give any guarantees or assurances to third parties.

Before making a transaction, the company checks the business partner. You can check the counterparty for free by TIN or name on the tax website, as well as other government agencies. But often, lawyers use a single company verification service, this saves time.

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Why check the counterparty

Before entering into a transaction, the company's lawyers conduct due diligence in relation to the future business partner. They ask for constituent documents and confirmation of the representatives' powers, find out whether the company is involved in arbitration disputes, whether it is under the threat of bankruptcy, etc. This allows you to make sure that you are concluding an agreement with an existing legal entity that can fulfill the obligations of the transaction.

It is dangerous to deal with a dubious partner: a company can lose money, it is rarely possible to return it through a court. And if the counterparty turns out to be a one-day company, the Federal Tax Service will not accept VAT deduction and will charge income taxes to the company. The company should exercise caution in choosing business partners and confirm this with evidence (Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated October 12, 2006 No. 53).

Due diligence information can be obtained in various ways. In particular, there are sites where any company can be checked for free online. The services of government agencies allow you to check the counterparty for free and make sure of its reliability.

Before checking a legal entity for free online, the company's lawyers must prepare a list of business partners, information about which they will find out. First of all, the list should include contractors and service providers. Contracts with them attract increased attention of the IFTS: unscrupulous taxpayers often draw up fictitious expenses under a contract for services or services. Reliability of the company will be confirmed by contracts with partners who have a positive reputation.

The choice of services, the progress and results of monitoring are documented. For example, information from the USRLE on a legal entity can be obtained in the form of a pdf file with an electronic tax signature. Documents will be needed as evidence that the company conducted the audit and exercise due diligence.

Urgent message for a lawyer! The police came to the office

How to check a counterparty for free online

On the tax website and the websites of other government agencies, you can check the counterparty for free. For example, on the website of the Federal Tax Service of Russia nalog.ru there is a section “Business risks: check yourself and the counterparty”. In this section you will find out:

• whether the company is active;
• whether the company is being reorganized or liquidated;
• does the legal entity make changes to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, including the constituent documents;
• whether there are any disqualified directors in the executive body of a legal entity;
• is the legal address not included in the list of mass addresses?
• does the legal entity have tax debts, etc.

Website kad.arbitr.ru allows you to find out in which arbitration disputes the company is involved. On fedresurs.ru you will see if the future business partner is under bankruptcy proceedings. Using the site fssprus.ru you can find out whether enforcement proceedings are being conducted against the company or not. There are other resources designed to check a counterparty for free online.

How to save time when checking a counterparty

The lawyer of the company will spend time working with Internet resources. You will need to understand the navigation on each site, what information where to find out. Documentary confirmation of the monitoring results will also take time. To get the latest data, you have to visit at least ten different sites. Moreover, information on the counterparty on any resource may change, but in order to find out, the lawyer will have to spend time checking the data. In order for each business partner to check for free by TIN on different sites, it will take a lot of time.

There are paid online company monitoring services that save lawyer time and effort. Instead of independently studying the sites of government agencies, you can use the services of such a service. The necessary data from different sites will be collected in a single file with all the appropriate details and authentication.

Unified Counterparty Verification Service

Among the paid resources can be distinguished. The service combines the data of 17 specialized resources in a single certificate of a future business partner. The monitoring results include relevant information from the website of the Federal Tax Service of Russia, from the website of the bailiff service, other websites of government organizations and from various registries. The use of the service reduces time and effort: to receive the service it takes only 1 click.

The service operates on a paid basis, but provides the function "Check the counterparty for free for 24 hours." To test the benefits of the service, you can use this function and check for free the necessary company by TIN. If the company has many business partners, it is rational to connect ongoing services.

Using a single service you will receive an electronic dossier on the counterparty

Forms for the user an electronic dossier on a business partner that contains:

• company information based on a request from 17 sources,
• information about the finances, balance sheet and current assets of the company,
• electronic extracts from registers officially certified by the Federal Tax Service,
• information about planned and unscheduled inspections of the company, including violations identified,
• data on licenses and state contracts of the company.

In addition to the electronic dossier on the counterparty, the service provides an arbitration card for this company. The arbitration card records which arbitration processes your business partner conducts and whether enforcement proceedings are instituted against him. The arbitration card includes a summary of the instances and types of cases of the company, who it acts in the process: the plaintiff, the defendant, or a third party, which applications and petitions it submitted. The arbitration card also includes a review of bankruptcy or liquidation proceedings against the company of the legal entity. The arbitration card is integrated with the file of arbitration cases.

The user promptly receives information about changes in the constituent documents of a business partner, including data on the reasons for the changes. The service provides an assessment of the possible risks and reliability of the counterparty. In addition, the service offers a card of checks and licenses of the company. The card indicates which licenses are valid and up to what date. The card also contains information about company inspections, inspection bodies, goals and results. There is information about violations of the company, if they were.

Using the service will help the company’s lawyer obtain reliable information from official sources and at the same time reduce the time and effort required due diligence.

Legislation does not oblige them to carry out verification of counterparties, they are rejected by the courts, since with ... obligations. Failure to take measures to verify the counterparty, documents on his behalf, is ... evaluate the measures taken by the taxpayer when checking the counterparty at the stage of his selection. It’s important ... they are inclined to believe that checking only the legal capacity of the counterparty does not indicate that ... it will be easier to independently verify the reliability of the potential counterparty. Important! In addition to tax ...

Definitions and step-by-step instructions for checking the counterparty ... It seems that they are right, but ... provided the Rules for the selection of counterparties and the Questionnaire for checking the counterparty according to the official websites ... in the tax authority; verification of the fact of entering information about the counterparty in the register; receipt ... then the commission waved the handle to the counterparty. If the verification confirmed an impeccable present and ... life hacks can be provided for an impeccable verification of contractors? Agreement approval sheet. In the document ...

The lion's share of failures in deduction of “input” VAT and recognition of transaction costs is accounted for by unscrupulous counterparties (TC). Inadequate verification of a future business partner, especially in a major transaction, can threaten not only the risk of default on obligations under the contract, but also claims of regulatory authorities on declared deductions and expenses on profit. You can protect yourself by carefully checking your partner in all possible ways. At the moment there are more than 17.

Almost every company at least once in their life was faced with a denial of deduction of value added tax and recognition of expenses on profits due to an unscrupulous counterparty. Transactions with such persons by tax authorities are considered doubtful, expenses are unconfirmed and inflated, and tax benefits are unreasonable. A partner who at the conclusion of the transaction seemed reliable and quite real subsequently recognized by the tax authorities as a “one-day” or “transit company”. This raises the reasonable question of how to check the counterparty before an important transaction and prove to the tax authority that they exercise due diligence and caution. There are several methods that can be divided into 5 groups:

• Electronic verification services (FTS, FAS, FMS FSSP, RNP, etc.);
• Requests to government bodies (tax inspectorates);
• Providing a package of documents from a transaction partner;
• Personal meeting with the counterparty (his representative)
• Survey of companies and individual entrepreneurs who collaborated with this supplier / contractor / contractor / seller;
• Studying the company’s website / IP and reviews about it on the Internet

How to threaten the organization cooperation with an unverified partner

• Material losses, disrupted transactions, tarnished reputation
• Refusal of deduction (reduction) of VAT;
• Additional charge of value added tax;
• Refusal to recognize reasonable expenses for tax purposes and reduction of the tax base for the disputed person;
• Extra charge of income tax (NP);
• Tax liability for non-payment of VAT, NP;
• Accrual of penalties, fines
• Purpose of an on-site tax audit (GNP)

Interaction with a dubious company (entrepreneur) may become the basis for the appointment of GNP. Clause 12 of the Concept for conducting on-site inspections has been granted this right to regulatory authorities:

This paragraph involves the application of tax evasion schemes, tax minimization. The use of one-day firms is one such scheme. It consists in reducing the tax burden on VAT and profits, illegal reimbursement of value added tax from the budget, unreasonable recognition of expenses on profits. Therefore, interaction with unverified companies (IP) recognized by tax authorities as unscrupulous, “one-day”, threatens the taxpayer with a field audit. The main document that guides the regulatory authorities in this situation is the Resolution of the FAS Plenum No. 53. It defines the main criteria for a person to exercise due diligence and caution (DOIO).

It is worth noting that at the moment there is no clear list of actions whose fulfillment will be an unambiguous confirmation of the manifestation of DPI. Even with all of the verification methods listed below, the tax authority may recognize the counterparty as unfair and the tax benefit unfounded.

The reason is that at the moment taxpayers do not have the rights that are granted to state bodies, in particular: conducting interrogations of heads and founders of disputed contractors, inquiries to banks and inspections at the place of registration, requesting documents and much more. But using all possible methods of checking a trading partner is more likely to protect against the risk of adverse effects.

Electronic resources for checking the counterparty

Using the websites of official government agencies, you can get basic information about a future business partner, find out whether a legal entity is in bankruptcy, make changes to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, whether or not the company’s top officials are disqualified, verify the validity of the main data of legal entities and much more.

Website of the Federal Tax Service

It should be noted that the disqualified person does not have the right to sign documents on behalf of the company, so it is advisable to use this search when making large transactions.

If the counterparty is absent at the registration address, this is very often another sign of the bad faith of the taxpayer, which the tax authorities refer to during the audit.

You can find out if the organization is a plaintiff or a defendant by contacting a file of arbitration cases.

When checking information using Internet resources, it is necessary to save screenshots of checks to confirm the fact of DPI at the appearance of claims from the tax authorities.

Obtaining a register

One of the main ways to check the legal capacity of an organization before concluding contracts is to obtain an extract from the state registry. The performance of this action, even in the absence of other evidence, may serve as a basis for confirming the manifestation of DPI at the choice of a business partner. There are two ways to get an extract from the register:

• Through the tax authority;
• By electronic request on the website of the Federal Tax Service

To receive an extract in paper form, you must pay for the services of its presentation in the amount of:

• 200 rub. - the deadline for receipt is five days from the moment the tax authority receives the request;
• 400 rub. - urgent extract, the deadline for receipt of which is 1 day.

It is also necessary to make a request for the submission of this statement. It is compiled in any form. It must contain the name, TIN, PSRN of your organization and counterparty, the postal (electronic) address and telephone number of the applicant.

To receive an electronic statement, you must have a personal taxpayer account or be registered on the website of the Federal Tax Service.

An extract in electronic form is provided free of charge, has an electronic digital signature and is equivalent to a paper one.

Obtaining a package of documents from a future partner

A sign of good faith and caution when choosing a business partner will be the fact of a request from the last package of necessary documents, including:

• Charter;
• Certificate of state registration;
• Certificate of registration with the tax authority;
• Decision on the election (appointment) of the head of the legal entity;
• License or certificate of admission to certain types of work (SRO)

You can check the license on the corresponding type of work site. The validity of the data of the SRO certificate is on the website of the self-regulatory organization, as well as by requesting an extract from the register of SRO members.

It should be noted that these documents must be valid not only at the time of conclusion of contracts, but also at the date of recognition of expenses.

• Documents confirming the authority of persons entitled to act without a power of attorney.

Such documents are: a copy of the passport of such a person, a copy of the order for employment, a copy of the minutes of the general meeting of the founders, a copy of a bank card, a power of attorney, if that person is not the head of the organization.

Copies must be certified by the seal and signature of the person concerned.

It is also advisable to verify the signatures in the passport and bank card.

You can verify the authenticity of an identity document on the FMS website.

You can also request from the organization additionally:

• Information on the status of settlements with the budget;
• Letters of recommendation from companies cooperating with this legal entity;
• Help on the cost and quantity of fixed assets;
• On the availability of labor resources;
• Balance sheets and reports on financial results
• Business partner site and reviews about it
• It is also worthwhile to carefully study the company's website, if it shows the TIN and certificate numbers, compare them with documents received on purpose. It is also necessary to carefully check the reviews about the organization on the Internet.

Personal meeting with the CEO

Before concluding a transaction, a major contract, it is better to meet with the director or manager in person. Very often, transactions carried out "in absentia" and by mail, cause doubts among tax authorities and, as a rule, justified.

In conclusion, it should be noted that all of the above checks of the counterparty, even in aggregate, can not serve as a 100% confirmation that the organization will be a bona fide taxpayer, but they will help confirm the fact of the manifestation of the DPI when choosing a party to the contract. As a rule, even if the tax authorities refuse to deduct and recognize the costs of the disputed legal entity, the courts side with the bona fide taxpayer if they have documents confirming the manifestation of DPI.

You can also familiarize yourself with these and other ways of checking legal entities in the following video:

Summing up the above, we briefly reflect the ways of checking the future partner for reliability:

• Through Internet resources (the website of the Federal Tax Service, the Federal Migration Service, the Federal Antimonopoly Service, the Federal Social Insurance Service, the Registers of Unscrupulous Suppliers and information on the facts of the activities of the legal entity);
• Request for a package of documents;
• Obtaining an extract from the state registry;
• Checking the company's website and reviews;
• Personal meeting with the head of the organization

Do you want to verify the integrity of a potential client or partner and protect yourself from problems? Use the KUB service for free online verification of the counterparty’s reliability by TIN, PSRN or company name.

Who needs and when does a contractor check for a TIN or PSR online?

It is necessary to check counterparties for trustworthiness before concluding an agreement and starting cooperation with each new client or business partner. This will avoid a number of risks, which include:

Loss of profit due to non-fulfillment by the one-day counterparty of the obligations assumed (delivery of goods, provision of services, payment for goods / services, etc.).

Claims by the tax due to the inability to justify the costs that are taken into account when taxing profits and VAT.

Claims by the tax due to the inability to justify the tax benefit received for VAT refunds.

Loss of reputation due to work with an unscrupulous organization, etc.

A comprehensive check of the counterparty before concluding an agreement with him will not only reduce the risks when working with him, but will also become an argument in your favor in the event of tax litigation, as it will confirm your discretion when choosing business partners and clients.

What is included in counterparty verification?

The online counterparty verification service will allow you to check a client or partner for free and without registration using the following sources:

The base of the Federal Tax Service (Federal Tax Service) - gives you the opportunity to get brief information from the register, information on making changes to the data on the company contained in the register, data on the planned liquidation, reorganization, exclusion of the company from the register, reduction of the share capital. The source also provides information on the entry of the head or founders of the counterparty into the register of persons who refused to lead the organization.

The register of mass managers and mass founders - allows you to find out about the presence in the leadership of the organization of persons who are headed by several legal entities.

To the register of mass registration addresses - provides data on the registration of the company at the places of mass registration and on the possibility of contacting the counterparty's representatives at the address indicated in their registration data.

The register of financial statements of Rosstat - allows you to familiarize yourself with the counterparty’s annual financial statements, which is open under clause 89 of the Regulation on Accounting and Financial Reporting in the Russian Federation, approved by order of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation No. 34n dated July 29, 1998.

The register of state contracts of the Treasury of Russia - gives you the opportunity to find out which state contracts, following the results of placing orders, have been and are being executed by the company.

Register of unscrupulous suppliers - allows you to find out if the counterparty is a contractor, supplier, executor of government orders, contracts with which were terminated by a court decision or due to significant violations of the terms of cooperation.

Arbitration file cabinet - allows you to find out if the counterparty participated in the arbitration cases, in what capacity, and also how each case ended.

The FSPP (Federal Service of Court Bailiffs) database gives you the opportunity to find out whether enforcement proceedings are open against the company and whether it has debts to the FSPP.

The register of disqualified persons - allows you to find out about the presence of disqualified persons in the executive bodies of the counterparty.

Organizational measures to protect against unscrupulous counterparties

To protect against cooperation with unscrupulous organizations, it is recommended to develop an internal regulatory act that will regulate the procedures for pre-contractual work with new business partners and customers. The document shall indicate:

goals and principles of pre-contractual work with potential contractors;

the procedure for interaction between managers, security and procurement services, lawyers and other company officials who are in contact with potential contractors;

a list of documents that are mandatory requested from a new counterparty;

list of procedures that are carried out before starting cooperation with the counterparty in order to verify it, etc.

To check each new counterparty for reliability, tax risks, debts, solvency, financial stability and other parameters, separate orders are issued.

Do not neglect the possibility of online verification of each new partner or customer and receiving all possible open data about him. It is necessary to completely abandon the conclusion of contracts “retroactively”. For additional protection against financial risks that arise when working with unscrupulous contractors, you can conclude insurance contracts for equipment, cargo, civil liability, business interruptions, etc.

Who else can check with our service?