In orderto motivate employees for productive work, the best ones are encouraged by bonuses payments on the eve of the Christmas and New Year holidays. How to execute bonus payment, what taxes should be paid and how to reflect such transaction in accounting are in the following.
Execution
As a rule, the possibility for giving bonuses on the New Year is stipulated by the Provision on bonuses, which is an appendix to a collective agreement. But if there is no one, then in the Regulations on bonuses approved by the order of the head, or in the employment agreement (contract) with the employee, if it is concluded in writing.
On the basis of the requirements of these documents, a decision on bonus payment certain categories of employees to the holiday is made, which is executed by an order of the company head.
Taxation and Accounting
The New Year bonuses are included in the wage fund as part of other incentive and compensation payments (paras. 2.3.2 of the Guidelines on wage statistics, approved by the order of the State Statistics Committee of Ukraine dated January 13, 2004, No. 5). Therefore, taxation of such a payment should be as a salary − to calculate the unified social contribution (hereinafter − USC) and withhold the personal income tax (hereinafter − PIT) and the war tax. In addition, since the bonus is a salary, it must be included in the total taxable monthly income, which is compared to the marginal amount of income that gives the right to the employee to receive a tax social benefit.
The “holiday” bonus should be reflected as a salary payment in the tax calculation according to the form No. 1DF and in USC report.
The calculation of the bonus for the holiday must be accounted as payroll in accounting. That is to include in the expenses of the activity to which the employee was involved, and to execute it by conducting Dr of account 23, 92, 93, 94, Cr of subaccount 661.
As for the income tax, the subject to this taxation is the financial result of a company determined in accordance with Accounting Standards or IRFS and adjusted for the difference because of its increase or decrease (for those whose annual income exceeds UAH 20 million). Since the TCU does not provide for a correction for costs of employee bonus payments, the amount of the bonus and accrued USC on it will reduce the subject to the income tax.
