Translated material
Don't bother with arrears
Small debts of citizens will be accumulated by the state, and large ones will become easier to recognize as hopeless.
At the end of last week, State Duma deputies adopted in the first reading a bill that allows tax and customs officials to postpone the collection of small debts from citizens until their amount reaches 1.5 thousand rubles through penalties, fines and interest. The new law may lead to the fact that in a few years individuals will begin to receive notifications about the collection of 1.5 thousand rubles from them. for every penny debt left behind them in the past. At the same time, amendments to the Tax Code were approved in the second reading, which expand the list of cases when the debts of legal entities can be recognized as bad and written off. To do this, it will not be necessary to declare the liquidation of the company.A bill with amendments to the Tax and Civil Procedure Codes, allowing tax authorities to postpone work on collecting small debts from citizens, was submitted to the State Duma by the President of Russia (see Vremya Novostei, June 9) . Speaking about the draft law to deputies, the representative of the head of state in the State Duma, Harry Minkh, emphasized that the main task of the amendments is to reduce the burden on courts of general jurisdiction, which are forced to consider an ever-increasing wave of claims for the collection of debts on taxes and fees from individuals. According to him, the number of such claims increases annually by approximately 1 million - from 1.9 million in 2007 to 4.2 million cases in 2009. At the same time, a significant proportion are cases of collection of insignificant amounts of arrears and debts, the repayment of which usually does not cause disputes.
Fiscal authorities do not have the right to refuse to collect even small debts. Russian legislation does not give them such an opportunity. As a result, the Federal Bailiff Service has accumulated hundreds of thousands of enforcement documents amounting to up to 10 kopecks. At the same time, even a postal notification of the debtor about the arrears registered with him costs the treasury several orders of magnitude more expensive. According to some estimates, the cost of debt collection through the court is now approximately equal to 1.5 thousand rubles.
But for debtors, the adoption of the amendments will not mean a tax amnesty. Small debts will continue to be registered with taxpayers until their amount due to penalties, fines and interest reaches 1.5 thousand rubles. After this, representatives of the fiscal authorities will be able to file a claim in court within six months to collect the entire amount of the debt. At the same time, the very fact of having a debt can be used, for example, to limit the ability of citizens to travel abroad. And the State Duma Committee on Civil, Criminal, Arbitration and Procedural Legislation, in its response to the bill, draws attention to the fact that “the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation does not limit the right of an interested person, including an organization, to go to court at the cost of a claim.” That is, a claim can still be filed even if the amount of debt is less than 1.5 thousand rubles.
The relevant Duma Committee on Budget and Taxes considers it necessary, during the second reading, to clarify the procedure for the entry into force of the new law for arrears that are at different stages of collection. For example, in cases filed with the court, but not considered by it, or in unfulfilled demands, the deadline for fulfillment of which has already expired, but the application has not yet been filed with the court.
On the same day, deputies approved in the second reading a government bill, also aimed at improving tax administration. In particular, parliamentarians decided to expand the list of cases in which the debts of legal entities can be recognized as bad and written off. Now this procedure is determined by a decree of the Government of the Russian Federation. In accordance with this procedure, tax arrears are forgiven in the event of liquidation of an organization, declaring an individual entrepreneur bankrupt (in relation to debt exceeding the debtor's property), as well as in the event of the death of an individual. It is proposed to add this list directly to the Tax Code, as well as to expand it somewhat. For example, a debt can be written off if the court decides that the tax authority cannot collect arrears and debts due to the expiration of the established collection period.
True, at the same time, the deputies, on their own initiative, decided to increase from one to two years the period during which the tax authority can file a claim in court to collect taxes from the taxpayer’s property. Taxes, fees, penalties and fines that have been written off from the accounts of liquidated banks but have not reached the budget are considered unrecoverable.
Regions and municipalities, by their regulations, will be able to establish additional grounds for recognizing as hopeless the collection of debts on taxes and fees, the right to collect which is granted to them.
The bill regulates in detail the procedures for obtaining a deferment in the payment of taxes and fees by organizations experiencing temporary financial difficulties, as well as the procedure for providing a tax credit in the case of carrying out research, development work or technical re-equipment. The maximum amount of such a loan increases from 30 to 100% of the cost of purchased equipment.
The draft law changes sanctions for tax violations. Thus, a fine of 200 rubles is introduced. for violating the rules for submitting a tax return electronically. Violation by a taxpayer of the established deadline for filing an application for registration with the tax authority will cost him instead of 5 thousand rubles. 10 thousand. The fine for conducting activities by an organization or individual entrepreneur without registering with the tax authority will be 10% of the income received as a result of such activities, but not less than 40 thousand rubles. The fine for late reporting or for providing inaccurate information to the tax authority increases from 1 thousand to 5 thousand rubles, and in case of repeated violation within a year, the sanctions rise from 5 thousand to 20 thousand rubles. Failure to comply with decisions of the tax authority to suspend transactions on taxpayer accounts and failure to provide statements on these transactions will cost banks twice as much.