Tax offenses are unlawful acts of a taxpayer committed by him intentionally or unknowingly and requiring punishment in accordance with tax legislation. Such an offender may be a specific person (individual) or organization (legal entity). Responsibility for tax offenses extends to persons who have reached the age of sixteen. An unlawful act of a citizen of the Russian Federation in the field of tax legislation may be recognized as such if it does not contain signs of a criminal offense. For example, evading a person’s registration with the tax authorities is considered a violation of tax law, while transferring a bribe to a tax officer is already considered a criminal offense.
The sixteenth chapter of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation is devoted to a description of the types of tax violations and the liability that may follow them. In accordance with it, the following may be attributed to such offenses:
- Conducting commercial activities (both by organization and individual entrepreneur) without registering it with the appropriate tax authority.
- Refusal to provide the taxpayer with information about opening or closing a bank account.
- Submission of false documents to the tax authority.
- Inaccurate accounting in the organization, concealment of part of the income from the tax authorities.
- Failure to pay taxes to the state.
- Refusal to provide the tax service with the information necessary for tax control over the activities of a person.
The composition of the tax offense can also be seen in the refusal of the employing organization to formalize its employees in accordance with the Labor Code of the Russian Federation and to pay them a “white” salary. These acts are usually punishable by a fine. A circumstance mitigating in this case the offender’s liability includes the commission of a tax crime under the influence of coercion or threat, blackmail, etc.
For some tax offenses, Russian legislation provides for criminal penalties (Articles 198-199.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). In this case, an individual is always the subject of criminal liability. For example, in the case of tax evasion by the whole organization, the charge will be brought against its director or chief accountant, in some cases to the founder. Persons over 16 years of age and recognized as fully responsible can also be held criminally liable for tax evasion.
Tax offenses in which the corpus delicti may be found:
- Failure to fulfill the duties of a tax agent.
- Non - payment of taxes and fees.
- Concealment of monetary and material resources of an individual or legal entity from tax authorities.
Refusal to pay the necessary taxes and fees to the state entails a fine of up to three hundred thousand rubles or imprisonment for up to one year. The decision on punishment in this case is made depending on the size of the amount of non-payment. A person who for the first time evades the payment of taxes may be exempted from criminal liability in the event of full payment to him of the amount of arrears, penalty interest and a fine.
The absence of a criminal offense in the offender’s deed does not mean that tax offenses can go unpunished, as their commission also provides for punishment in accordance with the Tax and Administrative Code of the Russian Federation. If the taxpayer’s act is considered an administrative violation, he will also have to pay the full amount of debt, interest and fines on time.