Responsibility for non-payment of taxes: administrative, tax, criminal

An organization or individual entrepreneur may be held liable for non-payment of taxes or late payment of taxes. There are three types of liability: tax, administrative and criminal.

Which of the following types can be used in a particular case? This depends on who committed the offense of non-payment of tax - an organization or an individual entrepreneur, as well as on their status (taxpayer or tax agent).

Let's consider each type of liability to which a person can be held for non-payment or incomplete payment of tax amounts.

Tax liability... ...taxpayers

Article 122 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation provides for liability for non-payment of tax or incomplete payment of tax amounts as a result of underestimation of the tax base, other incorrect calculation of tax or other unlawful actions (inaction) - collection of a fine in the amount of 20% of the unpaid tax amount (clause 1). For these acts committed intentionally, a fine is imposed in the amount of 40% of the unpaid tax amount (clause 3).

According to paragraph 5 of Art. 108 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, holding a person accountable for committing a tax offense does not relieve him of the obligation to pay (transfer) the amounts of tax and penalties due.

note

When applying the provisions of Art. 122 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, one should proceed from the fact that the inaction of the taxpayer, expressed solely in the failure to transfer to the budget the amount of tax indicated in the tax return or tax notice, does not constitute an offense established by Art. 122 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. In this case, penalties are subject to collection from him under Art. 75 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. This conclusion was made in paragraph 19 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated July 30, 2013 No. 57.

Thus, if the taxpayer does not pay the tax on time, but at the same time: – calculated the tax correctly, – only a penalty will be collected from him; - he calculated the tax incorrectly, - he will be charged a fine in accordance with clauses 1, 3 of Art. 122 or clause 3 of Art. 120 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, as well as penalties.

Let us remind you that clause 3 of Art. 120 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation provides for a gross violation of the rules for accounting for income and (or) expenses and (or) objects of taxation, resulting in an underestimation of the tax base, a fine in the amount of 20% of the amount of unpaid tax, but not less than 40,000 rubles. In other words, in order to avoid fines in accordance with the norms of clauses 1, 3 of Art. 122 or clause 3 of Art. 120 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, corrections should be made to the calculation of taxes and an updated declaration should be submitted.

Amendments to the tax return and calculations are regulated by Art. 81 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, which provides for cases when the taxpayer is exempt from liability.

By virtue of paragraph 1 of Art. 81 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, if a taxpayer discovers in the tax return submitted by him to the tax authority the fact of non-reflection or incomplete reflection of information, as well as errors leading to an underestimation of the amount of tax payable, the taxpayer is obliged to make the necessary changes to the tax return and submit an updated declaration to the tax authority in in the manner prescribed by this article.

If the “adjustment” is submitted to the Federal Tax Service before the deadline for filing a tax return, it is considered submitted on the day the updated return is submitted. According to paragraph 3 of Art. 81 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, if an updated declaration is submitted to the tax authority after the expiration of the deadline for filing the declaration, but before the expiration of the deadline for paying the tax, then the taxpayer is released from liability if the “adjustment” was submitted before the moment when the taxpayer learned:

– or about the discovery by the tax authority of the fact of non-reflection or incomplete reflection of information in the tax return, as well as errors leading to an understatement of the amount of tax payable; – or about scheduling an on-site tax audit.

As stated in paragraph 4 of Art. 81 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, if the “clarification” is submitted to the tax authority after the deadline for filing a declaration and the deadline for paying the tax, then the taxpayer is released from liability in the following cases:

– submission of a “clarification” before the taxpayer learns that the tax authority has discovered non-reflection or incomplete reflection of information in the tax return, as well as errors leading to an underestimation of the amount of tax payable, or about the appointment of an on-site tax audit (ATI) for a given tax for a given period, provided that before submitting an updated tax return, he paid the missing amount of tax and the corresponding penalties;

– submission of a “clarification” after conducting a tax return for the corresponding tax period, the results of which did not reveal non-reflection or incompleteness of information in the tax return, as well as errors leading to an underestimation of the amount of tax payable.

Responsibility of taxpayers and tax agents: basic components

Tax liability for taxpayers is mainly represented by the following items:

• Art. 116 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation - violations in connection with registration;
• Art. 119 and 119.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation - violations related to the submission of declarations;

About the fine under Art. 119 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation covers this material .

• Art. 120 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation - tax liability for violations related to accounting;

Read more about them here .

• Art. 122 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation - non-payment of tax;
• Art. 123 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation - an analogue of Art. 122 for tax agents;
• Art. 126 and 129.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation - tax structures arising when requesting documents and information.

…tax agents

Based on paragraph 1 of Art. 123 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, unlawful failure to withhold and (or) non-transfer (incomplete withholding and (or) transfer) within the period established by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation of tax amounts subject to withholding and transfer by a tax agent entails a fine in the amount of 20% of the amount subject to withholding and (or) transfer. transfer.

At the same time, according to clause 2 of this article, the tax agent is released from liability provided for in clause 1, subject to the simultaneous fulfillment of the following conditions:

– the tax calculation is submitted to the tax authority within the prescribed period;

– in the tax calculation there are no facts of non-reflection or incomplete reflection of information and (or) errors leading to an underestimation of the amount of tax to be transferred to the budget;

– the tax agent independently transferred to the budget the amount of tax not transferred on time, and the corresponding penalties until the moment when he became aware of the discovery by the Federal Tax Service of the fact of untimely transfer of the tax amount or of the appointment of an on-site tax audit for such tax for the corresponding tax period.

In the case of tax agents, the provision of paragraph 5 of Art. 108 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, according to which a person held accountable for committing a tax offense is not released from the obligation to pay the due amounts of tax and penalties.

note

Tax agents can avoid liability for non-payment of taxes in the form of fines, provided they provide updated calculations. According to paragraph 6 of Art. 81 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the provisions provided for in paragraphs 3 and 4 of this article regarding exemption from liability also apply to tax agents when they submit updated calculations.

Let us remind you that according to clause 6 of Art. 81 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, when a tax agent discovers in the calculation submitted by him to the tax authority the fact of non-reflection or incomplete reflection of information, as well as errors leading to an understatement or overestimation of the amount of tax to be transferred, the tax agent is obliged to make the necessary changes and submit an updated calculation to the tax authority. In this case, the calculation should contain data only in relation to those taxpayers in respect of whom facts of non-reflection or incomplete reflection of information were discovered, as well as errors leading to an understatement of the tax amount.

note

By virtue of clause 4 of Art. 108 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, holding an organization accountable for committing a tax offense does not relieve its officials, if there are appropriate grounds, from administrative, criminal or other liability provided for by the laws of the Russian Federation.

Fines for reporting

We have already mentioned above that tax liability for reporting to the Tax Code of the Russian Federation is presented in Art. 119 and 119.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

The first of them threatens those who delayed the declaration. For this, you will have to pay to the treasury 5% of the unpaid tax amount subject to payment (additional payment) on the basis of an overdue declaration, for each full or partial month of delay.

What has changed in bringing to tax liability under Art. 119 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation in recent years, find out from this article .

At the same time, the amount of the fine “from below and from above” is limited: the minimum is 1,000 rubles, the maximum is 30% of the tax amount.

Read more about the size of fines here .

Since the amount of tax liability is directly related to the amount of tax, in practice the question often arises: will they be fined if there is no tax to pay or the declaration is completely zero? Of course, at the minimum, but they will be fined. Is it possible to reduce the minimum sanction?

Read this publication and you will know the answer .

For certain taxes, we have to report several times during the tax period: within it - on advances and at the end - on the final tax amount. In this case, interim reporting can also be called a declaration and may also be overdue. And there will also be a fine for it, but not under Art. 119 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. And for what?

Our material .

Tax liability under Art. 119.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation applies to those who are required to submit reports electronically, but submitted a declaration in paper form. The fine for this is small - only 200 rubles. However, there is one significant point - this article does not apply to VAT returns. If instead of electronic reporting for this tax you submit a declaration in paper form, expect a fine under Art. 119 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, that is, for an unsubmitted VAT return.

Administrative liability... ...if the tax has not been paid by the organization

An official of an organization is subject to administrative liability for a gross violation of accounting requirements, expressed, for example, in understating the amount of taxes and fees by at least 10% due to distortion of accounting data.

For this violation, according to Art. 15.11 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, a fine in the amount of 5,000 to 10,000 rubles may be imposed on an official. (clause 1). In the event of a repeated offense, the person will face a fine of 10,000 to 20,000 rubles. or disqualification for a period of one to two years (clause 2).

This responsibility applies to both the taxpayer and the tax agent.

For your information

According to Art. 7 of the Federal Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ “On Accounting”, accounting is organized by the head of an economic entity (clause 1), who is obliged to entrust accounting to the chief accountant or other official of this entity or to enter into an agreement for the provision of services on accounting. The head of an organization that has the right to use simplified accounting methods, as well as the head of a medium-sized business entity, can take over the accounting (clause 3).

Thus, an administrative fine will be imposed on the person responsible for accounting - the director, chief accountant or other official of the organization.

Based on the meaning of clause 7, part 1, art. 24.5 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, if proceedings were initiated against this person for an administrative offense, and then a decision was made to initiate a criminal case, the administrative proceedings are subject to termination.

Tax arrears: what is it and how does it threaten the company?

Late payment of taxes to the budget is a common occurrence in business.
At the same time, arrears are not always associated with the malicious intent of the company’s management. Often, underpayments are caused by errors in calculating taxes or when filling out payment orders, the accountant’s inattention to tax payment deadlines, etc. The accounting company 1C-WiseAdvise spoke about when arrears arise and how they threaten a business. What is arrears and when does it occur
? How does arrears differ from tax debts?

According to Article 11 of the Tax Code, arrears are the amount of tax (fee, insurance premiums) not paid on time. Two conclusions follow from this definition:

• Firstly, the arrears represent precisely the amount of obligatory payment to the budget (that is, tax, fee, contribution). And does not include accrued sanctions for non-payment (fines and penalties).
• Secondly, we are talking specifically about late payment. That is, about a tax (fee, contribution) not transferred to the budget in a timely manner.

Debt to the budget is a broader concept

. Firstly, when they talk about such debt, they mean not only tax debts, but also debts under sanctions - penalties and fines. Secondly, tax debt is not always late payments. That is, the debt can be current or overdue.

For example, a company submitted its VAT return for
the third quarter on October 21 (while the deadline for submission was October 25).
In the VAT declaration, VAT is declared to be paid in the amount of 9,000 rubles. According to the rules established by Article 174 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, VAT must be paid in equal installments over the three months following the reporting quarter, no later than the 25th day of each of these months. Let's assume that the company transferred part of the tax in the amount of 3,000 rubles on October 22. Thus, she has a debt to the budget for VAT in the amount of 6,000 rubles (9,000 rubles minus 3,000 rubles). But such debt is not considered arrears, it is a current debt. After all, the company paid 1/3 of the tax on time. And she must list the next part only on November 25th. Another example. As a general rule, vacation pay is paid to employees three days before the start of the vacation. When paying vacation pay, personal income tax is withheld from them (clause 1 of Article 223 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Formally, at this moment the organization (tax agent) incurs a debt to the budget for personal income tax. But such debt is also current. After all, in this case, the company is obliged to transfer tax to the budget on the last day of the month in which vacation pay was paid (clause 6 of Article 226 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

So, here are the main differences between arrears and debt to the budget:

• arrears are always an overdue debt, while debt can be either overdue or current;
• arrears include only the amount of unpaid tax (fee, contribution). And the debt to the budget is a tax (fee, contribution) plus sanctions.

Why might there be arrears?

This can happen due to various circumstances, for example the following:

• the accountant made a mistake when calculating the taxable base or tax amount or deliberately underestimated the taxable base. This was discovered during a desk or field inspection;
• the amount of tax (fee, contribution) was calculated correctly and correctly reflected in the declaration, but the error occurred when filling out the payment order;
• the amount of tax (fee, contribution) was calculated, reflected in the declaration and indicated in the payment slip correctly, but the payment was sent using the wrong details (for example, to the wrong KBK). This was revealed when reconciling calculations with the budget;
• The accountant “forgot” to pay the tax on time.

Depending on the reason for the underpayment, the types and degrees of liability differ.

Responsibility for non-payment of tax and possible consequences

If the tax (fee, contribution) is not paid on time, penalties will be charged on the amount of the underpayment. The procedure for calculating them depends on exactly when the arrears arose.

This procedure follows from Article 75 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, paragraph 9 of Article 13 of Law No. 401-FZ dated November 30, 2016, Article 9 of Law No. 424-FZ dated November 27, 2022, letters of the Ministry of Finance dated August 1, 2017 No. 03-02- 07/1/48936, dated July 10, 2022 No. 03-02-07/1/43489.

In addition to penalties, the organization may be held liable for taxes. And its leadership is subject to administrative and, in especially severe cases, criminal liability. It is important to pay attention to the following point. The company and its officials will be punished if the tax (fee, fee) is not paid due to errors in calculation or illegal actions. In other words, liability will arise only if the arrears arose due to incorrect calculation of tax or deliberate understatement of its amount.

If the budget payment was calculated correctly, but was not paid on time or was transferred in the wrong amount (due to an error in the payment) or to the wrong KBK, liability can be avoided. In this case, the company faces only penalties. Such conclusions follow from the letter of the Ministry of Finance dated May 24, 2022 No. 03-02-07/1/31912, paragraph 19 of the resolution of the plenum of the Supreme Arbitration Court dated July 30, 2013 No. 57.

The types of liability are discussed in more detail in the table:

Procedure and terms for collecting arrears

The tax inspectors will collect the arrears incurred by the company. In this case, they will act according to the following algorithm:

Step No. 1: sending a request for payment

Having discovered arrears, inspectors will first send the organization a demand for payment of taxes (fees, insurance contributions). There are certain timing rules here. In general, the demand is sent within three months from the date of discovery of the underpayment; if the amount of underpaid tax (as well as arrears of penalties and fines on it) is small - less than 500 rubles, then the demand will be raised within a year from the date the arrears are identified; if the request is made based on the results of a tax audit, then the period is 20 working days from the date of entry into force of the decision based on the results of such an audit. These rules are established by Article 70 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

Paragraph 4 of Article 69 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation establishes what information must be contained in the request. So, the document must contain the following information:

• amount of tax debt (fee, contribution);
• the amount of accrued penalties;
• deadline for fulfilling the requirement;
• measures to collect arrears that the tax office will take in case of failure to comply with the requirement;
• the grounds on which the tax is levied (fee, insurance premium), and the rules of tax legislation that oblige the organization to pay it.

If any of the listed information is missing in the document, then it is considered to be executed with violations. As a consequence, the taxpayer has the right not to comply with it. This conclusion follows from the resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of July 22, 2003 No. 2100/03.

If the requirement is drawn up without violations, the organization is obliged to fulfill it. The total execution time is eight working days from the date of receipt. But another (longer) period may be indicated in the document itself. This procedure is provided for in paragraph 4 of Article 69 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

The date of receipt of the request by the organization is calculated depending on the method in which it was submitted. So, if the document was given directly to the manager, then the day of receipt is the actual moment of delivery of the document. If the tax authorities sent the request by registered mail, then it is considered received on the sixth business day from the date of sending.

If the document was sent electronically via TKS, then it is considered received on the day the company sent an electronic receipt of acceptance. Such conclusions follow from paragraphs 6 and 8 of Article 69 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and paragraphs 5 and 12 of the procedure approved by Order of the Federal Tax Service dated February 27, 2022 No. MMV-7-8/200.

However, the inspection requirement can be appealed. To do this, the company has the right to go to court (clause 1 of article 138 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Step No. 2: making a decision on collection and writing off money from accounts

If the company does not repay the arrears within the established period, the controllers will make a decision on collection. The form of the document was approved by order of the Federal Tax Service dated February 13, 2022 No. ММВ-7-8/179. The Federal Tax Service is obliged to formalize it within two months from the moment when the deadline for fulfilling the requirement by the organization has expired. Having missed the two-month period, the inspectorate will be able to collect the arrears from the organization only through the court.

The decision on collection is sent to the company. Controllers must do this within six working days from the date of its adoption.

In some cases, the decision may be suspended or revoked. Thus, it will be suspended in the following situations:

• the company received a deferment or installment payment of tax (contribution);
• the court seized the organization's bank accounts;
• a higher authority ordered to suspend the collection.

The decision will be revoked, in particular, if:

• the arrears have already been repaid or are recognized as bad and written off;
• , where the amount of tax (contribution) has decreased and there is no arrears.

This procedure follows from paragraphs 4.1 and 10 of Article 46 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

The decision on collection will be executed using funds in the organization’s accounts. First of all, the money will be written off from your ruble current account. To do this, the Federal Tax Service will send an order to the bank servicing the company to transfer the tax. The bank is obliged to fulfill it no later than the next business day.

If there is not enough money in the current account, almost any accounts and deposits of the organization can be used (under certain conditions). In particular, a foreign currency account, deposits, an account in precious metals. In addition, if there are insufficient funds in accounts and deposits, controllers have the right to recover the arrears using the company’s electronic money.

Step No. 3: collection of arrears from the company’s property

If the funds in the company’s accounts and electronic money are not enough to pay off the arrears, tax authorities can collect it from other property of the organization (clauses 7, 10, article 46, article 47 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

The list of such property is given in paragraph 5 of Article 47 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. In principle, this can be any property of the company that is listed on its balance sheet - finished products, goods in stock, equipment, premises, materials, etc. The auditors will make the corresponding decision within one year after the deadline for fulfilling the requirement to pay the tax (insurance contribution).

Collection is carried out by a bailiff - according to the decision and on the basis of the resolution of the Federal Tax Service (Clause 9, Article 47 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). The forms of these documents were approved by order of the Federal Tax Service dated February 13, 2017 No. ММВ-7-8/179.

Step No. 4: blocking the account and seizing property

To ensure collection of arrears, controllers can suspend operations on the company’s accounts or seize its property. The basis is Articles 76 and 77 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

The account is blocked by decision, the form of which was approved by order of the Federal Tax Service dated February 13, 2022 No. ММВ-7-8/179. It is issued after the decision to collect the debt to the budget is formalized. Moreover, not only bank accounts can be blocked, but also “electronic wallets” of the company. The amount of blocked funds is equal to the amount of arrears. That is, if the account balance is greater than the underpayment of tax, the company can use the difference at its discretion.

Seizure of property is possible only with the sanction of the prosecutor. It is imposed if there is not enough money in the accounts to pay off the arrears. The basis for the arrest is a resolution of the Federal Tax Service (in the form approved by order of the Federal Tax Service dated February 13, 2022 No. ММВ-7-8/179). This interim measure means that the company can own, use and dispose of property only under the control of the tax inspectorate. After the arrears are repaid, officials will make a decision to cancel the arrest.

When arrears are considered hopeless

The decision to recognize the arrears as hopeless is made by the Federal Tax Service. The grounds for such a decision are given in paragraph 1 of Article 59 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. In particular, controllers will write off the debt in the following cases:

• if the company goes into liquidation. Bad debt is recognized as that part of the debt for which there was not enough money and property of the company to repay, and it is impossible to cover it at the expense of the founders and participants;
• by a court decision - due to the expiration of the collection period;
• debts were written off from the organization’s account, but did not go to the budget because the bank servicing it was liquidated;
• if the amount of debt to the budget does not exceed 300,000 rubles, and five years have passed since its formation.

After the inspectorate writes off the tax debt, the company has the right to write it off in its accounting.

Summarize

If a company has arrears in taxes, this can lead to extremely unpleasant consequences. Firstly, there will be extra expenses in the form of penalties, and in some cases, fines, which can be quite significant in the case of a large amount of debt. Secondly, officials may be brought to administrative, and under certain circumstances, to criminal liability. Thirdly, blocking accounts and seizing property can paralyze the entire business and threaten the very existence of the company. Therefore, it is extremely important for the company’s management to ensure that arrears ideally either do not arise at all or are repaid in a timely manner.

Source:
.

...if the individual entrepreneur has not paid the tax

Individual entrepreneurs are not held administratively liable.

This follows from the note to Art. 15.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation: administrative liability established in relation to officials in the above-mentioned article. 15.11 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation does not apply to citizens engaged in business activities without forming a legal entity.

In addition, in Art. 15.11 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation provides for liability for non-payment of taxes, which occurred due to distortion of accounting data, and individual entrepreneurs may not keep accounting records.

Criminal liability for tax evasion... ...by an individual (including individual entrepreneurs)

For evasion of taxes, fees and (or) an individual paying insurance premiums from paying insurance premiums, committed on a large or especially large scale, Art. 198 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides for criminal liability.

An entrepreneur may be held criminally liable under this article if non-payment of tax occurred for one of the following reasons: – failure to submit a tax return (calculation) or other documents, the submission of which is mandatory; – inclusion of knowingly false information in a tax return (calculation) or such documents.

That is, if an entrepreneur correctly determined the amount of tax and reflected it in the reporting, but did not transfer it to the budget on time, then the corpus delicti provided for in this article will be absent and the individual entrepreneur will not be held criminally liable.

Article 198 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation provides for the amount of criminal liability for non-payment of taxes by an entrepreneur in a large (Part 1) and especially large (Part 2) amount.

In note 2 to Art. 198 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation establishes the following.

A large amount is considered to be an amount of taxes, fees, and insurance premiums that amounts to more than 900,000 rubles over a period of three consecutive financial years, provided that the share of unpaid taxes, fees, and insurance premiums exceeds 10% of the payable amounts of taxes, fees, and insurance premiums. in total, or exceeding RUB 2,700,000.

An especially large amount is an amount that amounts to more than 4,500,000 rubles over a period of three consecutive financial years, provided that the share of unpaid taxes, fees, and insurance premiums exceeds 20% of the total amount of taxes, fees, and insurance contributions payable, or exceeding 13,500,000 rubles.

For your information

According to note 3 to Art. 198 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, a person who has committed a crime under this article for the first time is released from criminal liability if he has fully paid the amount of arrears and the corresponding penalties, as well as the amount of a fine in the amount determined in accordance with the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

Let us note one more point regarding the responsibility of an individual entrepreneur.

According to clause 15.1 of Art. 101 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, if the tax authority, which made a decision to hold an individual accountable for committing a tax offense, sent materials to the investigative authorities, then no later than the day following the day the materials were sent, the head (deputy head) of the tax authority is obliged to make a decision on suspension of execution of the decision taken in relation to the named individual to hold him accountable for committing a tax offense and the decision to collect the corresponding tax, penalties, or fines.

In this case, the flow of the collection periods provided for by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation is suspended for the period of suspension of execution of the decision on collection.

If, based on the results of consideration of the materials, a decision is made to refuse to initiate a criminal case or a decision to terminate a criminal case, and also if an acquittal is rendered in the relevant criminal case, the tax authority will resume the execution of the decisions taken in relation to this individual to hold him accountable for committing a tax offense and decisions to collect the corresponding tax, penalties, or fines.

If the action (inaction) of an individual, which served as the basis for holding him accountable for committing a tax offense, became the basis for a conviction against him, the tax authority cancels the decision regarding holding the individual accountable for committing a tax offense.

Simply put, if an individual entrepreneur is brought to criminal liability, the tax inspectorate will cancel the accrued fine, since by virtue of clause 2 of Art. 108 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, no one can be held accountable again for committing the same tax offense.

Responsibility for violation of tax laws: concept, general principles

Tax liability is a type of legal liability applied for violations in the field of taxation. The general principles of application of tax liability are enshrined in Chapter. 15 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, and types of tax violations - in Chapter. 16 and 18. The basis for the application of tax liability measures is the decision of the Federal Tax Service, for the adoption and implementation of which there are clear procedures in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

The measure of tax liability (sanction) is specific - according to the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, it can only be a fine. Moreover, for most violations, a fine is the only financial consequence. These are violations not related to the payment of taxes to the budget. If you fail to comply with the tax law regarding payments, in addition to a fine, you will have to pay back to the treasury what you underpaid (pay off the arrears) and pay penalties for each day of delay.

The last two components, in fact, are not sanctions, but they also significantly hit the taxpayer’s pocket. Therefore, we talk about them along with tax liability.

Read about what arrears are in this article .

material talks about penalties .

As of October 1, 2017, changes have been made to the calculation of penalties. In relation to arrears from organizations formed on October 1, penalties are calculated:

• based on 1/300 of the refinancing rate - up to the 30th calendar day of delay inclusive;
• based on 1/150 of the rate - from 31 days onwards.

Our calculator calculates penalties taking into account changes.

See instructions for using the calculator here.

The principles of tax responsibility are:

• application of sanctions only for the violations listed in the Tax Code, strictly in the manner prescribed by it (Article 106, paragraph 1 of Article 108 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation);
• one-time application of tax liability measures: for one violation - only 1 tax fine (clause 2 of article 108 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation);
• the presence of the taxpayer’s guilt and the presumption of innocence (Article 106, paragraph 6 of Article 108 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation);
• proportionality of tax liability to the gravity of the violation committed, which is intended to be ensured by the presence of mitigating and aggravating circumstances in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

This publication talks about them.

...a taxpayer organization

For evasion of taxes, fees and (or) insurance premiums payable by an organization, committed on a large or especially large scale, Art. 199 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides for criminal liability. In this case, criminal liability under this article occurs if tax non-payment occurred for one of the following reasons:

– failure to submit a tax return (calculation) or other documents, the submission of which is mandatory; – inclusion of knowingly false information in a tax return (calculation) or such documents.

Part 1 of Art. 199 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation provides for the amount of criminal liability for non-payment of taxes (fees) on a large scale, and Part 2 – for the same acts committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy on an especially large scale.

In note 1 to Art. 199 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation establishes the following.

A large amount is recognized as an amount of taxes, fees, insurance premiums that amounts to more than 5,000,000 rubles for a period within three financial years in a row, provided that the share of unpaid taxes, fees, and insurance premiums exceeds 25% of the amounts of taxes, fees, and insurance payable contributions in total, or exceeding 15,000,000 rubles.

An especially large amount is an amount that over a period of three consecutive financial years exceeds 15,000,000 rubles, provided that the share of unpaid taxes, fees, and insurance premiums exceeds 50% of the payable amounts of taxes, fees, and insurance contributions in the aggregate, or exceeding 45,000,000 rubles.

For your information

According to note 2 to Art. 199 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, a person who has committed a crime under this article for the first time is released from criminal liability if this person or organization whose evasion of taxes, fees, insurance contributions is charged to this person, has fully paid the amount of arrears and corresponding penalties, as well as the amount of the fine in the amount determined in accordance with the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

What else will they be punished for under the Tax Code?

Quite often, tax liability occurs when tax authorities demand documents and information. This is Art. 126 and 129.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. During their use, many controversial issues arise.

Some of them are explained in this publication.

And the issue of delimiting tax liability between these articles is discussed in the material “What is the fine for failure to provide documents for a counter-inspection?” .

The amount of the fine under Art. 126 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, it would seem, is clearly defined - this is 200 rubles. for each document not submitted at the request of the controllers. But what if the exact number of papers is not indicated in the request, but, for example, invoices for such and such a period are requested? The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation spoke about determining the amount of tax liability in such a situation.

Find his position here .

Since 2022, tax authorities will fine companies not only for violations of the Russian Tax Code on taxes, but also for insurance premiums, as well as for delays and inaccurate data in the new 6-NDFL report. Find out more from our materials:

• Calculation of insurance premiums - fine for late submission (nuances);
• “Fines for 6-NDFL: rules for imposition”.