Reduction of sanctions for non-payment of taxes and insurance premiums

LEGAL DIGEST, NEWS \ 04.04.2023

Amendments have been made to the Criminal and Criminal Procedure Codes, which mitigate the liability of companies for non-payment of tax and insurance premiums on an especially large scale.

According to the amendments, starting from March 29, 2023, the following terms of imprisonment have been established in the criminal and criminal procedure codes for crimes committed in the tax sphere on an especially large scale:

• 5 years (previously, 6 years) – for evasion of taxes, fees and insurance premiums payable by the organization and for failure to fulfil the duties of a tax agent. Especially large, in this case, is considered to be the arrears of more than 45,000,000 rubles for 3 consecutive years;
• 5 years (previously, 7 years) – for concealment of funds or property of the organization, at the expense of which arrears on taxes, fees and insurance premiums in a large amount (more than 9,000,000 rubles) should be collected;
• 3 years (previously, 4 years) – for evading payment of insurance premiums from industrial accidents and occupational diseases, as well as for failure to provide a calculation for the payment of the corresponding contributions or for including false information in such a calculation (an especially large arrears is considered to be of more than 30,000,000 rubles for 3 years).

In addition, a new ground was added to the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation for refusing to initiate or terminate a criminal case – payment in full of arrears and corresponding penalties, the amount of fines.

Along with the mitigation of terms of sentences in the form of imprisonment, the qualification of crimes in this area was also changed. Previously, such violations were classified as extremely serious crimes, and now they are crimes of average gravity. In this regard, the limitation periods on such acts has also been reduced. After the expiration of the limitation period, the organization cannot be brought to criminal responsibility.

Please be reminded that for non-payment of mandatory payments to the budget of the Russian Federation, administrative liability is provided in the form of imposing a fine, performing compulsory labour or excluding the right to engage in a particular activity for a certain period.

However, if the crime was committed by a group of persons by prior agreement or on an especially large scale, then in addition to administrative one, the company may face criminal liability.

In the matters of the application of the legislation in the field of taxes and fees, please contact Acsour experts.