Retail trade in alcohol: changes to the Unified State Automated Information System in 2021

The production and circulation of alcoholic and alcohol-containing products is regulated by Federal Law No. 171-FZ. Other regulatory legal acts are listed on the FSRAR website.

In January-September 2021, Rosalkogolregulirovanie conducted 3,882 inspections and found violations in 77.67% of cases.

Kontur.Market is a comprehensive solution for alcohol retailers. Acceptance of invoices and transmission of data on the acceptance and purchase of alcohol. Online accounting of goods. Cash desk according to 54-FZ.

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Regulation of the alcohol market

The sale of alcoholic beverages is a very profitable sector of the economy, which can bring considerable income to the state treasury. Replenishing the budget and combating counterfeiting are the main reasons for introducing a new system of control over the production and circulation of alcoholic beverages. 2021 is the year when EGAIS was introduced in Russia, the most high-profile innovation in the field of retail sales. Since the entry into force of Federal Law No. 182-FZ “On Amendments to Federal Law No. 171-FZ”, all enterprises engaged in the production, retail and wholesale trade of alcoholic products are required to connect to a special system and send data on alcohol turnover to the Federal Service Rosalkogolregulirovaniya (RAR).

How to get a license

Rosalkogolregulirovanie controls the alcohol market, but different departments are responsible for issuing licenses for retail sales in the regions. For example, the Department of Trade and Services (Moscow), the Department of Consumer Affairs and Alcohol Market Regulation (Krasnodar), the Ministry of Agriculture (Chelyabinsk).

To purchase a license, you must pay a state fee of 65,000 rubles. The validity period of the license can be from one year to up to five years. Thus, the cost of a license for five years will be 325,000 rubles.

What is EGAIS and why is it needed?

Federal Law 171 specifies how EGAIS stands for Unified State Automated Information System. This is a resource through which supervisory authorities track the path of each unit of alcohol from the moment of production or import into Russia to sale to the buyer at a retail outlet. If a bottle of counterfeit alcohol reaches a wholesaler or retailer, then the data about it will simply not be in the system, and its sale will be blocked at the checkout. To do this, the outlet will be equipped with a special electronic cash register with the appropriate software, and the manufacturer is obliged to mark each bottle with a special chip with a QR code.

In various regulations it has been repeatedly noted whether Rosalkogolregulirovanie checks sales through the OFD - yes, the agency controls the circulation of alcohol through the Unified State Automated Information System. The country's leadership explains the need for this service by the fact that in recent years the volume of counterfeit alcohol products has increased significantly and cases of poisoning with low-quality alcohol have become more frequent, even among non-marginal segments of the population.

Possible penalties

Article 171.3 provides for the following types of punishment for those found guilty:

1. Fine from two to three million rubles;
2. Forced labor for up to 3 years;
3. Imprisonment for the same period with deprivation of the opportunity to engage in certain work after release.

If the illegal production or trafficking of alcoholic beverages was carried out by an organized group or on a particularly large scale (more than 1 million rubles), then the punishment is imposed under Part 2 of Article 171.3. The minimum penalty for the second part is a fine of 3 million, and the maximum is five years in prison.

For those who have already been brought to administrative responsibility for similar actions, Article 171.4 provides for the following types of penalties:

1. Fine up to 80 thousand rubles;
2. Correctional work for up to a year.

How EGAIS works in retail

All retail stores in Russia must transmit information to a unified system about purchases of any alcohol, even if we are talking about beer, beer drinks, cider, poire or mead. The requirement for a retail sales report also came into force: every unit of goods must pass through a state resource.

So, working with a single system consists of two stages: purchase and sale. We will provide instructions on how to work with the EGAIS alcohol system at each stage.

Ordering alcohol from a supplier

If you are the owner of a retail store that sells alcohol, then working with the accounting system for you will begin with delivery. In accordance with current legislation, the work of a retail outlet (or catering service) when ordering any alcohol is structured as follows.

1. Having received your order for a batch of alcohol, the supplier ships the required quantity of goods and issues an invoice, the electronic version of which is sent to the unified accounting system, and the printed version is sent to the forwarder.
2. After receiving the goods, you must check the quantity with both the paper and electronic invoices. If all the data agrees, then it is necessary to note the information about supplies in your EGAIS personal account and confirm the fact of purchase. After this, the system will display information about how much alcohol the store purchased. It is not necessary to scan bottles.
3. If the number of bottles in the invoice and in the batch differ, then it is necessary to generate a statement of discrepancies and send it to EGAIS. It is necessary that the supplier signs it - then the changes will be reflected in the system, and the seller will not have problems due to the difference in purchased and sold alcohol.

Here's how to see purchases and alcohol accounting in your EGAIS personal account - log into your personal account from the main page of the portal and go to the purchases section. This scheme of work is mandatory for the purchase of all types of alcoholic beverages: both strong and low alcohol. And for all types of business: retail and catering.

IMPORTANT!

From January 1, 2021, an application for recording in EGAIS the acceptance, refusal or acceptance with a discrepancy of products during the supply or internal movement of alcoholic products is submitted to the system during the working day on which the acceptance, refusal or acceptance with a discrepancy was carried out (Information of Rosalkogolregulirovanie dated 02/18/2021 “On the deadlines for submitting applications to EGAIS”). The procedure is accompanied by the preparation of accompanying and primary accounting documents (Article 10.2 171-FZ, 402-FZ). If there is no access to the Unified State Automated Information System in the locality, submit an application within 3 working days from the date of acceptance, refusal or acceptance with a discrepancy with the mandatory execution of accompanying and primary accounting documents.

If tender purchases include the supply of alcoholic beverages for UTL, this means that the customer is purchasing alcohol in order to fulfill state and municipal needs within the framework of the state order - for educational and technical laboratories.

Sale of strong alcohol

Today, the sale of alcohol is allowed only through a unified state automated system, even in settlements with a population of less than 3,000 people.

So, the work of a retail outlet when selling alcohol is structured as follows:

1. The cashier reads a standard linear barcode from the bottle, after which the cash register program offers to scan an “alcoholic” two-dimensional barcode (PDF-417).
2. The cashier reads the “alcohol” barcode using a special 2D scanner. The system determines the authenticity of the bottle and includes this item in the receipt.
3. The cashier gives the buyer a regular receipt and a receipt with a QR code, using which he finds out all the information about the bottle and verifies its authenticity.
4. Next, the purchase data is sent to a special program - UTM EGAIS. UTM stands for “universal transport module” and is software for working with the service.
5. The last stage is sending sales data to Rosalkogolregulirovanie (RAR). To do this, the seller connects a special USB device to the computer - JaCarta, on which an electronic signature is recorded that allows this procedure to be completed.

And here are the rules for how low-alcohol drinks are carried out in EGAIS, 2021:

• goods from the supplier are received at register No. 1;
• alcoholic products are moved to register No. 2 for sale;
• sales volume is reflected in the accounting journal;
• at the end of the work shift, a write-off report is drawn up and posted to the Unified State Automated Information System;
• the responsible employee checks the balances.

How to connect a store to EGAIS

The connection takes place via the Internet, so you do not need to visit any official authorities. But, before registering and creating a personal account, you need to purchase special equipment and fulfill a number of technical requirements.

So what will a retail store need to connect to the system?

• a computer with Internet access at a speed of 256 kbit/s or higher;
• JaCarta crypto key, which can be purchased from any company licensed by the FSB;
• UTM (Universal Transport Module). This is an application that allows you to send data to the Rosalkogolregulirovaniye server. It is downloaded to your computer from the website egais.ru;
• goods accounting program (supports data exchange with UTM);
• CEP (qualified electronic signature);
• cash program compatible with EGAIS;
• 2-D scanner for reading “alcohol” barcodes;
• fiscal recorder with QR code printing function.

The equipment necessary to work in an automated system costs a lot of money, which is recognized in the PAP itself. Thus, assistant to the head of the RAR Ekaterina Priezhikh said that one set of such equipment will cost a retail outlet in the amount of 40,000 to 150,000 rubles.

Sale of alcohol at outdoor events

In accordance with the requirements of Federal Law No. 171-FZ, retail alcohol sales require an appropriate license. If alcohol is purchased for off-site service, its sale is possible only if the organization has a license for the retail sale of alcoholic products. In this case, the sale must be carried out on the territory of the subject in which the license was issued.

Such events do not require special permission, but there are certain requirements.

According to Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated April 19, 2018 No. 473, within three days before holding an event in the conditions of on-site catering, the catering organization is obliged to notify the licensing authority, indicating the date of the event and the address at which it will take place. Typically, the notification is submitted in the form of an electronic document confirmed by an enhanced qualified electronic signature.

If the conditions of the event change (for example, the date is postponed) or the sale of alcoholic beverages in the conditions of on-site service is canceled, it is necessary to submit a corresponding notification to the licensing authority. This must be done no later than one business day before the scheduled date. The notification must contain updated information (date, time and location) or information about the cancellation of the sale of alcoholic beverages at the designated event.

A license is not required to sell beer, cider, mead and other low-alcohol drinks (no higher than six degrees).

Alcohol sold as part of catering must be recorded in the EGAIS system. The organization must have a signed and correctly executed catering agreement.

Unified state automated information system and online cash registers

According to Federal Law No. 54-FZ “On the use of cash register equipment when making cash payments and (or) payments using electronic means of payment,” all alcohol sellers must switch to online cash registers. The main requirement for new cash registers is the ability to transmit electronic copies of checks to the tax office via the Internet.

At the same time, the sale of alcohol is directly regulated by 171-FZ. Both documents are independent of each other and must be completed simultaneously: if you follow the requirements of 54-FZ, but do not transfer data to the Unified State Automated Information System, you will be fined by the RAR. And vice versa, if you comply with the requirements of the RAR, but do not comply with 54-FZ, you cannot avoid a fine from the tax office. If you have not reported to the Unified State Information System on ethanol, you are required to publish sanctions - violations may result in administrative liability and fines. The penalty amounts are as follows:

• for officials - from 10,000 to 15,000 rubles;
• for an organization - from 150,000 to 200,000 rubles.

Thus, alcohol sellers are now controlled by two independent bodies. This means that you should work with alcohol according to the following scheme.

If you sell strong alcohol

1. Report to EGAIS for acceptance and sales.
2. Send the check to the OFD.
3. You issue the buyer a receipt with two QR codes, which the buyer uses to check the authenticity of the alcohol and the tax report to the Federal Tax Service.

If you sell beer, cider or mead

1. You report to RAR only for acceptance.
2. Send the check to the OFD.
3. You issue the buyer a check with one QR code for verification by the Federal Tax Service.

Administrative responsibility

The Code of Administrative Offenses contains several articles related to illegal activities in relation to alcoholic products.

Did you know

Drinking alcoholic beverages in public places is considered an administrative offense and faces a fine of 500 to 1,500 rubles.

So part 2 of article 14.16 of the Code of Administrative Offenses for the circulation of alcoholic products (except for retail trade) without the appropriate documents, which, according to the law, can confirm the legality of the production of these products. The sanction of the article for these violations provides for a fine:

1. For officials – from 10 to 15 thousand rubles;
2. For organizations – from 200 to 300 thousand.

Additionally, punishment is applied in the form of special confiscation - all alcoholic products without the appropriate documents are confiscated.

Article 14.17 of the Code of Administrative Offenses provides for liability for legal entities for the illegal circulation of alcohol, as well as its production without a license. The fine that the organization may face is from 200 to 300 thousand rubles with confiscation of alcoholic products and raw materials.

Under Article 14.18, persons who use ethyl alcohol produced from non-food raw materials to produce alcoholic beverages can be punished. The sanction is the same as under Part 2 of Article 14.16.

Where to get an online cash register with EGAIS support

If your cash register already meets the PAP requirements, then there is no need to purchase a new one. It is only necessary to modernize the existing cash register so that it can transmit checks to the tax office via the Internet. To do this you need:

• deregister the cash register;
• buy a modernization kit and update the software;
• register the cash register with the Federal Tax Service. To do this, you need a new electronic signature (a signature for EGAIS cannot be used).

It should be noted that not all cash registers that support a unified state automated system are subject to upgrading to an online cash register. For detailed information about this, contact your CCP manufacturer.

How to work taking into account the changes of 2021

An explanation has been issued by the RAR on the sign of transfer of ownership to the Unified State Automated Information System in accordance with the new requirements from Order No. 397 dated December 17, 2020. From 04/01/2021, it is necessary to send to EGAIS information about the reloading of goods during delivery (including return), internal movement of products and filling out the field “13. Sign of transfer of ownership."

Market participants must submit applications for recording in the Unified State Automated Information System information about the reloading of goods during delivery (including return), internal movement of ethyl alcohol, alcoholic and alcohol-containing products. But since many participants in the alcohol market do not have the technical ability to comply with the new requirements, Rosalkogolregulirovanie announced that their failure to comply - failure to submit an application and failure to fill out field 13 - is not a violation until 06/01/2021. Before this date, all participants in the alcohol market have the right to submit applications for recording information in the Unified State Automated Information System in accordance with the electronic forms posted in UTM in an electronic format supported by their accounting system and the accounting system of the counterparty. During the transition period, the transition to version UTM 4.2.0 should be ensured to meet the new requirements.

In 2021, the procedure for registering products is changing significantly - piece registration is being gradually introduced with the mandatory indication of the excise stamp of each bottle. Main stages of transition:

1. From January 15, 2021, it is prohibited to list old brands on the trading floor.
2. From 02/01/2021, RAR rejects all invoices for which there is no response for more than 60 days. The balance of these invoices is returned to the balance of the sender. Suppliers correct all declarations submitted prior to the quarter in which the invoice was sent.
3. From 02/01/2021, a deadline has been set for canceling write-off acts. Now it is 7 days. From February 1, it is impossible to cancel old acts of writing off balances from register No. 1.
4. From 03/01/2021, labeled alcohol with a positive or zero balance on register No. 2 cannot be moved into the hall.
5. From 04/01/2021, it is completely prohibited to move labeled alcohol into the sales area. To write off, you must contact the territorial office of the RAR.

Responsibility for violations

The fines provided for in the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation for violations in the trade of alcoholic products are more significant than just fines for violations of trade rules. A legal entity will pay up to 200,000 rubles even for one bottle of counterfeit alcohol. In addition, the sanctions provide for the confiscation of counterfeit goods and the equipment on which they were produced.

As for online cash registers, the fine for not using cash registers is calculated on the amount that did not go through the cash register: legal entities will have to pay 75–100% of the amount, but not less than 30,000 rubles, and individual entrepreneurs - 25–50% of the amount, but not less than 10,000 rubles. That is, the larger the amount that did not go through the cash register, the larger the fine.

Criminal liability

The Criminal Code contains two articles concerning illegal trafficking in alcohol. The first of them is Article 171.3. In accordance with it, the following actions in relation to alcoholic products carried out without the necessary license are subject to punishment:

• Manufacturing;
• Procurement (including import);
• Storage;
• Supply (including export);
• Move;
• Retail.

For the objective side of this crime, it is also necessary that the cost of alcoholic beverages exceeds 100 thousand rubles. If the size of the products sold or produced is smaller, then liability arises under administrative law.

Article 171.4 provides for liability for retail sale of alcoholic products committed by a person who already has an administrative penalty for a similar act, that is, less than 1 year has passed since the decision was made to impose an administrative penalty on him.

The statutory fine for selling alcohol to minors is:

• for individuals - from thirty to fifty thousand rubles;
• for officials - from one hundred to two hundred thousand;
• for organizations - from three hundred to five hundred thousand.

In addition, repeated violations may result in criminal liability.

You can read more in the article here.

Under Article 171.4, the following may be prosecuted for the illegal sale of alcoholic beverages:

1. Individuals selling alcohol (including their own production);
2. Entrepreneurs selling alcohol without forming a legal entity and without a license in cases where one is necessary.

Overview of software for EGAIS

Programs for integration with EGAIS are available from many accounting software developers. There is plenty to choose from, both in terms of prices and functionality. Everyone has individual limitations and characteristics.

For retail

Two convenient programs - Contour. Market and "EGAIS Assistant" from Infostart.

Circuit. Market is a simple cloud solution for exchanging data with EGAIS for alcohol retailers. The functionality for working with online cash registers is also included there.

The EGAIS Assistant is a convenient interface for working with the Universal Transport Module. The program automates the processes of accounting for alcoholic beverages, verifies data both within the organization and when working with suppliers. It also offers a free demo version for 1 month and remote assistance in setting up (key integration, setting up a personal account, installing UTM). The cost of the product is from 5,000 rubles.

For wholesalers, manufacturers and importers

The program “Exchange with EGAIS from 1C” will help with wholesale - a visual interface for working with UTM and automatic data exchange with EGAIS from 1C. It is capable of downloading data on counterparties, product manufacturers, comparing data and entering it into the database, downloading (TTN) and certificates from suppliers, including sending acts on them, uploading TTN to buyers and requesting balances. Cost - from 12,000 rubles.

Responsibility for moonshine

Despite the severity of measures taken by the state to combat low-quality alcoholic products, brewing moonshine for personal use is not limited by law.

Note! A bottle of moonshine, brewed at home, but exclusively for one’s own consumption, cannot become the basis for bringing a person to criminal or administrative liability.

But if such a product is sold, the “moonshiners” will have to answer for one of the articles discussed above, depending on the situation, as well as for illegal business activities.