Blocking of the tax account in 2020-2021.

The tax office blocked the account: causes and consequences

The right of the Federal Tax Service of Russia to block the current account of an organization is defined in Article 76 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, which contains an exhaustive list of reasons why banking operations can be temporarily suspended:

• the legal entity was late in submitting a tax return to the Federal Tax Service by 10 working days from the date of expiration of its submission (clause 1, clause 3, article 76 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation);
• the tax agent did not submit the calculation in Form 6-NDFL to the Federal Tax Service within 10 working days from the date of expiration of its submission (clause 3.2 of Article 76 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation);
• the taxpayer did not comply with the request of the tax service to pay taxes, insurance contributions, penalties or fines (clause 2 of Article 76 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation);
• a taxpayer who, by virtue of the requirements of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, is obliged to submit reports in electronic form, did not submit to the tax service an electronic receipt for the receipt of a document received from the Federal Tax Service in electronic form within 6 days from the date of its receipt (clause 2, clause 3, article 76 Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

As follows from the letter of the Ministry of Finance dated 04/21/2015 N 03-02-08/22548, such documents include requirements for the submission of documents and for the provision of explanations, as well as notifications of summoning representatives of the organization to the tax office.

In addition, operations on the account may be suspended for the reasons specified in paragraph 10 of Article 101 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. If the Federal Tax Service decides that the organization does not comply with the decision that was made based on the results of a desk or on-site audit, due to the fact that the total value of its property, according to accounting data, is less than the amount of arrears, penalties and fines. However, in this case, before blocking the account, the Federal Tax Service must make a decision on interim measures in the form of a ban on the alienation (pledge) of all property of such a legal entity.

It must be said right away that the Pension Fund, the Social Insurance Fund and Rosstat do not have the right to block the bank accounts of organizations and individual entrepreneurs. The same as the Federal Tax Service in all other cases of violations of tax legislation, such as untimely provision of advance payments or balance sheets. There is no right to take this measure even if a calculation of insurance premiums is not provided. True, officials intend to change this point in the near future: the corresponding bill is already under consideration.

Let's look at how to unblock a bank account blocked by the tax authorities, an organization or an individual entrepreneur in different situations in more detail.

How to unblock an account if taxes have not been paid?

If, according to the requirements, you did not pay the tax on time, the Federal Tax Service sends a request to block the account to the bank. At the same time, a credit institution has no right to refuse a government agency. An amount equal to the tax amount is blocked on the account. All funds above it are available for use.

If you have ]several accounts in different banks[/anchor], they are all blocked at the same time. Therefore, the business owner has no other action left but to comply with the legal requirement of the tax authorities.

For example, an individual entrepreneur has 2 accounts in different banking organizations. The amount of tax debt is 25,000 rubles. Each account contains 30,000 rubles. On one of them 25,000 rubles will be blocked, and on the other - the same amount.

The total blocking amount will be 50,000 rubles. And from each account the owner will be able to withdraw or transfer only 5,000 rubles. To gain access to your money, you will need to write an official letter to the tax office about unblocking the account.

It is necessary if you want to get quick access to your funds after paying off the debt. Payment to the Federal Tax Service may take 2-3 days. In order for the tax office to check its status, it is necessary to notify it of the payment made. Then the account can be unblocked even on the day of payment.

Blocking a current account for late submission of a declaration

If a taxpayer is delayed in submitting any of the declarations provided for by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation for more than 10 days, the Federal Tax Service has the right to restrict all transactions on his bank accounts. This is provided for by paragraph 3 of Article 76 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, as well as paragraph 6 of Article 6.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Tax officials have this right only in relation to failure to submit tax returns; late submission of all other reports does not lead to such consequences. The account is blocked completely; its owner cannot manage it in full. The law exclusively allows payments related to labor relations and the payment of taxes and fees. Data on such payments and their order are given in the table.

How to unblock an individual entrepreneur's account

Knowing the reasons why an account may be blocked as a punishment, it is better, of course, to take measures to ensure that such a sanction does not occur at all. But if it does turn out to be a reality, the reason for its introduction should first be eliminated:

• pay existing tax debts;
• send reports not filed there to the Federal Tax Service.

Any of these actions obliges the tax inspectorate to make a decision to cancel the blocking of the account within 1 business day (clause 3.1, 8, article 76 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). This day is counted from the date when the Federal Tax Service became aware of the elimination of the reason for imposing the sanction, i.e. it should see:

• original or copy of the payment document;
• received report or confirmation receipt.

The decision to cancel the blocking will be transmitted to the bank electronically no later than the business day following the day such a decision was made (clause 4 of Article 76 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

However, even if the individual entrepreneur’s response to the fact of the blocking turns out to be quite prompt (everything necessary to cancel it will be done on the day the restriction on using the account begins), it will still not be possible to use the blocked account for at least 3 working days.

How to unblock a current account blocked by the tax office

If operations on bank accounts are suspended, it is necessary to act promptly, since the inability to fully use financial resources paralyzes the economic activities of an organization or entrepreneur. There is a common horror story among lawyers and tax agents that it is very difficult to remove restrictions and cannot be done without the help of specialists. In reality, everything is quite simple. It is important to respond adequately to the situation and act consistently and without panic.

The scheme of actions for each of the reasons for introducing restrictions is similar. Because it only involves three important steps. The result directly depends on the speed and accuracy of all actions.

Step 1. Finding out the reason why restrictive measures were introduced

In the bank branch where the current account is opened, you need to find out on the basis of which decision of the Federal Tax Service the operations were suspended. Employees of the credit institution must provide the date and number of this document. After this, you need to go to the Federal Tax Service and use the details of the decision to clarify who made it and why. Most often, the decision reaches the addressee through specialized communication channels a little later than it does to the bank. Finding out the reason for such measures will reduce the time to solve the problem.

Step 2. Eliminate the cause

When the reason why such unpleasant consequences occurred is known, it needs to be eliminated quickly. If there was a tax arrear, it must be paid off. If there was a delay with the declaration, the report must be sent to the Federal Tax Service. If there is no electronic receipt, it must be transferred, simultaneously fulfilling all the requirements from the document to which it concerned. The Federal Tax Service must be notified of the elimination of the reasons as soon as possible.

If restrictive measures are related to failure to submit a report or submission of it in the wrong format (on paper instead of TKS), then you need to arrange a connection to one of the special communication operators to submit reports electronically.

Step 3. Informing the Federal Tax Service about the elimination of the violation

Typically, unlocking occurs within 24 hours after the inspection receives money from the budget or the required reports or documents. To guarantee, you can exchange electronic documents with the Federal Tax Service (for example, you have a personal key or the organization uses the services of special intermediaries) and inform the inspectorate that the violation has been eliminated. Article 76 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation establishes the following maximum terms for removing seizure from taxpayer accounts:

• in case of arrears - on the next business day after receiving a bank statement on payment of tax and penalties on demand;
• in the absence of a declaration - on the next business day after the submission of the declaration or calculation of 6-NDFL or documents confirming their submission earlier in time;
• in the absence of a receipt for acceptance of electronic documents - on the next business day after the receipt is transferred to the Federal Tax Service and the requested documents are submitted.

Before the introduction of specialized electronic communication channels, unblocking accounts took longer, because the decision of the Federal Tax Service was delivered to the bank by couriers. Currently, taxpayers are not involved in relations between the Federal Tax Service and banks, and data exchange takes a matter of minutes. By the way, if the bank’s financial monitoring has blocked the account of a legal entity for other reasons, for example, for suspicion of money laundering or terrorist financing, this instruction will not help and the algorithm of actions will be different.

Lack of receipt of documents as a reason for account blocking

In 2015, the requirement for taxpayers to notify the Federal Tax Service upon receipt of control documents came into force. In other words, if the tax authority sent you some papers, you are obliged to notify them of receipt of them with a special receipt. A period of 6 days .

Notification of the Federal Tax Service is required upon receipt of:

• demands for explanations;
• messages about a call to the tax service;
• request for documentation.

If after 6 days you still have not reported to the tax office, then after 10 working days the account will be blocked. In order to manage funds on it again, you must send a receipt to the Federal Tax Service, as well as a letter about lifting the block from the account.

Account blocking due to lack of connection to the EDI system

We are talking about companies that, from a certain moment, are required to work with the inspectorate in electronic document management mode. The obligation to connect to the EDI system for representatives of medium and large businesses appeared in 2021 after the adoption of the relevant law. For example, the largest taxpayers are required to do this within 10 days from the date of registration. In practice, it turns out that during this time some do not even have time to open a current account, not to mention concluding an agreement with the telecom operator that will carry out electronic document flow.

Therefore, such companies often face frozen accounts due to the inability to transmit and receive electronic documents. By the way, even an empty current account that you just opened can be blocked. This innovation is surprising, but, unfortunately, legislators are not going to change anything. Therefore, in order to avoid problems, try to arrange EDI with the inspection in a timely manner.

To unlock, enter into an agreement with the system operator and submit an application to the tax office, attaching evidence that you have provided electronic interaction with the Federal Tax Service.

Blocking of an individual entrepreneur's account by the tax authorities due to non-payment of taxes and insurance contributions

According to clause 2 of Article 76 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, if an individual entrepreneur is presented with a requirement to pay taxes, which for some reason was ignored, the Federal Tax Service has the right to decide to block the individual entrepreneur’s current account.

In this case, the account is partially blocked , i.e. for the amount that was specified in the request (and all accounts for the specified amount are blocked). The entrepreneur has the right to use funds in excess of the blocked amount when making expense transactions.

Example:

At IP Skvortsov S.S. 3 current accounts were opened in different credit institutions. The Federal Tax Service issued a demand for payment of taxes in the amount of 12,000 rubles. IP Skvortsov S.S. did not make the payment within the specified time frame, and therefore the tax authorities blocked an amount of 12,000 rubles on each current account. Thus, IP Skvortsov S.S. 36,000 rubles were blocked.

If an amount is blocked that actually exceeds the amount specified in the request, it makes sense for the individual entrepreneur to contact the Federal Tax Service with a request to remove the block from some of the accounts, because In case of making payments as required, unblocking of accounts can occur only after receipt of funds, which may take several days.

How to check whether an account is blocked or not?

The most reliable and legal way at present is to obtain information through a service located on the official website of the tax authorities.

We'll tell you how to proceed:

• go to the Federal Tax Service website in the section “Service for informing banks”;
• indicate the information: INN and BIC of the bank;
• enter the verification code and the request is sent;
• Almost at the same time, information appears about the blocking date, as well as information about the tax office that made such a decision.

Using the service is easy and simple; it is used not only by entrepreneurs, but also by banks and other interested parties. Banking institutions usually themselves check whether the payer's account is blocked when opening a new one.

Unfortunately, at the moment, not all banks notify about account blocking; clients remain in the dark until the very last moment. Only some institutions send out mailings, but most often the client learns about the suspension when it was not possible to pay for services through a current account.

The service is available to any users who know the details for creating a request. It is recommended to check your counterparties through the website so as not to deal with unreliable partners.

Sanctions for illegal blocking of an account

If the deadline for unblocking the account was violated or if the decision to suspend transactions on the accounts was made unlawfully, the tax office is obliged to pay interest to the organization. Interest is accrued at the refinancing rate for each calendar day of violation of the unblocking period (illegal suspension of account transactions).

The amount of interest due to the organization can be calculated using the formula:

This procedure is provided for in paragraph 9.2 of Article 76 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

What payments cannot be blocked?

Some types of transactions are possible even after the account is blocked. There is such a thing as the order of payments. In accordance with the Civil Code, the payment of taxes to the budget is preceded by:

• payments for compensation for personal injury;
• alimony payments;
• settlement of employees due to dismissal and payment of severance pay.

If funds allow, the individual entrepreneur can submit an order to the bank to pay such payments. In addition, the blocking only applies to expenses; no one prohibits replenishing the account.

Actions of the organization

Having received a copy of the decision to suspend account transactions, the organization can:

• agree with it if the blocking of the account is caused by the collection of debt to the budget;

• comply with the requirements of the tax inspectorate if the account is blocked due to late filing of a tax return;

• appeal the decision of the tax inspectorate (if, in the opinion of the organization, the suspension of account transactions is illegal).

Moreover, if an organization’s accounts are blocked, it will not be able to open new ones (Clause 12, Article 76 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).