Any commercial enterprise wants to derive maximum profit from its activities. In market conditions, in order to maintain competitiveness and increase the influx of customers, it is necessary to improve the quality of their services or goods. Each enterprise has its own tools to achieve its goals. In our article we will talk about hotels, standardization and certification of hotel services as ways to get a higher category and widespread recognition.
General information
The hotel is categorized according to the results of certification. A large number of stars allows you to pass the international certification.
Today, the key regulatory act regulating the certification and standardization of hotels is the Order of the Ministry of Economic Development No. 197 dated 06/21/2003. Based on the results of the audit, one of the 4 categories is assigned: the highest, first, second or third. The highest category is divided into: "suite", "apartment", "studio", "king size", "luxury". The third category is indicated by one star (*), and the highest - by five (*****).
Nuances
Many hotel owners have a very logical question: "Is certification of hotels in Russia mandatory?" No, not required. Currently, there are no prescriptions for owners of accommodation facilities for citizens. It is likely that in the future at the federal level a regulatory act will be adopted, according to which mandatory certification of hotels will be carried out. Today, hotels and other places of temporary accommodation of citizens should only meet the requirements of state standards, SNiP, hygiene standards and other provisions in force in the hotel business. For this, standardization of places of temporary accommodation of citizens is carried out.
Voluntary certification of hotels is carried out under an agreement concluded with an authorized body. The hotel must submit an application and fill out a special form. After receiving these documents, the authorized body determines the certification procedure.
Hotels go through the procedure mainly for themselves. Having received a higher category, they can set a higher cost for their services. The "stardom" of a hotel indicates the level of quality of its services. The more stars, the higher the quality.
Preparatory stage
The system of certification of hotel services has existed in Russia for a long time. Over the years, it has undergone many changes. In particular, the rules and procedures have changed significantly.
Today, certification of hotel services is carried out in several stages. At the first - preparatory - the organization fills out and submits an application and application form. The questionnaire must reflect information about the structure and features of the number of rooms. This information is necessary to determine the amount of work on the classification of numbers and its cost. After the adoption of the documents, the authorized certification body draws up a draft contract, determines the procedure and activities included in it. The agreement is transferred to the hotel for approval. If the management is happy with everything, it signs a contract.
Important points
When certifying for "stardom" the hotel must provide all documents confirming compliance with sanitary-hygienic, anti-epidemiological standards, requirements for the protection of nature and fire safety.
An advance payment is made on the basis of the contract, and then a special commission is formed. Its members will check the hotel, evaluate the structure of the number of rooms, the quality of services, determine how clearly the requirements of regulations are met.
Check progress
Members of the commission use a specially designed points system. The evaluation results are recorded in the protocol.
During the hotel certification, the compliance of rooms with existing categories is checked. The results of this assessment are also recorded in the protocol.
At the end of the audit, the final act is drawn up. It is signed by all members of the commission and its chairman, as well as a hotel representative. All protocols drawn up during the inspection are attached to this act.
Certification
It is carried out at the second stage of hotel certification. What is certification?
After receiving documents on the results of the first stage, the certification body sends a copy of the final act to the DSP (Central Certification Body). This structure draws up a conclusion and passes it to the Certification Commission. Based on the results of the consideration of the document, the hotel is assigned or not assigned a new category.
When a positive decision is made by the Certification Commission, its chairman signs a certificate, which is then sent to the DSP. This document is registered in the hotel certification registry. Together with this, the applicant (hotel) shall be notified within one month from the date of the adoption of the positive decision on the delivery of the certificate. The document is issued for no more than 5 years.
If the hotel does not pass the certification, the commission sends a decision to refuse to issue a certificate explaining the reasons. The letter must also be sent within 30 days from the date of the decision.
The final stage
After successfully passing the certification, the hotel will be regularly checked. Therefore, the administration of the organization should not relax. Inspections will be carried out throughout the certificate validity period.
The duration and frequency of inspections is determined by the Certification Commission when deciding on the assignment of a category. If, during inspections, authorized officials reveal significant violations in the technology of providing services, in the hotel’s work as a whole, the certificate may be suspended or canceled. The corresponding decision is sent to the DSP for the subsequent redirection of the hotel administration.
Upon completion of the certificate, the procedure of confirming the category or assigning a new one is carried out.
Accounting Features
As mentioned above, certification is a paid procedure. The cost of the event is set by the parties in the contract. The agreement acts as the primary document on the basis of which information is entered in accounting.
In accounting, the costs of certification of a hotel are included in the costs of ordinary activities. They are accounted for in the period to which they relate. This is stated in the Order of the Ministry of Finance No. 33n of 06/06/1999.
However, it should be remembered that the certificate is provided for a certain period. Therefore, the costs of the procedure must be included in the costs throughout this period. Thus, the accountant initially reflects the cost of the account. 97 (expenses for future periods). Then, over the duration of the certificate, the specialist will reflect part of the cost of the procedure in general business expenses. This procedure is similar to the procedure for accounting for licensing costs.
Tax accounting
Certification costs are recognized as other costs of the enterprise. They reduce the income tax base. This follows from the provisions of sub. 2 p. 1 Article 264 Tax Code.
Please note that in this norm there are no reservations regarding voluntary certification. Accordingly, guided by Article 264 Tax Code, the hotel accountant may well take into account the costs of the procedure as part of other expenses. However, according to some experts, this position does not seem entirely legitimate.
According to the provisions of Article 252 of the Tax Code, expenses are recognized as justified, documented expenses incurred by the taxpayer. Reasonable costs are those that are economically justified and have a monetary value. Expenses are recognized as documented, evidence of the implementation of which is recorded by papers executed in the proper manner. In general, the costs are all costs incurred to conduct activities aimed at making a profit.
If the payer fulfills all the requirements of Art. 252 Tax Code, then he may well take into account expenses when calculating profits. As for voluntary certification, when accounting for the costs of it, all the requirements of this norm are respected. Therefore, the hotel, being a payer of income tax, is entitled to take into account the costs of the procedure for tax purposes.
If an entity applies the accrual method, certification costs should be shown in equal parts over the entire period of the certificate. This rule follows from the provisions of paragraph 1 of Art. 272 Tax Code.
At the same time, there is a completely opposite opinion on this issue. A number of experts believe that the costs of certification of an enterprise can not be allocated by periods, but the amount can be written off at a time. Specialists are referred to the above art. 272 of the Tax Code and, in particular, on sub. Paragraph 7. It says that the costs in the form of funds spent on payment of services of third-party organizations are accepted for accounting on the day:
- settlements in accordance with the terms of contracts;
- presentation to the payer of documents serving as the basis for settlements;
- the last in the reporting (tax) period.
Explanations
Voluntary certification, as mentioned above, is carried out on the basis of a hotel agreement and an authorized body. The contractor carries out a certain amount of work. Upon completion, the payer will receive documents proving and justifying his costs. The deal, accordingly, will be completed. Consequently, an enterprise may reduce the tax base for expenses incurred.
Please note that the tax inspectorate adheres to the position that certification costs are deductible in equal parts over the duration of the certificate. Therefore, if the hotel writes them off at a time, they will have to prove their innocence in court. All this applies to enterprises using the accrual method.
If the hotel uses the cash method, then expenses are taken into account at a time after their actual payment. This procedure is provided for by Art. 273 Tax Code.
VAT
Certification services are included in the list of ext. cost. Given this, the body performing the procedure provides the customer (hotel) with an invoice. The document indicates the cost of services increased by the amount of VAT.
The tax paid by the hotel for certification can be refunded on the basis of Art. 171 and 172 of the Tax Code. However, when using the right of deduction, the accountant raises a number of questions. For example, is it possible to compensate the entire amount of VAT right away or is it necessary to refund it in parts as the cost of certification is reflected? There is no definite answer to this question. Let's look at the most common points of view.
Common Accounting Method
Some experts believe that the hotel can accept VAT deductible immediately. They argue this as follows. In ch. 21 of the Tax Code there is no direct requirement to accept VAT for deduction for expenses of the coming periods exclusively at the time of writing off them to the cost price (i.e., in stages). In this case, tax legislation establishes requirements, the implementation of which allows the company to compensate for VAT:
- Purchased services are used to carry out taxable transactions.
- Services are taken into account.
- Payment for work performed.
- The payer has a document confirming the provision of services.
Upon receipt of the category:
- The certificate is used by the hotel to provide services, i.e., to carry out taxable operations.
- The authorized body rendered the service - certification.
- The hotel accepted the work performed for accounting (reflected the cost as part of the costs of the coming periods).
- The hotel received an invoice.
Accordingly, all conditions are met and the company can accept VAT deductible at a time.
Alternative option
If we talk about a different point of view, the arguments are as follows.
The hotel, which received the category, initially reflects the cost of the account. 97. According to the provisions of Article 170 of the Tax Code, the VAT shown upon the acquisition of services is not reflected in the expenses accepted for deduction when calculating the profit tax.
This means that according to Dt. 97 should take into account the amount of certification costs minus the tax on ext. cost (if there is an invoice). The VAT on the service received is reflected in Dt.acc. 19.
The write-off is made to the costs of circulation and production in equal shares over the duration of the certificate. Accordingly, tax amounts should be deductible in a similar manner.