Bankruptcy initiated by the Federal Tax Service: what threatens tax debts

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Author of the article: Konstantin Milantiev

Last revised February 05, 2022

Reading time 10 minutes

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Bankruptcy for a debtor is a way to get rid of debts once and for all. Bankruptcy for a creditor is an opportunity to collect a debt when all other methods of collecting it have failed.

The situation when the tax office has filed for bankruptcy of a debtor is emerging more and more often, although it mainly concerns individual entrepreneurs and legal entities. Once you owe money to the tax authorities, you can join the ranks of bankruptcy.

Let's figure out who may face bankruptcy at the initiative of the tax authorities, how it happens and what the debtor should do.

Who is at risk of bankruptcy at the initiative of the tax authorities: conditions

The tax office can file a bankruptcy petition with the court for the debtor, both if he is an individual (including an individual entrepreneur) and if he is a legal entity.

For the court to recognize the appeal as lawful and justified, the delay must be more than 3 months, and the amount of the debt must be:

• in the case of an individual and individual entrepreneur - more than 500,000 rubles;
• in the case of a legal entity - more than 300,000 rubles.

The right to file an application for bankruptcy of the debtor arises from the tax office no earlier than 30 from the date the bailiff initiated enforcement proceedings.

The moment of filing a bankruptcy petition may be postponed by the tax authorities on the grounds provided for by law. For example, the debtor challenges the actions or inactions of employees of the Federal Tax Service.

Vicarious liability

For managers and business owners, the cause of insolvency can be not only their personal tax debts, but also the debts of bankrupt organizations. This is called vicarious liability.

Vicarious liability of an individual arises when an organization is declared insolvent when its property is insufficient to satisfy the claims of creditors. Persons controlling the debtor will be liable for such debts - these are those who have influenced the actions of the debtor organization over the past three years.

These may include:

• founders;
• managers;
• Chief Accountant;
• and others - the ultimate beneficiaries of the business, as well as relatives, acquaintances of the director and founders, to whom the assets of the bankrupt company are transferred.

Write-off of subsidiary liability in case of bankruptcy of individualsRelated article

What vicarious liability is is discussed in detail in this material. Debts of legal entities, as a rule, are much greater than those of individuals.

Therefore, if one day a person falls under the tax subsidy of a bankrupt organization, this may lead to his personal bankruptcy. But you won't be able to get rid of it.

Vicarious liability will remain with the physicist even after his personal bankruptcy, since according to Law No. 127-FZ this is a type of debt that cannot be written off.

How is a tax audit carried out in the event of bankruptcy of legal entities?

Such an audit is carried out in accordance with the Tax Code, as indicated by Article 88. To carry it out, the permission of the heads of a commercial organization or the Federal Tax Service is not required. During the audit process, the company's financial documents are analyzed. If necessary, tax officers may require explanations, for example, regarding the balance sheet. You should also expect that they will request other documents to analyze the taxpayer's situation.

All requests from the fiscal authority regarding discrepancies found in accounting must be satisfied within five days when the commercial organization received these notices.

When a legal entity undergoes bankruptcy of legal entities by the tax inspectorate

, the Federal Tax Service may involve third parties who will help audit the position of the enterprise. At the same time, the person being checked may not find out about this until he receives a document with the data obtained during the analysis of the company.

How does bankruptcy of citizens and individual entrepreneurs occur?

Bankruptcy initiated by the tax authorities goes through all the same stages as in bankruptcy initiated by the citizen himself: pre-trial procedures, debt restructuring, sale of property. However, there are some differences within these stages.

Pre-trial procedures

There are preparatory stages before the bankruptcy procedure begins. This is the collection of documents confirming the debt and the preparation of an application for declaring the debtor bankrupt in accordance with current legislation.

• If the tax office intends to bankrupt an individual: the document on the basis of which the tax office can do this is a court decision to collect the debt.
• When the Federal Tax Service Inspectorate intends to file for bankruptcy of a legal entity or individual entrepreneur: such a document will be the Federal Tax Service Inspectorate’s decision to collect tax debts at the expense of their property.
  Also, 15 days before submitting documents to the Arbitration Court on declaring a legal entity or individual entrepreneur bankrupt, the tax office must publish on the EFRSB (aka Fedresurs) a message about the intention to bankrupt the debtor.

The publication in the Federal Resources Service is made for creditors and the defaulter himself so that they begin preparing documents and applications for inclusion in the register. But, of course, having seen such a message, an individual entrepreneur or the director of a company has the right to contact the Federal Tax Service to agree on a payment procedure or to immediately close the debt in order to keep the business afloat.

Debt restructuring

At the restructuring stage, the court considers the possibility of restoring the debtor's solvency by distributing the debt load.

A restructuring plan is approved for the debtor, which he must comply with in order to exit the process without receiving bankruptcy status and retaining his property. By law, such a plan cannot be approved for more than 3 years.

Restructuring a citizen's debts during bankruptcy: pros and consRelated article

Sometimes the restructuring step may be skipped. This happens when:

• Creditors or the debtor himself demand the introduction of an implementation procedure, and the petition is granted by the court;
• It is impossible to approve a restructuring plan with respect to the debtor - the income is not enough to pay off for 3 years;
• The debtor violates the approved plan.

For individual entrepreneurs, debt restructuring can be a business salvation - loans and borrowings will be repaid on a preferential basis, only the principal debt will be taken into account. The court will set the rate at the level of the refinancing rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. At the same time, it will be possible to maintain the status of an individual entrepreneur, all licenses and certificates received for it, a commercial name and, in fact, property. Our lawyers will tell you how to file for arbitration and undergo restructuring in your case.

Sale of property

In cases where the debt restructuring stage is impossible, the court takes drastic measures. The sale of property is being introduced.

The debtor's property is sold at auction, and the proceeds go to pay off the claims of creditors.

Citizens and individual entrepreneurs have types of property, the sale of which does not apply:

• the only residential premises or part of the residential premises and the land plot on which the residential premises are located;
• personal items, home furnishings and household items.
• property used by the debtor for labor, worth up to 10 thousand rubles each;
• cost of living - monthly;
• equipment and transport for a disabled person, things necessary for health reasons.

What transactions can be challenged in the event of bankruptcy of an individual? persons? Article on the topic

The rest will be sent for auction: cars, real estate, shares and investments, equipment involved in the individual entrepreneur’s business.

The financial manager will also check the debtor’s transactions: the property “donated” to the mother will be found and returned to the bankruptcy estate. And sold at auction.

Transactions with IP partners, when all valuables are pledged, or all money is paid to one counterparty, while the tax office and banks are left with debts, can also be cancelled. The money or property will be returned, taken and distributed among creditors.

After the debtor's property is sold, debts to creditors are extinguished. The individual entrepreneur is closed, the citizen acquires bankrupt status and is released from obligations to creditors.

This is how bankruptcy proceeds from the moment the Federal Tax Service Inspectorate or any other creditor files an application for bankruptcy of the debtor until the bankruptcy decision is made.

What debts will not be written off?

The law has categories of debts that remain even after an individual or individual entrepreneur is declared bankrupt.

These include:

• Current payments;
• Compensation for harm to life and health, moral damage;
• Severance pay and wages;


What debts are not written off during bankruptcy of individuals, and why? Related article

• Alimony obligations;
• Vicarious liability.

Current payments are obligations that arose after the introduction of bankruptcy proceedings, and the law includes tax obligations here after the start of the trial. Taxes accrued during bankruptcy will remain with the individual. As well as payments for housing and communal services, rent, alimony, or, for example, payment for kindergarten or Internet.

Consequences of bankruptcy for an individual

Website of the authors of the article : https://iwp.su/

As mentioned above, before starting bankruptcy, it is imperative to analyze all possible risks and consequences. Because bankruptcy of individuals has its disadvantages.

For a citizen, bankruptcy is associated with a number of restrictions, some of which occur during the procedure, others after.

The following restrictions apply during the bankruptcy process:

1. To dispose of property without the consent of the financial manager.
2. For disposal of bank accounts and cards.
3. To travel outside the Russian Federation (such a measure can be applied by the court if necessary).

In addition, there is a possibility of challenging the debtor’s transactions over the last 3 years if they contain signs of suspicious transactions or those that resulted in preference for one creditor over others. For example, when the debtor gave his relative an apartment or sold a car at a price below the market price.

The consequences include the costs that the debtor incurs throughout the bankruptcy process. This includes the arbitration manager’s remuneration, state duty, publication of information in the Unified Federal Register of Bankruptcy Information (EFRSB) and other costs associated with bankruptcy.

What awaits an individual after bankruptcy is stated in Federal Law No. 127-FZ:

1. For 5 years, you cannot take out loans without indicating your bankruptcy.
2. You cannot initiate bankruptcy within 5 years after the sale of property. If during this time the application is submitted by a creditor or an authorized person, there will be no release from obligations.
3. For 3 years – participate in the management of a legal entity.
4. For 10 years – participate in the management of a credit institution.
5. For 5 years - participate in the management of organizations such as an insurance company, microfinance organization, non-state pension fund, etc.

In return, the bankrupt receives the following:

• debt stops growing, and fines and penalties are frozen,
• enforcement proceedings on existing court decisions are terminated,
• in case of successful completion of bankruptcy, exemption from financial obligations is applied,
• there is an opportunity to maintain your solvency.

And these benefits are the undoubted advantages of bankruptcy of an individual.

Many citizens are concerned about whether they can get a loan after bankruptcy. We tried to understand this topic in our article on the Pravo.ru portal.

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