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PUBLICATIONS \ 02.08.2021

“Forewarned is forearmed!” says the well-known proverb. Knowing the reasons for the inspectorate to block an account can help prevent such a situation from occurring. Anna Astafieva, Acsour’s Senior Accountant, spoke about the grounds for blocking an account and the terms on which the company will regain the right to dispose of its funds for “Raschet” magazine.

TAX DELAY

According to paragraph 3 of clause 1 of article 72 of the Tax Code, the suspension of transactions on a bank account and electronic money transfers is one of the methods to ensure the fulfilment of obligations to pay taxes, levies, insurance premiums, as well as penalties and fines. A decision to suspend the company’s operations may be made not earlier than the Decision to collect tax from funds in bank accounts owing to the failure to fulfil a Requirement for the voluntary payment of debt in due time (paragraph 2, clause 2, article 76 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Please note that not all activities on an account are suspended, but only some debit transactions. The suspension of operations on the account does not apply to payments of which the order of priority for execution precedes the fulfilment of the obligation to pay taxes in accordance with civil legislation (clause 1, article 76 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Based on clause 2 of article 855 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation these include:

• payments under executive documents providing for the transfer or issuing of funds to meet claims for the compensation of damage caused to life or health, as well as claims for the recovery of alimony;
• payments under executive documents providing for the transfer or issuing of funds for the making of severance payments and payment for the labour of specialists who are working or have worked under an employment contract, and the payment of remuneration to the authors of results of intellectual activity;
• payments providing for the transfer or issuing of funds for the payment of salary;
• payments on orders of tax authorities for the write-off and transfer of arrears in the payment of taxes and levies, as well as on orders of the supervisory authorities for the payment of insurance premiums.

It is also important to remember that in the case of a forced collection of tax arrears, not the entire amount on the bank account is blocked for write-off, but only the balance within the amount specified in the Decision to suspend operations (paragraph 3, clause 2, article 76 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). With regard to foreign currency accounts, the ruble amount of the debt is determined as the equivalent in the currency of the account at the rate of the Central Bank established on the date when the suspension of transactions on the foreign currency account begins (paragraph 5, clause 2, article 76 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

A DELAY IN SUBMITTING DOCUMENTS

Apart from ensuring the fulfilment of obligations to pay taxes, levies, and insurance premiums, operations on an account may be suspended in order to force the company to submit reporting or requested documents in a timely manner, as well as to comply with the requirements of the tax authorities. The bank account can be blocked within 10 days if:

• the organization did not submit a declaration to the tax authority after the deadline (sub-clause 1, clause 3, article 76 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). This also applies to a Calculation of income tax amounts calculated and withheld by a tax agent (using form 6-NDFL, including 2-NDFL) and the Calculation of insurance premiums (clause 3.2., article 76 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation);
• the company did not send a Receipt for receiving a Request for the submission of documents, representations or Notification of a call to the tax authority through the telecommunications link via an electronic document flow operator (sub-clause 2, clause 3, article 76 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). In this case, the inspectors can block the account within six days, including the day on which the document is received (paragraph 2, clause 5.1, article 23 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation);
• the company did not fulfil the obligation established by clause 5.1 of article 23 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation to ensure that documents are obtained in electronic form through a telecommunications link from inspectors at the location of the organization (sub-clause 1.1, clause 3, article 76 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

As reflected by the Tax Code, the account is blocked based on a closed list of reasons that the organization can independently influence. Nevertheless, the terms for unblocking are not instantaneous and can cause significant worries to business persons, so it is not necessary to bring the situation to the application of coercive measures.

AFTER BLOCKING

What can an organization do if the account is blocked after all? First of all, it is necessary to comply with the requirements of the tax authorities that caused the blocking, and notify the Federal Tax Service as quickly as possible. The speed of the company’s response in such a situation is extremely important, because the account is unblocked not automatically, but only based on the inspectorate’s decision to cancel the suspension of operations on the accounts (clause 3.1 and clause 7 of article 76 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). For different situations, various deadlines for making the appropriate decision are set.

Thus, in cases with a delay in paying taxes, the period for unblocking the account will be not later than one day following the day when the tax authority receives documents (copies thereof) confirming the fact of that the tax, penalties, or fines have been collected (clause 8, article 76 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation; letter No. 03-02-08/51856 of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated July 24, 2018) or not later than the second day following the day when the inspectorate receives the Application (in no particular set form) from the company to cancel the suspension of operations simultaneously on all its bank accounts, indicating a specific account that has sufficient funds to execute the Decision to collect tax (paragraph 2, clause 9, article 76 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation), with documents attached confirming the availability of funds in the accounts specified in the application in question. Please note that in the absence of supporting documents, the inspectors can wait two days for a response from the bank (clause 9, article 76 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

In the event of a delay in the submission of reporting and after it is sent, the account will be unblocked not later than one day following the day of the submission of the tax declaration, 6-NDFL or Calculation of insurance premiums (sub-clause 2, clause 3.1, article 76 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). And it will also be unblocked not later than one day following the earliest of the following dates (sub-clause 2, clause 3.1, article 76 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation):

• the date when the receipt is transferred for the acceptance of documents sent by the tax authority through the telecommunications link;
• the date when the documents (representations) required by the inspectors are submitted, or when the representative of the organization appears before the tax authority.

One more day should be added to these deadlines, which is necessary for sending the Decision to cancel to the bank via electronic communication channels (clause 4, article 76 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

It should be remembered that the bank is an unconditional executor of the inspectors’ Decisions to block the account (clause 6, article 76 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation) and the organization is not entitled to require from the credit institution compensation for losses incurred by the company as a result of the inspectors illegally blocking the account or as a result of missing the deadline for making a Decision to cancel the suspension of accounts transactions and sending it to the bank (clause 10, article 76 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

A DISPUTE WITH THE INSPECTORS

At the same time, the company has the right to present claims to the tax authority based on clause 9.2 of article 76 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and expect interest to be received on its bank account for each calendar day of:

• a violation of the deadline for cancelling the Decision to suspend operationson the accounts in the taxpayer organization’s bank;
• a violation of the deadline for sending a decision to the bank to withdraw the suspension of operations;
• during the period when the bank blocks the account based on a Decision to suspend operations on the taxpayer’s accounts in the event of an illegal decision by the tax authority.