What to do if the tax office has blocked your current account

1. What are the consequences of blocking a current account?
2. How does the tax office decide to block a current account?
3. On what basis can the tax office block a current account?
4. How to unblock a current account
5. In what cases is a current account blocked illegally?
6. How to challenge a tax service decision
7. How to reduce the risk of blocking your current account: 5 tips

What are the consequences of blocking a current account?

If your account is blocked, you will not be able to make any expense transactions: make payments to the budget, issue salaries to employees, pay for the services of a contractor, or buy goods. The only type of permitted payments in such a situation is through writs of execution. These include alimony, collection of moral damages, severance pay and payment of taxes on orders received by the bank before the date of the decision to block the account.

You will not be able to open a new account in another bank to direct your financial flows there. On the website of the Federal Tax Service (hereinafter referred to as the Federal Tax Service) there is a service for checking whether expense transactions have been suspended on the accounts of organizations and individual entrepreneurs. Before opening an account for a potential client, all banks are required to track him through this service. If an organization has frozen accounts, the bank will refuse to open a new account (Clause 12 of Article 76 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). It is impossible to close a blocked account.

Before large transactions, check whether your current account is blocked. Use the Federal Tax Service service: just enter the INN and BIC of your bank.

Why does the Federal Tax Service block a current account?

Let's start with the fact that it is necessary to distinguish between blocking under No. 115-FZ and the suspension of expense transactions by decision of the Federal Tax Service. In the first case, banks completely refuse service to a client if there is suspicion of him receiving illegal income. Such refusals are not always based on real grounds; in addition, banks are not required to provide a specific reason for blocking.

However, many large banks are loyal to small businesses. We recommend our users to study the offers of Sberbank, Alfa Bank and Tochka. These lending institutions were able to find the right balance between business interests and their own.

The blocking of a current account by the tax inspectorate occurs on the grounds listed in Article 76 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

1. Debt on taxes, contributions, fees, fines or penalties.
2. Failure to submit a tax return or calculation of insurance premiums on time.
3. Failure to fulfill the obligation to accept documents from the Federal Tax Service, sent via TKS through an electronic document management operator.
4. Failure to comply with the requirements of the tax authority to provide explanations.

Another reason for blocking transactions on a current account is specified in Article 101 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation - as an interim measure when brought to justice for a tax offense.

Thus, in order to avoid problems with blocking, it is necessary to fulfill the taxpayer’s duties on time: transfer payments to the budget, submit reports, respond to the inspection’s requests for explanations.

How does the tax office decide to block a current account?

Most often, the sequestration of funds in bank accounts is carried out by the desk department of the Federal Tax Service Inspectorate (hereinafter referred to as the Federal Tax Service Inspectorate). Its employees check all incoming declarations and other reporting from payers. They are the ones who monitor the timeliness of submission and correct completion of tax reporting, and exchange electronic documents via telecommunication channels (hereinafter referred to as TCS).

Having discovered a violation, a specialist from the office department draws up a document - a decision to bring the violator to justice, endorses it from the head of the inspection and seizes the payer’s bank account.

The tax office sends the decision to suspend transactions on accounts to the bank and the organization itself no later than the next day after its adoption. The decision is sent to the bank by email, and to the taxpayer by registered mail. Often, an entrepreneur receives a letter when the account is already blocked.

Having received a tax decision, the bank is obliged to immediately execute it and notify the Federal Tax Service of the amount of funds in the payer’s current account. Some banks inform their clients about the seizure of the current account and the suspension of operations - this is a personal initiative of the banks; by law they are not obliged to do this.

To stay informed about the status of your current account, use remote banking systems - it’s faster than receiving registered letters from the tax office.

When the arrest is lifted after submitting the required reports

The deadline for unblocking the account after submitting reports, on the basis of clause. 1 clause 3.1 art. 76 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation is determined by the time the tax authority made a decision to lift the suspension of operations on the account. In this case, the starting point in the calculation is the submission by the taxpayer of a declaration to the tax office.

After fulfilling the obligation to submit reports, the Federal Tax Service Inspectorate, no later than the next working day, makes a decision to cancel the arrest and sends it to the bank. The bank, in turn, executes the decision within one day.

Consequently, the period for removing the seizure from the account will be no more than three working days.

On what basis does the tax office have the right to block a current account?

Article 76 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation gives tax authorities the right to seize ruble and foreign currency current accounts for the following reasons:

Blocked due to non-payment of taxes

With this formulation, only the amount of debt for tax payments, accrued fines and penalties is blocked. All other money remains available for settlement transactions. If an organization has suspended operations on several current accounts, and there are enough funds to pay the arrears on one of them, send an application to the Federal Tax Service Inspectorate indicating the details of the required account and copies of bank statements confirming this fact. The seizure from other accounts must be removed within 2 days from the date of filing the application.

If there is not enough money in the account, the bank will write off all incoming funds from the current account until the debt is repaid in full. To speed up the removal of the arrest, the payer can deposit the missing amount into the account in cash. In any case, the account of an organization or entrepreneur will be unblocked only after all arrears have been received into the budget.

In case of non-payment of taxes, penalties and fines, blocking of current accounts is possible only after a decision is made to collect the debt amount. This usually happens if the taxpayer ignored the preliminary request of the Federal Tax Service for voluntary repayment of the debt or did not receive it.

Tax reporting not submitted

In this case, the account will remain blocked until the Federal Tax Service receives the required declaration or calculation. Art. 88 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation in paragraph 2 provides a 3-month period for conducting a desk audit. Therefore, the Federal Tax Service will detect missing reports within 2 weeks to 3 months from the end of the reporting period, or less often later. The taxpayer's account will be seized within 10 days from the moment the violation is discovered, while 3 years is the maximum period during which sanctions for such a violation are applicable.

Did not send confirmation receipt of receipt of the Federal Tax Service's request

According to the law, the taxpayer has 5 days to send to the Federal Tax Service a receipt confirming the acceptance of the TKS requirements for a summons to the inspectorate or the provision of documents and explanations. The TCS document flow between the tax office and payers is systematized: if the confirmation receipt is missing from the system for more than 5 days, the system itself will inform the inspector about the need to seize it. In this case, the decision is made within 10 days from the moment the violation is discovered, that is, no later than 16 days from the moment the tax office sends the request.

As a result of the on-site inspection, arrears or a fine were accrued

Sometimes inspectors conduct an on-site inspection of the taxpayer, identify non-payment of taxes, and assess fines and penalties. And then debit transactions on the debtor’s current accounts can be suspended as an interim measure. The head of the Federal Tax Service approves the on-site inspection report, and the decision to block the current account is sent to the bank, and a copy of it is sent to the organization.

The above reasons are the only grounds for suspending operations on the current accounts of an organization or entrepreneur in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. If the account is blocked for other reasons, you have the right to appeal to the arbitration court to challenge the seizure.

If your account is blocked for illegal reasons, contact the arbitration court.

What happens when an account is blocked

When blocked, the money remains in the account, but you cannot use it freely. Depending on the reason for the blocking, all money or a specific amount in each open account is “frozen”. The bank prohibits spending blocked money, except for expenses on:

• compensation for harm to life and health under a writ of execution;
• alimony;
• employee salaries;
• payment of taxes and insurance premiums.

If you find out that your account has been blocked, the bank usually informs you immediately about it. The procedure is as follows:

1. Do not panic.
2. Find out the reason for blocking the account.
3. Eliminate this cause.
4. Wait until the account is blocked.

How to unblock a current account?

To quickly unblock your current account, follow one of two schemes.

Find out the reason for blocking your current account

Contact the desk audit department of the Federal Tax Service at the place of registration of your company. When visiting the tax office in person, the tax director will need a passport, and the representative of the organization will need a passport and power of attorney. Employees of the desk audit department can tell you about the reasons for blocking an account over the phone, to do this, give the number and date of the decision, they can be found on the Federal Tax Service website or from employees of your bank.

Fulfill tax requirements: pay tax, submit a return or confirm receipt of a tax request...

Find out the cause and eliminate the violations. Provide documents that confirm payment of tax, submission of a declaration or receipt of a request for TKS during electronic document management with the Federal Tax Service.

...or provide a guarantee of payment of taxes if they are confirmed to be justified

If the reason for the arrest is non-payment of taxes, penalties or fines in a significant amount, you can avoid blocking the account. To continue working with your current account and calmly deal with the claims of the Federal Tax Service, replace the seizure of funds in your current account with other financial instruments. Provide the tax authorities with a bank guarantee, issue a pledge or guarantee from third parties. It is important to know that the tax office will accept a bank guarantee only if it is included in a special list of the Ministry of Finance.

A bank guarantee is an obligation of the bank, at the request of the Federal Tax Service, to transfer the required amount for the taxpayer. In other words, the bank gives a targeted loan to the organization to pay off the claims of the tax authorities.

To issue a guarantee, submit an application to the bank, provide reports and, after agreeing on all the conditions, attach the bank guarantee agreement to the application to remove the seizure from the current account. Interest rates on the guarantee are always significantly lower than on other loan products.

If the tax debt for the organization will be paid by a third party (for example, a parent or affiliated organization, founder, etc.), then a guarantee agreement is concluded between the payer and the Federal Tax Service. After signing a guarantee or pledge agreement, the Federal Tax Service must unblock the organization’s current account.

Notify the tax service that the violation has been eliminated

Send the documents to the Federal Tax Service using the taxpayer’s account or provide them to the inspectorate.

Be sure to include a statement requesting to cancel the seizure of the current account.

Application form to cancel the decision to block a current account

If the reasons for blocking the account are eliminated, debit transactions on the bank account must be resumed no later than the next business day.

Find out the reason for the blockage, eliminate it and notify the tax office. If you did everything correctly, your account will be unblocked the next business day.

How to unblock a current account

So, we figured out how to find out about the blocking of a bank account by decision of the Federal Tax Service. To restore expense transactions, you must first find out the reason. If it is known, then all that remains is to comply with the requirements of the tax authorities: submit a declaration or report, pay the arrears or fine, send a receipt for acceptance of the Federal Tax Service’s request, ensure that information is received via the TKS.

The time frame for canceling a decision to suspend operations is short - no later than one day from the date the inspectorate receives information about compliance with the requirements. At the same time, the procedure can be speeded up if you personally bring to the Federal Tax Service a statement that the payment to the budget has been made. The application is written in free form, attaching copies of payment documents. The same should be done with reporting. There is no need to send the declaration by mail, because in this case its receipt by the tax office will be delayed.

Examples of illegal blocking of a current account

Sometimes inspectors exceed their powers and block the accounts of organizations and entrepreneurs illegally. This happens when employees of the Federal Tax Service do not want to understand a situation that arose due to an ambiguous interpretation of a legal norm, a technical error in a document, or untimely actions of tax officials.

The current account is frozen before the end of the period for voluntary execution of the decision and the entry into force of the decision of the tax inspectorate

For example, an individual entrepreneur has not paid tax according to the simplified tax system. The Federal Tax Service sends a demand for payment, which must be executed within 10 days from the date of receipt. Often, already on the 8th or 9th day, the tax office suspends transactions on your bank account and cuts off your oxygen. Submit or send a tax application and indicate in it that transactions on the current account have been suspended in violation. Then the illegal arrest will be lifted.

Current account blocked for failure to submit reports to the Pension Fund

The pension fund does not have the right to suspend transactions on accounts. It is within his competence only to send a collection order to collect the arrears. If there are sufficient funds in the account, it is executed immediately, and if there is not enough money, it is executed as it arrives. If the Pension Fund of Russia has violated this rule, write an application to the head of the territorial department of the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation to cancel the blocking and file a claim with the arbitration court.

You did not submit a declaration to the Federal Tax Service on time due to the fault of a third party

If you sent the declaration on time, but it was not delivered: it was lost in the mail or a technical failure occurred - it is not your fault. Provide tax confirmation of the fact of sending, and the blocking will be lifted no later than the next business day. If it is not removed, you have the right to go to court.

Loan, deposit and other accounts that are not related to settlement and cash services have been blocked

The Federal Tax Service has the right to block only those accounts that are opened for the purpose of settlement and cash services for the organization. Credit, loan, deposit, and transit accounts are not subject to arrest.

The account is blocked based on the results of an on-site audit if the taxpayer has property or fixed assets

This is one of the preventive measures, its purpose is to collect as many taxes and fines accrued as a result of on-site inspections. To prevent an entrepreneur or organization from evading subsequent payments, the Federal Tax Service decides to block the current account.

The arrest is imposed on the payer’s funds in the amount of the debt to the budget identified during the audit. Tax authorities can apply this measure only if the organization does not have property with which to collect the debt, or if it is insufficient. In all other cases, blocking is illegal.

For example, an LLC owns 3 office premises and 2 vehicles. The total value of the enterprise's property is estimated at 17 million rubles. Based on the results of the on-site audit, the tax authority assessed additional VAT and income tax to the organization. The total amount of the identified arrears is 1.4 million rubles. After the inspection is completed, the servicing bank receives a request from the Federal Tax Service to impose a ban on debit transactions on the LLC’s current account in order to ensure the collection of arrears. This requirement is illegal, and here's why.

The organization's property - 17 million rubles - is quite enough to collect unpaid taxes, penalties and fines - 1.4 million rubles. The decision to suspend operations even in the amount of 1.4 million rubles contradicts the requirements of the law and violates the rights of the organization.

Results

Blocking a current account is one of the sanctions applied to individual entrepreneurs who commit certain types of tax offenses. It is carried out by the bank, but it is done by decision of the Federal Tax Service. The main reasons for imposing such a sanction are non-payment of taxes, insurance premiums, penalties or fines, as well as failure to submit tax reports. During the blocking period, opening other current accounts is prohibited. To remove the blocking, it is necessary to eliminate the cause that caused it.

Sources: Tax Code of the Russian Federation

You can find more complete information on the topic in ConsultantPlus. Free trial access to the system for 2 days.

How to challenge the decision of the Federal Tax Service

The purpose of interim measures on the part of the tax authorities is to guarantee future payments, and not to deprive the taxpayer of the opportunity to conduct his professional activities. Sometimes tax authorities have to remind you of this.

If the deadlines for imposing or removing the arrest from the current account, or its illegal blocking, are violated, the organization suffers losses: penalties and fines for late credit, rental and other payments increase, profitable deals are disrupted or existing contracts are terminated. By filing a claim with the arbitration court at the location of the tax authority, you will receive compensation for losses if you can document their amount.

If you find yourself in a situation where your account is blocked illegally, act!

Prepare objections to the decision to block the account

In your objections, write in detail what exactly the violation of your rights is. For example, blocking an entire current account as an interim measure is disproportionate to the amount of unpaid tax; the organization has property that can act as a guarantee of fulfillment of tax obligations and other reasons. Attach documents proving the legality of the payer's claims (these may be documents confirming the right of ownership of property and others).

An example of objections to a decision to unlawfully block an organization’s current account due to failure to submit a quarterly report in Form 6-NDFL

Send objections to higher authorities of the Federal Tax Service

Submit your objections to the blocking decision to the higher authorities of the Federal Tax Service - usually this is the regional or regional department of the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation. If the objections are not satisfied, you should apply for protection of your rights to the arbitration court at the location of the payer.

State duty and deadlines for consideration of the case

For consideration of a case in court, a state fee is charged in the amount of 4% of the value of the claim, but not less than 2,000 rubles. The usual review period is 3 - 4 months. Claims in such cases are justified by Art. 16 Civil Code of the Russian Federation, art. 1069 Civil Code of the Russian Federation, clause 9.2 art. 76 Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Rules for filing applications to the court, payment details and state duty calculators are posted on the websites of arbitration courts.

Tax inspectors also make mistakes and, as civil servants, are required to bear responsibility for breaking the law. Recently, an increasing number of entrepreneurs and organizations have won cases in court and received compensation.

Reasons for blocking

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 are temporarily suspended:

• the legal entity was late in submitting a tax return to the Federal Tax Service by 20 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 20 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 No. 03-02-08/22548, such documents include requirements for the submission of documents and for the provision of explanations and notification of summoning representatives of the organization to the tax office.

In addition, financial transactions are 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 Federal Tax Service makes a decision on interim measures in the form of a ban on the alienation (pledge) of all property of such a legal entity. The reason depends on what to do if the Federal Tax Service has blocked the current account and how to unblock it as soon as possible.

IMPORTANT!

In 2022, the Federal Tax Service will inform taxpayers about upcoming restrictions in case of failure to submit reports 14 days before the event. During this time, it is allowed to eliminate the violation and avoid sanctions.

It must be said right away that the Pension Fund, the Social Insurance Fund and Rosstat do not have the right to block transactions in banks for organizations and individual entrepreneurs. As well 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 apply this measure even if a calculation of insurance premiums is not provided.

Let's consider what to do if the tax office has blocked a bank account for an organization or individual entrepreneur, in more detail in different situations.

How to reduce the risk of blocking your current account

Any organization or entrepreneur may face blocking of their current account. If the inspector has seized the funds of a business entity legally, the taxpayer should eliminate the identified violation.

Sometimes the reasons for blocking are illegal, and then the organization will have to challenge the Federal Tax Service’s decision to suspend operations on the account in an arbitration court.

To minimize the risk of your current account being seized, we recommend following simple rules.

Tip No. 1. Monitor the work of the accountant

To minimize the likelihood of funds being seized, submit reports and pay taxes on time. If your accounting is carried out by a third-party accountant or outsourced firm, carefully select partners and monitor how your taxpayer obligations are fulfilled.

Tip No. 2. Manage current accounts through remote banking systems

A registered letter from the tax office about the suspension of transactions can take several days, or even weeks, and through banking systems you receive information about movements in the account and seizures immediately. By maintaining a remote connection with the bank, you will begin to resolve the problem faster.

Tip No. 3. Open several current accounts in different banks

Current accounts opened in different banks can simplify the life of the payer after the account is blocked. If one of them has enough funds to satisfy the claims of the tax authorities, the second will be unlocked upon your application, and you will be able to freely carry out monetary transactions through it.

Tip #4: Use available organization verification services

Make it a rule to regularly check your current accounts for arrests through the Federal Tax Service, especially before large receipts or write-offs. If you have lines of credit (overdrafts) open to your accounts, you should be especially careful to avoid defaulting on your loans due to a freeze.

How to avoid blocking your account by the tax office

1. You have the right to replace the blocking of account settlement with a bank guarantee (the bank must be listed in the list of the Ministry of Finance), a pledge of securities, or a third party guarantee.
2. You can remove the blocking of a current account if the tax authorities committed violations when they made a decision to freeze the account. First, file a complaint with a higher tax authority. If the inspection does not satisfy the complaint, go to court.
3. Monitor whether the accountant submits declarations, personal income tax calculations, and receipts on time.

If you eliminate all violations, your account will be unblocked. This will happen no later than one day after the tax authorities receive the required documents or amounts.