Blocking an account by a bank under Federal Law 115 - what the dangers are, consequences

The legislation spells out mechanisms to force debtors to pay their bills. One of such mechanisms is the blocking of a current account, which applies not only to legal entities, but also to individual entrepreneurs. The reason for blocking a current account may be non-payment of taxes, customs duties, and alimony, depending on which service applied this measure. Who else can “freeze” an individual entrepreneur’s account? What actions to take in this case? We'll find out more about this later.

Who can block?

As part of the exercise of its powers, the tax service has the right, along with issuing a ban on the alienation of the debtor’s property, to block his current account. This interim measure is enshrined in Art. 72 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. If this happens, the individual entrepreneur will not be able to use such a necessary tool for business as a current account for its intended purpose: pay contractors, withdraw cash from it.

In modern realities, when an increasing number of business entities are switching to non-cash payments, blocking can be very effective. It encourages the taxpayer to quickly repay the debt to the budget, since delay threatens losses and loss of trust of partners, and activities are completely paralyzed. At the same time, the entrepreneur will not be able to open a new account, and not a single bank will go against the tax authorities’ decision.

In addition to the Federal Tax Service, other government services can also issue a decision to suspend the movement of funds:

• Rosfinmonitoring;
• customs Service;
• Bailiffs Service.

Like tax authorities, customs have reasons to apply this measure. This applies to those businessmen who import imported goods into our country and must pay customs duties for them. This procedure is prescribed in Art. 155 of Law No. 311-FZ of November 27, 2010 “On Customs Regulation”.

If an individual entrepreneur has allowed the formation of a significant debt with penalties and fines, then these amounts will be collected through the court. Do not forget that an individual entrepreneur can also be liable for the debts of an individual. Like any person, he may have unpaid alimony or utility bills. As part of enforcement proceedings for collection, bailiffs may conduct an inspection of all the debtor’s property, and his accounts may be “frozen.”

Attention! Even if an individual entrepreneur has a large amount of debt to the extra-budgetary funds of the Pension Fund and the Social Insurance Fund, they do not have the right to contact credit institutions to block expenditure transactions on the accounts of their debtors. But this does not mean that the debt will be forgiven. Now the Federal Tax Service is in charge of administering insurance premiums, and this body has all the powers to apply such strict measures.

In addition to government agencies, the bank itself can prohibit transactions on an account.

Can the tax office block an individual entrepreneur’s account?

1. Blocking the current account of an organization or individual entrepreneur due to failure to comply with tax payment requirements
   According to paragraph 2 of Article 76 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the Federal Tax Service can initiate blocking of the current account of an individual entrepreneur in the event of failure to comply with requirements for payment of tax payments. In this case, blocking is possible only within the amount of unpaid tax specified in the request. Tax officials freeze all RS of a legal entity (IP), which entails some problems for entrepreneurs.

   Let's look at an example. The organization (IP) owns three current accounts. Each of them contains 10,000 rubles. The Federal Tax Service creates a requirement according to which the amount of recovery is 7,000 rubles. In this case, the tax office blocks all RS of the organization (IP) for the specified amount. Thus, the company (IP) can only use those funds that exceed the blocked amount on each of the current accounts. In other words, an organization (IP) can only cash out 3,000 rubles from each RS.

   As a result, the following situation arises: the amount of demands of the Federal Tax Service is 7,000 rubles, and 21,000 rubles are frozen from the organization (IP). In such circumstances, a legal entity (IP) can contact the Federal Tax Service with a request to unblock excessively blocked PCs. To do this, you need to write a corresponding application.

   Writing an application for unblocking is advisable even in cases where the entrepreneur can immediately pay the debt. Why? Because the process of crediting money to the current accounts of the Federal Tax Service can take several days (up to 3 business days), since these transfers go through the treasury. The Federal Tax Service unblocks the RS not on the day the debt is paid, but on the day the funds arrive in its current accounts. This can happen in two or three days.

   If there is an urgent need to use his funds, an entrepreneur can contact the Federal Tax Service with a request to unblock the remaining PCs on the same day.

Why is the tax office blocking?

The law clearly defines the list of reasons due to which transactions on the current account of an individual entrepreneur may be suspended. They can be found in Art. 76 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, and this list is closed. Based on the provisions of this article, we can identify situations that will entail this measure of compulsory enforcement:

1. The individual entrepreneur has arrears of taxes or insurance premiums, the inspectorate sent him a demand for payment, but he ignored it. The interim measure of blocking is imposed only on the amount specified in the decision of the tax authority; the remaining funds can be freely used.
   

   Attention! If a taxpayer receives a registered letter from the tax office, but he does not receive it, whether for a good reason or simply out of unwillingness, this will not relieve him of liability. The request is considered sent if it is sent by registered mail.

2. The businessman did not report within the deadline established for filing a declaration or paying insurance premiums. 10 days after the deadline, a decision is made to block the account.
   

   Important! If an individual entrepreneur is entrusted with the obligation to submit a declaration in accordance with the chosen taxation regime, then he must do this even if he has no income, or when he did not work. In this case, “zero” reporting is prepared. Errors or typos in the declaration will not in themselves lead to blocking of the account, but then you will need to submit corrective reports.

3. The entrepreneur violates the rules of electronic circulation of documents with the tax authority and does not send receipts for receipt of documents via feedback via TKS. This applies to those individuals who use electronic communication channels to interact with the tax authorities. The individual entrepreneur must send confirmation of receipt of notifications within 6 days. If he does not do this, then the inspection’s response in the form of blocking operations occurs after 10 days.
4. After an audit, the tax office made a decision against the individual entrepreneur to impose administrative liability, for example, in the form of a fine. For this decision to come into force, a certain time must pass, during which the taxpayer can sell or pledge his property and withdraw all money from his accounts. To avoid this, inspectors may impose a ban on the alienation of property or block the debtor's accounts.

In all of the above cases, the tax authorities’ actions are justified by law. As for banks, they are obliged to obey the decision of the state executive body and fulfill the collection order to write off the debt. The blocking of funds on the account may remain in effect until the debt is fully repaid.

How does a bank block a current account?

When financial monitoring notices a suspicious transfer, a bank employee calls the entrepreneur to understand the details: where the money came from, for what service and under what agreement. The questions may seem too intrusive or personal. In fact, the task of a financial monitoring officer is to make sure that the entrepreneur does not violate the law and help avoid blocking the account.

However, if the bank receives a request from a court or tax office, the account is blocked immediately. It will not be possible to withdraw money from a blocked account. The bank blocks cash withdrawals and transfers to other accounts. An exception is payment of wages, alimony, and sick leave.

Why is the bank blocking?

All banks in our country are subordinate to the Central Bank. They are required to comply with federal laws, orders and guidelines. One of the most recent legislative acts is the Central Bank Methodological Recommendations No. 4-MR dated 02/02/2017. They were created to identify and stop dubious transactions that are used by unscrupulous individuals for the purpose of:

• evasion of taxes and other obligatory payments;
• withdrawal of funds abroad;
• laundering (legalization) of funds earned by criminal means;
• providing financial support to terrorism.

Each bank has its own security service, which monitors all customer transactions, identifying dubious transactions among them. Particular attention is paid to transfers of amounts in large and especially large amounts (from 600 thousand rubles and 1.5 million rubles, respectively). To identify suspicious clients, bank employees focus on the following signs:

• if the share of taxes and other obligatory payments paid is less than 0.9% of all expenditure transactions, or the person artificially inflates this figure;
• if an individual entrepreneur has a staff of employees, but wages are not transferred from the current account to them, accordingly, personal income tax is not withheld and insurance premiums are not paid, or the wage fund is so small that it does not correspond to the number of employees, the minimum wage and the subsistence level;
• the cash turnover is very high, compared to the maximum stated when opening the account, and the money is constantly written off without a balance;
• funds are written off for purposes other than their intended purpose, transactions are not typical of the businessman’s activities (no payments for rent, for housing and communal services, etc.).

Important! The bank considers all these criteria in aggregate and on a systematic basis. If a client pays to the budget at a time for a certain tax period an amount that is less than 0.9% of the total turnover, then his current account will not be blocked.

Sometimes the blocking of transactions initiated by the bank in 2021 is due to a reason that the client cannot influence in any way: the revocation of the license by the Central Bank. Many people have faced this problem over the past three years, especially clients of small credit institutions. In this regard, only reliable banks, which value their reputation rather than the number of clients, can provide at least some bank guarantees to fund holders.

What else could cause a bank to block an individual entrepreneur’s account?

In order to avoid freezing your current account (card), you need to understand its main reasons. These include:

• Carrying out transactions the amount of which exceeds RUB 600,000 . Rosfinmonitoring mandatory checks such operations. If employees of the financial monitoring department have any doubts, they can block the RS.
• Redirecting an individual entrepreneur from his personal account of a fairly large amount to a personal card opened by him in another bank . We are talking about amounts exceeding 100–200 thousand rubles. (and in some cases even 20,000 rubles). Such a translation is not a violation of the law. Nevertheless, bank employees, without understanding it, can block an individual entrepreneur’s personal card. It is more expedient to open an individual entrepreneur’s current account and a personal card in one banking institution.
• Carrying out numerous transactions to transfer funds to the personal accounts of individuals . Bank employees may be suspicious of the entrepreneur's monthly transfers of small amounts to third parties from the individual entrepreneur's current account (card). Also, this situation may be of interest to employees of the Federal Tax Service, since, from their point of view, an individual entrepreneur can thus make settlements with his unregistered employees, thereby evading paying taxes.
• Late payment of tax payments . The Federal Tax Service controls individual entrepreneur contributions and, if necessary, can initiate verification and blocking of the current account. The bank limits the movement of funds in the entrepreneur's current account. Unlocking a PC in such a situation is not an easy process.
• The operations carried out under the RS do not correspond to the activities of the individual entrepreneur . Let’s say the activity of an entrepreneur is related to the provision of tourism services to the population. In this case, a payment whose purpose will indicate “purchase of raw materials” will certainly raise questions from bank employees.
• RS operations are associated with the transfer of money to RS (cards) of individuals who are terrorists, extremists, or organizations related to such persons . The entrepreneur's lack of information about the terrorist activities of the counterparty does not exempt him from liability. Therefore, we once again emphasize the need to check all counterparties.

Why is Rosfinmonitoring blocking?

There is a special authorized body for supervision in the financial sector - Rosfinmonitoring. This service operates in accordance with the provisions of Federal Law No. 115-FZ of August 7, 2001 “On Combating Income Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism.” The banks themselves must comply with this law; it is for violations discovered during an audit of their activities that many of these institutions have lost their license over the past few years.

As judicial practice 115-FZ shows, Rosfinmonitoring applies strict sanctions to those who arouse suspicion by their manner of doing business. What might attract the attention of this service? Such situations are when:

• the identity of the director is suspicious, his status may hint at a nominee if several companies are registered under him;
• Questionable payments are often made using inappropriate details and activity codes;
• it is not possible to establish the location of the organization due to the absence of a legal address, or this address falls under the criteria for mass registration;
• the company did not transmit information to the bank about changes in the constituent documentation;
• a businessman often withdraws money from his account, but does not pay taxes by non-cash payment, or the share of these payments is extremely small compared to the total turnover;
• there is no variety in the description of the purpose of operations if the same basis is present;
• the entrepreneur makes transfers to persons who are accomplices of terrorists.

All banks are afraid of the Rosfinmonitoring service, so it is easier for them to apply harsh sanctions against several of their clients who are suspicious than to take a risk and lose their licenses.

Can a bank block an individual entrepreneur's account?

It is no secret that the finances of individual entrepreneurs are not divided into work and personal. This point has been clarified several times by the Constitutional Court. Individual entrepreneurs do not have the obligation to report to government agencies on the directions of distribution of funds (including personal funds) when conducting business.

However, according to the Federal Law on Anti-Money Laundering, banks must verify all transactions of their clients. This is handled by the financial monitoring service, the main functions of which are tracking payments, analyzing and assessing client behavior, and generating requests for clients to provide the necessary documentation. The main task of the financial monitoring service is the timely detection and suppression of cases of money laundering or financing of terrorist groups.

If bank employees have any suspicions, they can ask the client for clarifying questions. If the client avoids answering, the financial monitoring service blocks his RS.

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.

How to check?

The official website of the Federal Tax Service has an expanded service, the capabilities of which allow you to check information about current decisions and suspensions. Its abbreviated name is “Bankinform”, the link to it is https://service.nalog.ru/bi.do. To get the result, just follow a few steps:

1. Select the desired request type.
2. Enter the details of the subject being checked: TIN and BIC of the bank.
3. Pass the verification code and submit a request for processing.
4. Receive a response in real time with the date of blocking and details of the Federal Tax Service that made such a decision.

Attention! The data in this database is freely available. Here you can find up-to-date information about all business entities: LLC, individual entrepreneur. Therefore, before concluding large transactions with counterparties, you can ask where to find information about blocking their current accounts. This measure will allow you to avoid the consequences of doing business with unreliable partners.

How to unlock?

Since this strict measure was applied to induce the payer to take some action, in order to cancel the blocking, this action must be completed. Therefore, before doing anything, it is important to know exactly the initiator of the sanction and its reason. Such information can be obtained from the bank's help desk.

Depending on who applied the blocking operation, you need to do the following:

1. If the decision was made by the Federal Tax Service, then the deadline for unblocking the tax account is as follows: on the day the decision to cancel is made, if the measure was taken to ensure the collection of the debt at the expense of the debtor’s property; 1 business day after repayment of the debt, filing a declaration, and sending receipts for the receipt of electronic documents ;2 business days if the taxpayer replenishes the account with an amount suitable to pay the debt, or provides details of other accounts. In each of these cases, the tax office must notify the bank no later than the next day.
2. If the bank has blocked it, and the reason for this does not depend on the client’s actions, then you need to get a written explanation. To do this, you need to submit a written request there and receive a response within two days. This document will be useful in the future to assert your rights.
3. If the blocking was done by bailiffs, then you must first find out the amount of the debt and pay it off. This can be done on the department’s website, where you can pay by bank transfer and save the receipt. After submitting the check to the bailiffs, the unlocking process may take about a month.
4. If the blocking occurred on the initiative of Rosfinmonitoring, then it will be necessary to collect many supporting documents justifying the legality of the operations performed.

Important! To avoid unnecessary questions related to compliance with 115-FZ, an entrepreneur must save all documents related to the business: lease agreements, supplies, receipts for the purchase of consumables, equipment repairs, etc.

Illegal blocking

The procedure for applying this interim measure has many nuances. A businessman who finds himself in this unpleasant situation must not only know his rights well, but also have an idea of ​​​​the work procedure of the body that blocked the account. Violations of these provisions make blocking illegal. Most often, this sanction is unlawful if:

• it was initiated by a body that does not have such powers, for example, the Pension Fund, Social Insurance Fund or Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund;
• the decision was made regarding the type of account to which this measure cannot apply, for example, loan, deposit, transit accounts;
• the taxpayer is already bankrupt;
• the decision to suspend was not sent in accordance with the form;
• the deadline for sending a tax demand for payment of the debt was violated, or the letter was sent by regular mail (not registered);
• the business entity violated the deadline for submitting financial statements, while submitting the tax return on time;
• the taxpayer made inaccuracies in the declaration, but submitted it on time;
• The deadline for filing tax reports was missed through no fault of the individual entrepreneur: it was delayed by the post office or the operator of electronic communication channels.

How to deal with illegal actions of the regulatory body, are there any levers of influence for them? You can defend your case in a higher authority, for the Federal Tax Service this is the Tax Service Department for the subject of the Federation. Usually it is located in the capital of the republic, or a large regional city. If this does not help, then you can complain directly to the Arbitration Court. As arbitration practice shows, it is quite possible to appeal an illegal decision, and the victim can receive interest from the inspectorate for each day of illegal blocking.

Thus, one of the important tools for doing business is a current account. The suspension of expenditure transactions on it greatly slows down activity. To avoid falling under this sanction, you need to pay taxes and other obligatory payments on time.

Account blocking under Federal Law 115

One fine day, a businessman may discover that his account is blocked. What to do in this case, is it possible to get your money and how to make payments with counterparties?

The reasons for freezing an account are dubious transactions that are carried out on your account. For example, you have deposited a large amount into your account in small payments over a long period of time or, conversely, you are constantly withdrawing large limits. Banks do not like such transactions and are often grounds for blocking.

According to Federal Law 115, a credit institution has the right to freeze any account if it suspects that you are engaged in money laundering, that is, you are trying to carry out transactions that make illegally obtained funds legal.

It follows from the law that the blocking is carried out at the initiative of the bank. Each of them has a financial monitoring service that closely monitors transactions on the accounts of all clients. Most often, individual entrepreneurs and small businesses are subject to account freezes. It is their activity that involves frequent withdrawals and deposits of cash, which arouses the suspicions of banks.

True, credit institutions also employ people who can make mistakes. And often accounts are blocked without reason. For example, you are a law-abiding citizen, running a “correct” business and are in no way connected with criminal blockings. In this case, a claim for illegal blocking of your account by the bank will help.

However, the consequences of freezing even when drawing up such a document will be disappointing. You will have to prove that the transactions on the account are legal. To do this, you will need to provide all documents confirming this fact. They should reflect all amounts that passed through your account before the blocking. Only after carefully studying the documents provided do banks decide to unfreeze the client’s account.

Reasons for blocking under 115 Federal Law

Let's take a closer look at the reasons for account blocking. The legislation gives banks this right if there are the following reasons:

• if one of the counterparties is a terrorist (their base is located in any bank. And even if you did not know who you were dealing with, then blocking definitely cannot be avoided);
• when carrying out transactions worth more than 600,000 rubles (this is the limit that raises suspicions in Rosfinmonitoring. It doesn’t matter whether you withdraw money, deposit it or transfer it to someone);
• the parties to the transaction conduct operations on behalf of wanted persons;
• the bank has suspicions that the documents you submitted to confirm the legality of the transaction carried out on the account are real;
• The Federal Tax Service became interested in your account and instructed the bank to freeze the account (the tax office also monitors transactions on bank client accounts);
• if a large number of money transfers are made from an organization to individuals.

Read: Blocking of current account by the tax office

How to find out if an account is blocked and for how long

If the bank blocks your account, you will know about it as soon as possible. You will not be able to carry out any operations using it. It is impossible to deposit money, withdraw it or send it even to your own card. In your personal account, only the option to view your balance will be available. Agree, the prospect is not pleasant.

You can learn about account blocking from a bank employee. To do this, you need to go to the department and fill out an application to communicate the reasons for the freezing. The specialist will make a request to the appropriate bank service and then provide you with written notification. True, some banks neglect this action and do not inform clients about the reasons.

In any case, all operations are suspended, and you can only wait. The average account blocking period is 1.5 months. At this time you will not be able to dispose of it. The sooner supporting documents are provided, the sooner the bank will consider your application for unlocking.

It is better not to delay this, since in this case your business may lose profit, and you will also have to look for alternative ways of settlements with counterparties and government agencies, in addition to a bank account.

Often the most “sober” solution in such a situation is to close the account. Sometimes banks take too long to review documents, which has a detrimental effect on business, especially if the amount in the account is large. If you terminate the agreement with the bank, you will have access to your own funds.

How to avoid account blocking

By following some rules, you can avoid account freezing. During any banking operation you need to be extremely careful, and our table will help you understand their intricacies.

What to do if your account is blocked

Many businessmen believe that if one account is blocked, it will not be difficult to open another account and continue activities. However, they are wrong. Even if you contact another credit institution, you may be refused to open a new account.

As soon as your account is frozen, this information is sent to all banks, and therefore contacting another bank will not correct the situation. This measure is legal, and you have no right to oppose it.

If your account is blocked, you will need to follow these steps to get access to your money as quickly as possible:

• find out the reason for the freeze (the bank will provide you with a written response on the basis of which you need to proceed further);
• prepare a package of documents justifying account transactions (for example, papers confirming a large purchase for business purposes);
• if the account is blocked by a court decision, then you need to file an appeal (the court will consider the situation and, if it does not find reasons for freezing, then your account will quickly become available);
• If possible, contact legal companies that provide advice. Situations are different, and experienced specialists will tell you how to figure it out faster;
• close the account if the bank takes a long time and does not meet you halfway (if you really carried out transactions within the law).