The Russian Federal Tax Service will help you find out the reason of account blocking

Who can block an account?

Only tax authorities have the right to suspend operations on bank accounts, as well as to restrict money transfers.

The above measure is applied in such cases as:

• the presence of tax and levy arrears, including amounts accrued as a result of a tax audit
• late submission of a tax return

To whom account blocking can be applied

Account blocking may be applied to:

• taxpayers,
• tax agents,
• levy payers,
• any organisations and individual entrepreneurs who have an obligation to file tax returns

How to find out the reason for blocking an account

To find out the reasons for blocking, it is recommended that to check the information on the official website of the Federal Tax Service (FTS) of Russia via the service ‘System for informing banks about the status of processing electronic documents’.

In the process of filling out the application for information, it is necessary to tick the ‘Request for current suspension decisions’ category, and in the empty fields specify the taxpayer’s TIN and BIK of the bank where the current account is opened.

A code will be displayed on the screen of your device. Its value will be indicated at the bottom of the page:

For example, if the account has been blocked in order to secure the payment of tax liabilities, the code ‘01’ will be indicated, and if the reason is failure to submit a tax return, the code will be ‘02’.

How to remove account blocking

In order to lift an account blockage, you must either pay off the debt or submit a tax return (report). The tax authority must take a decision to lift the blockage no later than the next working day after receiving the payments or submitting the report.

New service

The Tax Service has developed a new service to support taxpayers called ‘Prompt Help: Unblocking of Accounts and Questions on the Unified Tax System’.

This service allows users to send enquiries on the issues of updating the balance of the Unified Tax Code, collection measures and relevant interim actions.

Appeals submitted by taxpayers will be considered within 24 hours.

Also in the personal cabinet of a taxpayer there is a special section that allows you to learn about the risks of blocking an account, called ‘How the tax authorities see me’.